From the tower

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...

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







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

 

Next a better view of the yard itself



And the simulator they use for engineer training

 

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

First a couple of GP39m's (rebuilt GP30)



Then a matched pair of SD40-2's


And an SD40-2 paired with a GP38

 

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

 

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 ) and a coal train waiting on the far right track.




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.

 

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!

 

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...



And this is what came crawling along at a slow, steady pace...

 

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



For treats, the lead unit was a BN survivor SD70MAC, just like the unit Kato is bringing us N scalers is a little while...

 

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).


What's interesting about this train is the lead unit, in BNSF colors, but not a BNSF unit. No logo on the side.

 

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.)

 

Another interesting load was this one - wrapped:



The close-up: wire coils

 

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



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

 

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



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

 

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



... 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!

Our thanks to the tower staff for their hospitality in letting us intrude right into their midst!

 

Quiet there in the corner, young man, you'll get your mouth washed out with soap!!!

 

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

 

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