ATSF's "Super Fleet" - prototypical use pre-merger

In the last years before the BN/ATSF merger, ATSF had its so called "Super Fleet", consisting of FP45s, GP60M/GP60Bs, SD75Ms, B40-8Ws, C40-8Ws, C42-8Ws and C44-9Ws. How were these mainly used in the years up to the merger?My guess:FP45 - helpers(?)
GP60M/GP60B - intermodal, merchandise
SD75M - heavy intermodal, heavy merchandise
B40-8W - same as GP60M/GP60B
C40-8W - heavy merchandise
C42-8W - unit coal
C44-9W - unit coal, unit grain, heavy merchandise, heavy intermodalOr am I totally off mark in my guesses?

Leiv Eiriksson was first - Christoffer Columbus used a Viking map!

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RE: ATSF's, plainsman, Aug-16-04, 07:49 AM, (1) RE: ATSF's, USRailFan, Aug-16-04, 09:14 AM, (2) RE: ATSF's, plainsman, Aug-16-04, 11:29 AM, (3) RE: ATSF's, USRailFan, Aug-16-04, 11:50 AM, (4) RE: ATSF's, plainsman, Aug-16-04, 02:20 PM, (5) RE: ATSF's, GrandTrunkFan, Aug-16-04, 08:29 PM, (6) RE: ATSF's, SouthwestChief, Aug-17-04, 00:30 AM, (7) RE: ATSF's, GrandTrunkFan, Aug-17-04, 11:43 AM, (8) RE: ATSF's, GrandTrunkFan, Aug-17-04, 04:44 PM, (10) RE: ATSF's, plainsman, Aug-17-04, 02:25 PM, (9)

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LAST EDITED ON Aug-16-04 AT 07:51 AM (EST)

Hi Leiv,
ALL the "Super Fleet" equipment was intended primarily for use in TOFC and COFC intermodal service. While Santa Fe had relatively little unit coal operation, it would have been handled by SD40-2s and C30-7s and SF30Cs. The FP45s were nearing their end of service time, but the rest were all used in intermodal freight. That is not to say you wouldn't see some uinits mixed in on some autoracks, or a priority manifest freight, but the intended service was mainly fast intermodal trains spanning the continent from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Bob

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Hmm... I've seen photos and heard mention of C44-9Ws in coal trains from York Canyon on Raton Pass.. Was this after the merger? (sounds weird though, that BNSF would use Dash-9s on such trains when they have so many SD70MACs.. Also, the special roof shape on ATSF/BNSF Dash-9s and Six-axle Dash-8s are said to be due to gauge clearance problems with the York Canyon loader...)What would a prototypical unit coal train over Raton Pass have looked like around the time of the merger? (ie number and placement of locos, number of cars, placement of helpers)

Leiv Eiriksson was first - Christoffer Columbus used a Viking map!

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Hi Leiv,
After the merger, I have seen some Dash 9s on coal trains to the north of the pass(Heritage colors, late 1990s I think), have not seen them on the pass. I would guess the Dash 8s might get in that some as well, after the merger, but before the SD70Macs were in control??
As I seem to remember, the York Canyon mine trains were initially mostly SD26 and SD39 units, and stayed with those through the 1970s. The SF30C and C30-7 units along with SD40-2s did most of the work after that. I think they still had a lot of the mine action until the merger, but I didn't see it during the time just before the merger. Santa Fe may have had plans to use their C40-8Ws on coal at some time?
I think a typical early train out of the canyon might be 5 SD26 in lead, with 80-90 coal cars and lots of helper units to get over Raton (or split into 2 or 3 parts).
I think 3 Dash 9 units would only be able to take about 30-40 loaded coal cars over Raton with a SD40-2 helper. I think a lot of these were taken as splits over the pass.
Hope this helps,
Bob

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Are there any coalcars in the file library that can be protoypical for a modern-day coal train over Raton Pass?
Also, does anyone know if BNSF continued using Dash-9s/Dash-7s on the coal trains even after the merger, or did they switch to SD70MACs (as would be more the less the sole power BNSF uses on coal trains these days, apart from an odd AC4400CW)?

Leiv Eiriksson was first - Christoffer Columbus used a Viking map!

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BNSF did not have enough SD70Macs to replace all the SF30C, C30-7, C33-7, and Dash 9s in coal service. It was 1999-2000, before they really got enough SD70Macs to dominate the system wide coal traffic.
Here are some links which might be of interest:
http://atsf.railfan.net/sfkodcrm/i9528.htm
http://www.carrtracks.com/prbcoal4.htm
I would think 100 ton coal hoppers set at about 105 metric tons ought to be pretty close for mid 1990s, and 127 metric ton Bethgons would be appropriate for 2003 (I think the York mines are now closed?).
Hope this helps,
Bob

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When did BNSF retire it's last F45/FP45?

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Not sure as to the retirement dates for the F45's but here are some good websites that say when the FP45's were retired.http://members.aol.com/JFuhrtrain/FP45data.htm
http://www.sebringdesign.net/SDFP-45.htm
Matt Doti

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/fdoti/index.html

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Thanks. I was just wondering because I downloaded the 2 Santa Fe FP45s pack and the ble and yellow says BNSF on it. A FP45 would look kinda neat in BNSF Heritige colors.

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Actually, if anyone does wonder what a F45 would look like in the Heritige scheme:
http://www.qstation.org/bnsf_f45/bnsf_f45.html
Heres a sample (and yes they're models, cool models):

Attachments

http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/User_files/41227c3932fe63fc.jpg

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I just uplaoded a set of V4.7 physics files for much of the equipment that Santa Fe would have used to handle the York Canyon mines, SD26, SD39, SD40-2, C30-7, and SF30C. I also included two types of coal hoppers, one for 1970s-1990s and one for 1990s-2003. Some equipment in the library may be close enough for use with these files (depending on how much you count rivets?), but both SF30C and SD39 would be projects that would be nice to have as dedicated models in the sim.
Bob Boudoin

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