In todays video, we look all around BNSF's Topeka locomotive shops and yard, as well as giant locomotive storage lines, where we see some of the rarest things BNSF has to offer!
You also made a mistake on BNSF 5658. You called it a Dash-9. It's actually an AC4400CW. BNSF appears to have been repainted back in 1996 or 1997. It was painted into the Warbonnet paint that was to be used for intermodal trains. At the time, SD75Ms were being delivered in the same scheme. It would have been the same time as the Dash-9 1000 series in the Heritage I. The Warbonnet Dash-9s and the SD85Is had the smaller BNSF on the long hood. BNSF 2810 is a GP39M. I believe that means it was rebuilt by Morrison-Knudsen. I know those with E were rebuilt by EMD. V were rebuilt by VMV. All three were rebuilt from GP30s and GP35s for the BN in the 80s and early 90s. The interesting thing is the unit does show GP39-2. I wonder if it has been rebuilt with more current electronics.
You're not going to believe what those orange and white BNSF cars are for. At least the tank cars. I'm not sure what they're using the flat cars are for. They could be used to transport parts for the equipment. BNSF is experimenting with dual fuel using SD70ACes and ES44s. The Santa Fe rotary snow plow is the only one Santa Fe had. It should be preserved. It pretty much stays in Topeka, but it has been used when the BN plows were not enough.
The rotary you saw was originally built in 1892. It was later rebuilt with new diesel-electric guts and a new body in late 1959, the body coming from ATSF 4-8-4 #3769’s tender. It was operable up until 1997. Still technically not retired, just stored OOS.
From what I've heard, rotary snow ploughs are one of those railcars that you don't ever need until you suddenly really need them. BNSF may even just be keeping it as a Karma charm. As soon as they retire it, their mountain passes will get covered with 15feet of snow and ice
This is the greatest collection of stored equipment I've ever seen! One of the reasons as to why BNSF is my favorite class 1 is due to its incredibly diverse roster, with many engines still in their original paint to this day, and this video more than proves my point.
Same here! Topeka is an all out foam fest, lol. I also like BNSF for their locomotive diversity and fallen flags… they have some much rare stuff that just can’t be found on any other railroad.
5:35 The tank cars there are from BNSF's trials of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a fuel for locomotives, around 2013. They'd run a pair of locomotives with one of these tanks as a fuel tender between them. Two versions: the ordinary tank, and a tank carried on a converted well car. Florida East Coast run a similar system today.
Very good. I worked for Santa Fe 1967-1971. Went through their electrical apprenticeship program. That building you showed with the Santa Fe logo used to be called the Motive Power Building. That is where the apprenticeship schools where. There was a big lay off in 1971 and I never was called back but continued as an electrician and retired in 2013. Your video brought back a lot of memories. Thank you.
Wow, what was it like working for the Santa Fe? Do you think they treated their employees fairly, or saw them as just a number or statistic like a lot of todays big railroad do? Also, thanks for the information about the various uses for the buildings! You're welcome, I'm glad I could provide some good nostalgia.
Toe-Pea-Ka, KS. We stayed there many years on the way up to Vacation in the Colorado Rockies. Holiday Inn right along I-70. Vacations out West were Great. 🙏
5:46, those are experimental LNG fuel cars. BNSF has been experimenting with LNG fueled locomotives off and on since 2013, similar to what BN did back in the 90s. UP, CN, CNW, NS, FEC, and CP have all experimented with said practice. Not too sure about KCS, but their Mexican subsidiary may have done it at some point.
Years ago I helped put the Santa Fe plow in service at the Argentine Shop in KC. We were getting it ready to run east toward chicago after an unusually heavy winter storm. Normally kept at Albuquerque, the plow was a Santa Fe shop build. It was a Leslie plow fitted to a retired 6 axle steam locomotive tender from a northern 4-8-4. The cab was fabricated in house. The Leslie plow was powered by 4 d c traction motors. A trailing Jeep main Gen was electrically coupled to the plow motors for power. Additional pusher locomotives were mu’d to the plow for propulsion. A steam generator provided steam for heat and the flangers.
More than likely, 195 is being rebuilt, as BNSF is working on rebuilding all of the standard cab GP60s and repainting them into H4. Also another slight correction, 5658 is an AC4400CW, not a Dash 9.
I hope its being rebuilt, its still perfectly usable as far as I'm concerned. My bad, I didn't know BNSF even used AC4400's. Thanks for letting me know.
All the Standard cab GP60s are getting mini rebuilds at Topeka, not sure what they're doing besides body work and inward facing cameras. Then they get sent to Mid America Car in KC for paint.
@@Southern_Plains_Railfanthey do, but they're actually pretty rare as BNSF purchased only a few units between 2000 and 2001, most of them still wearing their as delivered Heritage 2 scheme.
@@Southern_Plains_RailfanIf you aren't sure if a BNSF Locomotive is a Dash 9 or an AC4400CW, look at the number. If the number is within 5600-5717, it's an AC4400CW. And, if you see what seems like a Dash 9 on coal service, it most likely isn't. BNSF Prefers Alternating Current over Direct Current when it comes to coal service.
