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IN THE BEGINNING: BURLINGTON NORTHERN
www.TrainsMag.com • June 2016
p. 40
DRAG FREIGHTS
New era for big trains
p. 22
Evolution of slow and long
p. 30
Red rocks
and Utah
railroading
p. 48
PLUS
A Burlington
Northern-painted
SD40-2 leads a
drag freight up
Mullan Pass, Mont.
p. 38
p. 62
Only at Olean
Pennsylvania hot spot
TECHNOLOGY: Bridge end blues
p. 18
BONUS
ONLINE
CONTENT
CODE PG. 4
Lens:
APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM at 112mm
Shutter:1/500
sec
Aperture:
f7.1 ISO
Setting:
1000
Photo: © William Beecher Jr., 2016.
All rights reserved.
CAPTURE THE RUSH OF THE RAILS
Following trains is a rush. That’s why railfan photographers need to carry the right lens for
capturing classic train photos. Since 1963, Sigma has been manufacturing high-quality
photographic products at its facility in Aizu, Japan. Today, Sigma is a top choice for railfans
around the world.
The
Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM
is perfect for when you’re out “running and
gunning,” as railfan photographer Wm Beecher Jr. likes to do. The Sigma lens has a fast f/2.8
aperture to capture brilliant photos with sharp contrast. Sigma’s autofocus makes it easy to track any subject, whether
it’s a pokey yard switcher or a high-speed Acela. And the weather won’t hold you hostage — you’ll still get great results
under less-than-ideal lighting conditions.
Beecher chose this lens for all of these reasons. He wanted to overcome the less than optimal conditions of a winter
day in Chicago. When he found the 99 on its maiden test run outbound from the city, he needed a lens that could
overcome the conditions. “When I arrived, I had little time to get in position. It was an easy choice — I grabbed the
fastest lens with the most flexibility in my bag,” he says. “The image stabilization negated the need for my tripod,
even under tough lighting conditions. I was confident I could get the shot I wanted. I knew I had it once the shot was
made — the 99’s new paint
pops
against the gloom of the city.”
Durability is another hallmark of the Sigma 70-200mm. Beecher is tough on his gear and believes the Sigma lens can
withstand serious punishment. “For me, the lens definitely passes the test,” he says. “This a fast, sharp and highly
versatile lens to keep handy so you can be off to your next stop ‘running and gunning.’”
A PRO’S BEST FRIEND
APO 70-200mm
F2.8 EX DG OS HSM
• Large aperture & optical stabilization
• FLD glass for superb apochromatic
performance
• Hypersonic motor for fast, silent autofocus
• Super multi-layer lens coating for improved
contrast
• Compatible with Sigma 1.4x and 2x
tele-converters
• 55 inches minimum focus distance
• Tripod collar, lens hood, carrying case
included
This lens is available in Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Sigma mounts. Sigma lenses are covered under the
Sigma Corp. of America 4-year limited warranty when purchased through a Sigma authorized dealer.
See our entire line-up at
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Follow us Twitter
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SIGMA Corporation of America | 15 Fleetwood Court |
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779, U.S.A. | Tel: (631) 585-1144
Online Content Code: TRN1606
Enter this code at:
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vol. 76, no. 6 news and features
june 2016
FEATURES
22
COVER STORY
>>
2-mile trains
trending
Class I railroads seek
to maximize operating
performance with
longer trains
Chase Gunnoe
30
Slow train coming!
The drag freight has always
been with us
John P. Hankey
38
T
RAINS
Presents
>>
Follow along and watch all
Only at Olean
This photo of six active
Montreal Locomotive Works
diesels could only be taken on
one North American railroad
Scott A. Hartley
the action in our growing
collection of new videos
40
The merger
that worked
Strong leaders and compatible
cultures helped Burlington
Northern avoid pitfalls
Rush Loving Jr.
