Photo of the Week: Boeing on BNSF

Over the last few weeks, my engineer training has taken me to Sheridan, WY, a couple of times. The line to Sheridan is the former Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy, and continues to Gillette, WY, and then down to Denver and Alliance, NE. While coal is the big business on that line, which passes though Wyoming's Powder River Basin, there are some manifest freight trains that use the route too. One of the regular manifests on that line connects Kansas City and Laurel, MT. Boeing has a plant for aircraft in Kansas City, and they use the railroad to ship partially assembled planes out to their plant in Washington. Typically, the body of a 737, in primer, will sit on a flat car, and an enclosed car will follow, carrying the wings, stabilizers, and other parts. They get attached to the plane at the Boeing plant in Washington. The plane also gets its final paint job there.

The other day, while waiting for my train to arrive, I managed to snap a quick picture of a 737 riding a train. Somehow, the plane looked a lot smaller without wings, and sitting on a train!