Railroad Photography - Saturday Afternoon At Oro Grande

Story & Photos By: Ken Hulsey

Many a travel book has been written about America's historic transcontinental highway, Route 66. The interstate, which at one time, traversed the country from Chicago to Los Angeles in very much the same way as the Santa Fe railroad did. Alas Route 66, and the Santa Fe, are gone, for the most part, memories of a by-gone era in American Transportation.

The highway itself, being replaced by Interstate 40, in the west, and the Santa Fe merged with the Burlington Northern.

Remnants of these items of good old Americana can still be found for those who look hard enough, as today's photo gallery will illustrate.

Back in the 1970s, Trains Magazine published a very interesting photo spread entitled, "Railroad Photographs Without Trains". I was reminded of that classic magazine piece this past weekend, when I decided to kill two birds with one stone, and combine my quest to find a Valentine's Day present for my lovely wife, with a little train watching/photography.

One of my favorite haunts for antiques, my wife and I love old stuff, is the very quaint "Antique Station" in Oro Grande, Ca. I can normally find the perfect gift for my special little lady there, and as a matter of luck, the BNSF/Union Pacific main line runs right past the shop.

Oro Grande is located on what used to be Route 66, a stretch of road that now serves as the 'back way' into Barstow from Victorville.

Now on any given day, while shopping, at least a half dozen trains will pass this location, so I figured that this would be a great spot to capture some great railroading action shots.

I parked my car and crossed the highway to the rail line and then began my wait. I waited, and I waited.


Some 30-minutes passed before I spotted my first train, two actually, a BNSF stack-train on the track closest to me, and a Union Pacific on the adjacent trackage. Both were going the same direction, south, and both were pacing each other.

As the two trains came closer, the Union Pacific train slowed, and the BNSF freight quickly overtook it. This was a big disappointment, because I had hoped to catch them both in a photograph, but as luck would have it, I could only get a good shot of the first one to me.

I captured one shot as the train passed by the Oro Grande sign, just before it passed by some set out gondola cars, then another as it passed beyond them, headed south.


As I mentioned before, remnants of the pre-BNSF days were quite evident in Oro Grande on this unusually warm February day as this old worn-out Burlington Northern logo on the side of a set out gondola illustrates.

As I waited for another train, or trains, I snapped several pics of rolling stock near the TXI Riverside Cement plant.

Old meets new. An old Burlington Northern car coupled to a BNSF car.


The afternoon proceeded on, without any sign of action, which was odd for this local, so I took photos of what was available.

I soon got bored with my wait, so I decided to get my shopping out of the way, that was the main reason that I was visiting Oro Grande this day......honestly.

Of course, while in the store, five, count em, five trains passed by. Four UP mixed trains, and another BNSF stack-train.

I didn't rush my shopping though, I take finding the perfect gift for my wife very seriously, besides, trains always pass by this local often, so I would be certain to catch some after I was done.....or so I thought.

Again I took a position beside the tracks and waited.

Cue the sound of crickets if you will.

Nothing.

Again getting restless, I staked out an excellent place for a dramatic railroad action shot, this time adjacent to the curve alongside the cement plant. From this vantage point, I could get a great shot of trains headed south or coming north.

Only one problem, none showed up.

Again feeling artistic a took a few snaps of some assembled rail and ties along the trackage.


It was beginning to get late so I headed back to my car. While on my hike back, I took a photograph of the "Derail" switch on a very old siding.

I also noticed that several of the spikes on the main-line were falling out. I thought that this may make for an interesting photograph as well.

One shot, that may have been interesting, would have been of the discarded spray-paint cans I found along the tracks, with the graffiti laden freight cars in the back-ground. Unfortunately, I couldn't line up both subjects to my satisfaction, and I didn't want to move the cans closer to the rail-cars. Knowing my luck, a CHP officer would come by at exactly that moment and think that I was tagging the hoppers.

