CNW Heritage Unit Runs in Wisconsin

[kschmidt]

    I was lucky enough to catch the UP 1995 and CNW 8646 as they left Butler Yard and headed west on the Adams Sub.  Even though it was in the 90's and humid, the chase was great and the sun was out most of the time. 


Here is the CNW duo at Butler Yard in northwest Milwaukee, WI  on July 29, 2006


CNW #8646 at Butler Yard, still one of the best paint schemes. 


UP 1995 at Butler Yard, an interesting version of the classic CNW scheme


Here are some more classic locomotives at Butler Yard, the SD40-2 is a former CNW unit, the bell o n the nose is a giveaway, plus an unpatched SP unit. 


UP 1995 leads a smoking CNW 8646 as they depart Butler Yard and head onto the Adams Sub westbound. 


At Marcy Road about 3 miles west of Butler Yard



The above shots were taken from Hwy E overpass just east of Clyman, WI 

Keith Schmidt
www.steamtrainsandtractors.com 

[CShaveRR]

Glad you could catch her--she left here late yesterday evening, and spent most of the night in Butler.  I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see where she's going from Valley Park, and whether CNW 8701 rejoins these two.

[solzrules]

Nice pictures!  Thanks!

[fuzzybroken]

Glad you caught 'em!  I just missed 'em...

[Lord Atmo]

he JUST left Altoona. i caught him idling with his brother, 8646, but was only able to get scotchlight shots. bad news. he left without 8701, which is still in Altoona. i got some night and day sots of him too

[wctransfer]

Where these bound for the South Saint Paul?

Alec

[kschmidt]

    They are headed for the Twin Cities, Valley Park they are on the MPRVP.  They should be there by now.  With a return probably Monday-Tuesday to Proviso.

    Mark, I thought I might see you out there, I get lucky yesterday. 

Keith

[Railfan1]

Nice pics!

[CNW 6000]

    They are headed for the Twin Cities, Valley Park they are on the MPRVP.  They should be there by now.  With a return probably Monday-Tuesday to Proviso.

    Mark, I thought I might see you out there, I get lucky yesterday. 

Keith

What cities does that take them through?

[Noah Hofrichter]

Keith, some very nice photos. I didn't get a chance to chase it myself, I decided it wasn't worth it as I didn't know about what time it would be through up near Adams. Glad to see you got some good shots though, I can railfaning through them instead. Might have to look into that return trip though if he comes back on MSSPR, as that's usually an early morning job through Adams area.

Noah

[railfan619]

Nice pictures you got there. I wish i was albe to catch it while it was here but. I'll have to wait untill it come back around.

[CShaveRR]

The units are not scheduled for tomorrow's MSSPR, so they may be leaving town via another route (or staying for a day).  I forgot to check on them before leaving work.

[UP_North]

The usual move after arriving in Valley Park is to send the power on the next days MVPDM.  It will probably go to St. James on Monday.  after arriving in Desmoine, it should return to Proviso on MDMPR.  Then it should go into the shop because the a/c doesnt work.

[kschmidt]

 Noah,

When I missed the Clyman Junction coaling tower shot because I took a wrong turn, I almost went all the way to Adams, but the coaling tower there isn't anywhere the mainline so I headed back home.  Plus with train speeds bumped up it was going to be a tough chase. 

Doesn't sound like they will be coming back on the Adams Line right away.  Plus its going to be plenty HOT without an AC in that cab.  

Keith

[tomnoy3]

UP North, dont they send Des Moine bound trains down the Spine Line.  I thought the only trains that went through St James on the Mankato/Worthington Subs were MVPNP.  But if it is going through St James, please let me know ASAP.  Thanks

Tom

[UP_North]

MVPDM runs down the Mankato sub from Valley Park to St. James then takes the Fairmont sub to Mason City.  From Mason City it runs the Spine line to Des Moines.  MNPVP is on duty at 0730 at Valley Park with MVPDM a couple hours behind them, usually 0930 on duty.

