These closely numbered locomotives had a similar history. 4529 was delivered in January 1959 as GP9 number
1760, builder's number 25050, rebuilt as GP9R at
Oelwein, with chopped nose hood, in September 1978 and retired by C&NW on 17th January 1991. After wreck damage, 4529 acquired the EMD hood from
rebuilt Baldwin AS-616M 1560, previously scrapped at Oelwein. Sold to VMV Enterprises, Paducah, Kentucky in February 1991. Now United States Army
USAX 4612.
4531 was delivered in August 1959 as number
1773, builder's number 25466, rebuilt at Oelwein with chopped nose hood in September 1978 and retired by C&NW on 17th January 1991, also sold to VMV in February 1991, becoming United States Army
USAX 4611. When built, parts were re-used from wrecked F7A 4093C, of April 1950, retired April 1959, which would likely include the Blomberg trucks.
While C&NW had sold the route from Rapid City to Winona to
DME in 1986, it retained trackage from
Crawford, Nebraska through Rapid City to
Colony, Wyoming, with the major traffic being
bentonite. There was a game play where C&NW was seeking to expand in the Wyoming coal traffic, where they already had interests in the state spanning as far west as Casper. Upon acquisition of C&NW by UP in 1995, there was further focus on coal, and the Colony Line was sold to DME, which was in turn acquired by Canadian Pacific in 2007. In 2014 Canadian Pacific sold the railroad west of Tracy, MN to the
Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad, a Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary.
Burlington Northern
U30C 5382 is seen smoking its way east through
Billings, Montana, on 21st June 1994. I had seen this and 5389 at
Laurel a few hours earlier. By this time 5382 was amongst the last twelve U30C's in traffic with BN. Builder's number 39941, completed in September 1974 - GE's did not have a history of lasting as long in traffic as EMD units.
This unit was reported retired by September 1995. It almost certainly has been scrapped soon after that period. Next numbered 5383
went into the hands of the Illinois Railway Museum.
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (ATSF) GP20u 3000, GP30 2738 and 2710 roll a train through
Flagstaff, Arizona in early March 1993.
2710 was another GP30 deivered to Santa Fe as 1210 in May 1962,
builder's number 27197, later renumbered 3210 in 1970, and rebuilt at San Bernardino to GP30u
in July 1980, becoming 2710. The number was changed to 2410 under merger with BNSF. In November 2011, the locomotive was sold to
LTEX,
seen stored in Ohio, potentially for breaking.
BN
C30-7s 5078 and 5053 lead SD40-2 units of BN & ATSF into
Edgemont, South Dakota, with coal empties for the Wyoming coal fields, in June 1990. The 242 unit
BN C30-7 fleet (5000-5141, 5500-5599) was allocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, dedicated to coal hauling and heavily utilised.
The BN "Whiteface" colours, seen here,
were introduced in 1989, replacing white stripe or tiger stripe versions.
5078 was built by GE in April 1980, builder's number
42870. By late 2001 it was
RMGX 5078 (Andersons Railgroup) and it was
seen in storage in July 2002. A rare survivor in North America, the locomotive had a new life in Maine and Canada as
MMA 5078 (
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic), but then came Lake Megantec, and the locomotive was
auctioned on 5th August 2014 for $80K. "
The unit is in mostly good condition. The engine room was observed to be in fair condition, but overall the locomotive is in good running condition. Does need power assembly hold down bolts replaced."
Moved in October 2014, by 2016 it appeared to be
stored at National Railroad Equipment at Silvis, IL. -
Drone flyby of Silvis in 2016 - can be seen at 2:18. A
further picture.
5053 was built by GE in March 1980, builder's number 42845. This locomotive incredibly has a
new life in Brazil! It is FNB or ALL
9217, re-gauged to 1.6m, which started operation there in April 2003.
Further pictures.
Edgemont was
busy for most of the day with coal trains and empties.
66779 Evening Star has worked the gypsum for two weeks. St Denys, 20th April. Image by Ian Knight.
