Eastern Railroad Discussion > SP Relics on the Meridian and Bigbee

9/8/2022

"SP Lives in Mississippi"

I'm guilty of not taking photos of the action on the Meridian and Bigbee like I should, but when the SD45's are out and about, I make it a point to see them. Let's have a brief walk down memory lane with this duo, shall we?

BPRR 462 was originally built at Southern Pacific (SP) 8862 in February 1967. The unit toiled away on iconic routes such as Donner Pass and the like for many years. In the 1980's, 8862 entered SP's GRIP Rebuild program and emerged as SP 7496. In the late 90's after the UP Merger with SP, 7496 was sold to G&W and served on the Huron Central, Illinois Midland, Portland and Western, Buffalo and Pittsburgh, Georgia Central, and now the Meridian and Bigbee. An active life for 55 year old.

The second unit, BPRR 452 was built as SP 8824 in August 1966. Like its sister unit, 8824 went through the GRIP program and became SP 7561 and was painted in SP's iconic (to some) "Kodachrome" paint scheme of the failed SP/Santa Fe merger. The unit retained this scheme well into the 90's and was eventually sold to HATX. The unit was then sold to G&W and went to the Buffalo and Pittsburgh. After that it went to Georgia Central, and has finally landed on the Meridian and Bigbee. Again, an active career moving freight for being 56 years old.

Having always been a Southern Pacific fan, it's nice to see these brutes still moving freight. Granted, they have their quirks and their share of mechanical issues at times, but you simply can't beat the looks of an SD45.

Enjoy!
-Dylan

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Business must be good on the M&B. My last visit five or six years ago found nothing but a couple of 4 axles at the facility.
JB

3rdswitch Wrote:
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> Business must be good on the M&B. My last visit
> five or six years ago found nothing but a couple
> of 4 axles at the facility.
> JB

The majority of their roster now is 6 axles. It appears these and their SD40’s they’ve acquired perform better. Trains are longer now too. Of course they only run once per day now, unfortunately.

Posted from iPhone

Great lighting and nice looking units Dylan.