As of 5:45 pm on the 31st, MVPDM is in Mankato with the CNW 8646 in the lead.

[CopCarSS]

Keith,

Great shots. I really liked the last three. Thanks for sharing!

[Anonymous]

She just left Valley park at 2pm heading for Des moines,Iowa on the MVPDM.

[Lord Atmo]

i'm betting he's going to Proviso after that for A/C repair

[UP_North]

Probably just doing it to prove me wrong, the UP 1995, CNW 8646, and UP 2953, are scheduled to the MDMSS- MSSPR route back to Proviso, and not MDMPR as I stated earlier. 

The CNW 8701 is on MCNKC out of Itasca, hopefully only to SS, so it can team back up with the other 2.

[tatans]

Finally I get it !      " Heritage Units" now that I've seen a photo I now know what it means, just how popular is this program? Is every railway participating? and who sponsored it?

[kschmidt]

    Right now it is a Union Pacific Railroad program.  Mainly it was done in order for the UP to keep its licensing rights to the Fallen Flag railroads represented by the Heritage Units.  It was just recently announced that all the money from the "model licensing" will be going to maintaining the Heritage units and the UP Steam Program.  Four of the five planned Heritage Units are out already they include,  Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT), Missouri Pacific(MP), Denver & Rio Grande (DRGW) and the Chicago Northwestern.  The Southern Pacific unit is scheduled to be unveiled later this month. 

    The UP also does its best to keep the Heritage Units running in the area of the original railroads trackage.  

Keith

[CShaveRR]

Um, Keith...

Six units in the program, five already out.

(You forgot WP 1983)

[kkasten]

I dont know about anyone else but I think this is the nicest looking heritage scheme that the UP has put out so far.  Will be interesting to see what the Southern Pacific scheme will look like.  Nice pics too by the way.

[Chris30]

I still say that if the UP wants to mess with some people they will release a CSX heritage unit with the number 201? on the side.

CC

[kschmidt]

    Yes,
    I stand corrected, forgot about the Western Pacific unit.  I have actually seen three of them now, MKT, Missouri Pacific and CNW.  I wonder is the George Bush Unit #4141 considered Heritage or is something different.  That paint kind of resembles Air Force One.  

Keith

[CShaveRR]

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.  I've seen all five of the Heritage units released so far, the 4141 under tarps, and the not-yet-released SP unit in primer.

I think I actually "understand" the CNW unit best of all (I'd say that I like it best, but I'm afraid my own "heritage" might be showing in a statement like that!).

[kschmidt]

    I would have to say that the CNW Heritage is probably the most "like" an actual Heritage paint scheme.  I have heard rumblings that the SP unit could have some "black widow" influence.  That would be nice to see. 

    Also it appears that the UP/CNW 1995 has completed its eastbound run through Wisconsin.  According to a trace on www.drgw.net  the 1995 arrived in Proviso at 0515hrs on 08-05-2006.  Maybe they can fix the air conditioning in the cab now. 

Keith

[CShaveRR]

Thanks for saving me the trouble of checking on her.  I'm not going to work for the next three days, so won't get any advance notice of her next run.  Hope somebody says something here!

[Noah Hofrichter]

Based upon the DRGW site's trace, the 1995 is now scheduled to leave on the train to council bluffs at 9:30 this morning(8-6) from Proviso. Here's the line:

UP 1995    Proviso

IL

Est Dept

08/06/2006 09:30

Coubluffs

IA

12/31/1969 17:00

And oddly enough, if the trace is right, and if I am reading it right, the two UP Olympic Torch units are scheduled to run with it:

UP 2001 Olympic Unit             Proviso

IL

Est Dept

08/06/2006 09:30

Coubluffs

IA

08/07/2006 11:00

UP 2002 Olympic Unit

Proviso

IL

Est Dept

08/06/2006 09:30

Coubluffs

IA

08/07/2006 11:00

Noah Hofrichter