I am new to this forum, so please excuse me if this subject have been up before, but I was wondering if any of you out there could tell me what kind of Switcher engines BNSF is using today.
The fact is that I am living in Denmark, and on the layout that I am currently operating on mín my club, I have chosen to model Sante Fe and BNSF from the mid 80’s to present. I kind of know what Mainline engines they are using, but I would also like to add a few switcher engines for the coming switching yard, and this should ofcourse be as close to the real world as possible. Also if you could tell me which modelmakers that have these engines and if these are any good ?
I’m by no means a BNSF expert, and I’m sure one will chime in later, but:
BNSF uses switching locomotives similar to the other class 1s. There is a huge variety of power used in switching, partially because older equipment that used to be in mainline service is demoted to switching/yard duty. In my time at Northtown Yard in Minneapolis, i’ve seen GP-38’s or GP40’s in yard duty among others.
Some newer locomotives seen in Yard duty ar the MP (Medium-Purpose) series, like the MP15AC and MP15DC.
Really, as long as the power is not a new widecab or other high-horsepower locomotive designed for mainline travel, it should fit.
Remember as well that yards are a great place for that patched power since locomotives in lower duty are further back in the paint line and are older.
Here in La Crosse Wi. we have just about any 4 axle power you care to name for switchers. The town job which runs up and switches the brewery,the last few weeks has been a gp38-2 or a blue and yellow gp30(nice[bow]) For most of Oct we had a pair of sw1500’s running around.
If I were looking for a Santa Fe switcher for your time period, I’d think about GP7, GP9, GP30, maybe a CF7. Getting into BNSF, you could add SW1000’s and SW1500’s, GP38-2, MP15’s from the old BN and also ex-BN GP7’s and 9’s.
There’s different kinds of switching, also. In particular, there’s light local and yard switching where the SW and maybe the MP and CF models might be frequently found. There’s heavy yard switching where there might be one or two SD38’s (not mentioned above) and maybe even a slug. Then there’s way switching, which seems to use two GP’s back to back these days. That way you get plenty of power and a cab at each end.
If you want a unqiue engine and don’t mind doing some kitbashing you could model the SWBLW, The Beep for those of us that are railfans. Take a Stewart VO1000 and chop the hood off. Get a GP7/9 long hood and modify it so it fits. Remove the Stewart trucks and put EMD Blomberg trucks on it. Click here to See the Beep
Up here in Washington State, a popular switch engine for BNSF is the SD-9. Most (all?) of them have chopped short noses, and probably all have had some internal rebuilding. Also, many are now equipped for remote control. Might make for an easy kitbash using a Proto2000 SD-9 as a starting point.
