View allAll Photos Tagged SD40-3s
The train is about to cross McKinley County Route 19 after loading 3181 tons at the El Segundo mine, followed by a 31 mile journey through a patchwork of private ranch and Navajo tribal lands.
Canadian National train U719 gets rolling northward at Proctor Yard with limestone for Minorca behind a trio of BLE SD40-3s. This shot made a weekend trip to Minnesota worth it after getting skunked with clouds on the RCPE Saturday. Sunday on the range was also cloudier than forecasted but we lucked out with this shot for sure...
A westbound Canadian National freight crosses the Fraser River over Cisco Bridge at Cisco, British Columbia, on September 27, 2001. Powering the train is the interesting consist of EMD SD50F No. 5450 leading a trio of former CN SD40s now owned by Alstom, but still lettered GEC Alsthom Transport, and rebuilt into SD40-3s. CN’s Cisco Bridge is 247 meters (810 feet) long and 67 meters (220 feet) high, and also crosses over the parallel Canadian Pacific main line.
DM&IR 413 South crosses around DMIR 408 and into the arrival yard at Proctor. At the time of this photo in April 2005, CN had been running the Missabe for less than a year and there still weren't many visual or operational changes.
The DMIR 413 South was a Fairlane pellet load while the 408 was a Minntac load that will weigh into the yard on the West Scale Track. Back then Minntac trains had to weigh here at Proctor or Highland, but now they handle that at the plant. The Scale House is still intact at Proctor but no longer used.
CN/Missabe Pellet trains ran with two SD40-3s at this time both out of Two Harbors and Proctor. The SD-M and SD38 behind the 413 and 416 were picked up at Keenan. Back then, the Fairlane pellet trains still did these power moves as the MRF ran only twice per week, and there was no L567/568 yet.
The main of the original Norfolk Southern Ry is a twisty and hilly affair between Star and its terminus at Charlotte. Here an Oakboro-based crew heads for home behind a pair of SD40-3s.
A trio of BLE SD40-3s bask in a nice break in the cloud cover as they pull an empty limestone train into Duluth from Proctor Yard. The chase down Proctor Hill unfortunately didn't yield any sunny shots. But this was made up for later in the day.
Concluding my shots from six years ago today, CN 5425 leads the L593 out of Proctor Yard back on the evening of June 18, 2014. This train was delayed with power problems and finally departed with a single SD60 instead of the pair of IC SD40-3s it was supposed to. That worked out for me as by the time CN 5429 departed Proctor at 20:00, the sun had ducked down under the thick clouds that briefly moved in.
CN no longer runs the L593 MRF out of Proctor. The work at Keenan is currently done by L567/568 which still usually use these 5400-series SD60s between Proctor and I Falls.
All five of NSM’s “new” SD70ACe units (671-675) are in service, although suffering from various teething issues so SD40-3s have filled in as needed. Here 673 and 671 arrive at Silver Bay with the 5 AM train from Babbitt this past Saturday, August 29, 2020. With days getting shorter you can only get decent light on this train as it nears Silver Bay (between 0730 and 0800). 671 is former CSX 4833, 672=4839, 673=4838, 674=4848, 675=4832. The tailings train still uses SD40-3s as power but the ACe units are expected to eventually take over that assignment as well. These will look nice in fall color in a month or so.
Northshore Mining SD40-3s 662, 660, and 651 lead an eastbound taconite train at Isabella, MN on August 23, 2021.
The summer of 2009 was nearing its end when I shot this EJ&E pair of SD38-2s shoving a northbound up Steelton Hill. Didn't know it at the time, but time was running out for the Js in helper service too. EJE 669 and 665 shove under Becks Rd. on the morning of August 25, 2009.
By the end of October, CN decided to send most of the Js away as the plan at that time was to not regularly use helpers up Steelton Hill. Of course this plan did not last long, but the Js were never brought back with IC SD40-3s and CN SD60Fs the next helper power used.
Was great having 5-6 EJE SD38-2s around the Twin Ports from April to October 2009. A J or two survived running out of Proctor on the MRF into 2010.
Things are much different here now with CN using 3-packs of GEs in shover duty these days. Most trains need a push in 2018 up Steelton Hill, which is now double track. The Dash 9s they use now have much more horsepower, but these Js sounded much better.