This video actually made me a bit frustrated, because I went on a trip to Kansas and stopped at a town just a few minutes away from Topeka. However, I didn't know about the engine shops, and I missed out. Nice catches though!
Might be wrong about this but at 5:56 I’m pretty sure those a BN/BNSF Natural gas cars used to power a few locomotives that where tested for natural gas!
2:44 539 (another B40-8W) operates near me in a similar condition 3:08 There’s one of these in BN that operates near me as well, but I haven’t seen it yet. 3:28 speaking of near me lol 4:47 there’s 2 BN cabooses at my local BNSF Yard (Gibson Yard), I’ve only ever seen one in use, on the end of the transfer run to the UP Yard in Council Bluffs. Locomotives always lead across the Missouri River while the caboose leads from the BNSF Yard to downtown and vice versa. They still put on EIT Devices lol One caboose has the words “Wymore Local” on the sides, it’s numbered 12594
Living in Springfield, Missouri, I was glad to see that old Frisco loco. Sadly it looks like one of the early travesties of the Burlington Northern/Frisco merger where Burlington Northern had originally repainted it green. Here in Springfield so much of our Frisco history has now been lost. BNSF just a few years ago finished tearing down the west side shops that the Frisco had built near the turn of the 20th century. I did see in the middle of the night once about 3 years ago a Frisco coal hopper mixed in with a long train. It was the old silver car with Frisco on the side in black. Wished I'd gotten a photo of it, but I was driving, and the train was passing overhead, while I went under the bridge. I did see that war bonnet loco last year come through town though. That was a sight. Wish they'd freshen up the paint on it though. I also wish that BNSF would paint some locos with the Frisco colors too just like they've kept some Burlington Northern and some Santa Fe colors.
They should have left the warbonnet super fleet paint scheme on BNSF 600 AC44C4M. Same goes for the BN SD60, SD70 MAC executive and the remaining warbonnets. Repaint them back into their livery and have a real heritage fleet kinda like UP or NS heritage fleet locomotives
My boyfriend and I chase trains. And he spottered a yellow kaboose just sitting there. He was geeked up. When we came back at a later date, it was gone. It was sad when he explained how rare they are. Thank you.
I may be mistaken but werent the two locomotives in the wreck in another wreck? Or does my socal self recognize 5658 from serving as a Metrolink cabcar while they were deciding what to do with the Rotem cars
@@Southern_Plains_Railfan Beaumont runs a sd60 cascade green with a bluebonnet geep40 I think it is every single time I’ve driven through there it’s been running. Galveston had the bnsf dead yard with hundreds of fallen flags and Houston’s port I see models that are extremely rare. Only other place in Texas I’ve seen with that many fallen flags would be like the panhandle. Texline has some bluebonnets up there too. In port Arthur they have 1 of the 2 remaining kcs grey ghosts sd50’s still existing last time I checked
@@Southern_Plains_Railfan I live close to the watco austin railroads line and they have a soo line sd50 and a couple leased tunnel motors. Any place in central or south Texas I know really well I just don’t know the timetables
@Southern Plains Railfan BNSF have very little of them and are a rare sight to see. Sad to see that one is wrecked, hope they do fix it or even rebuild it into a C4M.
2:07 those old switcher locomotives like the green BN unit pictured are one of the locomotives I remember most from childhood. They use to switch up and down the tracks parallel to the neighborhood I lived. The sound they made when pushed really hard was nothing short of awesome.
As of a couple years ago, BNSF still had a few active Dash 8-40s with an upgraded wide nose safety cab and updated paint jobs. Though, I haven't seen one here in Chicago in a while.
More like 1989-2023. The good news is that she's probably getting rebuilt and will continue to serve with BNSF for a good long while. She just won't be a bluebonnet anymore.
Amazing. The Orange and white “tank” cars are for LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) I’m assuming the well cars will be for the same, being Florida East Coast Railroad runs them like that
@@Southern_Plains_Railfan Your welcome. Actually Since the 1980’s they have been testing LNG. Burlington Northern used SD40-2’s, painted in all white with Cascade Green lettering. Most if not all Class 1 Railroads have tested LNG.
@@ReadingAreaRailfan Oh I see it now, for some reason I saw it as part of the horn. That’s super interesting, I’ve never seen anything like that. Maybe the M-bell broke and BNSF just didn’t care enough to remove it.
Yes, it’ll say in service m, but it probably won’t be a bluebonnet for much longer. I actually saw it just yesterday in Topeka, not much progress has been made with it.
I just hope CSX continues to use them. I’ve heard CSX’s B40-8’s don’t really have a future with the railroad because they need so much maintenance due to their age. Also, what’s the MEC?
Awesome stuff! These locomotives are all awesome to see, especially 570! And I also want to recommend a railfanning spot; The next time you take a long-distance railfanning adventure, you should go to lincoln, Nebraska. Lincoln receives over 100 Trains a day, and almost half of them coal trains! There is even a spot right outside of Hobson Yard, and you can see up to 5 an hour! (Also I think BNSF 600 is a C4M, not a C6M)
Thank you! Yeah, 570 is definitely a highlight of the trip. Wow, I didn't know Lincoln had so many trains, I'll try to check it out someday, but I can't make any promises. Thank you for the recommendation, though.
