Railfanning in Portland, Oregon, in March, 1997

These pictures were taken while railfanning in Portland, Oregon, in March, 1997. Starting at Burlington Northern's Hoyt Street Yard, we find Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #606, a 4,380-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in February 1994. Before the BNSF merger, Santa Fe's "Warbonnet" locomotives were rarely seen in the Pacific Northwest, but since the merger they were becoming somewhat more common.

A pair of switchers were parked at the Hoyt Street sand tower. Burlington Northern #214 is a 1,200-horsepower SW1200 (or SW12, as BN classified it) that was originally built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in July 1957 as Northern Pacific #155. The Northern Pacific was merged into Burlington Northern in March 1970. Burlington Northern #387 is a 1,000-horsepower SW1000 (or SW10, as BN classified it) that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in 1972.

Moving on to Union Pacific's Albina Yard, Chicago & North Western #8037 is a 3,800-horsepower SD60 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in September 1986. The Chicago & North Western was merged into the Union Pacific in April 1995.

Southern Pacific #6802 is a 3,600-horsepower SD45T-2R. It was originally built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in May, 1972, as Southern Pacific SD45T-2 #9246. In March, 1987, it was rebuilt by Southern Pacific's Sacramento Shops as an SD45T-2R and was renumbered to Southern Pacific #6802. Southern Pacific was merged into Union Pacific in September 1996.

Union Pacific #1302 is a 1,500-horsepower MP15DC that was originally built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in June 1974 as Pittsburgh & Lake Erie #1575. It was purchased by Union Pacific in December 1984 and was delivered in mid-February 1985, initially becoming Union Pacific #1277 and operating in its P&LE black paint. It was painted in Union Pacific colors and renumbered to Union Pacific #1002 in May 1985, and was again renumbered to Union Pacific #1302 in June 1987.

Union Pacific #5031 is a 3,600-horsepower SD50 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in December 1984. It was originally delivered in Union Pacific colors but with Missouri Pacific lettering. It was relettered for Union Pacific in August 1990.

Union Pacific #6325 is a 3,800-horsepower SD60M that was built by the General Motors Locomotive Group in London, Ontario, in September 1992.

Here is another, better picture of Union Pacific SD60M #6325.

Railfanning in Vancouver, Washington, in March, 1997

These pictures were taken while railfanning at the Amtrak depot in Vancouver, Washington, in March, 1997. Upon arriving, Burlington Northern C30-7 #5575 and SD40-2 #6334 were moving through the yard. This is an admittedly terrible picture, but fortunately it wasn't the last I would see of these two locomotives.

Union Pacific #5031 is a 3,600-horsepower SD50 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in December 1984. It was originally delivered in Union Pacific colors but with Missouri Pacific lettering. It was relettered for Union Pacific in August 1990.

Union Pacific #9368 is a 4,000-horsepower Dash 8-40CW that was built by General Electric in January 1990. It was part of Union Pacific's first order for GE locomotives with the North American Safety Cab.

Reflecting Union Pacific's recent merger with the Chicago & North Western, Union Pacific #9368 has acquired an air conditioner with a green stripe from a former Chicago & North Western locomotive.

Burlington Northern #5575 & #6334 returned to pass by the front of the depot. Burlington Northern #5575 is a 3,000-horsepower C30-7 that was built by General Electric in February 1979. Behind it is Burlington Northern #6334, a 3,000-horsepower SD40-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in February 1972. While SD40-2s were common in the Pacific Northwest, C30-7s were not.

United Grain Corporation RE-1254 is a 1,200-horsepower SW9 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in February 1951 as Atlantic Coast Line #662. The Atlantic Coast Line merged with the Seaboard Air Line in 1967 to create the Seaboard Coast Line, and this locomotive became Seaboard Coast Line #144. Later, it was apparently acquired by the Railway Equipment Leasing Company (RELCO) and leased to the United Grain Corporation in Vancouver.

