hey guys im an eastern boy modelling the west ands wondering if you guys still ee any of BN's heritage over there... like Gn, NP, CB&Q, and SP&S if so what kind of cars are you seing? i was wanting to get one of each on my line and wanted to know the right car for the job thanks
I use Bing Maps and Google Maps to look over railyards of my favorite road, and often see strings of NP and GN Woodchip Gondolas, although looking kind of beat up. Look over Laurel, MT yard with Bing Maps and zoom in to see for yourself.
There are still some BN marked cars around. There are others in BN and predecessor paints, but they have been sold and restencilled. Those latter cars are often looking pretty ragged. Boxcab E50
Up until a few years ago I would still see sky-blue GN "goat" woodchip cars around here. I think I am still seeing those cars, but the goat heralds have been painted out, so I can't be certain without getting closer. BN green stuff is easier to come by. I see it all the time at Willbridge. Sometimes, the BN herald is painted over but that paint is unmistakable.
According to the January 2006 ORER, there were plenty of BN cars around. There were also 58 CBQ (1 flat, 1 gon, 56 HT), 156 GN (mostly gons including wood chip) and 219 NP (mostly gons and wood chip). There were also 57 CS (mostly gons and HT) and 4 FWD (covered hoppers). All the SPS stuff is off the roster, but I know at least some of it was repainted into BN. Hope this helps.
In the past 2-3 years I have seen a CB&Q hopper, an NP flat, and several Frisco Covered Hoppers. Go back to the past 10 years and you can add more covered hoppers (NP and GN) and open hoppers (C&S), a CB&Q gon, and a few others. I always look for a BN covered hopper lettered for FW&D but I've yet to see one in the past 10-15 years.
I have seen fading paint on a BN hopper that revealed 'Q heritage, a repainted tank car with "Burlington" emblazoned on the flanks,a nd numerous woodchip cars of GN and NP. Other things are much harder to find.
Sure, there are a bunch of CBQ cars, quad hoppers, covered hoppers, some boxcars, tankcars. Gons that are CBQ or C&S with Burlington on the side or BN green with logo but C&S reportingmarks, etc. Last month I saw in the elevator tracks at Guerley NE a whole mess of CBQ, CS, as well as a few NP and GN hoppers some with BN reporting marks some still original, quad hoppers, 70 ton hoppers, BN Ortners, scroungy but exciting!!! A few weeks ago here in Blair I saw an old NP covered hopper with the BN logo painted out by IFBX and the gray with Northern Pacific spelled out showing through the BN green and crude slop out of the green. Lots of cars are in MOW service but still around. Almost forgot woodchip hoppers. Also if you look around there are cars used by farmers and ranchers that are a neat find. I recently came across a GN wfe yellow 40' reefer out in the middle of nowhere in western NE.
so would it be possible to say that this type of car is still out there looking like it does in the pic?? http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH72373
There are a bunch of those GN and NP woodchip cars that did NOT get the GBRX reporting marks. I've seen a few at Wenatchee and Quincy, WA.
SP&S was a little late to the BN and BNSF merger but their later equipment was all painted in a BN scheme (at least the locos). I think BNSF has a few of their last locos in service, but most got scrapped or sold off. I know one of the C-424 Alcos is working at a museum now. Amtrak had one of their vista domes for a long time but sold it into private ownership. A restaurant in Eugene has one of their passenger cars (and I think a caboose isn't to far away). However the first thing I thought of was SP&S's 4-8-4 #700. It's owned by The City of Portland and looking for a new home at the end of December.
SP&S merged into BN the same day GN, NP and CB&Q did, March 2, 1970, not sure what you mean by they were "late" to the merger. I did see a CB&Q quad hopper about 2 months ago in Spokane in the yard, hard to tell what it was, most of the markings were pretty well worn off.
SP&S had outstanding bonds that needed to be resolved and it delayed their full entrance into the merger until 1979, but it only existed on paper, thats why all their late equipment was in BN Green. Some of the first BN Green GP38's where a SP&S order (and the last order for SP&S). By 1981 BN supposedly sidelined most of the alcos.
