Quickly following an all day hide and seek battle with the clouds for sky superiority, the sun, finding clear skies to the horizon, ultimately prevails and to the victor goes the spoils. Its prize? The pleasure to bask eclectic westbound local L CHI6631 29I in its beautiful late evening glow on the train's usual evening trek out of Galesburg across the Ottumwa Subdivision. With thunderstorms building at its back to the east, the train is seen here rolling along at track speed through the bucolic Illinois farmland outside Kirkwood past one of the many fields of corn that hug the entire length of this 231-mile long double track main between Galesburg and Creston, IA. Today's 45-car Eddyville, IA bound freight features a classic A-B-A style locomotive consist with fabled Santa Fe "Bluebonnet" blue and yellow at its helm, trailed by H1 GP60B #334, one of only 16 on the entire roster. It will make a brief stop across the Mississippi in Burlington to make a set-out and pick-up as well as meet its 664 eastbound counterpart before continuing on through Iowa toward its terminus. Built February of 1981 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe as engine #3814, this EMD GP50, though receiving a new BNSF number and patch, has managed to escape rebuild and the paint booth despite the railroad's 1995 merger with then western rival Burlington Northern. This 39 year old four-axle solider continues serving the orange and black giant in local freight service out of Galesburg on the railroad's Chicago Division.
