B-Units

I've talked about slugs, but I can't find anything on B-units. A slug doesn't have a cab, engine or generator; it gets its power from a "mother" unit. They are used in low-speed, high-traction applications such as hump yard pushing and transfer runs. A B-unit has an engine and generator, but no cab. The thought was if you are putting three or four locomotives on a train, why waste money on a cab for all of them when only the front unit needs one? So some railroads used to have quite a few of them. But they were considered a bad idea because it reduced operational flexibility. (In other words, someone in the yard had to think harder about which locomotives they could grab to put on a train.) So railroads quit buying them. But BNSF continues to use a couple in the Galesburg Yard as part of dedicated sets of locomotives that shove cars over the hump. The B-units are designated SD40-2B.

Britt Reeves commented on a posting
B-Unit 300

Britt Reeves commented on a posting
B-unit 301

Rober Learmont posted two photos with the comment: "Galesburg's 302 humpset gets serviced on the 4-track pit at the Galesburg, IL DSF. Galesburg's three humpsets each feature West B wreck rebuilt SD40-2Bs - 300, 301, 302 - as their controlling units. 10-21-2020. Please note that the location these photos was taken from is not publicly accessible by foot or car without trespassing."

[The comments include a discussion of how the various model of B-units are controlled when they need to go into the shop.]

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Michael Wayne Sitter posted two photos with the comment: "A very nice A-B-B-B-A lash up of GP60Ms and GP60Bs on a westbound Z-train passes through Chillicothe, IL in the fall of 1999. -Michael W. Sitter"

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Tom Rutkowski posted
Hodgkins. 6/17
Dennis DeBruler I assume 5/17. A B-unit.
[I assume this is in the GM Yard.]

Jerry Jackson posted
A solid A-B-A lash-up was kinda rare. This eastbound is about to cross the then-new Willow Springs Road crossover and pass the Willow Springs, IL UPS/BNSF Intermodal Yard in 1993.
Jeff LewisJeff and 1 other manage the membership, moderators, settings, and posts for Chicagoland Railfan. I like B units. Too bad they stopped building them.

Donny Albertson posted
Would this be considered an A-B-A set of switchers? IDK but I shot it at Franklin Park on 23MAR1989. Does the IHB still use switchers?
[I suspect it is a calf instead of a B-unit.]
Craig Cloud What you photographed here is gone, NW2's I mean. SW1500's still in use along with newer Gensets and SD20's from NRE along with GP38-2' and SD40-2'S rebuilt (I believe) into SD38-2's. Been a great while traveling over to IL from Porter.

Nick Hart posted

The BNSF Chillicothe Sub had some great lash-ups between 2005 and 2008. My dad I would take a trip just about every weekend.

Back on September 17th of 2005, an A-B-A set of Cascade green Geeps highball west at Route 170 in Ransom, IL. Ransom is located at roughly MP 80 of the Chillicothe Sub, about ten miles east of Streator. Leading the way is GP38 2344, followed by GP9B 1701 (one of only three at the time) and GP28M 1513. A-B-A sets were not uncommon around this time, but this is the only A-B-A set of Cacade greens that I ever shot. This is train M IHBGAL (IHB Blue Island Yard in Riverdale, IL to Galesburg, IL).

Lost Illinois Central Bridges over Rock River in Dixon, IL

(Archived Bridge Hunter, Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Michael Wayne Sitter posted two photos with the comment: "Northbound crossing the Rock River at Dixon, IL in the summer of 1984. Looks like the crew had a very easy run this day! - Michael W. Sitter."

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Jim French Flickr photos: 1978 (Com-Ed plant in background) and 1979 via BridgeHunter.

The steel bents on top of masonry piers indicate that this steel girder bridge probably replaced a deck truss bridge. Gary Sams posting below confirms this theory. And it appears the piers were originally made of cut stone. The girder bridge was built in 1920. However, the girder bridge did not reuse the truss piers because they are spaced differently.

Gary Sams posted
Dixon, Illinois IC train

Satellite

This original charter line of the Illinois Central is now abandoned, but the piers remain as a monument to the railroad.

1939 Aerial Photo
from ILHAP

Michael Wayne Sitter posted four photos with the comment:

After completing its work at Dixon, the northbound La Salle-Freeport local resumes its journey and heads across the Rock River bridge. This is as far as my friend and I could chase the train on our bikes and because of the GM&O GP38 we rode those bikes as fast as we could back to his house to tell his Dad who fortunately is also a rail fan. It was quickly decided that we needed to chase the train by car! -Michael W. Sitter

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Harold J. Krewer posted those two photos with the comment:

North of Amboy, the main roads didn't follow the Gruber very closely and the train showed no indication it would be stopping for anything, so instead of gambling on getting another out-in-the-country shot I went straight to Dixon for the "money shot" of crossing the Rock River. I was not disappointed! August 1985, Harold Krewer photos.

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Jim French posted

Poor photo but lots of nostalgia. ICG Southbound at Dixon, IL (Summer 1978). Southbound ICG Train #73 crossing the Rock River at Dixon, IL. Com-Ed's former INU Dixon Station is seen in the background. It would be demolished the following year. Jim French photo.

[I had guessed that the short 2-bay hoppers were carrying sand. But a comment on a duplicate post explains that they are probably carrying cement, another dense material; and travelling between Marquette Cement and Wisconsin. In fact, I discovered that Dixon has its own cement plant.]

Michael Wayne Sitter posted
The southbound Freeport to La Salle local with an all orange Geep crossing the Rock River at Dixon, IL in the summer of 1985. The train is approaching the stone arch viaduct to the right where the joint ICG/CNW Sandusky spur crossed under the ICG on its way to the Medusa Cement Plant. The north side of Dixon had many grade crossings and when I heard the horn sound I had ridden my bike as close as I could for a quick grab shot. I lived just a few blocks to the west from this location. The grassy field in the foreground once was the site of a large coal fired steam plant. -Michael W. Sitter

A Flickr Album that starts with a 1977 photo of the bridge with IH combines crossing it. (source)

Mar 2025: Some photos posted by Ed Pilar with the comment: "ROCK RIVER @ DIXON IL MARCH 3 2025,"

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MArch 3 2025 Rock River old Railroad brdge. Soon a Walk way. The crane is beging the work. Dixon, IL

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5 of 13 photos posted by Ed Pilar with the comment: "7/31/2025 SMOKEY SKIES over Northern, IL Today here is what the Rock River looked like today. See the Bridge work and the sky over Dixon, IL."

[On Aug 1, 2025, the Chicago Tribune had the headline: "City's air quality worst in the world, at least for 1 day."]

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