BNSF Glendive, MT

badlandnp Sep 6, 2015

  1. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    As much as I get to video and get pics here in the course om my daily activities, I figure it would be just as well to set a thread just for the same rather than keep attaching to others threads. And one day I will even start to catalog and upload my pics from the 90's! Lots of green and black there and many other roads here.
    A couple of vids to start:
    That lost power from the Great White North,

    Then some BNSF action.

     
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  2. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    That train with CP and CN must have been a low priority manifest. Quite a mix of cars in tow.
     
  3. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    There is a M-LAUNTW train that is low on priority, but it is a rare one and usually is at night. One of the mysteries I will probably never know...
     
  4. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    A rare freight with no orange paint leading!
     
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  5. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    If this clip had no caption, we might be guessing where it was taken. When I am up by the High Line, I rarely seem to catch these mixes. They must come through at night, if even routed via my vicinity.
     
  6. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    And last week saw some BN grain hoppers, who'd have thunk they'd be so rare so soon!
    PIC_0747.JPG PIC_0746.JPG
    Naturally being pulled along by a trio of GE's in various versions of orange and ... paint. And for a class 1 yard there is a lot of fireweed growing in the yard. The track panels are an easily modelled detail for modern era folk. PIC_0742.JPG
     
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  7. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I frequently see BN coal and grain cars wandering through my corner of the State. When I spot one which criminals have not vandalized, I will sometimes take a picture.
     
  8. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    PIC_0768.JPG Yeah, the vandals are getting pretty obnoxious with the painting anymore.

    Saw this stuff on the side of the rails on the east end main while waiting for a train to go by. Thought this little modern rail detail would be of interest. It's a joint between two sizes of rail with notes written along side. Neat.

    PIC_0765.JPG

    PIC_0766.JPG
     
  9. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Photographing these little things, such as those rail stencils, is something I have failed to do!
     
  10. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    Was a random happenstance while waiting for a train that didn't come. Now just have to figure out if these got written on rails in the 20's - 30's.
     
  11. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    Saw all these well used units on the west end of the yard and thought that they would be nice challenges for modern modelers.
    $&#*4738 has the remains of a bit of burnt paint..... PIC_0840.JPG %$(%5495 has a new front door, in primer, and a red refurbed A/C unit.
    PIC_0838.JPG And ^@!@6212 has a couple of new battery box doors. PIC_0837.JPG
     
  12. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    BNSF is starting to look a bit ragged. Makes me wonder about their situation. Power short? Or maybe running a bit thin on operating capital?
     
  13. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    It's the SF management mentality, cosmetic fixes are beyond the bottom of the priority list. The crews up here in BN country had huge fights post merger with the new SF bunch. Little things like keeping all of the loco cabs heaters working! SF only fixed if more than one of the 40-2 heaters was out, and often not at all, just registered the loco as NLQ, not lead qualified. But, up here you got tohave at least two hot cabs on the point in the winter, for obvious reasons.

    Anyway, not to start a slam fest on SF, their 'world class maintenance' program actually deleted a LOT of the maint items performed by the BN crews.
     
  14. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    They probably aren't comprehending the northern tier route battles with Arctic conditions EVERY winter.
     
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  15. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    This discussion is in keeping with remarks from a friend who started working for the BNSF in BN territory and quickly found that the culture of the two roads seemed vastly different, that the BN managers were most often kind and helpful, while their AT&SF counterparts were uptight and strict. Cost control ruled every decision, with trains held in terminals awaiting power while units were held stored on adjacent tracks. After too many years of seven days workweeks and impossible operational expectations, he quit to find better work and has been happy since.

    I worked a summer for the AT&SF with many fine people and really enjoyed the experience. Each location has its prevailing culture.
     
  16. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    This empty was headed west out of Glendive one evening last month. The lighting was neat, I thought.
     
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  17. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Lighting can be interesting. In Fall colors it can really wild.
     
  18. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    This rock train is heading in to the east end of town. There is a Clinchfield hopper in the train. They load out up the Circle branch at Fisher's Gravel. Keeps things hopping!
     
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  19. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    How much of the branch is still seeing service? Just the couple of miles to that pit?
     
  20. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    There is continuous service, in this order, for the oilfield pipe yard, oil tank farm, new chemical plant, then over a wooden trestle crossing Seven Mile Creek and up to the pit. It's probably 3 miles from the river to the pit. About 10 miles past the pit gets used for storage on a seasonal basis. All of the track is still in place most of the way up to Circle, including the wooden trestles.
     

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