WRP - RRI News

Past News Reports
(Yesterday's News is Tomorrow's History)

BNSF R. Christopher Haines

March 2007: Power News … For 2007, BNSF will be taking delivery of 200 new General Electric six-axle locomotives. The first 100 units to be delivered are ES44ACs and will wear road numbers 6139-6238. Delivery will begin in January for these units. Upon completion of the ES44ACs, 100 ES44DCs will be delivered. They will wear road numbers 7505-7604 and are expected to be delivered in reverse order from 7604 down.
    Current plans are for Barstow, California, to become the base for all ES44DCs, including both the new order and locomotives already on the roster. This will allow BNSF to facilitate the use of these locomotives on trains that originate and terminate in the Los Angeles area of southern California. While in use in the Los Angeles area, BNSF receives air credits from the California Air Resources Board due to the ES44DCs Tier Two emissions. The new order of ES44ACs will be based in Lincoln, Nebraska.
    During 2006, BNSF started renumbering certain locomotives to make room for current and future locomotive deliveries. The renumbering plan is as follows: C44-9Ws 5841-5843 to 5530-5532, SD9s 6100-6199 to 1710-1752, SD39s 6200-6219 to 1910-1929, SD38Ps 6260-6270 to 1800-1810, TEBUs 6289-6299 to 1811-1821, SD40-2s 7300-7339 to 6961-6999 (7305 off roster), SD40-2Bs 7500-7502 to 7197-7199, SD45-2Bs 7504-7506, 7508-7509 to 6520-6524. To date only a handful have been renumbered.
    Maintenance-of-Way Projects … Maintenance-of-way crews began working on the BNSF Birmingham Subdivision between Reese, Mississippi, and Birmingham, Alabama, beginning January 8, 2007. This project will include both tie and rail replacement. Tie work will occur mainly between January 8 and February 12, with rail work concentrated between January 25 and February 23.
    Shorts … In December 2007, BNSF announced that they had come to an agreement with Columbia Grain to upgrade their Carter, Montana, grain loading facility to accommodate 110-car shuttle grain trains. The facility currently loads 52 car trains. Carter is located on the Fort Benton Subdivision, near Great Falls, Montana. The project is expected to be complete during the third quarter of 2007 … Beginning January 1, 2007, BNSF reintroduced intermodal service between the Pacific Northwest and Memphis, TN … In the coal fields, distributed power is replacing manned helpers on the Campbell Subdivision located in eastern Wyoming. Coal loads are leaving the mine with locomotives in either a three front - one rear or two front - two rear distributed power configuration. Prior to these changes, coal loads where pushed right from the mine.

