For anyone that doesn’t know the Colorado Joint Line is pretty diverse, not just strings of coal hoppers.
Every week or so there is a string of covered hoppers (ASHX) parked on the line south of the Denver yards. I assume I am seeing filled cars from the plains on their way to some processing before going overseas or they are empties coming back. I also see emtpy intermodal flat cars, but again I only see them parked so I don’t know where they originated or where they are going.
I have also spotted a weekly run of a BNSF mixed train from the south. It usually comprises of box cars, including insulated plug doors if I remember correctly and usually ends in a string of tankers, I believe carrying petrolium products.
If anyone can shed some light on where the above originates and where it is going that would be great.
Lastly I have seen a UP lashed up to a BNSF head unit pointed south on a BNSF coal run. Is this a borrowed unit? I have the number written down somewhere if it would help.
There are several possibilities. One, the engine could be on a shared train. Some railroad will cooperate on a given train and two or more railroads supply an engine for that train. Union Pacific, Frisco, and Seaboard (I think) did this.
There were probally other railroads that did this sorta thing too.
Another possibility is that one railroad is paying back “hours” by furnishing an engine to the other railroad to use.
There might be some other possibilities. Some of the “western” railroaders might know for sure.
Mudchicken is from your area and could probably shed some light on this subject. He is a pretty smart chicken!
I see a lot of what you are talking about going both east and west through Lincoln NE, and have seen the UP engines with BNSF engines on the same train. But I have also seen CSX and NS doing the same thing. Like Jim said - I think it is either sharing or moving the engines. Seeing more of it all the time, too!
The ASHX cars are part of the American Soda Ash product cars coming out of the relatively new Parachute, CO mine (DRGW “Grand Valley”, sodium carbonate & sodium bicarbonate…AlkaSeltzer!) east of Grand Junction heading to Texas (Chemical Coast)and/or points east…Being that they were bought out by a larger competitor (Solvay America), these cars may not be around much longer as Solvay can get cheaper product from other mines. BNSF helped develop the business and connections for original owner (Williams Pipeline Companies, Williams Companies) and may be losing to another railroad at another mine location…The cars tend to sit at South Park Junction, Coal Siding #1 and Coal Siding #2 for days.
The junk freight/ merchandise freight car train comes into Denver from Houston (Unihead Central) with some bound to SLC and the rest to the pacific northwest…
The engines are most likely one of the pusher sets with mixed power on the joint line burning off engine hours owed while staying close to the Denver terminals. Also could be power for the Coleto Creek (CCTX) coal train that sometimes runs with mixed power…you would have to have a consist and or lineup to know what the power is for on a given day…
For those not familiar with the Denver District Joint Line (UPRR Colorado Springs Sub & BNSF Pikes Peak Sub), it is a confusing place that even the old heads have fun keeping straight. You can have a UP train with a BNSF crew on UP Track on BNSF R/W dispatched by UP and BNSF depending on where it is. (IT used to be even more confusing when ATSF,DRGW,C&S/BN, CB&Q/BN and UP were separate entities)…Mudchicken is still a little annoyed that BNSF saw fit to change the ATSF mileposts to BN/C&S north-South mileposts because the BN operating types got confused easilly (Cannot count, add or subtract…or for that matter, think). Now it’s really fun to figure out which track something’s on if they don’t say northward or southward track…everything is now between 0 (zero, Denve