Railroads short on Motive Power?

[bpetit]

Lately I've been seeing tons of foreign power BNSF, Citirail, and others on the CN line which is really really odd. I heard BNSF is the main one without motive power. What is causing the problem?

[BNSFdude]

Lately I've been seeing tons of foreign power BNSF, Citirail, and others on the CN line which is really really odd. I heard BNSF is the main one without motive power. What is causing the problem?

Oil traffic and the stupid decision to retire locomotives 2 years prior.

[arizonachris]

This Post could be combined with "awaken"s Topic. viewtopic.php?f=24&t=10754

[Ericmopar]

This Post could be combined with "awaken"s Topic. http://www.railworksamerica.com/forum/v ... 24&t=10754

What seems weird is that I've seen quite a bit of Norfolk Southern power along the BNSF Trans Con recently, but BNSF apparently has their own engines elsewhere...
I wonder if BNSF is really short of power, or if they leased too many units to other Railroads.

[BNSFdude]

This Post could be combined with "awaken"s Topic. http://www.railworksamerica.com/forum/v ... 24&t=10754

What seems weird is that I've seen quite a bit of Norfolk Southern power along the BNSF Trans Con recently, but BNSF apparently has their own engines elsewhere...
I wonder if BNSF is really short of power, or if they leased too many units to other Railroads.

The railroads came to an agreement that they'll keep existing power on unit trains (namely oil) as long as no defects appear along the way. That way the down time of the train is limited.

[BNSF650]

Here at tulsa every day we see NS,CN,KCS,UP and others at cherokee yard.

[BigBoyMoon]

If you're on the CN main down there, I see BNSF a lot too. I talked with a signal maintainer over the summer and she (yes, she) said that BNSF ran through here during the grain hauling season, because CN was low on power, and because BNSF wanted a cheaper and profitable way to get from point A to point B without using fuel on their tab

[NS9030]

NS is repaying HP hours to BNSF which is why you're seeing more NS than usual on the transcon. BNSF is also repaying HP hours to CSX which is why you're seeing NS and BNSF on CSX more too.

[bpetit]

For 2014 I've never seen so much foreign power here. The last couple of days I've seen Citirail, CSX and even a full BNSF consist. Also I learnt today that CN maybe be leasing 5 Citirail ES44ACs. CP also seems to be leasing some of there power as well.

[bnsf9580]

BNSF is so short right now, they have pulled out a bit of old power as well, just to keep up. Just last night I caught an almost perfect Santa Fe pair up in Oregon, Illinois (check the signature). I know the engineer of that train pretty well too, but this was BNSF 8290 SD75I and 938, C40-8W. He crawled east down the siding of Oregon with a super long freight train, running the dynamic breaks about as high as they go. He met a BNSF freight train headed west who took the main. The set up, as the dispatcher would see, is very much like my signature below actually, minus the train at Stratford. But yeah, plenty of old stuff prowling around if you're willing to wait for it. I've seen a butt load of SD70MAC's on the BNSF, a many are Executive. I feel like I'm more likely to see an Executive MAC as opposed to an H2 MAC. But yeah, whatever.

[bpetit]

Seen CP here yesterday. I think right now its a great melting pot of all Class 1 locomotives hauling freight regardless of who they are for.

[PolyesterMafia]

Here in the east, I've noticed a lot more older units on the rails than usual. Most common on NS are Gevos and Dash-9's, but lately a lot more SD40-2's - home and lease - and Dash 8's have been running through freights. The same for CSX. Foreign power is always on some kind of run-through agreement here, so that's nothing new.

[bpetit]

According to this article, BNSF seems to have just about everything that was stored in service.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/r ... ?1,3262412

[Merlin75]

It's a good time for railfans to get some photos then with these locos turning up all over the place.

[ErikGorbiHamilton]

up here at Auburn Wa, You can see a variety of railroads. Every once in a while a completely Foreign unit makes a appearance.

List of railroads seen in Auburn-Tacoma-Seattle:
KCS
NS
CSX
Chicago Belt Railway
Portland & Western
Providence & Worcester
MEC
UP
CP
CN
BCRAIL
IC
Ex Minnesota Mining Railroads : B&LE DM&IR
Conrail (EX)
ex D&H
NYS&W
As well as some EX BCOL cowl units in CN Paint with BCOL Reporting Marks