BNSF - new hoppers

[Anonymous]

TRAINS mag cover photo of April 2005 shows BNSF hopper cars.
I saw a train like this in Everett,WA on Sat. Really gorgeous.

Maybe 100 cars. All this looks like brand new rolling stock. Is it?
This was more *impressive* than a 757. How much would this cost?

Do these (grain cars, I assume) always see work in unit trains?
Would they usually stay with the same consist of locomotives?
BNSF.com says they can load/unload grain shuttles in 15 hrs.
Is this what the BNSF grain shuttles would look like?

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[new rail fan]

[chad thomas]

I lived on the Columbia river from 99' to 03' and unit grain trains with solid brown hoppers were more common than any other combination of cars in unit grain trains.

[rich747us]

Those maroon BNSF grain hoppers you speak of do operate alot in unit trains out in the upper midwest. The unit trains consisting of these hoppers are known as "earthworm" grain trains due to their muddy color that makes them look like a worm that just crawled through some mud. The only times I have seen them in person were on unit grain trains with other mixed hoppers, or on some manifest trains. I also saw a pretty lengthy cut of them sitting in a grain elevator siding along the BNSF Devils Lake sub, somewhere east of Minot, ND.

[Anonymous]

I see them a lot up here in Minnesota, but not long, solid consists in
that scheme. Not so much going up/down the Hinckley Sub, but I
have seen them quite often on the Twin Cities-St. Cloud main.

[MP173]

I can give you some general answers to your questions. The cost of the new covered hopper car is in the $60,000 - 70000 range per car.

BNSF has an ongoing order with Trinity for I believe 6000 of the cars. I believe the are being built in Saginaw, Tx.

ed