S O U T H W E S T O P E R A
T I N G D I V I S I O N
The Transcon(See the
Central New Mexico
page for many more Transcon photos in the Abo Canyon area) |
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An eastbound stack train is between Becker and Abo
Canyon on October 11, 1997. From left to right, this consist
approximates the merger experience. |
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Eastbound
stack train, with a pair of newly-painted Heritage C44-9W's on the
point, rolls into Needles, CA on May 23, 1998. At this time,
heritage-scheme units were a tiny minority of the population. See
the Needles page for more photos
on this date. |
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As
the setting sun hits the horizon, a westbound intermodal train hits the
grade out of the Colorado River valley at Needles. The long train
has a mostly Santa Fe consist (the warbonnet SD75I is lettered for BNSF).
Two SD45-2's are still wearing the blue/yellow warbonnet scheme, though
they've been patched and renumbered into the BNSF system.
(5/23/1998) |
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At
dusk, a westbound double-stack train starts up the grade towards the
Mojave Desert crossing. A mismatched pair of patched SD's on the
front are joined by a borrowed Norfolk Southern unit. Another
pair of SD's is on the rear, pushing. (5/23/1998) |
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An eastbound manifest passes through Thoreau, NM in
April 2000. The trailing C44-9W (No. 4716) is one of the last
delivered in the Warbonnet scheme. |
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Two
trains meet in Abo Canyon just above Scholle in July 2002. The one
at left is a westbound autorack movement with a couple of blue/yellow
warbonnet EMD units for power, whereas the eastbound pig train is all-BNSF
power. This was a typical occurrence during that period, when the
railroad still had a large number of legacy units on hand. |
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TOP:
An eastbound hotshot intermodal train pauses at the north end of Belen
yard, near the depot, for a quick crew change. BOTTOM: As soon
as the new crew is aboard, the train moves off to the east, without any
kind of service stop. Note the colorful mix of power, always a
delight during this period of BNSF history. Note that, despite
four different paint schemes, every unit on the train is of Santa Fe
heritage. |
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Yard
maintenance personnel, servicing C44-9W No. 677 at Belen in July 2002.
Every job on a railroad is important, even if not always "glamorous"... |
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The evening of June 12, 2004, finds a freight departing
Kingman, AZ with C44-9W's 1030 and 4886 on the point, and a lease Dash
8-40C and ex-BN FURX SD40-2 behind. The train paused to drop off a
couple of cars at the industry in the background before heading east. |
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An eastbound doublestack train approaches Flagstaff from
the west on the morning of March 27, 2008. The area around
Flagstaff is high and beautiful (7,100 feet at this spot), with severe
winter weather at times, but is slowly succumbing to development. |
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East of Flagstaff, C44-9W 4488, repainted New Image No.
727, and H2 No. 5149 are heading an eastbound intermodal train on
3/27/2008. |
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West of Winslow, C44-9W No. 5050 is the rear remote on
an eastbound freight consisting of new-image covered hoppers. The
head end included a
borrowed UP SD70ACe. (3/27/2008) |
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In a scene repeated uncounted times, three C44-9W's in
the 4000 series roll an eastbound stack train across the high desert
near Winslow on 3/27/2008. |
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In
a nice bit of good timing, a westbound stack train approaches the
underpass with Interstate 25 near Belen on May 9, 2010, at the same time and speed as me.
This train is powered by a trio of ES44DC's (7836, 7581, 7839). I
see trains here frequently, but photography rarely works out. |
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 In
a photo that is cluttered enough to make a really good jigsaw puzzle,
two C44-9W's are parked at the fuel rack in Belen on October 30, 2009
around 6:00 PM. The roof of the old depot / new museum is a good
place to shoot trains, and has a ladder for access. Not sure if
they really want you up there, but it's not railroad property anymore so
the Rent-a-Cops leave you alone... |
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S O U T H W E S T O P E R A
T I N G D I V I S I O N
El Paso Sub |
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Northbound NAFTA train passing through Las Cruces, NM on
May 12,2007. It has an H1, a burned H2, and a NS unit leading.
(This photo was actually taken in my rear-view mirror, then righted and
inverted with Photoshop, resulting in this correct south-looking view!) |
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An interesting, um, "feature" of GE locomotives is their
tendency to spew flame from the stack. At times it even comes down
the sides, as can be seen on this C44-9W. I've seen some amazing
torches coming from these units. (In GE's defense, it does also
happen to EMD's at times...) If you see repainted or replaced
doors on the long hood, this is probably why. (Las Cruces,
5/12/2007) |
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The crew is boarding a grain train at Belen on
8/18/2007. C44-9W No. 4038 and its Warbonnet mate will be heading
south towards El Paso shortly. |
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Hopper
cars spotted around the wye at Socorro on 4/29/2009. These mostly
older component-road hoppers are in perlite service, serving
Dicaperl Minerals. |
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Old
AT&SF depot at Rincon, NM. This structure sits across the tracks
from the community, a curious placement in my opinion-- need to find out
more of the history of the site. BNSF still uses the structure,
although obviously not for passengers! |
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Engine
spur at Rincon. The power for the local usually ties up here. Rincon
serves as the interchange point with the Southwestern Railroad. The
local switches industries in the area down to Las Cruces. One can
usually find a pair of locomotives parked here on weekends, just off
Interstate 25. |
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A northbound grain train rolls along Main Street in Las
Cruces on 8/11/2009. The pair of C44's is handling the long train
of empty covered hoppers with ease. |
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Old
AT&SF depot at Mesilla Park, NM. This structure is located on Main St,
essentially sandwiched between the cities of Las Cruces and Mesilla.
