Nostalgia & History > What in the heck!?!?

The state is Arizona, the railroad is BNSF. Yet, nothing lettered Santa Fe, BN nor BNSF in sight. Anybody remember what this was all about?
Photo taken in September of 1998.


Allen

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I think it was Bill and Melinda Gates train across the west

It was dubbed the "French Family Special" (and was a Gates charter) - came west on the UP, went to Barstow, turned the train, and sent it back east on BNSF with the UP unit as a pilot.

Bob

ATSF100WEST......Out

ATSF100WEST Wrote:

> ...sent it back east on BNSF....

Would this train have made a swing through the NW? One afternoon I spotted (from a distance) some kind of passenger train at Laurel, MT that had come in from the west over MRL, and looked like it was poised to go south down the Greybull/Casper mainline. I don't remember seeing any pilot unit, and I was unable to run home and grab a camera...

Lance



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/13 08:14 by santafe199.