April 2007: Power News … In addition to the 200 General Electric locomotives being delivered for 2007, BNSF will be acquiring a small number of additional units. Plans currently call for National Railway Equipment (NRE) to build 12 3GS21Bs. Roster numbers for these units are BNSF 1220 – 1231. The 3GS21Bs are 2100 horsepower units that use three 700 horsepower Cummins QSK19 genset engines. The engines are mounted on skids for easy removal or replacement. The number of genset engines operating at any given time is dependant on horsepower demands. The locomotive can operate with one engine during low horsepower demands, two for midrange demand, or all three during times of high horsepower need. The locomotives are newly manufactured, including the frames.
    Also planned for 2007 is the acquisition of new locomotives from RailPower Technologies. BNSF is currently leasing five RailPower RP20BDs (RPRX 5402-5406). These units are three engine genset units similar to the NRE 3GS21Bs. But unlike the NRE units, the RP20BDs use Deutz TCG2015 genset engines and are considered "newly remanufactured" units as they are built on the frames of retired units. Initial speculation is that these units are being leased for evaluation prior to BNSF's commitment to an order.
    For 2008 road purchases, BNSF is negotiating with EMD for the acquisition of at least 200 additional SD70ACes. Unlike current SD70ACes on the BNSF roster, the new units will have insolated cabs. The units will also come with provisions for Electronically Controlled Pneumatic Brakes ECP), and Electronic Train Management System (ETMS), should BNSF choose to install these at a later date. Delivery of the units should begin January 2008.
    Many short-term lease units were returned to the leaser at the end of 2006. Included in this group were most of the NREX units and units on lease from Montana Rail Link.
    Rotaries in Action… BNSF's rotary snowplows rarely see action in places like the Texas Panhandle. But after back to back winter storms during the last few weeks of 2006, one of the BNSF rotaries saw action in somewhat uncommon territory. By the time they were done working, BN 972559, the 1915 built Alco/Cooke rotary snow plow, and F9B power car 992572 had made their way from their usual home of Alliance, Nebraska, down through eastern Colorado, western Kansas, western Oklahoma, the Panhandle of Texas, and New Mexico. After making it to Denver, Colorado, from Alliance on December 30, 2006, the rotary, accompanied by SD60s EMD 9054 and 9087, worked down the Pikes Peak and Pueblo subdivisions towards Pueblo, Colorado. They tied up for the day at Las Animas, Colorado, on the Boise City Subdivision. On December 31, they worked the Boise City subdivision from Las Animas to Boise City, Oklahoma. After stopping in Boise City to die-ice the blades, they continued plowing the Boise City subdivision towards Amarillo, Texas, arriving early morning January 1. After being serviced in Amarillo, the rotary headed north on the Dalhart subdivision towards Dalhart, Texas, and continuing up the Twin Peaks subdivision towards Trinidad, Colorado. They arrived in Trinidad around noon on January 2. This finally allowed trains, some backed up for many days, to beginning moving again.
    New Train … In early December 2006, train V-SNTEMP1 (San Jose, Texas - Emporia, Kansas) was added to handle finished vehicles out of the Toyota plant in San Antonio, Texas. Once reaching Emporia, the traffic was to be routed to Logistics Park in Chicago, Illinois, on S-EMPLPC. But after a few runs, the V-SNTEMP1 was extended all the way to Logistic Park and the symbol changed to V-SNTLPC1. Empties to the plant are handled by V-TPLSNT between Temple, Texas and San Antonio.
    Shorts … The BNSF Fallbridge Subdivision, between Vancouver, Washington, and Pasco, Washington, will see rail replacement work starting March 1, 2007, and continuing through April 23rd, 2007. BNSF and the city of Victorville, California, have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the possibility of building an intermodal facility near the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville.

