HISTORY HUNTS WAREHOUSE: The Sprint

As chases go, this was a sprint.

I was urged to leave the house as she knew it would make me feel better,

and being she is always right, I submitted.

But, first I had to figure out what to wear.

It has gotten cool @ 72F.

Don't laugh, @ 55 mph, 72 can be chilly.

It was 3 PM and the Fall sun was setting.

I knew it would get cooler and I don't run a windshield.

I settled on the t-shirt I was wearing, 2 long sleeve t-shirts,

my favorites, and 2 old thread bare sweatshirts.

They worked, even at speed and before it was over t he temperature

had dropped to 64 F.

We in south Louisiana are experiencing the "October Surprise"

which is just wonderful.

Now on with the Sprint.

I had heard on train radio that a freight was moving tentatively

east from Lafayette. There was a lot of talk about discrepancies in

the manifest and whether there was a 40 mph car in tow.

The dispatcher was highly concerned with the mystery and the

engineer was having to go down a list of 90 cars trying to

find what she was talking about.

I was 20 miles from the tracks.

Listening to the back and forth en route,
I assumed someone was watching the tracks.

Finally, it was resolved that the problem was not on the train but in the office and all was "good

to go" when he approached Cade. Then he caught a yellow light and

that had to be figured out. The dispatcher immediately checked with

the L&D train at ARA (Acadiana Regional Airport) to make sure it and its were "in the clear".

I never heard a response from the L&D to that question.

I more or less stopped listening when I took off after the train after having

to wait until all 87 cars had cleared my crossing.

I knew I'd have to spot him a train on this chase. That was OK

since this is the best place between Lafayette and north New Iberia to

do train photos, but, alas, having to wait is its weakness.

I'll have to dig, but this road may be old old US 90.

old US 90 is across the tracks, now La.182.

Here he came.

I'm using "he" this time because I practically knew the engineer from hearing his interchange

with the female dispatcher.

I estimated his speed at between 35 and 40.

I'm sure the discussions had kept the throttle at around 40 due to the supposed presence of the 40 mph car.

The lead engine was a standard looking tug.

The second engine was not, well not to me.

Green? I knew of some green BNSF engines and indeed it turned out that it was one.

But it seemed different in another way and that was another good reason to pursue the train.

The Cade picture would not do for identification purposes.

"BNSF" was written so small on the engine it was hard to see. In fact,
I didn't see it until a later shot was blown up.

And, the engine seemed larger than the leading one. What kind of monster was this?

I'd hop on my old horse and sprint after it. I knew he'd beat me to New Iberia. The challenge would be from stop light to stop light going through New Iberia.

I waited ....

.... and waited thinking about the engineer trying to find the dangerous car, what a frustrating experience.
But, he's remained in a jovial mood, never flustered by the zealous dispatcher.

I was in sight of the engines at Washington St.

I timed the stop lights almost to perfection. Do the speed limit and it works.

Exiting New Iberia I saw that I had made good time and was within matching

the train as she entered the trees, my unofficial New Iberia city limits.

I was ecstatic.

A wild shot with the little camera at 45 mph had center punched the info I needed.

Click the picture below for a really big picture of this big engine.

It seems that this engine is different. Below is from Wikipedia.

The SD70MAC (colloquially known as a "Mac" or a "70 Mac") is very similar to the SD70M and SD70I, the main difference being that the SD70MAC uses AC traction motors. Production of the model commenced in 1993. AC motors, while simpler and more reliable than DC motors, require expensive inverters to generate a variable-frequency AC signal, raising the locomotive's purchase cost substantially. The majority of SD70MAC models were produced with the 4,000 horsepower (3,000 kW) EMD 710 prime mover while later units are rated at 4,300 horsepower (3,200 kW) and feature EMD SD45-style flared radiators. They were also offered with a head-end power generation system for passenger trains.
The SD70MAC is no longer produced due to EPA regulations and has been replaced by the SD70ACe. Over 1500 examples of this model were produced. It was purchased by Burlington Northern Railroad (now BNSF Railway), Conrail (units now owned by CSX), CSX, Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM; units now owned by Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS)), and the Alaska Railroad (ARR)

I think my bike is rated at 27 hp.

OO-L Checked In:

Steve,

BNSF SD70MAC 9654 in dark green and cream paint wears the last livery that BN had before the BN+ATSF merger. It is known as the Grinstein green livery, because BN CEO Gerald Grinstein’s wife Caroline supposedly nagged him to adopt it after she toured Europe and admired the dark blue and cream livery of the Orient-Express trains:

OO-L continues: The other, earlier, and more common BN green livery was called Cascade green:

OO-L continues: The Grinstein green locomotives originally had the same BN logo in dark green under the cab window, but those were eventually removed after the merger.

I checked my engine. Indeed, there was evidence of that.