loaded_baretable
Drano Lake, WA
BNSF 9687 emerges from the tunnel at Drano Lake with the G PPIVAW9 08M in tow, bound for the Port of Vancouver further west. I understand some people have very strong feelings about the executive/grinstein green scheme these units wear but I've always had a soft spot for them and I feel obligated to share some of my thoughts, maybe a bit of a backstory. I think the first time I ever saw a BN SD70MAC was in a Brian Solomon photography book as a young kid, and I always thought the unique colors and the lines of the paint scheme made it look classy and bold, especially on the older EMD widecab design with those teardrop windshields. By the time I was getting out to watch trains and film them on an iphone or a Canon powershot, it had become pretty difficult to spot these leading in my region, and it only got more rare over time as PTC became a requirement and many of them were laid up. I never got the opportunity to catch any sort of MAC leader in those years. The years after the pandemic yielded a bit of a renaissance for BNSF's MACs as traffic increased and some were returned to service, largely on coals from the PRB. One of these trains gave me my first opportunity to photograph an ex-BN SD70MAC leading, on a coal train from the North Antelope mine while I was on a trip to Chicago. Almost directly after this, however, BNSF placed all the SD70MACs back in storage, with the exception of a small handful in "intermediate" service or as switchers. With BNSF making some big changes to their locomotive fleet around this time, such as relegating older Dash 9s to RC switching and purchasing new Gevo heavies partially to displace the MACs from coal trains, it seemed like the remaining SD70MACs on the roster were on their death beds. Thanks to the BN's poor managerial decisions, however, the MACs live to see another day. In the last 2 years, BNSF has laid off several hundred mechanical employees systemwide, and it began catching up with them recently. With many of their road units in a state of disrepair, and their shops unable to make heavy repairs at a rapid enough rate to meet the system's demand for motive power, they've been returning older, previously laid-up power to service. When 2 power moves of 10 and 12 SD70MACs each were brought to Pasco, (3 of them not starting and being promptly rejected by Pasco mechanical forces), we thought at first that it was the typical pre-grain season power hoarding, the extent of BNSF's power shortage being unknown to us at the time. Despite the dire situation at BNSF, from a foamer's perspective it's cool to see these unique units roaming again, even if they are unreliable shitboxes at this point. I was pretty stoked to finally shoot one of these leading through my home stomping grounds almost immediately after their return to service, when just a few months ago, it seemed like they might have been done for. It remains to be seen whether this is the last hurrah for BNSF's SD70MAC fleet, with persistent rumors of a large order of new Gevos circulating.
Drano Lake, WA
BNSF 9687 emerges from the tunnel at Drano Lake with the G PPIVAW9 08M in tow, bound for the Port of Vancouver further west. I understand some people have very strong feelings about the executive/grinstein green scheme these units wear but I've always had a soft spot for them and I feel obligated to share some of my thoughts, maybe a bit of a backstory. I think the first time I ever saw a BN SD70MAC was in a Brian Solomon photography book as a young kid, and I always thought the unique colors and the lines of the paint scheme made it look classy and bold, especially on the older EMD widecab design with those teardrop windshields. By the time I was getting out to watch trains and film them on an iphone or a Canon powershot, it had become pretty difficult to spot these leading in my region, and it only got more rare over time as PTC became a requirement and many of them were laid up. I never got the opportunity to catch any sort of MAC leader in those years. The years after the pandemic yielded a bit of a renaissance for BNSF's MACs as traffic increased and some were returned to service, largely on coals from the PRB. One of these trains gave me my first opportunity to photograph an ex-BN SD70MAC leading, on a coal train from the North Antelope mine while I was on a trip to Chicago. Almost directly after this, however, BNSF placed all the SD70MACs back in storage, with the exception of a small handful in "intermediate" service or as switchers. With BNSF making some big changes to their locomotive fleet around this time, such as relegating older Dash 9s to RC switching and purchasing new Gevo heavies partially to displace the MACs from coal trains, it seemed like the remaining SD70MACs on the roster were on their death beds. Thanks to the BN's poor managerial decisions, however, the MACs live to see another day. In the last 2 years, BNSF has laid off several hundred mechanical employees systemwide, and it began catching up with them recently. With many of their road units in a state of disrepair, and their shops unable to make heavy repairs at a rapid enough rate to meet the system's demand for motive power, they've been returning older, previously laid-up power to service. When 2 power moves of 10 and 12 SD70MACs each were brought to Pasco, (3 of them not starting and being promptly rejected by Pasco mechanical forces), we thought at first that it was the typical pre-grain season power hoarding, the extent of BNSF's power shortage being unknown to us at the time. Despite the dire situation at BNSF, from a foamer's perspective it's cool to see these unique units roaming again, even if they are unreliable shitboxes at this point. I was pretty stoked to finally shoot one of these leading through my home stomping grounds almost immediately after their return to service, when just a few months ago, it seemed like they might have been done for. It remains to be seen whether this is the last hurrah for BNSF's SD70MAC fleet, with persistent rumors of a large order of new Gevos circulating.