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In search of CNW 400 |
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PHOTO |
NOTES |
| For break,
a few of us hardcore CNW fans decided to find the mysterious CNW F7 that was
rumored to be stored in Keokuk, IA. But to pull off such a task, we
would need the help of someone who knew the territory. For this task,
we asked for the help of Dick Tinder. Luckily, he was happy to help,
and Chad, Lee and I would ride along for a trip from Indianola to Keokuk on
Wednesday, 11/27. We stopped in Ottumwa for Krispy Kremes, where this matched set of BNSF road switchers were idling. |
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| Hefty BN SD70MACs lug a coal train up the hill just outside of Ottumwa. With this heavy train in tow, the consist was barely moving at twenty miles per hour. | |
| Very shortly later, this all-ATSF consist led a manifest down the hill. Its hard to find solid-painted consists on the BNSF like this, let alone leading a manifest in southern Iowa! | |
| Our next stop was Burlington, where a long line of old C30-7s were stored. In the far east end of this deadline, there was one unit still in the "Kodachrome" paint scheme. Unfortunately, it would have required a lot of trespassing to photograph it. | |
| More power | On the other side of the yard, there was a lot of motive power that was sitting around. Note the variety of paint schemes. |
| AMTK 132 | We arrived in Ft. Madison just twenty minutes before "the Chief." We all decided it would be worth the wait. After some barge traffic cleared, AMTK 132 arrived at the station. |
| BNSF 6906 | BN 6906 leads an interesting consist past the desolate yard at Ft. Madison. Note the GP30 and "B" unit in the consist. BNSF looks a little strapped for power in their intermodal fleet... |
| UP 4783 | Even in Ft. Madison, one can't escape photographing the UP. At the same bridge, we caught UP 4783 leading a mixed freight past the yards at Ft. Madison. |
| Zito yellow in the woods | At Keokuk, we searched high and low for the CNW F7, but had no luck on our own. Finally, a kind employee at the Keokuk Jct. freight house gave us some directions on how to find the engine. While driving a road leading to Warsaw, IL, we first spotted the engine through the forest. |
| CNW 400 | We found a gravel road on the other side of the tracks, and were able to get a better shot of the engine. Here is a shot of the front. |
| CNW 400 | CNW 400 was still wearing the "zito yellow" scheme from its run in the executive fleet. Here are more photos of the unit, of the front opposite side, and of the back. Note the second zero of the unit number painted over. This was due to the fact that, at the time, there were actually two CNW 400s en route to new owners when the engine was bought by Pioneer. The easy solution was to make this F7 "CNW 40." |
| CNW 400 | The logo on the side of the engine has weathered better than most of the engines CNW repainted in the mid-1990s |
| BN 3159 | On the way back, we would catch the Des Moines train getting a crew change at Burlington before heading down the "K" line. |
| BNSF 999 | At the BNSF depot in Burlington, BNSF 999 was making a crew change to head down the K line. The depot has station platforms similar to the Ottumwa depot, making for some very interesting photos at night. |
| AMTK 59 | We headed back home toward Indianola, and decided to wait on Amtrak at Ottumwa. Here is the unit pulling into the station. Somehow with the low light and the unit moving, the shot wasn't blurred into oblivion. |
| AMTK 59 | The train stopped next to the red sign for "WATER PURIFICATION POINT, OTTUMWA, IA" making for an interesting trivia shot. |
| BONUS COVERAGE- all-CNW PRDM on 11/15/02 | |
| 2 CNWs, 2 SPs | I had recieved a lineup showing CNW 6811 and 6871 together on a yard job in Des Moines, having arrived on PRDM. I had class until three pm that day, so I headed down to Des Moines to catch the lashup before sundown. Here they are, parked next to two units in SP paint. |
| CNW 6871 | As the sun went down, it reflected on the windshield of CNW 6871. I stuck around to catch a few more shots of this very rare consist until the sun went down. |
| CNW 6811 & 6871 | The two CNWs basked in the last rays of sun for the day. Sunsets at Short Line Yard in winter are usually impressive. |
| CNW 6811 & 6871 | Here's the last shot of the day. To think that I burned off 22 shots of these two engines just sitting stationary!! |
| LAST WEEK'S UPDATE | 2 CNWs leading MCBPR, and one on SSDM. |
