Full Circle
In the depts of the Bensenville industrial district, MARC E9AM 91, still painted in its Burlington Northern "Hockey Stick" livery, sits in storage with a cut of retired Metra bi-level coaches in an industrial lead that splits off of the CPKC Northwest Bridge Subdivision behind Ace Metal Crafts Company. Even though this locomotive may look like a pile of vandalized rust now, MARC 91 was built nearby in the EMD LaGrange plant as CB&Q E8A 9973 in August 1953 as one of the many striking streamliners pumped out of the plant by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. The E8As powered passenger trains throughout the Burlington system until the Burlington Northern merger in 1970, and still served the BN and Amtrak on both freight and passenger service up into their rebuilds in the late 1970s by Morrison-Knudsen. CB&Q 9973, now BN 9973, was rebuilt by MK in May 1978 at their Boise shops into BN E9AM 9907, and operated on the then newly formed RTA commuter railroad, later Metra, along with the other E9AMs where they gained their fame running high-speed passenger trains on the Racetrack around the Chicago area in a flashy "Hockey Stick" livery with the iconic candy cane stripes on the nose. The E9AMs were finally retired in 1992 after a successful 4 decades of service, and were sent to Maryland to work on the MARC; a long ways from home rails. BN 9907 was renumbered to MARC 67, and worked around the MARC system up into the 1990s and early 2000s before getting replaced by newer up-to-date power. A few of the E9AMs, including the now renumbered MARC 91, ended up back in the Chicago area. Unfortunately, MARC 91 has since been completely gutted, and years of neglect has caused a horrible amount of corrosion to the body. Vandals have also damaged the locomotive throughout its years sitting in Bensenville. Although MARC 91 has miraculously made its way back to home territory, MARC 91's life has essentially came to an end sitting as a shell of its former self just a stone toss away from where it all began.
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CPKC Northwest Bridge Subdivision
Bensenville Industry Lead
Bensenville, Illinois, USA
May 23, 2025
Canon EOS 60D
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Full Circle
In the depts of the Bensenville industrial district, MARC E9AM 91, still painted in its Burlington Northern "Hockey Stick" livery, sits in storage with a cut of retired Metra bi-level coaches in an industrial lead that splits off of the CPKC Northwest Bridge Subdivision behind Ace Metal Crafts Company. Even though this locomotive may look like a pile of vandalized rust now, MARC 91 was built nearby in the EMD LaGrange plant as CB&Q E8A 9973 in August 1953 as one of the many striking streamliners pumped out of the plant by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. The E8As powered passenger trains throughout the Burlington system until the Burlington Northern merger in 1970, and still served the BN and Amtrak on both freight and passenger service up into their rebuilds in the late 1970s by Morrison-Knudsen. CB&Q 9973, now BN 9973, was rebuilt by MK in May 1978 at their Boise shops into BN E9AM 9907, and operated on the then newly formed RTA commuter railroad, later Metra, along with the other E9AMs where they gained their fame running high-speed passenger trains on the Racetrack around the Chicago area in a flashy "Hockey Stick" livery with the iconic candy cane stripes on the nose. The E9AMs were finally retired in 1992 after a successful 4 decades of service, and were sent to Maryland to work on the MARC; a long ways from home rails. BN 9907 was renumbered to MARC 67, and worked around the MARC system up into the 1990s and early 2000s before getting replaced by newer up-to-date power. A few of the E9AMs, including the now renumbered MARC 91, ended up back in the Chicago area. Unfortunately, MARC 91 has since been completely gutted, and years of neglect has caused a horrible amount of corrosion to the body. Vandals have also damaged the locomotive throughout its years sitting in Bensenville. Although MARC 91 has miraculously made its way back to home territory, MARC 91's life has essentially came to an end sitting as a shell of its former self just a stone toss away from where it all began.
...
CPKC Northwest Bridge Subdivision
Bensenville Industry Lead
Bensenville, Illinois, USA
May 23, 2025
Canon EOS 60D
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS