MINOT, N.D. – With extreme winter weather in North Dakota over the last two days closing roads and making for difficult travel conditions, BNSF Railway has resorted to moving crews using “snow coaches” – two unit light engine moves. The locomotives take the place of crew vans that normally shuttle crews to different locations.
With no travel advised in the Minot area, BNSF used locomotive shuttles to move crews to trains Monday and today. Among the moves were a run from Minot to have a crew pick up a train in Tioga, N.D. and then to provide a relief crew to a train at Epping, N.D. Early this morning a snow coach brought a relief crew to Amtrak’s late running eastbound Empire Builder just west of Minot. Power used in the shuttle services includes a pair of ex-Burlington Northern SD60Ms and a GP39-2/GP39M combination.
