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Almost Everything You Wanted To Know The cost of fuel was a subject of no little concern to the Burlington Northern as diesel fuel prices began to skyrocket in the early eighties. Being the second largest consumer of diesel fuel in the U.S., after the Department of Defense, finding ways to help contain fuel costs became a matter of necessity for the BN. The diesel fuel tender's time on the BN had arrived. Tenders would allow greater economy of scale. They could be fueled at locations where diesel fuel was cheaper, and they would considerably extend locomotive operating time and range and increase productivity. 
The BN's first fuel tender was tested in October 1982 and daily operational use of tenders began
in 1983. A total of 78 tank cars were converted for fuel tender service. The first 48 were converted by BN's own shops in Northtown,
MN, St. Cloud, MN, Superior, WI, and at Alliance and Havelock, NE. Berwind Railway Services converted the remaining cars.
Approximately two thirds of the tenders built were 19,000 gallon capacity cars. The balance were super-sized, 23,450 gallon
units. While other railroads experimented with fuel tenders, the BN was the only road to use them on this large a scale.
Initially, the BN used fuel tenders on the former Great Northern line from the Twin Cities to Seattle. Once the benefits of extended operation were fully realized, tenders were provided for the dedicated helpers operating in the Powder River Basin as well. Fuel tenders have proven their worth. While no longer seen on mainline trains, fuel tender equipped helpers are still in daily use on the BNSF's Powder River Division nearly twenty years later (see Premier Issue Cover Story). |
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