Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF's New "Snow Coaches"

This afternoon, BNSF's two new "Snow Coaches" left Topeka for the first time on a shakedown run behind the BNSF 4477.  These are now the BNSF 70 and 71, and each one of the ex-Santa Fe Hi-Level coaches is now paired up with an ex-ATSF baggage car-turned-HEP car. These cars are to roam the system to transport crews to/from trains where the normal crew vans can't access due to snow.

Thanks for looking,
- Jeff Carlson

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What does the inside look like?

Mike Root
Madras, OR

Nice Shots!

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com

The two baggage/HEP cars are now the BNSF 58 and 59.  Both are ex-ATSF/Amtrak 1200-series ACF cars that arrived in May, 2019.

Photos from their arrival can be seen here:
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4790898,4791375#msg-4791375

- Jeff Carlson

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Thanks!

- Jeff

RailFanAZ Wrote:
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> Nice Shots!

BNSF released a shot of the interior on one of their sites.  It's a pretty spacious coach area, with 2x2 seating throughout.

- Jeff

shortlineboss Wrote:
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> What does the inside look like?

The lack of diaphrams between the cars in the third image is somewhat unsettling.

MWPerkins

Posted from Android

That power car looks much better than the UP car.

Very slick.   But does a railroad need an entire coach to transport a couple of crews at a localized area under snow?    Maybe there's more to it than I realize, as far as operations go.
 

There is no need to cross between cars so diaphrams are unnecessary. It is not like there is a dining car in the train to go for a meal.





EMD2024 Wrote:
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> The lack of diaphrams between the cars in the
> third image is somewhat unsettling.
>
> MWPerkins
>
> Posted from Android

EMD2024 Wrote:
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> The lack of diaphrams between the cars in the
> third image is somewhat unsettling.

Why?  It simply appears that personnel are not intended to go from car to car.  I think what we'll see is that these are operated as two separate sets. 

Why not just buy a couple of existing private cars with generators on them?  Seems like a lot of trouble to drag around a high level and a separate baggage car with a generator to carry a few crews.  There are plenty of PVs for sale these days with Amtrak making is so hard to transport them.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Certainly looks more comfortable than  the converted cabooses the UP uses. Probably with enough seating to recrew an entire division....

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

Good point fbe. Forgot they would run separately. Just looks so odd with the gap between the cars.

MWPerkins

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/19 22:41 by EMD2024.

a take on the new snow cars.....
1. A crew can be a lot more than 2 people.  Suppose ur picking up an MOW crew. Or a flanger or spreader crew.   These crews can die on the law out in the mioddle of nowhere.
Last tiome i remember listeniong to the DS over tehachapi during a bad snow storm, the UP was pickup up crews from 3 trains, with just light power as the rescue train.  Maybe they went back to the time honored tradition of having a wooden bench in the cab so someone can sit in front of the electrical cabinet..
2. Overnighting crew members can have quite a lot of bags.  Its nice to have a place to throw your bags, and not have to ride with them in  the seat next to you.
Also suppose you are tranporting maintenance personal to fix a broken down train...nice to have a place for them to put all their stuff.
3. If you've just gotten off a train after sitting on it for hours, and your in the weather, by the time you get to the rescue train, you will be tired, sweaty, and possibly soaking wet or covered with snow.   Having an area just to brush off the snow, without having to do it in the aisle, or all over the chairs, is nice.
4. IDK if these cars have this, but certainly a place to change clothes would be really nice. (I guess a shower would be asking too much)
5.  Tables to do paperwork. Maybe  a company computer  Thats really helpful too.
Ive never seen these cars, and IDK what amenities they have, but there's certainly a lot u could put in a rescue train car that would be really helpful.
Im just saying. 

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Cheaper and more appropriate to use these than buys high dollar private cars. These guys are working, not going on vacation. Can you imagine what they would do just in normal travel to a private car?? Come on!

Haha!  Fortunately, I doubt that these will be running together anytime in regular operation, so they should be just fine.

- Jeff

EMD2024 Wrote:
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> The lack of diaphrams between the cars in the
> third image is somewhat unsettling.
>
> MWPerkins
>
> Posted from Android

I would wonder if the upkeep on older PVs would far exceed these newer cars.  Each PV might be different too.

seems like a smart move. you have enough space to have multiple crews onboard either traveling to the terminal or to a train.  If one of the passenger cars gets bad ordered you can connect a different one from the fleet and I presume these cars will mix with the other cars in the fleet for other purposes when there is no snow flying.