CN ET44AC's Tested Today

BNSF K-ALTALT1-14 Tests 4 New CN Locomotives

As is the norm at work now that 67 dispatchers have been furloughed, I am working anything but the Birmingham North job I own.  Today was no exception.  A check of the slide sheet in the morning showed that I would be working the Fort Worth Terminal DS 122 position today.  A note from GE advised that today's K-ALTALT1-14 crew would be needed to deliver two new locomotives from GE to the BNSF and then would be needed to test four new locomotives: CN 3054, CN 3055, CN 3056, and CN 3058.

The delivery move was first on the agenda setting the stage for an evening shoot.  I made sure they did not get far before my shift ended at 1430!  After work I headed to the house to grab the camera. My father met me there and off we headed for Rector Road at Sanger.  Ken Fitzgerald and Troy Minnick were already on site waiting for the colorful quartet of GE's.

The images in the below slideshow were taken by me during the southward chase from Sanger back to the GE Plant at Alliance.

My father took some video of the BNSF "GE Job" testing the four brand-new Canadian National ET44AC locomotives on the BNSF Fort Worth Subdivision.  The GE Job is a unique crew consisting of one conductor and two engineers along with GE technicians.  These locomotives are operated in controlled conditions so that diagnostic performance data can be gathered.  The engineer on the lead locomotive controls the testing locomotives under power while the engineer on the rear locomotive has them in dynamic braking to simulate load conditions.

I have edited this footage into the latest Meridian Speedway Production video and have uploaded it to YouTube.  Enjoy a few glimpses of this unusual test train with four very shiny Canadian National GE locomotives!  The scenes are recorded  at Sanger, TX; Krum, TX; Ponder, TX; Justin, TX; and Alliance, TX:

It was nice to be trackside with my father again!

​Chris