Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF's Newest Geo Car, ex-Ringling Bros. Budd

BNSF's newest unmanned geo car emerged from the Topeka shops on 4/4/2019, and I thought that you all might enjoy some shots of it. The BNSF 92 had previously been one of the two Ringling Bros. circus cars that they purchased in 2017. This one had been the RBBX 41402, and earlier, the B&O 7103 "Kingfisher," a 16 Dupl Roomette-4 DBR sleeper.  After a break-in run as the U TOPTOP5 04Z, the train laid over on the east end of the Topeka yard. 4/5/2019

- Jeff Carlson

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One act ends and another one begins. 

Solar panels on the roof???

Sure enough!

- Jeff Carlson

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> Solar panels on the roof???

Where else would you put them?

BTW, they will eventually be on automobiles...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

MojaveBill Wrote:
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> Where else would you put them?

Sorry for my stupid comment bill, but I can't remember having seen a piece of railroad equipment with the entire roof covered with panels before.

Impressive looking car.  She looks brand new.   They do nice work there.   

I agree with CPR4000 that I've not seen a car with that many solar panels on it before.   Hopefully they are nice and sturdy to resist falling debris.

Yeah, I’ve seen them on the sides of ballast cars, but never the ENTIRE roof of a car before. Whatever works, I guess. This thing surely has plenty of electronics inside, and is always outside, so it’s not a terrible idea.

- Jeff

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> MojaveBill
> but I can't
> remember having seen a piece of railroad equipment
> with the entire roof covered with panels before.

Posted from iPhone

UP mobile lab car has them

Won't they need icicle breakers on the ends of the cars, to prevent damage to the solar panels??

Doubtful. Modern solar panels are pretty tough. The ones on my house are guaranteed against some pretty big hail.

Mike in CO 

Is that a former Santa Fe car coupled to it?

Regards,
Burlington John
 

yes

Yup. I’m pretty sure that it’s the “Santa Fe,” but it might be the “Topeka.” Honestly, I was more focused on the 92.

- Jeff

burlingtonjohn Wrote:
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> Is that a former Santa Fe car coupled to it?
>
> Regards,
> Burlington John
>  

Posted from iPhone

Nice photos Jeff.Any idea what plans BNSF have for the second car.
Regards,dK

The other car is either the “Santa Fe” or “Topeka.” It’s just one of the business cars, and as far as I know, it was just along for the ride.

- Jeff

DKay Wrote:
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> Nice photos Jeff.Any idea what plans BNSF have for
> the second car.
> Regards,dK

Posted from iPhone

For the record, here's a better, closer shot of the BNSF 92.  

- Jeff Carlson

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