WHAT YEAR IS IT?! Two Santa Fe EMD's on the BNSF Mainline in Iowa
For three weeks in June of 2023, BNSF paired together two veteran Santa Fe locomotives to run on the Burlington to Eddyville local in southern Iowa. To see just one of these locomotives on the mainline is enough of a treat, but two is almost unheard of. This train, L-CHI663, and its counterpart 664, move cars between the massive Cargill plant in Eddyville and the yard in Burlington every weekday on the ex-CB&Q Ottumwa subdivision. BNSF 1755 and 169 both wear the blue and yellow of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, which ceased existence nearly 30 years ago when it merged with Burlington Northern in 1995 to create BNSF. BNSF 1755 is an SD40-2, built in 1981 as ATSF 5187. BNSF 169 is a GP60 and was built in the early 1990's, though it's exact origin is unclear as at least three different GP60's have been lettered as BNSF 169 over the years. Regardless, both still wear the paint of the Santa Fe. I went down and shot 663 on two separate days, June 23rd and 30th. Enjoy this video of these Santa Fe veterans still earning their keep on the railroad, pulling mainline freight at 60 MPH.