BN 6642 At Wenatchee

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."