Passenger Trains > Mist Opportunities

A hot, sweltering fog was blanketing Barstow, CA the morning I drove down to shoot the line of retired BNSF SDF40-2\'s. The dozen or so cowl units were lined up near the east end of the old yard next to the main line, easily photographable from a parallel road. The units showed plain evidence of hard use and little care. Filthy, faded, with disfiguring notches in their noses and patched numbers on their flanks, it was hard to imagine that these units were once passenger power. But then there was that big blanked-over
area at the rear of the carbody - the place
where the steam generators used to be.

These were once Amtrak SDP40F\'s, big 6-axle EMD\'s bought to replace second-hand E-units, but who instead found themselves banished from passenger trains due their tendency to derail on bad track at passenger speeds. Santa Fe picked up 18 of the units in 1984, and freight service prolonged their lives by 18 years.

That was all over now, though. Rendered surplus by the ever-growing ranks of General Electric Dash 9\'s, the last cowl was silenced in the dying months of 2001. BNSF officially retired the lot of them in May 2002. For the dozen units that ended their careers at Barstow, the next stop would be the scrapyard.

As I was shooting the string of doomed locomotives, I heard a rumble of GE diesels over my shoulder. Turning around, I saw the familiar low triangle of Genesis headlights looming out of the fog - the westbound Southwest Chief was coming. I had just enough time to mount the long lens and capture the image: current generation Amtrak power passing its dying predecessors, two generations removed.

Don\'t look so smug, 135. Your time will come, too...

---

great looking photo.

What a terrific picture! I would suppose you were startled by #3 suddenly coming out of the fog. I have seen nos. 3 and 4 in the Kansas City area several times, and each time they startled me, even though it was not foggy, since they were moving at a relatively high rate of speed, and the triangle of their headlights was very small. It seems to me the P42s need some additional lights, perhaps higher up on the car body, to give a better warning of their presence.

nice Evan, keep the slide scans coming! looks like cool Bay are fog to me but I know how those hot desert fogs can be.

Evan, great pic!

Sal Garcia
Pico Rivera, California

C\'mon Evan, just say it…i t \' s a l l c r a p n o w…

Two thumbs up in my book, and how late was 3 that morning anyway?

Great shot! Thanks for the post!

LX15840 wrote:

It seems to me the P42s need some
> additional lights, perhaps higher up on the car body, to give a
> better warning of their presence.

On the P40s, there were two white strobes on either side above the windshield. These flashed when the horn was blown (or perhaps continuously when the unit was in motion). I think they junked the strobes because of the reflection of light back into the cab windows. This is when alternating ditch lights came in to warn motorists of an approach.
I think you\'re right that additional lighting could help. They could put some low ditch lights around the plow, so that driver\'s could have a more head-on view of the train as long as it doesn\'t interfere with the plow\'s designed operation or the MUs. This would give a lower lighting warning to motorists.

wow.........gorgeous photo!!

<samreeves wrote, C\'mon Evan, just say it... it\'sallcrapnow...
<
Looks like "it\'sallcrapnow" has a letter missing.
Probably should read "it\'sallscrapnow".