DULUTH, Minn. — BNSF Railway has donated a rebuilt SD9 to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth. BNSF 1550 was built in February 1954 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors for the Great Northern Railway as No. 573. EMD built 515 SD9s between 1954 and 1959.
No. 573 worked for many years in Superior, Wis. on the GN ore docks and in ore transfer service. It became Burlington Northern No. 6100 when that railroad was formed in March 1970, and later worked for BN in the Twin Cities area. After BNSF Railway was formed in 1995, No. 6100 was selected for a rebuild program to upgrade it with modern components. It was remanufactured in December 1998 by rebuilder VMV with new electronics, an upgraded engine, air conditioning, and a new cab. It also had its high nose chopped down to allow better visibility. In 2006 it was renumbered BNSF 1710, then in 2009 was renumbered again to BNSF 1550.
Partially through the efforts of long-time LSRM member and BNSF employee Richard Knutson, BNSF donated the locomotive to the museum. It is currently having its main generator rebuilt in the Twin Cities through the efforts Independent Locomotive Service. When that work is completed, it will be moved to Duluth where it will be used to pull trains on LSRM’s North Shore Scenic Railroad between Duluth and Two Harbors. It will retain its BNSF colors, since the paint is in excellent condition.
In other news, the museum is completing work on its ex-Santa Fe full length dome car Sky View for the upcoming summer season. Work includes reupholstering of the seats, new carpeting, and repainting of the dome car’s interior.
Nice glad to see another SD9 find a museum home, the BNSF H1 colors look good on the engine. Hopefully the High Nose SD9 that BNSF has in the Minneapolis Deadline will find a museum home too.