Western Railroad Discussion > The End - viewer discretion advised

The End of the Line with another drive by Midlothian Texas on Thursday 04/02/2026 BNSF Venus sub to see if any BNSF SD70MAC's were getting scrapped. These photos from my DJI Mavic 3 drone gave me the answer. Sad to see them go.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/26 15:25 by KB5WK.

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Conclusion

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How are the mighty fallen! 

With apologies to Col Kurtz...

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The iron that elementally constitutes a majority of the mass that made these locomotives was originally formed during the zenith of nuclear fusion in a long gone ancient star or stars. Change is constant. Ashes to ashes. We're all just stardust. Etc.

Hey, it's fun to imagine where some of the scrap metal that might have gone into making the steel for these locomotives might have come from previously. Perhaps another locomotive, like a NYC Niagara or a C&O Allegheny? Maybe some of the iron was part of the rail laid for the original B&O line, or the original transcontinental railroad? Perhaps it spent part of it's history as a '69 Chevelle Super Sport that was wrecked during a night of bad decisions? Perhaps some of it came from a battleship that fought in the Surigao Strait during the Battle of Leyte Gulf? (Or, perhaps it just came out of the ground in Minnesota or Michigan...nothing wrong with that either!)

Who knows what it will become next. (Hopefully not a Siemens Charger that a bunch of train nerds on the internet crap all over. Oh the humiliation.)

When these scrappers cut these units up do they perhaps offer any items to the public? Like, Number Boards from units being scrapped? Always wondered about that. I recall seeing an ex CR SD45 being cut up in the St Louis Area years back (Off the North end of the TRRA Madison Yard to be exact) and thought if they did, that would be rather interesting if one could buy one.  Anyone know?  Ben

Nothing like getting old and seeing what was once the hottest locomotives on rails at the scrap yard. Fortunately, the first SD70MAC, BN 9400, was preserved by the Illinois Railway Museum last year.

More information is available here: https://www.irm.org/player/bn9400/

they should contact them for some spare computers and ac traction electronics.

I notice the prime movers are taken out intact. Is there a secondary market for those such as stationary generators?

What makes not rebuilding these locomotives uneconomical?

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

broken_link Wrote:
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> Hey, it's fun to imagine where some of the scrap
> metal that might have gone into making the steel
> for these locomotives might have come from
> previously. Perhaps another locomotive, like a NYC
> Niagara or a C&O Allegheny? Maybe some of the iron
> was part of the rail laid for the original B&O
> line, or the original transcontinental railroad?
> Perhaps it spent part of it's history as a '69
> Chevelle Super Sport that was wrecked during a
> night of bad decisions? Perhaps some of it came
> from a battleship that fought in the Surigao
> Strait during the Battle of Leyte Gulf? (Or,
> perhaps it just came out of the ground in
> Minnesota or Michigan...nothing wrong with that
> either!)

Yes, or even how many rails here on TO have sat in those decapitated cabs on the ground in the last shot? Not quite the same view as up on the high iron, lol...

JG
 

ns2557 Wrote:
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> When these scrappers cut these units up do they
> perhaps offer any items to the public? Like,
> Number Boards from units being scrapped? Always
> wondered about that. I recall seeing an ex CR SD45
> being cut up in the St Louis Area years back (Off
> the North end of the TRRA Madison Yard to be
> exact) and thought if they did, that would be
> rather interesting if one could buy one.  Anyone
> know?  Ben

Excellent question! I once saw a cab and short hood stuffed and mounted in a yard in, I think, El Dorado, KS. Thought that was a fine idea and I even asked Erman (sp?) in KC what a cab and hood would cost, which turned out to be whatever it weighed at that days scrap price. Shipping logistics at the time ended that idea, but now, I see these photos and the thoughts are renewed. 

