Another Oddity

For the last 3 years or so, by my estimation, BNSF has been running coal trains powered exclusively by AC motors. Coal trains run through Wadena with some combination of SD70MAC, SD70ACe, and ES44AC tugging and shoving. While DC engines were common on coal when I moved to the area 6 or 7 years ago they are now gone, sentenced to a life of manifest freight, intermodal, and grain and tank unit trains.

Since this seems like such an ironclad rule, of course there has to be an exception. That's just what I found last Tuesday morning on my way through Staples. A loaded coal train was posed in the yard with a MAC up front and a Dash 9 as the second unit. I just had to turn around, go back, and take a picture.


This oddity got me to thinking about another similar oddity from a couple of years ago. Mrs. L4T and I were taking in the sights of the Powder River Basin when the BNSF tossed another oddity our way-and that time, the DC motor GE was shoving as a DPU. You can see a photo in this post.

Another oddity of the day was the fact that although I followed the Staples Sub to Becker and spent the evening in Red Wing, this was the only train I shot all day. So it was a double oddity day!