Tribute to the

Burlington Northern

Railroad


 

BN Equipment

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Locomotives
BN used a lot of SD9's in local and switching service, keeping them in service long past their typical lifespan.  This pair is switching the intermodal facility near 48th Street in Denver on 11/20/1990.
Three of the BN's four SD60MAC test units are on the point of this coal train-- an SPL coal train, that is-- descending the Moffat line west of Denver in July 1994.  Southern Pacific was evaluating the AC traction capabilities of these units.  These were unique locomotives, having wide "safety" cabs with 3 windows across, AC traction motors, and a unique paint scheme.
SD40-2 No. 8082, leading a southbound freight through Fountain on 2/24/1996.
BN (BNSF) SD40-2 No. 7147, on home rails in Denver on 7/29/2007.
SD40-2 No. 7153 was the second unit on a northbound train at the Air Force Academy in September 1995.  It's a typical BN unit-- the line had over eight hundred of these.  Photo is just months after the BNSF merger.  Note the flag.
A BN SD40-2, now owned by FURX, a rail equipment lessor, is fourth on a manifest freight as it cuts out some cars for an industry on the east side of Kingman, AZ (6/12/2004).  Many original BN units survived long after being sold off.  Ironically, this is a BNSF train, leasing an ex-BN locomotive. 
A repeat of the above, only further east.  FURX SD40-2 No. 7219 is the trailing unit on a stack train, just west of the New Mexico-Arizona line.  Nice to see these working front-line trains in 2008.
On October 10, 1997, a pair of white-face geeps (GP50 No. 3120, GP40E No. 3552) lead a westbound baretable movement near Abo, NM (on the old AT&SF mainline).
SW15 (SW1500) No. 3469, at Seattle on 7/24/2009.  Originally BN 323, built in January 1973.
   

Freight cars and other equipment

There's still an enormous amount of BN equipment roaming the rails-- some having been sold to leasing companies, and much still on the BNSF roster.  This is rolling history, and I photograph it whenever I can.
Who says cabooses disappeared in the 1980s?  A look at wide-vision hack No. 12517.   BNSF kept this car in Grand Junction to protect the rear on locals, still in BN green & yellow.

Here's another look, from January 4, 2006.  It's coupled onto a string of tank cars, opposite the Amtrak depot (note the "stub" train parked at right).

BN tri-level auto rack, riding on ETTX flatcar 905108. It's on a westbound BNSF train near Scholle, NM in July 2002.
BN bi-level auto rack, on TTGX flat 962552.  It's westbound at Belen on 10/30/2009, showing its age a bit (note that the BN logo is nearly rusted off the nameboard).
ACF 3-bay covered hopper No. 458483, seen at Rincon, NM on 5/08/2010.
ACF 3-bay covered hopper No. 458500, seen at Rincon, NM on 5/08/2010.
Covered hopper car No. 461764, parked at the SWRR interchange in Rincon, NM on 8/15/2006.  It's showing the grime from many years of service.
Three BN covered hoppers wait in the interchange yard at Rincon, NM on 2/19/2007.  The car on the right matches the middle one in construction, but matches the left-hand car (# 460922) in lettering scheme.  It was nice to find three green cars still in BN paint together in one place in 2007.
A pair of ACF covered hoppers are spotted at Socorro, NM.  These cars are in perlite service at time of the photo (4/29/2009).  Note the stiffener rib on the longer car on the right.
BN covered hopper 462397, built by Pullman-Standard.  Spotted on an ag spur at Mesilla Park, NM (Las Cruces) on 12/12/2009.
BN had a huge fleet of highway trailers, in various lettering schemes.  One such 45' trailer in a basic scheme was in the Rincon yard on 2/19/2007.  The number placard reads BN0 467.
One of the many...  a 100-ton triple hopper, now wearing CTRN reporting marks, spotted at Rocky, CO on 12/06/2008.

 

   

The main focus of this page is not the BNSF era, although there are still many active BN units (most or all of these have been lettered BNSF by now).  See my pages here, here and here for more BNSF-era shots.


 

 

©   James R. Griffin.  All rights reserved.