May 2007: Power News … BNSF GP50s 3162 and 3167 are currently being rebuilt at Topeka, Kansas with their Super Series traction control removed and -3 microprocessors installed. BNSF 3162 was released from Topeka on February 28 and is being held captive on Topeka based locals for observation. Following this, the unit should head to Mid America Car in Kansas City, Missouri for repainting. Of note is BNSF 3162 is one of five former Burlington Northern crew cab GP50s built with a larger cab to accommodate five-man crews.
    Utah Coal to Mexico… During the first quarter of 2007, a series of test coal trains were run between BNSF and Ferromex. The trains, loaded at Wildcat mine, west of Helper, Utah, on the Utah Railway, used RGCX hoppers and ran with both BNSF and Ferromex locomotives in distributed power configurations. The final destination for these trains was Chihuahua, Mexico. The trains were loaded by the Utah Railway and then operated by Utah crews over trackage rights on the Union Pacific, ex-Denver and Rio Grande Western, between Helper, Utah, and Grand Junction, Colorado. Upon arriving in Grand Junction, the trains were handed off to BNSF. BNSF crews operated the train between Grand Junction, Colorado, and El Paso, Texas. At El Paso, the trains were given to Ferromex for delivery to their destination. The empty trains followed the reverse routing back through El Paso to Grand Junction, where they were once again picked up by Utah Railway crews and taken to Wildcat mine. The trains carried the symbol C-EFSGJC0 for the loads and E-GJCEFS0 for the empties. In early January 2007, an inspection trip for BNSF and Ferromex officials toured segments of the route, including the portions in Mexico. Original plans called for six test trains, but other trains may follow based on test results.
    Capacity Improvements… As part of the capital improvements announced by BNSF in late January, there are a number of capacity improvements planned and underway for 2007. In the Powder River Division, Sand Hills Subdivision, about ten miles of second main track will be constructed from Mason, Nebraska, to Berwyn, Nebraska. On the Black Hills Subdivision, about six miles of second main track will be constructed from Kara to Thornton in Wyoming. On the Orin Subdivision, about 40 miles of third main track will be constructed from Donkey Creek Junction to MP 40 and about 21 miles of forth main track built from MP 62 to MP 83 in eastern Wyoming. The staging yard at Donkey Creek, which was originally planned to be six tracks, will now be expanded to ten tracks. On the Creston Subdivision of the Nebraska Division, about eight miles of second main track will be constructed from South Bend to Ashland, Nebraska. Roughly 21 miles of second main track will be constructed from Hazelton, Kansas, to Brink, Oklahoma, on the Panhandle Subdivision of the Kansas Division. The Southwest Division will see two miles of second main track near Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and nine miles of second main track between Vaughn and Carnero, New Mexico, of the Clovis Subdivision. The Needles Subdivision of the Southern California Division will see six miles of third main track constructed from East Daggett to West Daggett, California. The Chicago Division will see a new crossover built near Hurdland, Missouri, on the Marceline Subdivision.
As a result of efforts to improve the interchange of traffic between BNSF and CSX in Birmingham, Alabama, the Springfield Division will see a number of construction projects. Sidings will be extended at Racine, Missouri, on the Cherokee Subdivision, as well as, Reese and Gattman, Mississippi, and Eldridge, Alabama, on the Birmingham Subdivision. The Birmingham Subdivision will also see a two new sidings constructed, one near Olive Branch, Mississippi, and one near Jasper, Alabama, that will be named Jagger Siding. The Avard Subdivision will also see a new siding near Shirk, Oklahoma, to be called Fisher. Portions of these projects are already underway.
    Train Changes … At the end of February, a few train changes were made. Q-AUGSBD6 (Austell, Georgia to San Bernardino, California) was eliminated and replaced with the Q-AUGCLO1 (Austell, Georgia to Clovis, New Mexico). The Q-AUGCLO1 will operate Tuesday through Sunday. The S-ATGBIR1 (Atlanta, Georgia to Birmingham, Alabama) was extended to Los Angeles and resymboled Q-ATGLAC1 (Atlanta, Georgia to Los Angeles, California). The Q-ATGLAC1 will operate every day except Thursday and Saturday. Also at the end of February, the Monday run of Q-DENTAC1 was eliminated, leaving the train operating Thursday and Saturday only.
    Shorts … During February 2007, BNSF tested distributed power (DPU) configurations for manifest trains across Marias Pass in western Montana. DPUs were used on a few H-PASCWY1 (Pasco, Washington, to Norfolk Southern's Conway Yard, Pennsylvania) trains in a 2 front - 1 rear or 3 front - 1 rear locomotive configuration. When DPUs were used, they were added to the trains at Pasco and removed at Havre, Montana. These test runs were to evaluate the possible elimination of manned helpers on Marias Pass. During the tests, the normal helpers based in Marias were added to the DP trains, but were not used unless requested by the head-end crew.
    Also, in February, BNSF granted Keokuk Junction Railway (KJRY) temporary trackage rights over the Hannibal Subdivision from Ft. Madison, Iowa, to Keokuk, Iowa, due to a derailment which damaged their bridge across the Mississippi near Keokuk. Trains were operated with BNSF pilots and KJRY crews.
Beginning March 27, 2007, and continuing through May 1, 2007, BNSF Maintenance of Way crews will be replacing rail and ties on the Milk River Subdivision in Montana.