Now, many people would think that I had a rather boring Saturday afternoon, just hanging around the train tracks, but honestly I had a ball.

Granted, not many trains came by, but I feel that I got some great photographs anyway. Plus I was able to scout out some great spots for future photographs, and you know that the next free day I get, that's where I'll be.

"Railroad Photographs Without Trains" can sometimes be as artistic as ones with them.

For me, it was a great Saturday afternoon at Oro Grande.

See Also: Railroad Photo Gallery - Santa Fe FP45 Locomotives #95 & #98 / Railroad Photo Gallery - Union Pacific GP40-2 1368 (Ex Rio Grande)

Other Railroad History Articles: * The History Of Burlington Northern Steam Power?* Railroading On DVD! - Southern Pacific Cab Forward Collection* Why Is The CSX Intermodel Yard In Atlanta Named 'Hulsey'?......And Does Anybody Know?* The Diesel Railroad Locomotive - From Box Cabs And The SD40 To The SD70 And Gensets* Railroad History - Fun Facts - The Modern Era (1980-Present)* Railroad History - Fun Facts - The Post-War Era (1945-1980)
See Also: Tickets Now On Sale For The Return Of Santa Fe Locomotive 3751 To San Diego / The Cajon Pass Railroad Museum - The Birth Of A Dream / Santa Fe Locomotive 3751 To Return To San Diego In May 2010!

See Other HO Scale Santa Fe Items: Athearn HO Scale FP45 Locomotive - Santa Fe (Red & Silver Warbonnet) / Athearn HO Scale F45 Locomotive - Santa Fe (Blue & Yellow Warbonnet) / Athearn HO Scale F7A/F7B Locomotives - Santa Fe / MTH HO Scale 2-10-0 Russian Decapod Locomotive - Santa Fe / Bachmann HO Scale Rail King Electric Train Set - Santa Fe / Athearn HO Scale EMD GP38-2 Locomotive - Santa Fe / Athearn HO Scale PS-2 Covered Hopper - Santa Fe / Athearn 50ft Ice Reefer Box Car - Santa Fe (Scout) / Athearn HO Scale Cupola Caboose - Santa Fe / Athearn HO Scale GP60M Locomotive - Santa Fe / Athearn Genesis F45 HO Scale Locomotive - Santa Fe / Bachmann 2-10-4 Texas HO Scale Locomotive - Santa Fe / Bachmann 4-8-4 Northern Locomotive - HO Scale - Santa Fe / Proto 2000 Diesel EMD F7A-B Set Powered - HO Scale - Santa Fe / Bachmann HO Scale FT Locomotive - Santa Fe / Walthers HO Scale F7 Locomotive - Santa Fe

Athearn HO Scale F45 Locomotive - Burlington Northern

An EMD F45 is a C-C cowled diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1968 and 1971. Power was provided by an EMD 645E3 20-cylinder engine which generated 3,600 hp (2,680 kW).

After sponsoring the development of the FP45 passenger locomotive, the Santa Fe requested a similar freight locomotive from Electro-Motive. Where the FP45 was an SDP45 wrapped in a full-width Cowl carbody, the new F45 was essentially an SD45 given the same treatment.

Where the Santa Fe requested a full-width carbody for aesthetics, the Great Northern saw an opportunity to protect crews from the dangers of winter operation in northern climates.

The Santa Fe ordered two lots of twenty each, for 1968 delivery. Where the FP45s were delivered in Santa Fe's red, yellow and silver warbonnet colors, the forty F45s came in the blue and yellow freight colors. The second lot of F45s were equipped with steam lines so that they could be used as trailing units on passenger consists.

Great Northern ordered an initial lot of six, for 1969 delivery. These were numbered immediately following a previous lot of SD45s. Another lot of eight was ordered before the first six arrived. All were factory-painted in the GN's blue, white and grey Big Sky Blue colors.

GN ordered twelve more for 1970 delivery - they were to be numbered 441-452 - but the GN merged into the Burlington Northern prior to delivery, so they arrived with BN numbers and BN's green, white and black Cascade Green colors.

BN followed with a final order for twenty in 1971. Afterwards they returned to ordering SD45s. This final order differed in several small ways from the GN specs.

See Also: The History Of Burlington Northern Steam Power?

Other Burlington Northern HO Scale Items: Athearn HO Scale GP50 Diesel Locomotive - Burlington Northern / Athearn HO Scale F7A Diesel Locomotive - Burlington Northern / Trainline EMD GP9M HO Scale Locomotive - Burlington Northern / Athearn HO Scale SD60M Locomotive - Burlington Northern / BNSF / Athearn HO Scale SD60M Locomotive - Burlington Northern Santa Fe / Intermountain Railway Company 40ft Box Car - Burlington Northern / Athearn HO Scale Cupola Caboose - Burlington

The History Of Burlington Northern Steam Power?

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Any rail fan with even a basic knowledge of railroad history would certainly look at the title of this article and think that I made a mistake.

"Don't you mean 'The History of Burlington Steam Power?'" Would be the obvious question, believing that I was intending to write some long winded piece on the history of the Chicago Burlington & Quincy and their varied forms of steam locomotive power.

That, however, is not the case. I'm indeed writing about Burlington Northern steam power.

Now, before you get some wild ideas, that the CBQ, Northern Pacific and Great Northern some how merged in the 1940s, then split again, or that the BN had some covert steam program in the 70s that no one either knew about or forgot about, let me explain.

Their has been one steam locomotive in the history of railroading that has worn the name "Burlington Northern", though that locomotive actually didn't belong to the BN that came to be after the fore mentioned railroads merged into one.

Are you really curious now? Are you tired of all this 'beating around the bush?'

Okay, I'll come clean.

Almost all of you would certainly recognise Sierra Railroad's 4-6-0 locomotive #3. The old wood burning locomotive has been in hundreds of movies and television shows, including the "Lone Ranger", "Petticoat Junction", "Rawhide", "Death Valley Days", "Lassie", "Gunsmoke", "Bonanza", and "Little House on the Prairie."

Yes, that's right, the 'Hooterville Cannonball".

Indeed, it was this locomotive that once ran under the flag of the Burlington Northern......well on a TV show anyway.

For the 1971 episode of "Gunsmoke" called "The Bullet", the famed #3, was repainted and re lettered with the Burlington Northern name on her tender.

In that episode, the shows main character, Marshall Dillon (played by actor, James Arness) is almost fatally wounded by a black hat wearing outlaw, and has to be transported, by rail, from Dodge City to Denver where there would be a doctor who could save his life.

Now, why exactly, the crew of "Gunsmoke" would opt to name a train traveling from Kansas to Colorado, "Burlington Northern" was never formally explained (and people did ask back in the day) it can only be assumed that some Hollywood type, simply wanted to add 'realism' to the episode and took the time to find out which railroad ran the same route as the train that would be portrayed on screen. Well, in 1971, that would have been the BN.

Being naive to recent railroad mergers, and most certainly, railroad history, whoever it was that decided to go with the BN lettering, probably assumed that the railroad had been around for a hundred years or better.

Little did they know that the railroad, at the time, was only a year into it's existence.

That's just how Hollywood works.

Well let me tell you that after "The Bullet" aired in 1971, CBS received many a letter from confused rail fans, who also let their thoughts be known in the magazines of the day.

Okay, I know what you are thinking, 'a TV show? What? I thought that this was going to be about 'real' BN steam power?'

I get it. I kinda cheated. Their was never any 'real' BN steam locomotives, no green and white painted 4-8-4 'Northerns' with the company's logo on their tenders.

I just thought that it was an interesting bit to throw in on a Wednesday.