That’s a bit tricky. My intro must be 10 seconds long or less, and I don’t have much wiggle room with the clips in it. But, if I ever remake my intro, I’ll keep your idea in mind.
It's a pity about 1/2 of your information was incorrect. You should have asked more questions of the folks that work there. You also failed to show the executive business car fleet.😢
I’m sorry, what did I say wrong? I wanted to get photos of the executive cars, but they were blocked by other equipment, and there weren’t any employees around for me to ask questions.
@@Southern_Plains_Railfan We are where they send major overhaul units. The ones missing the engine have them pulled and replaced with newly rebuilt engines. That old blue and gold GP came out of wreck repair and awaiting overhaul completion. The old switch engines are still used to move motors around the facility.
Awesome video! I was on the southwest chief and our train was so behind that we got to go through topeka in thr middle of the day and we went right through the yard and followed the deadline for a good while.
Cool video! You should do a video on the santa Fe 5000 :) I think I've seen some of the yellow engines here in Amarillo from time to time. We have a lot of old ATSF symbology floating around here too
The 195 will get repainted. Anytime they do that much sheet metal work, it goes to paint. When it does is another story. I used to work for Mid-America Car and have blasted and repainted a ton of locomotives from BNSF.
Like I said in the Short you made about this place it’s a shame to see these vintage ATSF, BN and BNSF pieces of equipment being pretty much left to rot. That BN SW1200 is I’m pretty sure one of only a handful still owned by a Class 1 and even fewer in Original paint. Side note but CN still has an SW1200 in service in Hamilton Ontario! That’s also the city that I live in! And have seen it many times!
I GOT TO DO SOME MAJOR EMERGENCY REPAIR WORK ON THE SNOW BLOWER AT ARGENTINE SHOP WINTER OF 87/88? WHEN BEING USED THE THE ATTENDANT, UNFAMILIAR WITH IT DID NOT FILL THE LUBRICATOR PUMP FOR THE LINESHAFT BEARINGS FOR THE TRACTION MOTOR SUPPORT BEARINGS! I DROPPED THE GEARCASES AND TRACTION MOTOR SUPPORT CAPS AND ROLLED OUT THE DEFECTIVE BRASS BEARINGS! THE NEXT TWO SHIFTS REPLACED THE NEW BEARINGS AND GEAR CASES! I CAME IN THE NEXT EVENING AND GOT TO FINISH THE SMALL STUFF AND MOTOR THE IMPELLER WHEEL FOR A SHOP RUNNING TEST. AS WE HAD A LOT OF SNOW THAT YEAR, IT WAS PUT TO WORK QUITE QUICKLY! KEEP THEM ROLLING BROTHERS!! 👍👍
8:26 NOOOOO PLEASE DON'T SCRAP IT NOOOAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAHHHHHFFGZD AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀ I HAVE A BLUEBONNET TRAIN THEY CANNOT BE SCRAP
Lot of interesting stuff to look at! You already know my thoughts about that standard cab Dash 8 and rotary snowplow, a short line and museum is where they belong. Hopefully not everything on that deadline gets scrapped. By the way, 600 is an AC44C4M, not C6M. While NS’ rebuilds are C6Ms. Some tend to get that wrong, BNSF 700 was also repainted, just not rebuilt.
I think a good portion of stuff on that deadline will probably be sold to smaller railroads or locomotive leasing companies, since most of the locomotives are probably still in useable condition. My bad, I didn't even know BNSF used AC44C4M's.
Amazing video. Enjoyed watching. A buddy and I went there back in Nov of 2016 for a work trip he had and we stopped here. We ended up driving down the road and videoing which I have yet to produce plus back then we didn't have a drone of any kind. Have a great rest of your Friday.(steve)
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed! I bet there was even more amazing power back then, like six axle dash-8's and SD75M's. Dang, a drone would be awesome to have, especially on a trip like this where there's a lot of inaccessible stuff. You have a great Friday as well!
I live near the UP Roseville Yard, in California. They have 1 or 2 Rotary Snow Plows here still, but only use them when there is heavy snow fall up in the Rockies, which isn't very often. And FYI, I sometimes see BNSF trains going through the area, but not often. I think they own the tracks along Highway 99, west of Roseville, but not sure.
0:45 My son actually recorded that locomotive coming through Hutchinson a few days ago. It was trailing second of three on a manifest. However, it had BNSF H3 paint. The paint looked very fresh too!
My father maintained the electric on the snow plow for decades. They would run it out to Raton pass when it snowed. I would not be surprised if it still works.
5:46 Correct me if I am incorrect, but I believe these are special fuel tenders. I remember the Florida East Coast has been utilizing fuel tenders where the fuel barrel sits in a 57ft intermodal well car, so my best guess if that these are fuel tenders based on their looks
Ngl if you're looking at a Dash 9 and An AC44 from the conductor's you can tell them apart pretty easily of course the box on the AC44 is about 2 to 3 times the size of the one on the Dash 9.