Final run, Pacific Division F-unit, Auburn, WA 1981
Burlington Northern F7A 732 wears white flags for a somber occasion: the last run of a streamlined EMD "F-unit" locomotive on the railroad's Pacific Division. What began on predecessor Northern Pacific in 1941 is ending on July 29, 1979, as train #675, the Balmer-Centralia local, enters Auburn, Washington, where the train will pause as the 732 is removed and sent to the roundhouse for storage. The diesel shop at Auburn was built by for the first streamlined FT's, and since its opening the majority of locomotives assigned there for servicing have been the streamlined "F-units." To me, this photo sums up the BN of my teenage years: F-units and GP9's and lush green farm fields. Today, there's a triple-track CTC mainline here, the locomotives are far, far nevwer than the relics in this photograph, and mostof the land you see in this photo has been developed with warehouses.
Final run, Pacific Division F-unit, Auburn, WA 1981
Burlington Northern F7A 732 wears white flags for a somber occasion: the last run of a streamlined EMD "F-unit" locomotive on the railroad's Pacific Division. What began on predecessor Northern Pacific in 1941 is ending on July 29, 1979, as train #675, the Balmer-Centralia local, enters Auburn, Washington, where the train will pause as the 732 is removed and sent to the roundhouse for storage. The diesel shop at Auburn was built by for the first streamlined FT's, and since its opening the majority of locomotives assigned there for servicing have been the streamlined "F-units." To me, this photo sums up the BN of my teenage years: F-units and GP9's and lush green farm fields. Today, there's a triple-track CTC mainline here, the locomotives are far, far nevwer than the relics in this photograph, and mostof the land you see in this photo has been developed with warehouses.