BNSF 4075 Leading A Very Late Amtrak California Zephyr [HD]

Monday, February 3, 2014 found Amtrak 6, the eastbound California Zephyr, running nearly 12 hours late due to a broken rail in western Nebraska. I happened to have had the day off and was in the Omaha area to capture its arrival and departure from the Omaha area.

In the first scene, Amtrak 6 has just entered the Omaha Subdivision at Ashland, Nebraska and is crossing the frozen Platte River. Sunny skies earlier in the day have given way to increasing clouds as a winter storm approaches. BNSF 4075 (C44-9W) hustles Amtrak 6 across the bridge 30 minutes west of Omaha.

In the second scene, shot at the Laplatte Road crossing, Amtrak 6 heads southward and splits the searchlight signals just a couple of miles from re-entering the Creston Subdivision at Oreapolis.

Northern Sky Charters' "Northern Sky" dome car brings up the rear in both scenes and coupled with the orange of BNSF 4075, provides contrasting color to the polished grays and blues of the California Zephyr.

Unfortunately, I do not know why BNSF 4075 was leading Amtrak 6, but I would have to guess a problem existed with either P42DCs Amtrak 55 or Amtrak 188. Amtrak 6 ended up getting into Chicago nearly 13 hours (12:50:00) behind schedule at 3:40am on February 4th.