Oh, and as a side note. The famed Sierra Locomotive #3 is currently dismantled, and the California Railroad Museum has been raising funds to restore her. Read more about that - HERE

Athearn HO Scale GP50 Diesel Locomotive - Burlington Northern

Athearn HO Scale Ready To Run GP50 Locomotive - Burlington Northern / White Face #3107

Product Features

Fully assembled and ready to operate
Factory installed wire grab irons
Factory installed Celcon handrails
Super smooth drive train
Nickel plated, blackened machined wheels

Product Description

Features / / * Fully assembled and ready to operate / * Factory installed wire grab irons / * Factory installed Celcon handrails / * Super smooth drive train / * Nickel plated, blackened machined wheels / * McHenry scale knuckle spring couplers installed / / Specifications / / DCC: Not Ready / SOUND: No / PROTOTYPE MANUFACTURER: Electro Motive Division / COUPLER STYLE: McHenry Scale Knuckle / RTR/KIT: Ready to Run / ERA: 1980 - Present / Minimum Age Recommendation: 8 years / Is Assembly Required: No

EMD GP50 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD). It is powered by a 16-cylinder EMD 645F3B diesel engine, which can produce between 3,500 and 3,600 horsepower. 278 examples of this locomotive were built by EMD between 1980 and 1985. A version of this locomotive called the GP50L was produced with an extended cab. The GP50 rides on the same frame as the EMD GP38, EMD GP38-2, EMD GP39, EMD GP39-2, EMD GP40 and EMD GP40-2, giving it an overall length of 59 feet 2 inches.

See Other Burlington Northern HO Scale Locomotives: Athearn HO Scale F7A Diesel Locomotive - Burlington Northern / Trainline EMD GP9M HO Scale Locomotive - Burlington Northern / Athearn HO Scale SD60M Locomotive - Burlington Northern / BNSF / Athearn HO Scale SD60M Locomotive - Burlington Northern Santa Fe

See Other HO Scale Burlington Northern Items: Intermountain Railway Company 40ft Box Car - Burlington Northern / Athearn HO Scale Cupola Caboose - Burlington Northern

Intermountain Railway Company 40ft Box Car - Burlington Northern

Intermountain Railway Company HO Scale Ready To Run 40' 12 Panel Box Car - Burlington Northern

Product Description

HO RTR 40' 12 Panel Box, BN

Boxcars can carry most kinds of freight. Originally they were hand-loaded, but in more recent years mechanical assistance such as forklifts have been used to load and empty them faster. Their generalized design is still slower to load and unload than specialized designs of car, and this partially explains the decline in boxcar numbers since World War II. The other cause for this decline is the container. A container can be easily transshipped and is amenable to intermodal transportation, transportable by ships, trucks or trains, and can be delivered door-to-door. In many respects a container is a boxcar without the wheels and underframe.

Even loose loads such as coal, grain and ore can be carried in a boxcar, with boards over the side door openings, at later times grain transport used metal reinforced cardboard which was nailed over the door and could be punctured by a grain auger for unloading. This was more common in earlier days; it was susceptible to losing much loading during the journey, and damaged the boxcar. It was also impossible to mechanically load and unload. Grain can also be transported in boxcars designed specifically for that purpose; specialized equipment and procedures are required to load and unload the cars.

Livestock can be transported in a boxcar (which was standard practice in the U.S. until the mid-1880s), but there is insufficient ventilation in warm weather. Specially-built or converted stock cars are preferable. Insulated boxcars are used for certain types of perishable loads that do not require the precise temperature control provided by a refrigerator car. Circuses used boxcars to transport their workers, supplies, and animals to get from town to town.

Historically automobiles were carried in boxcars, but during the 1960s specially built autoracks took over; these carried more cars in the same space and were easier to load and unload. The automotive parts business, however, has always been a big user of the boxcar, and larger capacity "high cube" cars evolved in the 1960s to meet the auto parts industry's needs. Special boxcars carry newsprint paper and other damage-sensitive cargo.

