This question isn't meant to be technical, it's rather a statement of sorts. How much motive power had the BN sold off the years before the ATSF merger? I'm always seeing old BN colors out there! [There's also a leasing company who's name escapes me, but they have a light green/silver paint scheme that certainly resembles the old BN scheme, with white stripes across the noses of their engines. Is someone a BN fan, or just copying a theme from their previous owners?] It's easy to spot a railroad's ex-stuff when it hasn't been repainted yet, and BN takes the point with spotted ex's! Ah, I do believe that begins as far back as twenty years ago when I saw the NYS&W using ex-BN engines without stencils even being applied! They probably didn't even shut them down, just had their own guys climb aboard and start out on their business after they were delivered!
BN has sold off or returned to leaser loads of loco's through the years, F-units and Alco's into the early 80's, EMD SD45's and F45's in the mid 80's (CNW, WC and NYSW amongst others) and nowadays there's a lot of leasers running around, still in BN paint, seems to be mainly SD40-2 and C30-7. Most of the modern changes have been loco's on 15 year leases going back to the leasing company and then being leased out or being sold on, recently GP50's and the GE B-Units have come off lease as well. Most railroads stuff can be seen on other lines these days as loco's go back off lease, or are sold off or out to other lines or leasing companies, in the early 90's Santa Fe GE's were working CSX coal trains in Kentucky for example, and some of those same ex-BN, ex-NYSW EMD 45 series loco's have since worked for the TP&W and Montana Rail Link! Along the same lines BN has had loco's rebuilt after coming off lease or being sold off from other railroads, there were loco's built for NKP, SOU, T&P, UP, SSW, SP, SAL, L&N, ACL, C&EI, WM, B&O, GM&O and MP (and possibly more) working for BN... I think the lease company with green & silver you are thinking of is FURX - First Union, I don't think any of those are ex-BN units, and I think the ones I saw were SD40's not SD40-2's, the SD40 was relatively rare on BN (compared to the SD40-2) as they were heavily buying the 45 series loco's at that time. I'll post some pics when I can get them scanned...(and found ) [ 11. August 2002, 08:41: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
Here's the first batch of pics... These are all from my Sep 2000 trip to the US, most of the leaser pics are courtesy CSX, I reckon about 1 in 6 loco's working for CSX during that time was a leaser, and with about 2 in 6 being former Conrail machines their railroad looked very messy!! Leasers lookedmuch rarer on BNSF, UP and NS at that time, although miixes of colour schemes seemed common on all of them. This first pic is through the fence at Altoona PA, there were in the region of 40 former BN B units (GE-7's) in storage here. WC7496 was formerly BN6494, delivered in Cascade green in August 1970 to the then new Burlington Northern. FURX3011 at Gibson yard in S.E.Chicago, despite the BN influences in the scheme I'm guessing this was a Canadian loco from the headlight style & position. The green is a few shades lighter than BN's cascade green as well.
Here are a couple of Ex-BN SD40-2's working for Helm leasing on CSX trains passing Dolton Jcn, S.Chicago. HLCX7192 ex BN7192 is trailing a CSX C30-7 HLCX7194 ex BN7194 is trailing a CSX C40-8W The covered hopper behind 7194 is quite a survivor as well! Even though these are from the same batch of machines, Helm has re-lettered them in different ways, nice to know if you are a proto-freelancer! [ 11. August 2002, 10:41: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
And here's the equivalent GE's... ATGX5543, Ex BN5543 is the second unit about to start banging diamonds returning west through Marion OH with BNSF run through power. The third unit on this westbound at Point of Rocks MD is "White Face" RMGX5049, ex BN5049, the SP tunnel motor is yet another leaser, that one from CEFX! Second unit on this Eastbound near Erie PA behind a CSX SD40-2 is RMGX5045, ex BN5045, the EMDX loco behind was an SD45 (or an SD45 shell at least) [ 11. August 2002, 10:50: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
<font color="336633">Well at least some people have the sence NOT to repaint the green Motive power is getting rather dull on most class 1 railroads these days, with nothing older than SD60's......... Thanks for the photos Martyn </font>
Sticky, that was quite an answer! Thanks for the info and fantastic pictures too. I wish I had been in Marion when that colorful lashup passed by! FURX was what I was thinking of.
Quite a good mix of schemes you captured there, Martin Last time I was over, in '98, BNSF had quite a lot of locomotives either on lease from, or maintained by MK, but they were still in Santa Fe paint, sometimes with the large lettering painted over, but mostly not.
We only saw an ex Santa Fe GP20 lettered for PREX in former Santa Fe blue & yellow, that was working in Mansfield OH. We saw a couple of immaculate B23-7's still lettered for the Santa Fe which were working as the switchers at Willow Springs in Chicago. Interestingly they also had some ex-BN loco's there, and they very obviously were cleaning the Santa Fe ones and leaving the BN ones filthy! Nice to know there's no favouritism practised on the old Santa Fe As an interesting update on the FURX leasers, it looks like they now *do* have some ex BN SD40-2's (sorry folks!), ref this Trainorders thread they have at least BN7209, BN7261 and BN8118 working for them, the 7209 & 7261 have had yellow air conditioners added! [ 15. August 2002, 11:28: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
No one mentioned the IC...they were the first ones to get a number of SD40-2s from the BN That was in the mid 80-early 90s and the B30-7As.....those were in Pasco WA a year ago
