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Hi everyone,
Last month offered few good days to get out, and when I did, I did not get the quantity of photos I hoped for. Today I went out not so much with the goal of getting 5 rosters as to simply research light angles at the usual spots during my lunch hour now that Daylight Savings Time is over. With a considerable amount of luck, in about 35 minutes, I was able to do what I couldn't in several hours on perhaps three days last month! I felt it was worth the trip just to get the first catch, SD40-2 #6972. This is one of 40 former CN SD40's rebuilt to SD40-2 specs for BNSF in 1999 that were numbered 7300-7339 until around 2007 when most were renumbered into the 6961-6999 series to make room for more new GE ES44DC's. When they were 7300's they were somewhat rare, but often would be used as lead units and it only took me a few months to get photos of a couple. Since being renumbered, they have been elusive and seldom leading so I think this is the first time I've managed to get a proper roster of one. Further, it appears BNSF is gathering this series of units in Saginaw, TX for storage since I saw more than 10 of them today. Only got a photo of this one. Also noteworthy among today's catch is ES44AC #6425, one of the new 2009 deliveries for BNSF. If this had been a weekend, I'd have chased this one down with hopes of nabbing a telephoto of builder data, but I'll settle for what I have. Based on the overall cleanliness but a little dust on the trucks and snowplow I'm guessing this was built in September 2009, though August and October could be possible. Enjoy! |
