Alstom GCFX SD40 #3071 at Albany, Oregon, on May 17, 2006

I photographed this southbound Union Pacific freight train from my car on Interstate 5 near Albany, Oregon, on May 17, 2006. The only locomotive with a visible road number is Alstom Canada (GCFX) #3071, a 3,000-horsepower SD40 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in June 1970 as Kansas City Southern #624. By 1987, it had been retired and acquired by the Soo Line Railroad and renumbered to #6402. While the Soo Line was absorbed into its parent company Canadian Pacific in 1990, this locomotive remained in Soo Line’s candy apple red paint scheme when it was retired and became part of National Railway Equipment’s lease fleet as NREX #6402. By 2003 it had been acquired by Alstom Canada for lease service as GCFX #3071 and painted gray as it appears here.

Portland & Western SD40-2MR #3300

Photo by Cliff West

Portland & Western #3300 is a 3,300-horsepower SD40-3MR that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in April 1968 as Colorado & Southern #880, a 3,000-horsepower SD40. Colorado & Southern was a subsidiary of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and its successor Burlington Northern, and its locomotives were painted in its parent’s colors, but they had their own numbering system. These locomotives began to be renumbered in the Burlington Northern’s main numbering system in September 1979, and this locomotive became Colorado & Southern #6340. 

Photo by Cliff West

The Colorado & Southern was formally merged into the Burlington Northern on December 31, 1981, and this locomotive became Burlington Northern #6340. It was retired in February 1987 and sold back to the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in April 1987. EMD added the locomotive to their lease fleet and it became EMDX #6340. 

Photo by Cliff West

In 1992 it was rebuilt by EMD as a 3,300-horsepower SD40-3MPR with EM2000 microprocessor controls, HTC trucks and extended range dynamic brakes and became EMDX demonstrator #2000, eventually ending up back in lease service. It was sold to the Portland & Western in August 2004.

Trains in Vancouver and Portland in October 2001

Photo by Cliff West

This group of pictures was taken by my dad, Cliff West, in October of 2001 at the Amtrak depot in Vancouver, Washington, and at Union Pacific’s Albina Yard in Portland, Oregon. We begin in Vancouver with Burlington Northern #7807, a 3,000-horsepower SD40-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in June 1977 as Colorado & Southern #937. Colorado & Southern was a subsidiary of Burlington Northern, and its locomotives were painted in Burlington Northern colors, but they had their own numbering system. These locomotives began to be renumbered in the Burlington Northern’s main numbering system in December 1978, and this locomotive became Colorado & Southern #7807. The Colorado & Southern was formally merged into the Burlington Northern on December 31, 1981, and this locomotive became Burlington Northern #7807. Following the merger of the Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe on September 22, 1995, this locomotive became Burlington Northern Santa Fe #7807.

Photo by Cliff West

These four Chicago & North Western 100-Ton 5,250-Cubic-Foot 4-Bay Covered Hoppers at the Great Western Malting Company at the Port of Vancouver are part of a group of 100 numbered #490000 to #490999 that were built by Thrall between September 1993 and April 1994. These were some of the last freight cars built for the Chicago & North Western, and they became much more common in the Pacific Northwest after the Chicago & North Western was merged into the Union Pacific on April 24, 1995.

Photo by Cliff West

Burlington Northern Santa Fe #7336 was originally built by General Motors Diesel, Ltd. in London, Ontario, in December 1968 as Canadian National #5075, a 3,000-horsepower SD40. It was retired in 1999 and was rebuilt by Alstom to an SD40-2 on October 5, 1999, and became Burlington Northern Santa Fe #7336, one of a group of 40 former Canadian National and Grand Trunk Western SD40s that became Burlington Northern Santa Fe #7300 to #7339.

Photo by Cliff West

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #853 is a 4,000-horsepower Dash 8-40CW that was built by General Electric in October 1992.

Photo by Cliff West

It was still somewhat rare at this point to see older locomotives that had been repainted in Burlington Northern Santa Fe's "Heritage I" paint scheme, so here are some more pictures of Burlington Northern Santa Fe SD40-2 #7336.

Photo by Cliff West

The motive power consist for this freight train represented the 1995 merger of the Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, with a BNSF-painted locomotive leading a locomotive in Burlington Northern's Cascade Green and a locomotive in Santa Fe's Blue & Yellow "Warbonnet."

Photo by Cliff West

It is interesting that despite being recently rebuilt for BNSF service in 1999, this unit did not have its headlight moved from the cab to the short hood following the Santa Fe's practice that BNSF continued.

Photo by Cliff West

Burlington Northern #7052 is a 3,000-horsepower SD40-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in April 1978. Though this locomotive's BN paint scheme has not been modified yet, it has had its headlight moved from the cab to the short hood .

Photo by Cliff West

Moving on to Albina Yard in Portland, we see Union Pacific #5762, a 4,400-horsepower AC4400CW that was built by General Electric in March 2001. Union Pacific refers to this locomotive as a C44ACCTE, to make the model designation correspond to the form introduced by General Electric with the “Dash 7” line of 1977, and to indicate that this locomotive is equipped with General Electric’s “Controlled Tractive Effort” software, which limits maximum tractive effort when the locomotive is used as a distributed power unit in the middle or at the rear of a train.

Photo by Cliff West

Union Pacific #4011 is a 4,000-horsepower SD70M that was built by the General Motors Locomotive Group in London, Ontario, and was delivered on July 31, 2000.