Though no longer used for passengers, the BNSF has an active
maintenance-of-way presence at the site. |
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Sidings
at Mesilla Park, opposite the depot (above). Some kind of
agricultural shipments go out here, though I haven't been able to
determine what. There is a portable conveyor loader on the
grounds. In this shot, the tan building in the background is
currently vacant. Not sure who owns the warehouse behind it, there is a
real lack of signage in the area. But there were three hoppers
spotted here on 11/01/2009, so there is definitely some activity. |
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The
next six photos are of a single northbound train in Las Cruces, crossing
Valley Ave. The train was an interesting mix of power and
rolling stock, common on this subdivision. |
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Leading was a SD70ACe (No. 9344) and a Norfolk Southern widecab GE
(9826). I got surprised by this train in traffic, so the photos
are out of the car window and are backlit-- you take what you can get,
sometimes... |
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Silhouette shot as the power crosses the street. |
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The train was a great mix of cars, including a large number of CN
boxcars, various corn syrup tanks, coil steel cars, and even this stray
autorack car. |
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Here are some BNSF hoppers, of old and new logos. |
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Several cuts of corn syrup cars were present. |
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And to punctuate the matter, an articulated double-stack car brought up
the rear. This is not uncommon for these trains. |
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P O W D E R R I V E R O P E R A
T I N G D I V I S I O N
UP's Central Corridor (Moffat
Tunnel Sub): Trackage Rights |
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As a condition of the 1996 Union Pacific buyout of Southern Pacific,
BNSF was granted trackage rights over several portions of the new UP
system, including between Denver and Stockton on the UP's Central
Corridor. BNSF has typically operated one or two trains each way
daily, with a few additional trains on special occasions (such as,
occasional coal trains between Utah and Denver). |
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An eastbound manifest freight approaches the west portal
of Moffat Tunnel on August 14, 1999. The train is a bit
underpowered,
with only C44-9W No. 1116 and a white-face SD40-2 on the point.
This is in the third year of trackage rights on this route. |
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Another eastbound manifest freight exits Coal Creek
Canyon near Clay siding, on September 4, 1999. The BNSF train will
take the siding in order to allow a
westbound CSUX
coal empty to pass.
The train has a typical colorful consist, with an H2 leading, a stock
ATSF warbonnet second in line, and an H1 trailing. |
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A westbound freight pauses at Grand Junction to change
crews on the evening of November 11, 2001. An unpatched Santa Fe
C44-9W is running third on this train. |
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March
28, 2002-- an eastbound MSTODEN descends the UP line at Coal Creek
Canyon. It has three H2 C44-9W's on the point... |
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...
and another as the DPU on the rear. Blue Mountain Road is a nice,
accessible place to watch trains (I've photographed from there as far
back as 1982). This was a period of transition. BNSF had
been using a manned pusher (helper) from Denver up to the Moffat Tunnel
since 1996, but are starting to transition to unmanned remotes. |
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A quick grab shot through the windshield of a westbound
freight exiting North Canyon near Silt, on January 4, 2006. The
consist includes a pair of H2's, a borrowed NS unit, an SD40-2 of BN
heritage, and an unidentifiable GE. |
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An eastbound BNSF freight stops to perform switching
chores at the soda ash yard near Rifle on July 1, 2006. BNSF paid
for the construction of this yard, even though it is captive to the UP,
since the customer's contract is with BNSF. Note the NS unit in
the consist. |
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On the morning of August 9th, 2007, a
westbound BNSF freight is holding in the siding at Hot Sulphur Springs
for an eastbound UP coal train. Top photo: the UP train is
approaching as the BNSF crew prepare to do a roll-by inspection.
Bottom: the BNSF train throttles up and heads towards Byers Canyon.
It's led by an ES44DC in the new image scheme, with a pair of
C44-9W's in the H2 and warbonnet schemes. |
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Three hours later, an eastbound BNSF train
came out of Byers Canyon and headed east through Sulphur.
Top: It was led by a pair of C44-9W's spliced by a CEFX SD90.
Bottom: There was an ES44DC in H2 paint pushing on the rear (DPU
helper). This new unit was delivered just barely too early to
receive the New Image paint scheme. |
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P O W D E R R I V E R O P E R A
T I N G D I V I S I O N
Denver & the Front Range Sub |
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A yard transfer job has picked up a cut of
cars in UP's North Yard in Denver and is headed back to the BNSF yard to
the south-east. Both the FURX SD40-2 and the ES44DC are pointed
the wrong way, so the conductor and brakeman are riding on the porch of
the lead unit. |
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Near the BNSF shops in Denver, an
interesting power consist is being repositioned after bringing in a
train on the Brush sub. Including the ex-ATSF unit at left, we
have three C44-9W's in both Heritage schemes, an ATSF blue/yellow
warbonnet GP35, a BN SD40-2, and an ex-ATSF GP60B in H1. BNSF is
great for variety! |
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SD75M No. 8248 is paired with SD40-2 No.
6974 as they run light out of Longmont towards Boulder on 8/30/2008.
They are working as the Longmont switcher this evening. |
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A
southbound freight (probably the H-LAUDEN) crosses 3rd Avenue in
Longmont on 7/31/2010. The three-unit consist includes a nice
surprise-- an ATSF Dash 9 still in her original paint. No. 679 is
pretty faded but still classy. The leader is a standard BNSF Dash
9 in H2 and an ES44DC also in H2. |
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The
following day (8/01/2010), a northbound coal empty is approaching 17th
Avenue in Longmont with mix of old and new on the point. The
ES44AC is four years old, and the SD70MAC behind is wearing the original
"Corporate" scheme it received in January 1995. Now it does have
the wedge BNSF herald below the cab window, however. |
