From the tower

[William Cowie]

As part of last week's proceedings, we went up to the top of the control tower for the BNSF 31st Street Yard. It was a snowy, rainty day, not conducive to goodphotography, but hey, we take what we can get... smile.gif

The first few pictures are just get a feel for what the controllers see.

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aad.jpg

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aae.jpg

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aaf.jpg

The film across the top of the windows is to reduce glare from the sun.

[William Cowie]

Next a better view of the yard itself

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aag.jpg

And the simulator they use for engineer training

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aab.jpg

[William Cowie]

Here is some of the motive power used for yard switching:

First a couple of GP39m's (rebuilt GP30)

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album09/aby.jpg

Then a matched pair of SD40-2's
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album09/abw.sized.jpg

And an SD40-2 paired with a GP38
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album09/acb.jpg

[Flash Blackman]

Snowing? Where was it snowing? Must have been overseas somewhere! smile.gif

[William Cowie]

Now for the action! This is what greeted us as we came upon the scene: The switchers all at rest (lunch break is what I believe they call it smile.gif ) and a coal train waiting on the far right track.

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aah.jpg


First action came from the right - a lashup of four Dash 9's headed from the engine yard (in the distance to the right) to meet its load.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aap.jpg

[NSCALEMIKE]

Very nice William....hard to believe you guys are still shivering in the Denver area...while we are baking here in SoCal with temperatures near or over 100!

[William Cowie]

Then, as they pass us to the let, we look and in the far distance we see headlights approaching. If you look right above the Santa Fe GP38, in the light tower, you will see the headlight...

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aar.jpg

And this is what came crawling along at a slow, steady pace...
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aas.jpg

[William Cowie]

And so you know what's coming - the photo op!

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aat.jpg

For treats, the lead unit was a BN survivor SD70MAC, just like the unit Kato is bringing us N scalers is a little while...
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aau.jpg

[William Cowie]

So, lest we be bored with the coal train leaving, we see another interesting train meeting it, with the Denver skyline in the background (Coors field, where the hapless Rockies play, in the foreground of the skyline).
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aav.jpg

What's interesting about this train is the lead unit, in BNSF colors, but not a BNSF unit. No logo on the side.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aaw.jpg

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aax.jpg

[William Cowie]

Not just the power is interesting, look at some of the loads. First up, just to prove there is a prototype for everything, how about some tracks as a load? (Note the coal train still moving on out in the background.)
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aay.jpg

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aaz.jpg

[William Cowie]

Another interesting load was this one - wrapped:

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aba.jpg

The close-up: wire coils
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/abb.jpg

[William Cowie]

For those interested in creative weathering, bhow about these cement cars, destined for a transfer facility (shown in my Webshots industries folder) in north Denver

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/abc.jpg

And for those who were interested in drawbarring MT 89 footers, here's a picture of how it looks in real life.

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/abd.jpg

[William Cowie]

Meanwhile, lunch break is over and the first switch crew fires up their rig and resumes what they were doing before lunch...

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/abe.jpg

And have no problems mixing it up with the (still) departing coal train in in the background and the eclectic mixed manifest rolling in

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/abf.jpg

[William Cowie]

And finally, we see the ends of both trains, the pushers for the coal train (AC and 70MAC) trundle by

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/abg.jpg

... and since lunch break is over, it's time for the snot-nosed foamers to get hustled out of the tower so the guys can get some real work done! :D tongue.gif

Our thanks to the tower staff for their hospitality in letting us intrude right into their midst! smile.gif graemlins/notworthy.gif smile.gif

[William Cowie]

Originally posted by sapacif:
Snowing? Where was it snowing? Must have been overseas somewhere! smile.gif Quiet there in the corner, young man, you'll get your mouth washed out with soap!!! :D :D

[r_i_straw]

Originally posted by William Cowie:

What's interesting about this train is the lead unit, in BNSF colors, but not a BNSF unit. No logo on the side.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aax.jpg BNSF sold a bunch of pumpkin painted units to FURX and then leased them back.

[YoHo]

Just fyi, 2839 is a GP-39-2, not a GP-38. I wasn't sure from the picture, because the exhuast area is all pixelated, but it looked like a turbo exhaust, so I checked the roster and sure enough.
I know there were some GP-38s without the equipment box, so I wasn't 100% sure.

[Alan]

Super pictures William. You are getting in some interesting places these days! smile.gif

[chessie]

Originally posted by YoHo:
Just fyi, 2839 is a GP-39-2, not a GP-38. I wasn't sure from the picture, because the exhuast area is all pixelated, but it looked like a turbo exhaust, so I checked the roster and sure enough.
I know there were some GP-38s without the equipment box, so I wasn't 100% sure. I am lost, as the unit I am looking at in the photo is a 7xxx series.. :( ?

Harold

[chessie]

Originally posted by r_i_straw:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by William Cowie:

What's interesting about this train is the lead unit, in BNSF colors, but not a BNSF unit. No logo on the side.
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album50/aax.jpg BNSF sold a bunch of pumpkin painted units to FURX and then leased them back. </font>[/QUOTE]I caught one of these types units recently on CSX that had HLCX lettering on the side....

Harold

[YoHo]

Harold, from this pic

http://www.railimages.com/albums/album09/acb.jpg
It's captioned as a SD-40-2 and a GP-38.

[HemiAdda2d]

I was in Denver railfanning the yard in January when I shot these:
http://www.railimages.com/albums/BN/abr.jpg
http://www.railimages.com/albums/BNSF/abi.sized.jpg
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album22/aao.sized.jpg
http://www.railimages.com/albums/album22/aam.sized.jpg

[Colonel]

hemi,

Love that first shot

[JASON]

Yes they all so crisp,clear images,what sort of camera you got there Hemi?Like the second shot.

[ilovetrains]

I wonder if they bought their track from Atlas? Hmm.