Random pictures of rolling stock

Usually when I hear a train passing by outside, it’s a train comprised of newer BNSF locomotives pulling double-stacked shipping containers. Usually at least once a day there will also be a train of tank cars. But occasionally I see something different that gets me excited and fumbling to take a picture. Last month this happened when I saw two Santa Fe red/silver warbonnets pulling a train with a caboose at the back. I found out that the train was probably a La Mirada local that services industries in the area and it’s not really uncommon for them to be out and about (I thought it was a rare occurrence since I hardly ever see those locomotives).

But since then I saw another red/silver warbonnet, this one sandwiched between a Heritage II and Heritage III BNSF locomotives.

That was the first time I was able to catch one the warbonnets on camera, and I’d only seen them less than a dozen times on the tracks. But then I caught a blue/yellow warbonnet – this was the first time I’d ever seen one of these in person. I’ve also never seen a BNSF Heritage II/III locomotive with a number in the 3 digits, so the one leading that warbonnet was interesting.

Another random locomotive I saw was a CREX “Citirail” loco that BNSF is leasing. Apparently there are a few of these running around but this is the first time I’ve seen one.

Next to shipping containers and tank cars, I probably see hoppers, reefers and box cars the most. Generally the hoppers are all white, but sometimes something cool comes by, like the three below sporting different paint jobs of BNSF’s past.

I love seeing old Burlington Northern cars especially when they add variety to the consist. And speaking of variety, it seems like the majority of box cars I see all have some form of graffiti on them. While some of the graffiti can sometimes make the cars unique and give them more character, overall it just looks bad.

It’s not often that I see coil cars (although lately I’ve been seeing more of them) and usually they don’t have much lettering that I can see on the sides, but this one was trying to make sure you know what it is.

Of course there are always the Metrolink and Amtrak trains that go by every day. I used to think the Metrolink trains were boring but they’ve been growing on me.

The Amtrak trains on the other hand have always been fun to see. The streamlined look of the locomotives and passenger cars flying down the track makes me want to travel the country on a train.

My only experience on an Amtrak was a frustrating one, however. We were taking the train from Fullerton to LA’s Union Station which should have taken half an hour or less, but ended up taking almost three hours due to another Amtrak train broken down on the tracks in front of us. Our train was supposed to push the other but there were issues with the air brakes connecting which had to be fixed, causing us to miss our ride on the Texas Eagle to Austin, TX. That was a disappointing experience.

When I saw a BNSF loco leading an Amtrak train a couple of weeks ago, it reminded me of how sad I was that we had to cancel our trip. Someday in the future I still want to do a trip on Amtrak, but who knows when that will be.