While not holding the dominant position in the world of railborne freight that they had before World War II, the boxcar still exists and is used in great numbers around the world.

See Other HO Scale Burlington Northern Items: Athearn HO Scale Cupola Caboose - Burlington Northern / Athearn HO Scale F7A Diesel Locomotive - Burlington Northern / Trainline EMD GP9M HO Scale Locomotive - Burlington Northern / Athearn HO Scale SD60M Locomotive - Burlington Northern / BNSF / Athearn HO Scale SD60M Locomotive - Burlington Northern Santa Fe

See Other HO Scale Box Cars: Athearn 50ft Ice Reefer Box Car - Santa Fe (Scout) / Trainline HO Scale 50ft Plug Door Box Car - Western Pacific / Athearn HO Scale 50ft Combo Door Box Car - Union Pacific

Athearn HO Scale Cupola Caboose - Burlington Northern

Athearn HO Scale Ready To Run Cupola Caboose - Burlington Northern #10610

Product Features

Fully assembled and ready to operate
Full window glazing
Razor sharp painting and printing
Machined RP25 profile 33" metal wheels
McHenry scale knuckle spring couplers installed

Product Description

== Key Features == / / * Fully assembled and ready to operate / * Full window glazing / * Razor sharp painting and printing / * Machined RP25 profile 33" metal wheels / * McHenry scale knuckle spring couplers installed / / == Specs == / / * COUPLER STYLE:McHenry Scale Knuckle / * MIN. RADIUS:18" / * Minimum Age Recommendation:8 years / * Is Assembly Required:No


The caboose provided the train crew with a shelter at the rear of the train. The crew could exit the train for switching or to protect the rear of the train when stopped. They also inspected the train for problems such as shifting loads, broken or dragging equipment, and hot boxes. The conductor kept records and handled business from a table or desk in the caboose. For longer trips the caboose provided minimal living quarters, and was frequently personalized and decorated with pictures and posters.

Coal or wood was originally used to fire a cast iron stove for heat and cooking, later giving way to a kerosene heater. Now rare, the old stoves can be identified by several essential features. They were without legs, bolted directly to the floor, and featured a lip on the top surface to keep pans and coffee pots from sliding off. They also had a double-latching door, to prevent accidental discharge of hot coals due to the rocking motion of the caboose.

Early cabooses were nothing more than flat cars with small cabins erected on them, or modified box cars. The standard form of the American caboose had a platform at either end with curved grab rails to facilitate train crew members' ascent onto a moving train. A caboose was fitted with red lights called markers to enable the rear of the train to be seen at night. This has led to the phrase bringing up the markers to describe the last car on a train (these lights were officially what made a train a "train").

Originally lit with oil lamps, with the advent of electricity, later caboose versions incorporated an electrical generator driven by belts coupled to one of the axles, which charged a lead-acid storage battery when the train was in motion.

Cabooses are non-revenue equipment and were often improvised or retained well beyond the normal lifetime of a freight car. Tradition on many lines held that the caboose should be painted a bright red, though on many lines it eventually became the practice to paint them in the same corporate colors as locomotives. The Kansas City Southern did something unique: They left their cabooses unpainted, but ordered them with a stainless-steel car body. These were the exception to the rule of painting cabooses.

Other HO Scale Burlington Northern Items: Athearn HO Scale F7A Diesel Locomotive - Burlington Northern / Trainline EMD GP9M HO Scale Locomotive - Burlington Northern / Athearn HO Scale SD60M Locomotive - Burlington Northern / BNSF / Athearn HO Scale SD60M Locomotive - Burlington Northern Santa Fe

Other HO Scale Cabooses: Walthers HO Scale 30' GTW Caboose - Offset Coupla - Rio Grande / Athearn HO Scale Cupola Caboose - Santa Fe / Athearn HO Scale Bay Window Caboose - Southern Pacific

