Burlington Northern BN-3 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2004

BN-3 was originally built as Chicago, Burlington & Quincy E9A #9989A by EMD in January 1956. It became Burlington Northern #9989 after the merger of March 2, 1970. In April 1973 it was rebuilt for Chicago commuter service and became E9AM #9919, the Joseph F. Coyle. At this point, the locomotive technically was owned by Chicago’s West Suburban Mass Transit District and leased to Burlington Northern. The rebuilt E-units were retired from Chicago commuter service in July 1992, and in August #9919 was transferred back to Burlington Northern. It was sent to be repainted and emerged on January 6, 1993 as BN-3. It joined BN-1 and BN-2 in Executive Service until the 1996 BNSF merger, after which it was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum.

Photo by Cliff West

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