For railfans, Page is not only known for its Horseshoe Curve. Black Mesa & Lake Powell runs an isolated railroad between the Peabody coal load at Kayenta and the Navajo electrical plant at Page. It is one of the few electrified railroad lines in the USA. BMLP uses GE E60CP engines, originally built for National Railways of Mexico (NdeM) for an intended line operating out of Mexico City. The line failed and the E60’s were stored. Peabody coal bought them in the late 1990’s as replacement for their own E60C (single-cab version, versus the NdeM dual cab) locomotives which were due for replacement. The BMLP operates on a 50kV overhead catenary. The NdeM units were converte dfrom 25kV to 50kV.
Three of the pictured engines still wear their old NdeM paint scheme. The third unit is one of the few that has been repainted.
The line sees only 3 days per 24 hours. We were very lucky to see this train during our 2-hour break in Page.
Special thanks to Chris Thompson for supplying the detailed information.