| BN NW2 552 at Clyde, Illinois on an unknown day in November 1979, Kodachrome by Chuck Zeiler. There is a small diesel-spotter's problem here. According to several sources, this locomotive was built in February 1949 as CB&Q TR2A 9403A (c/n 6565), semi-permanently coupled to cabless TR2B 9403B. In 1954, the TR2B's were returned to EMD for installation of cabs. However, by 1954, the cab design had changed a bit, and the TR2B's (now classed as NW2's) had rectangular cab windows over the hood, whereas the original TR2A's (re-classed as NW2's) retained their as-built arched windows. That, and the two-step hood taper at the cab wall, WERE the spotting features to differentiate the former TR2A's from the TR2B's. in the BN era. This locomotive has lost both the arched windows and two-step taper. There is evidence of a recent shopping (fresh paint, for instance) suggesting that body modifications may have taken place, I don't know for sure. Certainly the bell hangar and exhaust stacks are not EMD production. |