BNSF Dash 9-44CW 4947 Back On Home Rails, With a New Identity
Passing through Pacific MO (formerly Franklin MO) is BNSF Railway's Cuba Sub (formerly the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway), running parallel to Union Pacific's Jefferson City Sub (formerly Missouri Pacific, and before that the Pacific Railroad, for which, in 1859, Franklin was incorporated and, in honor of the railroad, changed its name to Pacific), with both mainlines paralleling the old, classic Route 66, with all three skirting the town's signature sandstone bluffs. Coming off the siding here just east of the town's Olive Street is BNSF High Priority Freight H-STLTUL1-03A, heading to Tulsa OK from Saint Louis, about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of town. Norfolk Southern AC44C6M 4859, a rebuilt Dash 9-44CW (ex-GECX 4947, née-BNSF 4947) leads the train, teamed with BNSF ES44C4 6744 (with BNSF ET44C4 3845 as the train’s rear Distributed Power Unit), easily handling this 103-car freight. (Pacific, Missouri – October 3, 2024)
