Back in 1999 I was living in Carrollton, MO where the BNSF line from Kansas City to Chicago passes through. Carrollton had once been a busy railroad town. No longer so, but it still has two grain elevators, one pretty large, and one other industry still served by rail so some switching does take place there atleast once a week.

One day in 1999 I was driving across the tracks on Main St. and something caught my eye on the siding. I turned around, only half believing what I had seen, and took a side street that parallels the siding to get a closer look. The new BNSF paint scheme was very new then and many loco's were being painted from their fromer BN or ATSF colors to the new scheme at the time. Upon closer examination my initial reaction was correct, there was a GP-9 with its high nose intact freshly painted in the new BNSF scheme. I was surprised to know that any of thses old work horses still existed in class 1 service, let alone were receiving new paint and were making it out onto the main.

Here is my question. I assume that this and any other of these older engines are used for yard switching and local peddler service, but Carrollton is 75 miles from the nearest yard (Kansas City), so what was this guy doing there? It was parked and not coupled to any cars, and it was gone the next morning when I returned with my camera. Also, how many of these old Geeps still exist and are in service on BNSF or other class 1's? I have never seen another one, but I would like to know if others have.

Thanks,
Ron