Railworks America

I saw a BNSF Unit Frac Sand train through Justin/Ponder, TX last week. BNSF #5808 was the lead locomotive. I was at a grade crossing so I heard the horn. Please excuse my ignorance in horn knowledge, but it almost sounded like a horn off of a IC SD70 or something. I also saw CN #2700 which had a little "IC" way under the cab side. It was one out of two DPUs. The locomotive also had four ditchlights. To me this was an odd mix of locomotives and I would like to know 1). What horn is used on IC "SD" locomotives and did BNSF #5808 have that kind of horn? 2). What is up with the "IC" on the CN unit and why did it have two pairs of ditchlights?

It could have been a P5 but I still would like to know what horn is used on IC's "SD" locomotives.

I'm not sure what you were seeing with the 4 ditchlights, the ex BCOL locomotives are the only units with double ditchlights on the CN roster. The IC sublettered C44-9W's were delivered a while after the CN's acquisition of the IC and have IC reporting marks because of some labor contract that I don't recall the specifics of. The P5 was pretty much the standard horn when it came to the IC, but I doubt the Dash 9's came with them since it was long after the merger. Horns get swapped around quite a bit on the CN, I've seen SD70M-2's, ES44DC's and C40-8M's with P5s, a C44-9WL with a P3, and even a C40-8 with a K5HL. It makes for some nice variety at least.

AlcoFan wrote:I'm not sure what you were seeing with the 4 ditchlights, the ex BCOL locomotives are the only units with double ditchlights on the CN roster. The IC sublettered C44-9W's were delivered a while after the CN's acquisition of the IC and have IC reporting marks because of some labor contract that I don't recall the specifics of. The P5 was pretty much the standard horn when it came to the IC, but I doubt the Dash 9's came with them since it was long after the merger. Horns get swapped around quite a bit on the CN, I've seen SD70M-2's, ES44DC's and C40-8M's with P5s, a C44-9WL with a P3, and even a C40-8 with a K5HL. It makes for some nice variety at least.

Okay thanks for letting me know. I have seen BCOL #4646 and the ditchlights are different on this locomotive. Picture a Dash 8-40CW's ditchlights (CNW or ATSF) and then picture a Dash 9-44CW. It looks something like that. (Combined)

I'm not sure what you're talking about, I would have to see a picture. Former BCOL locomotives are the only units equipped with double ditchlights, for better visability when it came to rock slides.

AlcoFan wrote:I'm not sure what you're talking about, I would have to see a picture. Former BCOL locomotives are the only units equipped with double ditchlights, for better visability when it came to rock slides.

Well after looking at my footage of the train plus multiple pictures online, I'm pretty sure I looked at something wrong. The train was going pretty fast and I think if there was a ditchlight somewhere on it, it wouldn't be where I thought it would be located anyway.

From the 'double ditch lights' I can only assume you are talking about this:

Or this:

ZekTheKid wrote:From the 'double ditch lights' I can only assume you are talking about this:

Or this:

I looked at my video in full high definition display and I can one hundred percent say that I looked at it wrong and that there is no "double ditchlights".

Come on guys give it a rest.

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