Courtesy of Blair Kooistra.
Blair says:
"This
is a rather standard view of Burlington Northern F45 #6642 ready to
depart Appleyard in Wenatchee, Washington in March of 1985 with drag
freight #129 to Seattle. But blow it up to screen-size on a big monitor,
and just revel at its bad-assedness for a moment.
The SD40-2
is revered for its durability and reliability; the SD45 for its brute
power and mean appearance with flared radiators. Bur for
me, the most magnificent of them all was the F45, which became
synonymous with freight operations across BN's Hi-Line in the 1970s and
early 1980s.
During the last five years of their lives, ten or
so of these were assigned to Interbay in Seattle, protecting helper
assignments on the former Great Northern mainline over the Cascades to
Wenatchee, a pair of 6600s replacing trios of GP9/F9s.
Identical--except for the lack of a steam generator compartment on the
rear--to the passenger version FP45 initially built for Santa Fe, only
Great Northern and Santa Fe purchased the new freight model F45s; 26
were ordered by Great Northern, 14 of which delivered before the 1970
Burlington Northern merger. BN added another 20 in 1971.
When I
photographed the 6642, it had less than a year of service left for BN.
It looks well worn, crusty around the edges, rusting along the side
panels--but even so, it gives the appearance of a capable, powerful
machine. After completing its air test, it will lead #129 over the pass
to Seattle. This was the last time I saw an F45 lead a train on
Burlington Northern.
The 6642 left the roster in 1986,
reincarnated as Trancisco Tour #1002 for a short career hauling party
trains between Oakland and Reno. Wisconsin Southern picked her up under
the same number, passing it on to Montana Rail Link in 1993, who
operated it as its #392 until retired and scrapped at Livingston in
2014."
