Two Navajo locomotives roll west on NS train No. 309 on Saturday.
Michael D. Harding
FARMINGTON, N.M. – Two new diesel locomotives are en route to the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. coal mine railroad in northwestern New Mexico this week. The General Electric ET44AC locomotives, which are lettered for the company and carry Nos. 2026 and 2027, were spotted in westbound Norfolk Southern train No. 309 in northwest Ohio over the weekend. They are former GE demonstrator units of the same numbers with hoods modified to match the standard production units.
The isolated railroad, which now operates with GE electric and Alco diesel locomotives, is located about 20 miles southwest of Farmington. It serves the Four Corners Generating Station. Both the mine and power plant are located within the Navajo Indian Reservation.
Here you go Jim….http://www.catf.us/fossil/problems/power_plants/
Also….I guess you never saw pictures of the air pollution in Shanghai and Beijing. While better in the US…coal will never be clean.
Two relevant articles: (1) With delivery of these two diesels, the RR’s catenary will be shut down and removed: http://www.daily-times.com/story/news/local/navajo-nation/2017/01/28/ntec-officials-take-over-navajo-mine-management/96545818/
(2) The plan is for the Four Corners plant to be coal fired for another 14 years (ie until 2013): http://www.daily-times.com/story/news/local/2017/04/21/pnm-plan-would-eliminate-coal-power-2031/100745280/
Mr. Stokes: Tell us one place its difficult to breathe because of coal.
The railroad is the Navajo Mine Railroad. The engines will probably be trucked to the railroad from Gallup, NM. The railroad is electrified and runs with an E-60 electric on the north end of each train. The diesels will operate on the south end as a control cab and provide power in case of electricity outages. “The Navajo Mine Railroad (reporting mark TNMR) is an electrified private railroad operated by BHP Billiton in New Mexico, USA, within the Navajo Nation. It operates 13.8 miles (22.2 km) of track between the Four Corners Generating Station and BHP Billiton’s Navajo Coal Mine.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Note that the company’s name is “Navajo Transitional Energy Co.” Seems the Navajos are smart enough to reap the profits yet to be wrung out of coal, but see coal only as a bridge to a non-fossil fuel future. Coal is a finite, non-renewable energy source. When it’s gone, we’ll all breathe easier.
The sleeping king is slowly awakening! New locomotives for coal hauling? How can this be….
Nice tribute to the Warbonnet paint scheme. One question: since the railroad is isolated, how will they arrive on property?