Happy New Year! The AP&W rolls into the New Year with another train...
CBD47, the Chicago-Baltimore intermodal train, rolls into town.
Foreign power is on the head end, as a BNSF ES44C4 leads a GECX ET44AC demo unit.
As usual, a colorful variety of international containers follow.
More color. Note the ONE (Ocean Network Express) containers in two different, contrasting, colors!
BNSF 5538 shows off her special trucks. Instead of the usual C-C trucks, with traction motors on all three axles, the ES44C4 uses A-1-A trucks, with a center idler axle. When starting a train, the center axle is raised slightly to increase weight -and traction- on the two outside axles. Once the train gets going, the center axle is lowered back to normal. In theory, this gives you the economy of a 4-axle locomotive (fewer traction motors) with the weight -and pulling power- of a contemporary 6-axle locomotive. In reality, while this arrangement works for high-speed intermodal and general merchandise trains, you still need 6 powered axles for heavy trains, like unit coal and mineral trains. This is the reason why only the BNSF and Florida East Coast have purchased these locomotives; everyone else has stuck to the conventional ES44AC's.
The trailing unit, GECX 2040, is one of the pre-production ET44AC's which the AP&W has on long-term lease. While the BNSF unit is still clean (for now), the GECX is getting dirty!
The back half of GECX 2040, showing the dirt along the bottom of the unit.
More colorful containers, in a variety of sizes.
A number of 20' boxes are also in the train. Next week, we'll take a closer look at both the containers and the well cars. And yes, the second half of the train is made up of 53' domestic containers -stay tuned!
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