New Cars

8581, 83, and 84 were on the UP yesterday and this morning.

What number are there at with the 6100s?

In case anyone keeps track of such things, 8584 was leading UP-NW #608 this morning.

Hmm, 8500s on the UP. That's interesting. I donno why UP would be getting 8500s seeing as their 8400s are perfectly fine. I do know that some of the cars do come down from Milwaukee, WI on the UP.

8450 and 8451 were on a BN Express today.

Do the "ex" UP 8400's still have all 5 chimes on the K5, or has BNSF removed 2 chimes to give them that great sound?

The HC, SWS, and BNSF ones are all goose horns. The three set out by UP for BNSF, not sure. Probably not................yet.

Are there any 8700/7700 cars in service? How many Burlington cars have been retired?

AmtrakFan wrote:8450 and 8451 were on a BN Express today.

Do you know which trains had 8450 and 8451? I know one of the three 11-car trains has 8470 positioned mid-train and another 8400, possibly 8468 posisioned at the rear.

Here's my theory on UP getting 8500s and BNSF getting UP's 8400s:

BNSF/HC/SWS already have 8462-8478. BNSF needs 25 cab control cars to replace 790-815. 25 8500s starting with 8583 remain to be delivered and UP is delivering them from Milwaukee. UP already has the 6000s which essentially are the same as the 8500s. UP's coach yard is located near the Western Ave. facility. So, units from UP, NCS, and MILW can be easily interchanged if needed. Therefore, it makes sense to send 8436-8461 from UP to BNSF (25 units) and give UP the remaining 8500s to match the 6000s.

So, it appears the final control car assignments could look like this:
UP: 8400-8435
BNSF/HC/SWS: 8436-8478
MILW: 8501-8546, 8579-8580
RI: 8547-8578
UP: 8581-8608

Lots of 7700's still around. A few 8700's also.

8582 is on the UP also.

I don't know where else to put this but this morning 125's fireman's side had a good amount of graffiti on it

MetraBNSF wrote:

AmtrakFan wrote:8450 and 8451 were on a BN Express today.

Do you know which trains had 8450 and 8451? I know one of the three 11-car trains has 8470 positioned mid-train and another 8400, possibly 8468 posisioned at the rear.

Here's my theory on UP getting 8500s and BNSF getting UP's 8400s:

BNSF/HC/SWS already have 8462-8478. BNSF needs 25 cab control cars to replace 790-815. 25 8500s starting with 8583 remain to be delivered and UP is delivering them from Milwaukee. UP already has the 6000s which essentially are the same as the 8500s. UP's coach yard is located near the Western Ave. facility. So, units from UP, NCS, and MILW can be easily interchanged if needed. Therefore, it makes sense to send 8436-8461 from UP to BNSF (25 units) and give UP the remaining 8500s to match the 6000s.

So, it appears the final control car assignments could look like this:
UP: 8400-8435
BNSF/HC/SWS: 8436-8478
MILW: 8501-8546, 8579-8580
RI: 8547-8578
UP: 8581-8608

Sorry No. The reason BNSF isn't getting the 8500's is thier too tall for Track 2 at CUS.

"The reason BNSF isn't getting the 8500's is thier too tall for Track 2 at CUS"

Did they find that out by looking at diagrams and measurements or did they find that out the hard way? . That's interesting, so the 8500's are taller than the other cars?

I don't think the 8500's are any taller, from pics they look exactly the same height. 8400's also have problems with track 2, which is the reason why chimes are removed. I'm not sure if an 8500 with a K3 would have the same problem.

Funny how UP doesn't get the MP36s because of bridge weight restrictions north of Ogilvie and BNSF doesn't get the 8500s because of height restrictions at the south end of Union Station. Are there significant differences in height between the north and south tracks at CUS?

Then you don't put them on track 2. Theres a lot more tracks than just track 2. There is a height differential in the cars. The 8400s are lower than the 8700/7700s.