Caption: It seems like BNSF's unorthodox method of paying off horsepower hours to CN continues to pay dividends to railfans with the case of this consist on L55931 08: - "BN Whiteface" painted GP39E to boot - "CN Zebra" painted GP9RM second - Followed by 14 loads of ballast in a continuous cut of early-CN open-top hoppers bound for a set-off in Torbram. Such an occurrence would've been unimaginable at the start of the year, yet became a reality thanks to the close timing of both units for 90-day inspections from London (4131 back on 12/01 from 583) and Belleville (2926 back on 11/23 from 518) coupled with the order for ballast to leave Toronto, and the actions of power planners to conjure up this lash-up. It began from scratch with 4131/4726 running 529 on the 4th, evolving to 4131/4726/2926 on the 7th after 529 lifted 2926, only to immediately drop the 4726 the night before this 559. Ironically, 4726 was meant to replace 2926 over in Belleville and had already returned to Toronto on the 3rd. The eagerness by power planners to run it for only short periods at a time implies perhaps that it was underperforming or was undesirable by crews. Either way, this also contributed to the creation of this 559 whose local status was retained by the 4 revenue cars on the tail end and the awaiting industry empties in Brampton. The spot was rather rushed as a result of hearing "BNSF 2926 West" call their departure from Mac Yard before even getting trackside, hence, any shot would've beat no shot at all. The consist of 559 would come as a surprise after the fact, and I enjoyed the sight as it cleared Snider West.