Oil shipments by rail have seen a dramatic uptick in the last two years. Two years ago, railroads hauled less than 1% of the oil transported in the country. That number has jumped to over 10%! It isn't higher because there is a two year backlog of new tank cars. Because of the increase in traffic, BNSF has found itself short on power. This has resulted in a lot of leased power appearing on BNSF trains. Case-in-point is this eastbound Provo, UT to Lincoln, NE manifest. A leased C40-9W and SD70, from Norfolk Southern, lead the train along with a BNSF C44-9W. Rumor has it BNSF could be ordering as many as 500 units in 2014, so this leasing bonanza is unlikely to last.
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