BNSF Locomotives

**d-usa** · 12-20-2015, 01:37 AM

I don't know if this is the right place to ask about this, but you guys always seem like a knowledgeable bunch.

As I'm driving down I-235 towards NW 23rd I've noticed that there just seem to always be a bunch of BNSF locomotives just sitting at the little rail-yard section there. Seems like some of them are sitting there for quite a while. Any idea what they are all doing here? Are we just in a good spot on their network to stage them here and send them out, are we doing maintenance here, or is there something else going on?

I was trying to remember if there have been any other times that I have seen all of the locomotives sitting there in the past, so it just has me curious.

**Snowman** · 12-20-2015, 01:46 AM

Originally Posted by d-usa

I don't know if this is the right place to ask about this, but you guys always seem like a knowledgeable bunch.

As I'm driving down I-235 towards NW 23rd I've noticed that there just seem to always be a bunch of BNSF locomotives just sitting at the little rail-yard section there. Seems like some of them are sitting there for quite a while. Any idea what they are all doing here? Are we just in a good spot on their network to stage them here and send them out, are we doing maintenance here, or is there something else going on?

I was trying to remember if there have been any other times that I have seen all of the locomotives sitting there in the past, so it just has me curious.

They probably shifted where they store units in the metro after selling the rail yard by Tinker and the old GM plant a few months ago

**dwellsokc** · 12-20-2015, 03:48 AM

I heard it was a used engine lot... They're trying to sell them. (BSNF is bad a salesmen, or no one's in the market... It looks like there are more rather than fewer engines every day.)

**rezman** · 12-20-2015, 09:43 AM

It's what they call a dead line. I've been sort of a train buff for years, and I stopped by there off of Santa Fe to get some photos, as this is kind of a rare site around Okc.

These are locomotives from all over the BNSF network. Manufactured by EMD and GE. While I don't know for sure, some could be in storage because they are not needed and are kept in reserve as they get replaced by newer units. The older 15-20 year old units that are in line, especially the red and silver War Bonnet units are probably being phased out and replaced with new modern units. As the Tier 4 emisson standards took placed in 2015, all class 1 railroads have made huge investments and changes to meet these, as well as efficiency standards. Older units are often traded in for new units, or go through rebuilding programs and go back into service for their original owner or go to a broker and are sold to other railroads.

I've noticed that as I sit at crossings here in town watching the trains go by, that many are led by new tier 4 or newer tier 3 power

**Urbanized** · 12-20-2015, 10:12 AM

There is probably quite a bit of railroad equipment sitting idle system-wide these days due to the price of oil. Rail shipments of crude were a huge boon for the industry for a while.

**rezman** · 12-20-2015, 10:41 AM

^^^ This too ^^^

Here's a link to BNSF locomotive roster.
http://www.thedieselshop.us/BNSF.HTML

**OKCisOK4me** · 12-20-2015, 01:55 PM

Pretty certain they're retired units. BNSF has added a ton of new engines lately.

**rezman** · 12-20-2015, 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by OKCisOK4me

Pretty certain they're retired units. BNSF has added a ton of new engines lately.

You're probably right. The red and silver War Bonnet engines were Santa Fe units that predate the 1996 BNSF merger. Those, and likely most of the others are being retired.

There was large batch ATSF units on order at the time of the merger that were painted in the red silver War Bonnet, but were lettered "BNSF" in big letters on the sides instead of "Santa Fe".

**d-usa** · 12-20-2015, 03:42 PM

Thanks for all the replies.

**baralheia** · 12-21-2015, 11:13 AM

I was under the impression that these units were LUGO - Laid Up Good Order. BNSF put these older, less efficient engines into storage because of the downturn in rail shipment volume. While they're LUGO, BNSF plans to rebuild at least some of these locos with AC traction motors and a fresh paint job. Granted, this isn't from any official information - this is what I understood from reading posts in the Sooner State Rails Facebook group.