Yard Limit
Member
On March 13, 2018, I saw Amtrak 4 come and go on the Flagstaff webcam and it was on time and had a normal consist. Between Winslow and Gallup it lost about an hour and 40 minutes which was very unusual so I listened on the scanner as it was arriving in NMRX territory to see if there was a clue to it’s tardiness. Sure enough, when the crew reported in to the NMRX dispatcher they had to change the GTB to BNSF 614. Somewhere between Winslow and Gallup one of the locomotives had mechanical problems and a BNSF unit was dispatched to assist. This is a fairly rare occurrence and makes for an interesting video.
By the time it was due to pass through Bernalillo, I heard the dispatcher tell the crew that it would meet the Southbound Railrunner, which was a nice added element for me. Amtrak 4 didn’t have to wait long for the Railrunner to pass before it throttled up and continued its journey toward Chicago.
BNSF 614 started life as an EMD CW44-9 AT&SF Warbonnet but was converted to an AC44C4M around 2015. It now sports the BNSF livery.
A couple of notes about the video: The introduction video is a classic example of an alto cumulus standing lenticular cloud over the Sandia Mountains. These clouds form by high level moisture being present along with high altitude winds. Pilots know to avoid these because of the extreme downwind turbulence. Also you get to see what happens when you have a bad cold and get sloppy about positioning your cameras.
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