View allAll Photos Tagged AC4400CWs
Two Southern Pacific GE AC4400CWs lead an eastbound coal train out of the Moffat Tunnel at East Portal, Colorado, on the colorful autumn morning of September 27, 2000.
After a major pre-winter snowstorm hit Colorado’s front range, it dawned clear on October 26, 1997. At the east switch of Rocky siding, an eastbound Union Pacific coal trainis led by Southern Pacific GE AC4400CWs as it drops downgrade toward Denver in the fresh snow.
An eastbound Southern Pacific coal train twists along the Arkansas River at Hecla Junction, Colorado, working over the former Rio Grande Tennessee Pass Route on September 4, 1995. At the time, SP’s GE AC4400CWs were new, and the railroad put them to good use over the steep grades of the pass.
A unit train of tank cars on a Canadian Pacific train crosses the Thompson River on Canadian National’s Ashcroft Subdivision at Lytton, British Columbia, on July 7, 2004. A trio of CP GE AC4400CWs provide locomotion for the westbound train—9602, 9816 and 9665.
Soo 6016 and 6036 head east across the Mississippi River on the Camden Bridge in Minneapolis in March 2001.
Not sure why an employee scrawled GE in the dirt of the 6016. Maybe they liked the beaver AC4400CWs that were becoming common on the former Soo, maybe not.
Southern Pacific’s KCOAF train pauses on top of scenic Tennessee Pass, on August 2, 1996. Two GE AC4400CWs from the Minturn helper pool are moving from the house track onto the point of the Kansas City to Oakland autorack train to help the road power with dynamic braking down the steep three percent western grade to Minturn at the bottom of the hill.
On the morning of July 31, 1996, a Southern Pacific coal train climbs through the Crater Loops at Crater, Colorado, on the former Rio Grande Craig Branch. Five General Electric AC4400CWs power the train, with two on the point, two mid-train, and one following up on the rear of the train. In this view, mid-train Nos. 332 and 256 are in the middle of the loops, while lone rear DPU No. 266 works below.
It's hard to believe it has been NINETEEN years since my first encounter with the Quebec Cartier Mining Railway M636s that wound up on the Western New York & Pennsylvania. They had a brief and frustrating tenure on the Susquehanna following the arrival of General-Electric AC4400CWs on the Cartier. An SU99/Q404 combo rattles the storefronts at Callicoon, New York on the former Erie Railroad, led by M636 41, which now calls home in nearby Scranton on the Delaware-Lackawanna. I had three chases of the Cartiers on the Erie east of Binghamton. Looking back on it, I wonder at times, why didn't I try harder at the time?
Southern Pacific's Trona, California to Skyline, Utah coal empty emerges from the Thistle Tunnels at 0800 hours on June 22, 1996. Leading the charge are SP AC4400CWs No. 298, 185, and 377 pulling 84 coal buckets along the Thistle Line Change. Most of the land below the train was briefly under the flood waters of "Thistle Lake" in 1983.
Brand new SP AC4400CWs No. 273 and 160 pull a 55 car 2DVROM through Nolan in Price Canyon on a sweltering July 24, 1995 afternoon in Utah. A two unit swing helper engine was cut in mid-train.
Four Southern Pacific AC4400CWs muscle a westbound UP coal train through the snow west of Pinecliffe, Colorado, on May 5, 2001.
Southern Pacific's Eugene, Oregon to Chicago, Illinois forest products train knocks down a clear indication at East Midvale, Utah on the D&RGW the afternoon of Sept. 10, 1995. The 89 car train is powered by new GE AC4400CWs No. 352 and 349.
A trio of brand new SD60Ms pull Union Pacific's Skyline to Intermountain Power coal train across Strawberry Canal in Santaquin, Utah the evening of Aug. 29, 1989. EMD SD60Ms and GE C40-8Ws were regular coal train power out of Provo until the GE AC4400CWs began to arrive in 1995.
Southern Pacific 112 leads an 86-car CHROM manifest freight through Riverton, Utah the morning of June 24, 1995.
Southern Pacific AC4400CWs No. 139, 366, and 375 have a coal load under control as it descends the grade between Soldier Summit and Gilluly, Utah the morning of Aug. 24, 1996. Three levels of track are visible from this perspective. The distance is about a mile as the crow flies, but more than four miles of track as the right of way twists and turns through a pair of horseshoe curves, while dropping 400 feet of elevation in the process.
Built in the mid 1990s, a pair of CSX GE AC4400CWs #64 and #73 still wearing their 'as delivered' YN2 paint scheme blast through the small town of Polkton, NC passing the old Seaboard Depot. It is becoming more and more uncommon to see sets of these motors especially on a hot intermodal train in 2023.
Southern Pacific's RODVM 22 pulls through the Red Narrows of Spanish Fork Canyon the morning of Dec. 23, 1995. The 97-car train is lead by SP AC4400CWs No. 115, 325, Rio Grande GP40 -2 No. 3105, and GP40 No. 3132.
