THIS MONTH’S TOP NEWS STORIES AND PHOTOS No Fatalities in Vermonter Derailment


Amtrak’s southbound train No. 55, the Vermonter, struck a rock slide shortly after 10:00 a.m. on October 5, 2015, south of Northfield, Vt., and derailed. The locomotive and head car left the rails and traveled into a wooded area and down an embankment. All five cars of the train derailed with only a few non-life- threatening injuries reported. The train was southbound on the New England Central at the time of the derailment, where maximum authorized track speed is 59 m.p.h. RIGHT: On October 10, Winters Rigging crews recovered the 154-ton P42DC No. 102 and prepared it for loading onto a heavy-duty flatcar. New England Central Railroad transported the unit to nearby Montpelier Junction where it was additionally secured in preparation for movement to Amtrak’s Beech Grove Shops.


PHOTOS BY KEVIN BURKHOLDER


BNSF RAILWAY SAYRE KOS


Nebraska Traffic Swells


Prior to the 1996 merger with Burlington Northern, Superior, Neb., at the end of the Strong City Subdivision, was the only Santa Fe-served station in the Cornhusker State. In Santa Fe days, Superior was a significant conduit of grain traffic moving from Burlington


6 DECEMBER 2015 • RAILFAN.COM


Northern and Chicago & North Western to Santa Fe. By 2014, just 300 grain loads passed through Superior. However, in 2015 more than 2,200 cars were loaded at Superior throughout the calendar year. Most of these loads were corn, but wheat and soybean shipments also factored into the increased counts. These increased numbers come on the heels of a backlog of grain shipments in 2014 due to a late 2014 harvest, which compounded delays.


More Tier 4 Units Arrive BNSF Railway has started to rebuild


Rebuilds Shuffled as


certain 600-class Dash 9-44CWs into AC44C4Ms, which essentially makes the rebuilt locomotives ES44C4s with four traction motors and the center axle of each truck an idler (unpowered). The first of these locomotives, BNSF No. 616, has been sent to Amarillo, Texas, for field testing across the Dalhart Subdivision.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74