The Trains: BNSF Coal

The Utility Fuels "UFIX" trains are THE signature Denver Road train.  These trains began running in the late 70's, made up of steel bathtub coal gondolas of similar design by two manufacturers. (ACF's Coalveyors and Whitaker/Berwick "Bathtubs")  The Great Recession dictated a downturn in coal traffic and thus the end of the line for most steel gondolas in coal service, and the UFIX cars were no exception.  By 2010 they had faded away into scrap service, if they were lucky.  But on my railroad they are alive and well, and thankfully Atlas has done an absolutely stunning version of the ACF car in a ton of road numbers so a fairly decent representation of these trains can be done.

BNSF Coal 1
Symbol(s):  Description: LOADS
Locomotives: SD70MAC (2)
Cars: (21) UFIX cars

BNSF Coal 2
Symbol(s):  Description: EMPTIES
Locomotives: SD70MAC (2)
Cars: (21) UFIX cars
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BNSF Coal 3
Symbol(s):  Description: EMPTIES
Locomotives: SD70MAC (2)
Cars: (19) FPPX cars
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BNSF Coal 4
Symbol(s):  Description: LOADS
Locomotives: SD70MAC (2)
Cars: (21) BN/BNSF cars
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BNSF Coal 5
Symbol(s):
C NAMKBB E KBBNAM  North Antelope Mine (NA), Wyoming to Big Brown (Fairfield), TX
C BKMKBB E KBBBKM  Buckskin Mine (JJ), Wyoming to Big Brown (Fairfield), TX
C CDMKBB E KBBCDM  Cordero Mine (VV), Wyoming to Big Brown (Fairfield), TX
C ATMKBB E KBBATM  Antelope Mine (AT), Wyoming to Big Brown (Fairfield), TX
Description: This is the TXU "Big Brown" train, which is one of the primary reasons I moved my era into the 2000's.   It marked the era of a little more variety in the coal train cars coming through, previously monopolized by the steel cars in the UFIX fleet.  The RD-4's are just a really cool looking car, and the model is great and has some fairly intricate internal bracing, perfect for running empty which this train will be, at least until such time that I have a layout that has enough staging capacity to permit loads and empties of every train.
Locomotives: SD70MAC (2)
Cars: (21) TXUX Cars
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