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BN 6431

BN 6431 was built as the Great Northern 401 in May of 1966 The GN 401 was the second of an eight unit order numbered 400-407 and delivered in the simplified orange and green paint scheme. My notes show that I never did see the GN 401 before the BN merger. GN took deliveries of a total of 27 EMD SD45's before acquiring F45's.

After the March 1970 BN merger the GN 401 was renumbered to BN 6431. All of the ex-GN SD45's (6430-6456) were assigned to Havre, MT.

I first saw the 6431 on BN train 174 passing through Easton, WA 5-6-72 powered by 6431/6325/702/735 (SD45/SD40-2/F3A/F7B) The 6431 was still in ex-GN orange and green colors.

When I photographed the 6431 on 3-5-77 at the ex-GN Interbay engine facility it had already been in BN green.paint awhile.

My next and last photo of the 6431 was taken 4-1-84 on the ex-GN Stevens Pass route at Berne, WA.

I do not see many changes except for the trucks as they are different in the two photos. The 6431 was retired in November 1984, seven months after my last photo of it. The 6431 was sold and scrapped in December 1984.