A Union Pacific westbound freight, lead by a pair of former Southern Pacific SD40-2M diesels rebuilt by M-K from SD45s, passes through El Casco, the name for the crossover in Redlands, on Beaumont Hill, California, just days before the dreaded (and over-rated) Y2K. The lead engine began life as Pennsylvania Railroad SD45 6203, then Penn Central 6203 and Conrail 6203, thanks to various mergers. Conrail sold it to Chicago & North Western, where it became C&NW 6528. It was sold yet again to National Railway Equipment. NREX 6528 was among 133 second-hand diesels obtained and rebuilt by MK Rail Corporation (a motley assortment of SD40s, SD45s and SDP45s), rebuilt into "SD40M-2"s and then it was leased to the Southern Pacific. (Thanks to another merger, it eventually became Union Pacific 2686.)
