Typically, the southbound H-SUPNTW departs Superior during early morning hours and arrives at Northtown shortly after sunrise. The locomotives are then serviced and head back to Superior in late afternoon on the H-NTWSUP. The pair began service on the trains in late September. They initially operated with other diesels leading, but since early October have been the exclusive power on the trains.
The two locomotives left Progress Rail’s Muncie, Ind., plant in late July for the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colo. They tested in Colorado for several weeks before being released to BNSF in late August.
The SD70ACeP4-T4 is EMD’s solution to replacing older direct current locomotives with alternating current traction. They were built with only four traction motors instead of the normal six arranged in a C-C configuration. By using four AC traction motors configured in a B1-1B arrangement, the locomotives’ performance and tractive effort are similar to EMD’s now discontinued SD70M-2 model that used six DC traction motors.
Trains “Locomotive” columnist Chris Guss said after the tests on the Hinckley Subdivision are complete, the engines would be assigned to BNSF’s Northern Transcontinental mainline between Northtown and the Pacific Coast, with Northtown as their home base.
