Fargo Training- Hustle Muscle visits Dilworth
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| Hustle Muscle GN 400 |
Wow. I cannot believe it has been over a year since the last post. And double wow, what a year it has been and now continues to be -except for all the masks. But now for the trains.
Last year Fargo hosted the Great Northern Historical Society's annual convention. The organization brought their prized asset Hustle Muscle GN 400, the first SD45 produced by EMD. Some major maintenance was completed on the historic SD45 in February 2019. From what I recall it needed a new diesel engine. I believe it was thought Hustle Muscle might have been out of service for quite some time. Then BNSF stepped up with some shop help to get the engine back in service.
Like many of the 1st and 2nd generation diesels, Hustle Muscle's cab is pretty spartan:a control panel, brake and a throttle. Yes there is also a horn and a seat. I don't recall seeing the bathroom. But then there is also this control panel on the rear of the cab.
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| Rear Control Panel in Hustle Muscle |
Today, Hustle Muscle "lives" at the Lake Shore Railroad Museum in Duluth,MN and has been working regularly on the North Shore Scenic Railroad. My family and I were due to take an excursion on the North Shore Scenic and perhaps may have ridden behind Hustle Muscle. However, the virus arrived and shut done nearly everything.
In the midst of the lockdown/closures museum executive director Buehler gives an excellent tour of the engine in the video below.
Hustle Muscle was stored at Dilworth Yard during the convention and some society members on the tour got to prowl around a working terminal thanks to BNSF. It was a pretty interesting building. Unfortunately we did not get to look at any of the working locomotives.
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| Dilworth Yard |
There is an overpass on east side near a Target that may give a good vantage point.
Dilworth was originally a Northern Pacific facility. Great Northern's had yard in north Fargo nearby NDSU. Both are still in use by BNSF.
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