Скачать или смотреть Symphony of the Odd-Balls. BJRY MP1500Ds Working Hard!

Last week, I took a two-day railfan trip to the Mississippi River. While I plan to upload the rest of the clips from this awesome trip next Saturday (internet permitting), I had to upload this catch separately, as it's just too cool to be mashed into a compilation.

The Burlington Junction Railway is a shortline and industrial switching company with several locations in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, as well as providing transloading and locomotive maintenance services. They have quite the unique collection of old and rebuilt power, including a fleet of MPI MP1500Ds, powered by tier-2 compliant Caterpillar engines producing 1400 hp.

Their operation in Quincy, IL has a handful of these odd-balls, and I was delighted to find 3 of them switching out their north yard with a classic SW1500 sandwiched between them. These units originated as GP9s and were converted sometime in the mid-2000s for use on the Port of Huston Terminal RR Association and later Huston Belt & Terminal Railroad. BJRY 9626 still wears the HBT colors, but the others have been repainted into BJRY's red and black scheme. It was a trill to hear these weirdos throttling up in the distance, coming out from behind the trees, going back and forth a few times at full power, then slipping quietly back into the yard. Quite the symphony if you ask me.

Nerd Stats:
BJRY Train ???
Switching BJRY Quincy, IL Mainline
BJRY 9626; MPI MP1500D (aka MK1500)
Ex HBT 9626, PTRA 9626, CR 7259 (GP10), PC 7259*
Built As PRR 7259, 11/1959*
Nathan K3LA
*I'm getting conflicting info on the exact heritage of this unit
BJRY 9628; MPI MP1500D (aka MK1500)
Ex HBT 9628, PTRA 9628
Built As UP 291 (GP9); 09/1954
BJRY 1520; EMD SW1500
Ex UPY 1175
Built As SP 2607; 11/1971
BJRY 9631; MPI MP1500D (aka MK1500)
Ex HPT 9631, PTRA, 9631, CP 7422 (GP10), PC 7429
Built As NYC 6022 (GP9); 12/1956