BNSF 5343 C44-9W leads and AMTK 169 P42DC pushes Amtrak Cascades #504 as it departs Albany station on December 29, 2008.
During the final two weeks of December, and even into January, unusually harsh winter weather across much of the northern United States caused maintenance problems for some Amtrak locomotives. Left with no other options, Amtrak leased Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) freight locomotives on several occasions, and some lease durations extended for more than a week.
This photo is unusual for a variety of reasons. The first and most obvious is the appearance of a freight locomotive as substitute power on an Amtrak passenger train. The second reason is that this train has power on both ends. Normally the Cascades trains operate with a non-powered cab unit (NCPU) on the north end and an EMD F59PHi on the south end. Third, the appearance of locomotives other than Union Pacific on this main line, the UP Brooklyn Subdivision, is somewhat uncommon, even with power sharing and run-through power agreements common among the Class I railroads. In 2008, most foreign power on the Brooklyn Sub has been from Canadian Pacific, and BNSF power was seen only a couple of times (excepting these appearances on Amtrak).
