More BNSF Railfan Fun

I went out railfanning again this week. I got a fun shot of BNSF power at UP's West Colton yard with UP power in the background:

BNSF power comes into West Colton on a transfer to Barstow.

Later in the day I caught very rare foreign power on a BNSF train at Cajon siding:

In recent weeks, I've spotted a number of Tier 4 GE demo or lease units on Cajon Pass. GECX ET44AC 2043 is the blue unit on the lower track:

So far, I haven't seen one leading. However, I did catch a less distant shot of one, GECX 2030 on Sullivan's curve:

Notice, though, that ET44 GECX 2030 lacks the dip in the roofline in front of the radiator that's on the BNSF ET44 3912:

New BNSF Power

Southern California is some of the best railfan territory going, but for the past 10 years or so, BNSF south of Barstow, including Cajon Pass, has been pretty boring. Main line power is all recent GEs -- except for GP40xs, 50s, 60s and 60ms in local service, any model EMDs are extremely rare.

A change after 2009 was the arrival of ES44C4 locos, which differ visibly from the ES44ACs in having weight transfer cylinders on the truck sideframes:

For comparison here is a straight ES44AC from series 5718-6438:

However, straight ES44ACs are very unusual on Cajon Pass; this is one of very few I've caught. ES44DCs, visually similar at least with later units, are much more common. However, by about 2009, GE decided it would be simpler to build all locos as ACs. Thus BNSF stopped getting ES44DCs and moved to ES44C4s, which have only four traction motors and an idler center axle on the trucks. The weight transfer cylinders shown at the top of this post are used to take weight off the idler axle when starting. Here's an ES44C4 from series 6500-7199 and 7921-8399:

These have added a little to railfan interest, but except for the weight transfer cylinders, they're visually similar to the earlier units. But now the Tier 4 GEs are starting to arrive. These have weight transfer cylinders like the ES44C4s, but they're beefier-looking overall. Here is a unit from series 3834-3961:

BNSF calls these ET44C4s.

Railfanning Gets Interesting

I've been out railfanning this week. Wednesday was an outstanding fall day: here's a shot of a train leaving for Texas from the West Colton departure yard:

But look what's farther back in the consist, CSX 3282, a brand new Tier 4 ET44AC:

Things are happening with freight cars, too. GE recently unloaded its rail leasing unit to Wells Fargo. A lot of cars lettered for short lines like HS, LW, AOK, and so forth were part of GE Rail Services leasing arrangements, a holdover from 1970s incentive per diem. Lately, it looks like some of these cars are being relettered for BKTY, a UP-owned reporting mark;

Note that the car to its right is lettered for EEC, which is the East Erie Commercial Railroad, the GE plant switching operation. Whether EEC will disappear as a reporting mark is an interesting question.

Other interesting things are happening trackside. I'll post on these as well.

JC Models -- PRR

JC Models made the most kits for PRR, although in addition to New York Central, they had a Pullman 12-1 sleeper and a Hall Pullman sleeper-observation used on PRR trains, as well as a Norfolk & Western coach and combine. (I have these in work in various stages).

Here is a PRR B60 I did in the 1970s:

A BM70ka baggage-RPO with keystone Models PRR 6-wheel trucks:

A PB70 with paint and details c 1946:

Here is a modified BM70 that had a streamlined roof as a kit. I added a milled wood streamline floor with skirts as well. A friend and one of the memorable characters among PRR fans, the late Hugh Debberthine, brought out a set of PRR "Fleet of Modernism" decals, which I used for this car:

A P70 with details and paint c 1946:

A modernized P70 with lettering c 1955, restored from a swap meet car:

JC Models -- NYC

There isn't much history available on the JC Models line of wood and metal HO passenger car kits from the 1950s and 60s. They seem to have started about 1950 with wood roof, ends, and floor and embossed cardboard sides. I'm not sure if the cardboard was due to Korean War shortages, or if they were just the materials JC started with. At some point by the mid-1950s, the line had moved (or reverted) to stamped aluminum sides and white metal ends, but kept the wood roof and floor.

When I rode PRR and NYC trains by the 1960s, I was interested in modeling the equipment JC made models of, but JC kits, while they were in some sort of production, were very hard to find. In addition, it wasn't until I got into my twenties that I had the tools and skills to do things like shape the roofs or credibly paint kits like these. I slowly located old-stock kits in hobby shops, found assembled models at swap meets that I could rescue and restore, and ordered some of the remaining new production when JC briefly revived in Ohio about 1980.

Here are some New York Central cars I did in the 1970s:

I still have a couple of other JC NYC cars, an RPO that I'm in the process of restoring from one I got at a swap meet, and a diner that they advertised as NYC but was actually a New Haven-Boston & Maine prototype. That's fine, I'm a big New Haven fan as well, and it'll look great behind DL109s!