Norfolk Southern locomotives 4002 and 4004 on the BNSF

In late September 2016, Norfolk Southern Railway’s newest DC to AC conversion locomotives #4002 and #4004 made their first trip together off Norfolk Southern rails as they pulled an empty ethanol train from Chicago to Mina, South Dakota.

Originally scheduled to go through the Twin Cities, the train was detoured due to flood damage in Illinois and Wisconsin from Galesburg, Illinois to Kansas City. From there it went to Ashland, Nebraska via the St. Joseph, Napier and Creston Subdivisions, then north on the Sioux City Subdivision and then west again on the Aberdeen Subdivision.

The opportunity to see even one of these locomotives in a special paint scheme was exciting, let alone two of them together which may end up being a rare event. According to Facebook posts, the train was due out of Kansas City at 12:30pm and I planned on shooting them south of St. Joseph, Missouri. The weather was perfect with a mostly sunny sky but a forecast of scattered showers moving in later in the evening.

I waited and waited for the train at various locations and finally word came that the train left Kansas City mush later and a Heritage Units website post indicated the train was about 15 miles south of where I was set up. While waiting, the sun became blocked by rain clouds and radar showed thundershowers about 5 miles west but moving in a manner that should miss me.

With video camera set up and hearing the train sound for a crossing a few miles south, a small area of rain formed directly over my position and it began to pour. I quickly covered the video camera with a jacket and shot stills and video thinking this would be my only chance to catch the locomotives. As a side note, the mosquitos in Missouri are incredibly huge and tenacious!

I did follow the locomotives north, and then headed to Omaha for the night as they entered the Napier Subdivison around midnight. I didn’t think they would be anywhere close in the morning, so I gave up the chase kind of disappointed with the dark video and stills.

Upon waking up Sunday morning, I learned the train only made it as far as South Sioux City, Nebraska, so I decided to head north to try to catch them. I drove to Sioux City and heard the units on the radio as they left Ferry, which is just south of Sioux City. I waited at the north end of the yard for over an hour and heard nor saw anything of them. Suddenly, I heard them getting a warrant on the Aberdeen Subdivision which I hadn’t counted on them going. I entered Vermillion, South Dakota in the GPS and headed west to catch them. I was excited as the satellite photos showed breaking clouds to the west so I was hopeful to catch them in the sun.

My first glimpse of the train was west of Vermillion along Highway 50 when I saw the end buffer car. Track speed is 5 to 10 mph so I caught the head end very quickly. Still cloudy, I snapped some still photos at various points along the route. With the sun beginning to break out, I set up the video camera in the small town of Gayville, South Dakota and shot the second video there. From there, I moved to Yankton, South Dakota and shot the train as it passed through town. I was able to get both stills and videos of the train in sunlight, so satisfied with my efforts, I headed south towards Norfolk, Nebraska and then home.

NS4002 was originally built in January 1995 as a General Electric model Dash 9-40C locomotive and was number 8789. NS4004 was originally built in March 1995 as a General Electric model Dash 9-40C locomotive and was number 8866. Both units were rebuilt in 2016 and released for service in August 2016. The units were converted from DC operation to AC operation and are now designated as model AC44C6M. 4002 was rebuilt at Norfolk Southern’s Roanoke Locomotive Shop and 4004 was rebuilt in Altoona at the Juniata Locomotive Shop. Work included the conversion to AC traction and electrical components, a new GE wide nose crew cab and an increase in weight. They are rated at 4,400 horsepower each and have distinctive paint schemes.

Special thanks to Ryan, Greg, Sam and Darrell for helping me track and chase these special locomotives.