Indeed! The SD40 series was a robust, simple locomotive that was built to last. And last. And last.... And get rebuilt to last even longer! Speaking of.... Here's a fine example of the series with a younger SD60 sister working the Northgate Branch. BNSF 1974 was once BN 6371 and was built as C&S 923 in Feb '74.
I saw one of these - possibly this set - on the Red Rock Sub the other day. When these go by I quickly check my GTBs for a blanket 40mph restriction that I hope I didn't miss...
NS Train 192 works north of Columbia, SC at Ridgeway on 07/14/2019. Precision Scheduled Railroading has resulted in far fewer trains running on this line segment, making any photography here a tough catch.
As if rail traffic following the downturn of oil and coal wasn't enough, the pandemic depressed it further. Where 40-50 trains a day on BNSF alone once rolled across the Glasgow Sub, about 20-25 do today. CP is about 10-15 a day, as an estimation of the Portal Sub. Times are tough... Here's a 2010 photo from South Cle Elum, WA:
Further north on the line between Columbia, SC and Charlotte, NC is another favorite spot at the passing siding at Simpson, SC. Not much hope of ever getting a shot like this again. [10/11/2019]
Hopefully in 2021 it will be a better year, and the Milw 5057 GE U25B will be on display here at the depot!
From Tower 17 in Rosenberg, when it was still track side before we moved it in 2004. I was shooting Kodachrome 64 so had to pan with the moving locomotive. Did not blur it too much.
When I last stopped there, two years ago, she was really fading. The orange had a pink-ish hue and was really flattened out.
On 08/17/2019, NS 192 has just departed Andrews Yard in Columbia, SC and is working her way through the U. of South Carolina campus.
I worry about 5057. Safe where she is, yes. But the POVA lost her major shipper this year. Will they survive? If things get shaky, can CRF get her out ($$$!!!) of there?
I see more than a few Catfish on the BNSF northern transcon, so here's one at last light with an empty oil can:
Where did they find a U25b? I got a behind the scenes tour of the Illinois Railway Museum many years ago and they were working on a MILW u25b they got from a scrap dealer out west somewhere. There was 2 of them there and the manager who sold the loco to the IRM was fired by the owner of the yard after the sale. They were the owners personal property not the yards. This story makes me wonder is the units were from the same scrapper.
From April 1989, a CR freight makes its way across the Susquehanna River at Rockville, PA on the PRR's landmark bridge built in 1902.
