BNSF recently had Mid-America Car, Inc. in Kansas City paint three new Wabtec/GE ES44ACH’s in a special paint scheme for the country’s 250th Anniversary coming up this July. The locomotives are numbered 250, 1776 and 2026. Following their release from Mid-America Car, numbers 1776 and 2026 were put to work powering a BNSF employee appreciation special across the northern part of the railroad.
Locomotive 250, a power car and three passenger cars were sent south from the Topeka shops for a special event in Fort Worth scheduled for Tuesday June 16th. The train arrived at Alliance Yard around 4:00 am on Sunday June 14th. With permission and full PPE, I arrived at 8:30 am and stood on the locomotive shop road for these photos as a crew was in the process of turning the locomotive on the wye track and coupling it to the south end of the power car for Tuesday’s run to the “Circus Track” in downtown Fort Worth.
Here is the train with the locomotive facing north before it made its first move. It was an overcast and rainy morning but I was still very happy to be there.
Here is the locomotive broadside as it started around the wye.
A few minutes later number 250 was backing up to the train.
As the conductor finished coupling up the unit it started to rain harder and I retreated to the car. for these last two photos of the day.
Next the crew took the train over to the east side of the yard and parked it in the intermodal switching spur where it was boxed in by poles. Pleased to have been there at the right time and before the rain picked up, now it was time to head back home to dry off and make plans for Tuesday.