As the sun begins to set in Ore Country, limestone train U715 (Proctor, MN - Mountain Iron, MN) departs Proctor Yard with a quad pack of CN SD40 variants. Leading the pack is CN 5244 (SD40-2W) along with two former IC SD40-3s sandwiching a SD40u, seen here passing the arrival of U716 that has a duo of C40-8s and a SD40-2W, as well as another ore set with a C40-8/SD40U/SD40T-3 sitting alone. This would be the last sunny shot as the chase is just about to begin up the CN Missabe Sub. Taken: 7-4-21
Last Mountain Railway makes it's way north in the last light of the day. The trio of shiny clean SD40-3s is seen just south of the village of Findlater Saskatchewan. The train originated at AGI Foods just north of Regina.
Northshore Mining SD40-3s 651 and 662 lead a westbound empty taconite train at Nelson Road in Toimi Lakes, MN on August 23, 2021.
A pair of CSX SD40-3s and a GEVO take a recrewed Q453 out of the siding at SE Dyer.
This location is where the South Florida Rail Corridor begins/ends and the CSX Auburndale Subdivision begins/ends.
A matched IC set of SD40-3s (ex-BN) are on a train of empties at Proctor. Freshly washed 212 (a spring Missabe tradition) works the E-lead with sister 215.
On this particular day, both this train and an earlier empty BNSF coal train loaded at the El Segundo Mine, which afforded this unique view, or at least one I hadn't seen on-line before. The other mine used, Lee Ranch Mine, is farther east on another branch of the subdivision.
The crew gets block authority from BNSF dispatcher DS-8, which provides an indicator the train is about to depart.
Both units, and the third not present, are reportedly former B&O SD40s, rebuilt into SD40-3s.
The daily BRC turn from Clearing to Commercial Avenue, the "South Chicago", rolls through Hayford Junction behind a matching duo of BRC SD40-3s: #560 and #561. Both engines are rebuilt former MoPac SD40s and are equipped with RCL for use on the Clearing hump. The regular power on the South Chicago, a pair of blue CEFX leasers, was out for maintenance, and the duo made a rare appearance on the train that week.
It’s just before sunset, while the clouds play nice with the sun, as Train U7198106 heads north with empty DMIR ore jennies for the Minntac mine with a trio of classic former DMIR Tunnel Motors. Now being classified as SD40-3s, DMIR 400/406/409 highball through the town of Saginaw, MN, on their trip to Mountain Iron, MN on the CN Missabe Sub. Taken: 10-6-22.
The Northern Woods were just at peak fall color, making anywhere there further north you went just absolutely poping with yellow maples, as seen here at the Highway 2 bridge. On Missabe home rails, with Missabe ore cars and tunnel motors….the only thing that could make this better was Missabe paint! But, I won’t complain about that.
The morning PRS crew takes a loaded limestone train up Proctor Hill. Two IC SD40-3s sandwich a pair of C40-8s making for an interesting consist.
Three DMIR SD40-3s in CN paint drag an empty taconite train over Proctor Hill as fall foliage starts to settle in. These engines were part of a batch of 20 SD40-3s rebuilt at the Missabe's Proctor shops from 18 ex-SP/SSW tunnel motors and 2 SD45-2s, fewer than half of which remain on the CN roster today. Proctor also rebuilt four tunnel motors for the B&LE (907-910).
A pair of ACWR SD40-3s shove a loaded grain train out of Aberdeen, NC headed for Mount Aire Farms in Candor.
One of the Missabe's two SD40-3s rebuilt in a SD45-2 body lifts limestone loads up the ramp to Collingwood.
Got to love the angle here on the edge of the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Some of Duluth's icons are visible in the view here including three DMIR SD40-3s in CN paint, DMIR ore jennies, St. Louis Bay, Blatnik Bridge, and Lake Superior. This is such a great angle for so many reasons. Here the crew of the afternoon dock job bring a short train of jennies to the start of the climb up Proctor Hill after dumping taconite.
The Yellow Maple’s are just about peak, this area was probably the most “peak” color there was the closer you got towards Duluth.