DD40 Wrote:
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> ns2557 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > When these scrappers cut these units up do they
> > perhaps offer any items to the public? Like,
> > Number Boards from units being scrapped? Always
> > wondered about that. I recall seeing an ex CR
> SD45
> > being cut up in the St Louis Area years back
> (Off
> > the North end of the TRRA Madison Yard to be
> > exact) and thought if they did, that would be
> > rather interesting if one could buy one. 
> Anyone
> > know?  Ben
>
> Excellent question! I once saw a cab and short
> hood stuffed and mounted in a yard in, I think, El
> Dorado, KS. Thought that was a fine idea and I
> even asked Erman (sp?) in KC what a cab and hood
> would cost, which turned out to be whatever it
> weighed at that days scrap price. Shipping
> logistics at the time ended that idea, but now, I
> see these photos and the thoughts are renewed. 
     Many many many years ago my godfather, the late Jack Whitmeyer, came across a torch jockey cutting
up an old steam engine at Kaiser Steel in Fontana, CA  He asked the guy if he could cut off a small
piece of the engine for him, which the torch man did. Just a few years before he passed away, Jack gave me that piece.
What was that piece? A builders plate off Tonapah & Tidewater #8.   Wag

KB5WK, thank you for the continued documentation.

The SD70MAC units were built from 1994 to 2000 so they put in 25ish years of hard service hauling coal. And for whatever reason they only rebuilt 21 of them into SD70MACe units. 

Does anyone know if they tried to sell them after the BNSF was finished with them?

Colorado Pacific Rio Grande has several ex-BNSF SD70MAC's and Alaska picked up a couple as well.

jgilmore Wrote:
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> broken_link Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hey, it's fun to imagine where some of the
> scrap
> > metal that might have gone into making the
> steel
> > for these locomotives might have come from
> > previously. Perhaps another locomotive, like a
> NYC
> > Niagara or a C&O Allegheny? Maybe some of the
> iron
> > was part of the rail laid for the original B&O
> > line, or the original transcontinental
> railroad?
> > Perhaps it spent part of it's history as a '69
> > Chevelle Super Sport that was wrecked during a
> > night of bad decisions? Perhaps some of it came
> > from a battleship that fought in the Surigao
> > Strait during the Battle of Leyte Gulf? (Or,
> > perhaps it just came out of the ground in
> > Minnesota or Michigan...nothing wrong with that
> > either!)
>
> Yes, or even how many rails here on TO have sat in
> those decapitated cabs on the ground in the last
> shot? Not quite the same view as up on the high
> iron, lol...
>
> JG
>  

I know I have! I can’t bring myself to looking through my old time books though 😢

Thanks for the interesting write up and photos. It makes me feel old, I can remember when I made my first visit to Berea OH in 1998, the first of what is more or less an annual pilgrimage across the big pond, seeing the 8887 being delivered brand new from Erie PA. Latterly I saw it in storage among the long lines at Donkey Creek WY and it sounds like they are finally starting to ship these to the scrapper. Despite being a foreigner I managed to see all but eight of these units in service, I have fond memories of matched sets of them on coal drags. even last month I saw 3 in service on coal and manifest trains at Rosenberg TX whilst nearby their sisters awaited their fate. I saw quite a bunch of them at Cleburne TX when i travelled south on train #421. on the 23rd of March

webmaster Wrote:
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> I notice the prime movers are taken out intact. Is
> there a secondary market for those such as
> stationary generators?
>
> What makes not rebuilding these locomotives
> uneconomical?

The 710 prime movers are rebuildable if the blocks are intact.  That was/is one of the beauties of EMD/Detroit Diesel 2-cycle prime mover/diesel engine design--sleeved cylinders, simple valve train, individual fuel injector units on each cylinder, etc.  I believe that new 710 prime movers are still being produced by EMD, but just for export use.  My guess on what makes the MAC not economically rebuildable is the electronics and associated controls--the SD70MACs electronics were pretty primitive by today's standards.  Because of the MAC's heavy coal service, I would imagine that the frames and bodies took a long and hard beating over the years.

If the frames were designed to exceed the knee point on the S-N curve, then they could, in theory, have an infinite MTBF. I'd guess the welds and heat affected zone would be a likely candidates for failure points, but even then they could be repairable.

WW Wrote:
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> Because of the MAC's heavy coal service, I would
> imagine that the frames and bodies took a long and
> hard beating over the years.

PHall Wrote:
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> Does anyone know if they tried to sell them after
> the BNSF was finished with them?

Well, they did sell them...to the highest bidder-in this case a recycling company.  Dozens of BNSF 4-axles locomotive have been sold to new owners to pull trains and switch cars.  There is nearly no demand for the SD70MACs.