48
Red rock rails
The Union Pacific’s Cane
Creek Sub traces an unlikely
route through a surreal
desert landscape
Ben Bachman
56
In My Own Words:
Spiking over
the switch
How a tower operation myth
played out on a cold night
Wendell Greer
Hot Spots Reader
Gallery
>>
Share your photos of select
train-watching spots, and check
out other reader’s shots too!
Photo by Michael S. Murray
<<
ON THE COVER
A Burlington Northern-painted
SD40-2 leads a drag freight up Mullan Pass as it meets another
at Austin, Mont., on Oct. 9, 2005.
Photo by Tom Danneman
NEWS
6
10
14
16
18
20
News & Photos
Don Phillips
Fred W. Frailey
Locomotive
Technology
Passenger
Locomotive rosters
>>
Subscribers can view and
download PDFs of the latest
locomotive roster data for North
America’s seven Class I
railroads and Amtrak
DEPARTMENTS
5
60
62
64
70
From the Editor
Preservation
Hot Spots
Ask
T
RAINS
Gallery
>>
Subscribers can access all
the latest news and updates to
stories daily on T
RAINS
News Wire
18
Technology: Bridge
end blues
22
New era for big trains
30
Evolution of slow
and long drag freights
38
Only at Olean
40
In the beginning:
Burlington Northern
48
Red rocks and Utah
62
Pennsylvania hot spot
>>
Follow
us on
T
R AINS
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FROM THE EDITOR
EDITOR
A RT DI RECTOR
PRODUCTION EDITOR
Jim Wrinn
Angela Pusztai-Pasternak
David Lassen
Steve Sweeney
Brian Schmidt
Scott Krall
Thomas G. Danneman
JIM WRINN
A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R
A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R
Big trains are a big deal
The resurgence of big freight trains (page 22) and the
history behind these monsters (page 30) remind me that
big trains have been around a long time. They’re an
intriguing part of strategy in today’s railroad business.
They make sense, but they can be trouble, too.
I came to know big trains in the 1970s
when Southern Railway ran unit coal trains
of 96 cars with mid-train power. At the time,
radio gear to control the mid-train units was
rare and expensive, and SR allocated it spar-
ingly. I learned more about it in the early
1980s when Norfolk Southern was in its in-
fancy. An afternoon fleet of three trains
rolled south out of Spencer Yard near Lin-
wood, N.C. First was No. 173, a big mer-
chandise train with cars for Sheffield, Ala.,
first and a unit ahead of the Birmingham,
Ala., cars. Next was hot piggybacker No.
219, and last was No. 169, which cleaned up
leftover tonnage but was still made up of 150
cars or more and required a unit in the mid-
dle in addition to three big SDs up front.
Minutes after the lead units went by on
Nos. 173 and 169, the mid-train helper
came screaming by, its turbocharged engine
racing full blast, 3,000 hp, doing its best to
shove and pull at the same time. I also re-
member giving a brakeman a ride back to
the front of his train after a defect detector
required a visual inspection of the last few
cars. The conductor was happy to get the lift,
and his dispatcher was pleasantly surprised
to get his track back sooner than later.
Today’s interest in big trains is a return to
these days, but with new twists. Distributed
power gear is better, and locomotives are
more powerful. Real life, however, is still
complicated. Not long ago I stood beside the
Wasatch grade in eastern Utah watching a
monster 250-car Union Pacific train work its
way up hill on its long trip from Pomona,
Calif., to North Platte, Neb. It took 45 min-
utes for tip to tail to pass, and a hot double-
stack train was stuck following closely be-
hind, eager to get around the slowpoke. I
figure the stack train did just that around
Evanston, Wyo., while the other guy plod-
ded along in classic big-train fashion.
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The return of the big train is here. A 250-car Union Pacific merchandise train from Pomona,
Calif., to North Platte, Neb., exerts itself near Wahsatch, Utah., in July 2013.
T
R A I NS
:
Jim Wrinn
www.TrainsMag.com
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