During the final days of summer a dusting of snow graces the tall peaks surrounding the Bow River Valley as a pair of Canadian Pacific GE AC4400CWs lead an eastbound Canpotex potash train through Morant’s Curve east of Lake Louise, Alberta, on September 20, 2002.
An eastbound Southern Pacific coal train passes another laid up with locomotive issues on top of Soldier Summit, Utah, on September 7, 1995. Note sand on the rails in front of SP GE AC4400CW No. 317 left there when the train backed up its train in the clear. SP’s AC4400CWs were brand new at the time and had a few minor teething problems.
A westbound Canadian Pacific stack train crosses the bridge at Ottertail powered by a pair of GE AC4400CWs on a beautiful summer day in British Columbia on June 27, 2006.
A trio of Southern Pacific AC4400CWs pull an 84 car Intermountain Power to Skyline coal empty through Spanish Fork Canyon on Oct. 8, 1997. The dramatic background is courtesy of 10,689 ft. Loafer Mountain.
SP AC4400CWs No. 218, 100, and UP SD50 No. 5053 pull an 83 car coal empty through the horseshoe above Gilluly, Utah the morning of May 31, 1997. The cars were interchange received from the BNSF in Barstow, California and will load on UP's Pleasant Valley Subdivision at Skyline, Utah.
When I moved to Colorado in the mid-1990s, the Rio Grande had already acquired the Southern Pacific. At the time, mainline power over the Moffat Route was dominated by SP GE AC4400CWs of the 100-299 series and a smattering of Rio Grande units.
In this scene, SP 162 is in the siding at Leyden, Colorado, with eastbound coal loads meeting Amtrak No. 5, the westbound California Zephyr. Three BN business cars bring up the rear of the CZ. The 162 will remain in the siding a few minutes longer and meet a westbound train of empty coal hoppers. Photographed on May 6, 1996, at 10:52 a.m. by Joe McMillan.
UP ES44AC No. 7505 leads a trio of patched ex-Southern Pacific AC4400CWs in the former D&RGW yard in Helper, Utah on May 29, 2015.
Southern Pacific AC4400CWs No. 218, 100, and UP SD50 No. 5053 pull an 82-car Barstow, California to Skyline, Utah coal empty through the horseshoe timetable east of Gilluly, Utah the morning of May 31, 1997.
With a massive flock of Popcorn Cumulus clouds flying overhead, a westbound Canadian Pacific freight passes through Duplainville, Wisconsin early in the morning of November 8th, 2022.
Most of the CPs aging GE AC4400CWs that have not been rebuilt yet are looking pretty ragged these days, this type of view was an effort by me to try and make one of them still look somewhat presentable. ~~ A Jeff Hampton Photograph ©
CMQ 1006, one of two AC4400CWs on long term lease to the Central Maine & Quebec, leads the second, and a short train of thirty-seven cars over the trestle at Greenville Junction. An early Job 1 on this day, and a quick departure, combined with some killer autumn foliage, and the presence of plenty of friends up here chasing made this one of my favorite chases on the Moosehead. The logs on the headpin are going to the only customer on the Moosehead Sub, Pleasant River Lumber in Jackman, which receives a steady supply of logs, and in turn churns out finished lumber.
Colorado’s Minturn Yard is bustling with new Southern Pacific GE AC4400CWs on September 5, 1995. To the right on the main line, a helper set trailed by No. 143 returns from pushing tonnage up the 3% grades east (south) of town, while SP No. 280 leads three others on the point of an eastbound coal load waiting for the helpers to pass so it can head east to add two sets of manned helpers to the heavy train. Another AC4400CW helper set led by No. 276 (not in the picture yet) will be cut into the 105-car train 58 cars back, while a second helper set led by No. 200 will be cut in 15-cars from the rear. Ten scarlet and gray AC4400CWs and three crews will soon muscle the hulking train up to the top of Tennessee Pass. Today, Minturn Yard is empty, rusting and sad…
AC4400CWs No. 273 and 160 lead a 55-car DVROM through Price Canyon at Nolan, Utah on a toasty July 24, 1995 afternoon. A two-unit helper is cut in mid-train.
A 79-car Union Pacific MRONY freight fills Big 10 Curve nicely approaching Rocky, Colorado, on Valentine’s Day 2015 afternoon. Seven locomotives are up front, beginning with EMD SD70ACe No. 8559, followed by a pair of GE AC4400CWs—Canadian Pacific No. 9576 and UP 7036. Next up are two General Electric “Tier 4 compliant” ES44ACs—GECX Nos. 2024 and 2023 in vibrant solid blue. Rounding out the consist are a pair of EMD SD70ACes—UP Nos. 8668 and 8362. Seventy-nine cars later and on the upper part of the curve is lone DPU GE ES44AC No. 5309 on the rear.
This might be my favorite from my first of what I hope to be many more chases on CSXT's new former Pan Am Railways territory.
CSXT Selkirk to Rigby manifest M426 (formerly Pan Am Railways AYPO) has three old school AC4400CWs in the lead as they catch a dramatic sun hole amidst the shadows approaching the signal bridge at CPF307 at the east end of a 2 1/4 mile stretch of double track on the old Stony Brook Branch, now CSXT's (PAR's) Freight Main.