Photo by Cliff West

Southern Pacific #67342 is a O-100-7 Class 23,500-Gallon Tank Car built by American Car & Foundry at Milton, Pennsylvania, in early 1974, part of a group of 50 numbered #67300 to #67349.

Photo by Cliff West

Union Pacific #8725 is a 3,000-horsepower SD40T-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in December 1978 as Southern Pacific #8525. After the Southern Pacific was merged into the Union Pacific on September 11, 1996, this locomotive became Union Pacific #4455 on November 23, 1997. It was renumbered to Union Pacific #8725 on May 6, 2001.

Photo by Cliff West

Finally, Union Pacific #4203 is a 4,000-horsepower SD70M that was assembled by Bombardier Inc. in Sahagun, Mexico, for the General Motors Locomotive Group in August 2000.

Chasing BNSF 2099 on July 13, 1997

On July 13, 1997, my dad and I were railfanning with his friend Fred Anderson. We had been to Vancouver, Washington, earlier in the day before going to Portland, Oregon, but we ended up returning to Vancouver on our way home. Heading back to Vancouver's Amtrak station, we passed under the Sixth Street Viaduct just as the locomotives of a westbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train were passing over it. I alone noticed that one of the locomotives was an EMD unit that was painted in the new orange and green paint scheme. At the time, the only locomotives we knew about in that scheme were the new GE Dash 9-44CWs. My dad didn't believe me, but we stopped to look anyway, and I was proven right.

The freight train had come to a stop, and the lead locomotive was indeed an EMD unit in the BNSF orange and green paint scheme.

This was Burlington Northern Santa Fe #2099, which was the first older locomotive to be repainted into this paint scheme. 

BNSF #2099 is a 2,000-horsepower GP38-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in November 1974 as Burlington Northern #2099.

The locomotive was painted by Mid-America Car, Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri, on November 25, 1996, and was still clean and shiny. BNSF might have been taking special care of it, as it was testing the Positive Train Separation satellite tracking system in the Pacific Northwest.

The second locomotive in the train's long consist was Burlington Northern Santa Fe #1021, a 4,400-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in October 1996. It clearly wasn't receiving the attention that BNSF #2099 was.

I took the opportunity to take as many pictures as I could of this unique locomotive.

Like the new Dash 9-44CWs, BNSF #2099 featured silver paint on its trucks, fuel tank and air reservoirs. The silver would be replaced by green on future repainted locomotives.

BNSF #2099 and its train were stopped in a position from which it could either turn south toward Portland or north toward Seattle.

We weren't sure how long BNSF #2099 would be waiting here, or which direction it would go when it resumed its journey. We waited at the Amtrak depot to find out.

It turned out that BNSF #2099 wasn't the only locomotive in Vancouver with an unusual paint scheme that day. Parked in the engine terminal was Burlington Northern #7812, a 3,000-horsepower SD40-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in June 1977 as Colorado & Southern #942. Colorado & Southern was a subsidiary of Burlington Northern, and its locomotives were painted in Burlington Northern colors, but they had their own numbering system. These locomotives began to be renumbered into the Burlington Northern's main numbering system in December 1978, and this locomotive became Burlington Northern #7812.

Oddly, Burlington Northern #7812 wore the "billboard" lettering usually found on BN GP50s. It turns out that this locomotive was involved in an accident along with a BN GP50. Both were repaired and repainted by a contract shop, which painted them both with the GP50-style lettering.

Another westbound BNSF freight train came along bound for Portland. It was led by BNSF #1050, a 4,400-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in November 1996.

The trailing unit in this train's locomotive consist was Norfolk Southern #3183 a 3,000-horsepower SD40 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in April 1971 as Southern Railway #3183. This locomotive technically wears the GSF reporting marks of the NS subsidiary Georgia & Southern Florida Railway.

A southbound Union Pacific freight train passed through, led by Union Pacific #9457, a 4,135-horsepower Dash 8-41CW that was built by General Electric in October 1991 as a Dash 8-40CW. It was redesignated as a Dash 8-41CW in September 1993.

The next train to arrive was Amtrak's northbound Coast Starlight.

The Coast Starlight was led by Amtrak #808, a 4,000-horsepower Dash 8-40BP (or B40-8P) that was built by General Electric in May 1993.

Following the Coast Starlight was a northbound Union Pacific freight train, led by Union Pacific #9736 is a 4,380-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in August 1994.

We saw BNSF #2099 get underway and head north, so we got into the car and hurried to the grade crossing at 39th Street.

This was a great opportunity for more pictures of this unique unit as is slowly passed by with its freight train.

Even some relatively close-up detail pictures were possible.

The low afternoon sun really lit up the orange paint and yellow striping.

While we waited for BNSF #2099's northbound train to clear the crossing, a southbound freight train came along, led by Burlington Northern #2889, a GP39M that was originally built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in February 1964 as Southern Pacific GP35 #6551. It was retired by Southern Pacific on November 15, 1990, and sold to Morrison-Knudsen on April 1, 1991, where it was rebuilt as BN GP39M #2889 and completed on August 20, 1991.

After the freight trains cleared the 39th Street grade crossing, we raced to Kalama, Washington, for another chance to photograph BNSF #2099. While we waited on the Oak Street Overpass, a southbound BNSF freight train came through, led by a Burlington Northern SD40-2, whose number I can't make out due to the speed of the train and the low light.

BNSF #2099 arrived with its northbound freight train, speeding through Kalama.

The train was going so fast that in this picture, only the front of the locomotive is in focus.

Between the setting sun and the fact that we were almost home, we gave up the chase here.

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.