A bucket list item of mine has been photographing a BNSF train on Raton Pass along the former original Santa Fe mainline. For years, the railroad had not run any revenue freight over the route due to high costs of maintaining the line and equipment because of the 3+ percent grades. Today, Amtrak is the only railroad to run twice daily over the route between Chicago and Los Angeles. However once in a blue moon, the railroad would send a geometry train or do test runs over the pass.
On July 23, 2018, a pair of BNSF SD75M's Nos. 279 and 296 lead a BNSF/EMD test train symboled D TRITRI1 23S down the 3.5-percent grade on Raton Pass around Wootton Curve at Wootton Ranch, Colorado. EMD is testing out the SD70ACe-T4 that is seen behind the two test cars on the rear of the train.