Westford, Massachusetts
Friday June 10, 2022
CP's Paynesville Sub. west of Minneapolis was an all EMD affair back for most of 1998. Here CP #575 works west through Hamel, MN behind Soo 6049 & 764, towards Glenwood on August 29, 1998. Another beautiful end of summer day that had me out chasing some Soo west from my hometown of Plymouth. By the end of that weekend I'd be moving back up to St. Cloud State for my senior year of college up on the BN.
Real change was coming to the Paynesville Sub. During the fall of 1998, 8500-series AC4400CWs were delivered bringing GEs to the Paynesville Sub. for the first time in a long time. Unfortunately, I guess they kind of caught on and stuck.
A pair of Southern Pacific AC4400CWs pull a KPAIC at West Plainview, Colorado at 7:25 a.m. on March 30, 1997.
After helping a coal train from Minturn Yard to Tennessee Pass, a pair of GE AC4400CWs head west, returning to Minturn, Colorado for another help on a crystal clear but frightfully cold March 29, 1997 afternoon.
Southern Pacific 332 leads a trio of new GE AC4400CWs on a Skyline, Utah to Trona, California coal train at Mapleton, Utah on Aug. 13, 1995.
Job-2 is seen heading south across East Outlet with a pair of CMQ AC4400CWs after the snow from the morning has slowed down.
CMQ Job-2
CEFX AC4400CW #1002
CMQ AC4400CW #1006
Union Pacific MDVRO heads west through Arvada, Colorado, on October 19, 2001. GE C41-8W No. 9465 leads a UP Dash 9, an AC4400CW and an EMD SD9043MAC. Rounding off the 8-locomotive consist are four more AC4400CWs—one Chicago & North Western and three from Southern Pacific. The downtown Denver skyline can be seen in the far background above the train.
Curving westbound through a tunnel in Black Canyon is a Canadian Pacific intermodal powered by two GE AC4400CWs. The train is traversing scenic Black Canyon west of Ashcroft, British Columbia, on the morning of June 25, 2006. Maybe with the reintroduction of CP’s “golden beavers” on groups of older, rebuilt AC4400CWs, we’ll once again get to see some clean(ish) power leading trains through the scenery for a while.
CPKC 645 rolls into Hastings for a crew change. UP 6379 has seen better days, but it is supposedly one of 5 patched SP AC4400CWs remaining on the UP.
Since I started going up to LS&I eight years ago, rumors persisted annually that the end was near for the remaining fleet of U30C and C30-7s which typically performed fill-in duties when business was up or a set of SACX4400Cws were down for maintenance.
With three additional AC4400CWs delivered a few months ago and two of the three in service now, this may be the year they see less backup service than normal.
A pair of SD40-2s leads the CP/BN Transfer, departing BNSF Northtown for Pig's Eye back in November 1999.
The Soo SD40-2s were harder to find on the road with CPs AC4400CWs assigned to St. Paul by 1999, but you could still find them on transfers like this.
KCSM AC4400CWs pull NS I24 over the Missouri River into St. Charles, MO. After clearing the bridge, the GEs will power West for a meet with NS 285 at Wentzville before continuing West after dark for Moberly & KC.
Rio Grande GP40-2s No. 3105, 3120, and 3122 have two SP AC4400CWs in tow as they pull a second section of the Roper - Provo turn, approaching the 106th South grade crossing in South Jordan, Utah the afternoon of Aug. 18, 1996. SP assigned a dozen or so DRGW 40s to work locals along the Wasatch Front that summer, a few months before the merger. After UP took control in September, the baby hot rods were quickly reassigned to work in Texas and California. Humbug!
A westbound Southern Pacific freight works up Tennessee Pass at scenic Keeldar, Colorado, on the afternoon of September 5, 1995. Two brand-new SP GE AC4400CWs—Nos. 340 and 345—power the train on this former Rio Grande main line over a lofty Continental Divide.
A westbound Southern Pacific freight follows the Arkansas River at Granite, Colorado, on September 5, 1995. Two brand-new SP GE AC4400CWs, Nos. 340 and 345, power the train on this scenic former Rio Grande Tennessee Pass route.
Exiting Tunnel 1 just east of Plainview, Colorado, is eastbound Union Pacific freight RODVM (Roper Yard in Salt Lake City to Denver Manifest) on October 22, 1997. Rio Grande’s first EMD SD40T-2 Tunnel Motor No. 5341, delivered in 1974, is on the lead, and getting assistance from a pair of GE AC4400CWs from SP and UP. Note that of the first dozen cars, ten are in matched pairs—not necessarily something a model railroader would want to see on one of their trains—but as they say, there’s a prototype for everything!
Southern Pacific AC4400CWs No. 273 and 160 lead a 55-car DVROM through 'the wiggle', west of Kyune, Utah on a hot July 24, 1995 afternoon. A two-unit manned helper is coupled mid-train.