Train U7118107 eases down in full dynamics around the curve at Midway road just outside of CN’s Proctor Yard in Adolph, MN with a trio of CN repaint EMDs. The morning sun shines bright with the dark and eerie sky on two former IC SD40-3s (IC 6254/6261) while sandwiching a former BLE SD40T-3 (BLE 900) with a loaded pellet train from the Minntac mine in Mountain Iron, MN. The would come off of the CN Missabe Sub and head down the Scale Track here in Proctor, MN and the Noon R921 job would later bring the pellet loads down Proctor Hill for unloading at Dock 6 in Duluth, MN. Taken: 10-7-22
Not many people enjoy shooting the re paints of the Missabe Pool, as most people flock for the fallen flags such as the BLEs, ICs, and with the exception of the re paint DMIR Tunnel Motors but I’m one of the few that do. Some say this was the “worst” set running at the time but if two SD40s and a Tunnel Motor is the worst or boring set running around in 2022, then I must be at the right place right?
A loaded pellet train from Minntac arrives Proctor behind a trio of DMIR SD40-3s as a set of empties prepares to depart for the Range with another SD40-3 leading. At the top left is the Proctor shops where DMIR rebuilt the SD40-3s from mostly ex-SP/SSW tunnel motors. AFAIK, only about eight of them remain on the CN roster with about half of them present in this frame.
Three DM&IR tunnel motor SD40-3s (405, 408, 406, 404) lead a Minntac limestone train through Munger. Getting a quad set of these bodies together in 2022 is quite unusual.
Late peak fall foliage along Canadian National's Missabe Subdivision creates a kaleidoscope of color and a terrific background for three Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range SD40-3s 400, 406, and 409. The former Southern Pacific and Cotton Belt "Tunnel Motors" have CN Train U71381-09 (Unit train, Mountain Iron, Minn.–Proctor, Minn.) well in hand, advancing taconite pellets from U.S. Steel's MinnTac operation to the port at Duluth, Minn., where the product will be transloaded onto a ship for a trip across Lake Superior and elsewhere onto the Great Lakes.
An empty ore train heads through Adolph, Minnesota, shortly after departing Proctor Yard on June 10, 2016. The train is powered by Canadian National SD40s (rebuilt into SD40-3s) Nos. 6024 and 6006, along with B&LE “Tunnel Motor” SD40-3 903. Nice to see some older EMDs out on a Class I main line earning their keep!
DMIR 418 and 417 move a Minntac I/D pellet train south through Fairbanks, MM back on September 25, 2004. Evtac was shut down that fall so this was our train of the day, with not much moving on the Missabe. Was one of those great fall days in northern Minnesota (still waiting for one this year) and fun chase with Andy Cummings. This was technically a CN train by this time but still felt like a Missabe chase for us with 116 cars with two maroon SD40-3s.
A loaded pellet train from Minntac crosses the Cloquet River in Burnett, Minnesota behind a trio of 400-series SD40-3s. The bridge over the Cloquet is actually a pair of spans, built in 1906 and 1924, the latter of which was built to accommodate the northbound main and is now the only span in active service at this location.
The latest fallen flag trio to grace the former DMIR, this time being a trio of Illinois Central Deathstar SD40-3s, heads south along Center Line Rd south of Burnett, with fresh loads from UTAC at Fairlane.
A pair of Illinois Central painted EMD SD40-3s lead two other CN EMD's as they pull a stone train from Proctor to the Taconite plant at Minntac.
After hearing a static “408” on the scanner and seeing a lineup on the Minntac Sub, we sat just north of Wolf, MN on the Minntac Sub and waited for the train to appear.
Now on the Missabe Sub after coming off the Minntac Sub at Iron JCT, train U714 (Mountain Iron, MN - Proctor, MN) heads south at Iron Junction, MN with a quad of CN EMDs. Leading the pack is DMIR 408 (SD40T-3) with a CN SD40U (6013) and 2 IC SD40-3s (6252/6263) trailing, seen here about to duck under Highway 37 with their train of empty limestone. Taken: 9-27-21
ACWR train 100 arrives into NS's Charlotte Yard on a gorgeous Carolina afternoon. Three home road SD40-3s lead four SD40-2s and two MP15Es bound for forwarding to consignee Savage Rail. One of the four is painted in a very classy scheme to honor our country's veterans.
Another one from the fall of 15 years ago. DMIR 307 and 306 lead the northbound Steelton Switch over the LS&M after just crossing the Oliver Bridge into Minnesota on November 3, 2002.