Athearn HO Scale F7A Diesel Locomotive - Burlington Northern

Athearn HO Scale Ready To Run F7A Locomotive - Burlington Northern #714

Product Features

Fully assembled and ready for your layout
Super weight installed for extra traction
Painted to complement existing locomotives and passenger cars
Machined RP25 profile metal wheels
McHenry scale knuckle spring couplers installed

Product Description

Features / / * Fully assembled and ready to operate / * Super weight installed for extra traction / * Painted to complement existing locomotives and passenger cars / * Machined RP25 profile metal wheels / * McHenry semi-scale operating knuckle couplers installed / / Specifications / / DCC: No / SOUND: No / PROTOTYPE MANUFACTURER: EMD / COUPLER STYLE: Knuckle / RTR/KIT: Ready to Roll / ERA: 1940 - 1970

The EMD F7 was a 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW) Diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) and General Motors Diesel (GMD). It succeeded the F3 model in GM-EMD's F-unit sequence, and was replaced in turn by the F9. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant or GMD's London, Ontario facility. Although originally promoted as a freight-hauling unit by EMD, the F7 was also used in passenger service hauling such trains as the Santa Fe's El Capitan.

A total of 2,366 cab-equipped lead A-units and 1,483 cabless booster or B-units were built. The F7 was the fourth model in GM-EMD's successful line of F-unit locomotives, and by far the highest-selling cab unit of all time.

Many F7s remained in service for decades, as railroads found them economical to operate and maintain. However the locomotive was not very popular with the yard crews who operated them in switching service because they were difficult to mount and dismount, and it was also nearly impossible for the engineer to see hand signals from his ground crew without leaning way outside the window. As most of these engines were bought and operated before two-way radio became standard on most American railroads, this was a major point of contention. In later years, with the advent of the “GP” type “road switchers”, Fs were primarily used in “through freight” and “unit train” service where there was very little or no switching to be done on line of road.

The F7 can be considered the zenith of the cab unit freight Diesel, as it was ubiquitous on North American railroads until the 1970s (longer in Canada). The F7 design has become entrenched in the popular imagination due to it having been the motive power of some of the most famous trains in North American railroad history.

The F7 replaced the F3, differing primarily in internal equipment (mostly electrical) and some external features. The F7 was eventually succeeded by the more powerful but mechanically similar F9.

Other HO Scale Burlington Northern Locomotives: Trainline EMD GP9M HO Scale Locomotive - Burlington Northern / Athearn HO Scale SD60M Locomotive - Burlington Northern / BNSF / Athearn HO Scale SD60M Locomotive - Burlington Northern Santa Fe

Other HO Scale F7 Locomotives: Proto 2000 HO Scale EMD F7A-B Locomotives - Canadian Pacific / Proto 2000 Diesel EMD F7A-B Set Powered - HO Scale - Santa Fe / Walthers HO Scale F7 Locomotive - Santa Fe

Trainline EMD GP9M HO Scale Locomotive - Burlington Northern

Trainline EMD GP9M Ready-to-Run Burlington Northern #1709

Product Features

Ready to Run
Dual Fly Wheels
Knuckle Couplers
Diecast Metal Frame

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of General Motors was the last major builder to enter the road switcher market, introducing the GP7 (GP for General Purpose) in 1949. In 1954, the more powerful GP9 was unveiled with a 1750 horsepower prime-mover. This became the most successful of the early geeps, with sales of more than 3,800 locos in the U.S. and Canada. As the GP9s were bumped from major freight and passenger trains by newer locos, they began new careers as switchers. Many roads rebuilt them with a low nose to improve forward visibility and they continue to serve in switching, wayfreight and transfer assignments today. This HO Scale model will be a real workhorse on your model railroad, with great features like a heavy diecast metal frame, powerful can motor with flywheel, eight-wheel electrical pick-up and drive, and a working headlight. Fully assembled and ready for service, they come prepainted in a variety of schemes.

Quality construction and features

See Also: Trainline EMD GP9 HO Scale Locomotive - Rio Grande