Arriving with the southbound Coast Starlight, Amtrak #802 is a 4,000-horsepower Dash 8-40BP (or B40-8P) that was built by General Electric in 1993. Trailing it is one of the previous generation of Amtrak locomotives, a 3,000-horsepower F40PH that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors.

Waiting with a westbound train from the Columbia River Gorge, Burlington Northern #2711 is a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in March 1981.

Illustrating the BNSF merger, behind Burlington Northern #2711 is a mixed consist of BNSF locomotives, with an EMD in the blue and yellow "Warbonnet" paint scheme from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and three of BNSF's General Electric Dash 9-44CWs.

Railfanning in Kalama, Washington, in March, 1997

These train pictures were taken in March, 1997, while railfanning in Kalama, Washington. First is a pair of locomotives in BNSF paint, parked at the north end of Kalama. I'm not sure if these were the first BNSF locomotives I had seen, but they were the first I had the opportunity to photograph.

BNSF #1021 is a 4,400-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in October 1996. It was parked with a sister unit, whose number I can't decipher.

Aside from their paint scheme, these locomotive are essentially identical to Dash 9-44CWs previously ordered by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe before the BNSF merger, including the "gullwing" cab roof that was unique to the Santa Fe. 

This group of Dash 9-44CWs were the first locomotives to wear what would become known as BNSF's "Heritage I" paint scheme. The orange and green color scheme is based on the paint scheme of the Burlington Northern predecessor Great Northern Railway.

Further south in Kalama was a pair of Union Pacific locomotives with a parked northbound train. Union Pacific #9428 is a 4,135-horsepower Dash 8-41CW that was built by General Electric in December 1990.

Union Pacific #9428 had been recently repainted with Union Pacific's new "We will deliver" slogan, which was applied to locomotives between April and December of 1996.

A southbound intermodal train passed through Kalama, led by Union Pacific #3247, a 3,000-horsepower SD40-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in June 1974. In March 1976, it was converted for 80-mph high-speed freight service, becoming Union Pacific SD40-2H #8007. It was converted back to a standard SD40-2 in April 1981 and regained its original number.

Burlington Northern #6318 is a 3,000-horsepower SD40 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in November 1971. This locomotive was repainted shortly after Burlington Northern introduced its new "White Face" paint scheme in 1989, and it ended up with a unique paint scheme, combining the white cab front of the "White Face" scheme with the diagonal nose stripes of the original paint scheme. This was the only locomotive to receive this variation.

Most of Burlington Northern's SD40s were already off the roster by the time the "White Face" paint scheme was introduced. In fact, of Burlington Northern's 38 SD40s, only 7 lasted long enough to be assigned BNSF numbers. Burlington Northern #6318 would become BNSF #6324, while Burlington Northern #6303 would become BNSF #6318.

Trains in Oakridge in 1996

As the summer of 1996 came to an end, I took these train pictures in Oakridge, Oregon. This was shortly before the Southern Pacific was merged with the Union Pacific on September 11, 1996, making these some of the last pictures of the independent Southern Pacific.

Southern Pacific #9818 is a 4,000-horsepower SD70M that was built by the General Motors Locomotive Group in London, Ontario, in July 1994. Southern Pacific's group of 25 SD70Ms would inspire Union Pacific to order 1,000 more following the merger.

Southern Pacific #7556 was originally built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in May 1967 as a 3,600-horsepower SD45. It was originally numbered Southern Pacific #8920. On October 28, 1985, it was upgraded at Southern Pacific's Sacramento Shops to an SD45R and was renumbered to Southern Pacific #7556. It was the first of five SD45R's to receive the  red-and-yellow "Kodachrome" paint scheme of the proposed Southern Pacific Santa Fe merger, which it was still wearing over a decade later, even though the merger never happened.

Southern Pacific #4843 is a 2,000-horsepower GP38-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in July 1980. It still featured its full Southern Pacific light package.

This piece of snowfighting equipment is Southern Pacific Jordan Spreader #4047, which was originally built in 1929 and was rebuilt in 1953. It was still in service, waiting with one of Southern Pacific's wood-bodied flangers for the snow to return to Oregon's Cascade Range.