Leaves were down from the trees by this early November date, but that did not deter me from chasing this Missabe Steelton Switch job on its round trip from Proctor to South Itasca, WI over the Interstate Branch. This was my final shot of the 307 & 306 pair after following them all day in both Minnesota and Wisconsin.
This particular Steelton Switch job had a full slate of work on this Sunday as they dumped ballast on Steelton Hill, worked the Ambridge tie plant, and interchanged center beams with UP.
This job usually ran on Wednesdays and Sundays out of Proctor and often used an 8000hp PRS set (2 SD40-3s, 1 SD38), but this day drew a pair of SDMs.
An empty pellet train heads north near Kelsey, Minnesota behind three repainted DMIR SD40-3s towards Minntac.
A trio of Quebec Gatineau SD40-3s are shoving up a steep grade through a cut in the Canadian Shield new Portneuf, Que., enroute to an Alcoa smelter on a rainy summer day in 2017. This is QGRY's Quebec City-Montreal train, operating as normal on an evening departure from Quebec City.
Two WC SD45s lead a southbound Minorca ore train past Fairlane on the Missabe Division back on Feb. 2, 2002. These Escanaba trains ran mostly with WC SD45s in 2002, but IC SD40-3s were starting to mix in. Glad to have this pair on this code blue day, as I would get my fill of IC SD40-3s on ore trains later in life.
Once this train leaves Superior for the trip on the former WC via Ladysmith and Rhinelander, the WC 7517 would probably have at least another unit added to the head end along with a manned pusher, to keep the fragile SSAM ore cars in one piece on the former Soo over to Esky.
As the colder and snowy weather of December rolls near, we used to be able to look to some E-Rails and all-rails to start rolling like this. No such luck as we approach 2017, as CN and BNSF just pile the pellets up around the Twin Ports during the coldest months.
CSX automotive train Q226 passes the westward CPL signals at Hansrote, WV on June 29, 2003, led by CEFX SD40-2 No. 3127. The 3127 started out life in Aug., 1966 as SP SD45 No. 7458. Us lovers of the SD45 carbody have been fortunate to see so many rebuilt as SD40-2s and SD40-3s, adding years to their life.
Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway SD40-3s 3048 and 3067 haul southbound train #262 (Akron, OH to Brewster, OH), passing Lake Andreadis on the Cleveland Sub at Richville, OH on September 13, 2016.
I would have never expected to see a quartet of ACWR SD40-3s on NS rails but alas, here we are. ACWR train 100 has just arrived into Norfolk Southern's Liddell Yard in Charlotte with an empty grain train for interchange to NS along with their regular mixed freight. Their train was well over 100 cars so an NS PC20 yard crew swapped out with the ACW crew and is seen pulling off the south yard lead at Liddell and is preparing to cross the CSX diamond at Graham and shove back into the yard to break the train down.
A super late Wheeling & Lake Erie 218 screams through Avella, Pennsylvania after just crossing the state line and on the home stretch to Rook yard in Pittsburgh, but the former FURX leader that is now patched for the WLE was well worth the wait, only about 6 of these units remain in active service on the roster as many of the fallen flag SD40s on the roster continue to be rebuilt to SD40-3s and subsequently repainted (8/4/22).
I would have enjoyed having a black-hulled ASC boat at the dock when this set of IC SD40-3s shoved past with cars for Minorca limestone loading. This nice matched pair has been on Minorca stone for a week or so. Now if they can remove those scrap ties...
Enough reminiscing about the extreme cold that isn't really my thing. Let's go back to warm sunshine on the Missabe's Iron Range Division in 2003. Was a beautiful May day, with pairs of clean maroon tunnel motors all day long.
Here the DM&IR standard I/D train of two SD40-3s have just weighed out and departed Highland, passing Lauren, MN on the gorgeous evening of May 31, 2003. DMIR 406 and 409 lead the 116 cars of Minntac pellets starting to head down the grade on their last leg, 13 miles from Two Harbors.
While we knew this was too good to last (the CN takeover would be announced five months in the future), I never would have predicted back then that these same two tunnel motors would last into 2019 still hauling Minnesota iron ore!
After switching the small yard in Midland, ACWR train 100 rolls westbound through the country between Midland and Mint Hill with four SD40-3s and 108 cars for Norfolk Southern's Liddell Yard in Charlotte.