MOTIVE POWER NOTES
Observed at Thornton, March 11 Illinois Central 6052, Kansas City Southern 4X95 in grey and Norfolk Southern 2751, March 13 CP 9777 / 8888, March 14 CSX 4758 / 4792 as a paired set, March 15 Norfolk Southern 9608, March 18 GTW 5948 in green with yellow stripes paint, March 19 NS 9608 again, March 20 IC 6009, March 25 IC 1035 and CSX 7703, and March 26 Illinois Central 6030. (R.D.C.)
The following SD40-2(W) at Woodcrest shop were sold. They had their CN markings painted out, and AMWX (American Motive Power Inc., of Dansville N.Y.) spray painted on the cabs. The units sold were 5247, 5256, 5297, 5314, and 5332. (TJ)
CN Locomotive Sale - As of March 12, 2008, the following locomotives appeared in a CN tender document to be found on a website at http://tinyurl.com/26u9aj. Units up for sale are: BCOL RS18 607, 610; SD40-2 758; CN GP9u 4014; SD40-2 5259, 5285, 5364, 5365, 5371, 5374, 5382, 5387; DMIR SD38AC 202; 206, 869; SD38-2 203; SD38AC 206; SD40-3 416; GTW GP38AC 4997, 4998; WC SD35 2500. All of the above are listed with "Wheels and TM" (traction motors) and additional components removed. Also for sale: CN SD50 5413, 5420, 5421, 5422, 5442, 5446, 5447, and 5456, which will have the following parts removed: all of the modules, the auxiliary generator and blower assembly, radio and IDU, event recorder and AR11/CA7 6 TM combos. That could make the SD50`s listed as good as scrap. With the amount of hardware removed, there is little chance for them to run again.
SD70DCe (SD70M-2) modifications: CN 8806 has been spotted with a retrofitted radiator end. Changes include horizontal louvered intake grills for the dynamic brake as well as a similar louvered door on the long hood under the rear backup light. As built it had vertical louvered side grill and a mesh grilled rear door. These changes may have come about as a way to rectify problems with the units ingesting a lot of snow in trailing unit status, and thus the changes to the air intakes likely minimize this problem. (TJ)
The latest arrival of GEs are the second use of the 2300-series. First glimpses of the next order of ES44DC's (2300-2301 arrived March 18) from GE indicate there are a few subtle exterior changes from the previous order. They included the rectangular 4 sided front windows, (gone are the 5-sided "tear drop" windows) and the reversion to the older style thin vertical grills in the access doors under the radiators. The previous orders had huge square open-mesh grills. As well the latest units have a relocated rear backup light which is now horizontally mounted above the sand fill box. They also are fitted with rear-facing trumpets on the horns on top of the long hood. This five trumpet horn, with four of the trumpets facing the long end, meets FRA regulations. The configuration first appeared on the CP 8700's. (TJ)
STEAM ANNIVERSARY—50 YEARS AGO
It was 50 years ago when CN’s last steam powered train officially departed Vancouver. It was March 22, 1958 when 2-10-2 #4320 headed east from Vancouver and crossed over the Fraser River bridge at New Westminster, then headed east.
However, there is a later sighting of steam leaving Vancouver, unofficial I suppose, but a very reliable source (Ernie Plant) reported a steam train east on May 4, 1958….. (A.I.)
NORTH VANCOUVER CHANGES
It's looking a little closer to the end for the BC Rail passenger station in North Vancouver. Crews have dug a big hole in the ground east of the depot and north of the tracks, in the area where the BC Rail had a short spur that they used to keep the inspectors motor car on. The dirt from this excavation has been piled next to the depot in the area where the taxis used to wait for passengers off the trains. The freight house is looking quite ratty as well. Also noted that the rails leading to the ferry slip have been removed and track realigned. (K.S. / J.M.)
CP TESTS SD70ACe UNITS
Canadian Pacific recently tested a pair of BNSF SD70ACe units (9385 / 9337) across its system in Western Canada. While they were based out of Winnipeg, they did make at least one journey west and were sighted on train 401 along Kamloops Lake and through the canyons to Coquitlam.
How well did those BNSF SD70ACe's on loan to CP do? It is reported in some circles the test went really well. Initially, there was a problem with slow speed pulling but after an adjustment to the software they are reported to have pulled "like crazy". The units worked between Winnipeg and Saskatoon on the north mainline, crossing three river valleys in Manitoba with grades of up to 2%. The weather was cold with -20 as the daytime high and into the -30's at night with wind-chill into the -40's and -50's common at night. This combined with the typical prairie blowing snow and ice crystals. Then as everyone knows, the pair made a trip out to Coquitlam and back.
But they never seem to ask the crews ... some of whom found them very noisy and slippery on wet rail. CN crews have also found their SD70M-2s noisy as well, none of which are equipped with isolated cabs. (TJ)
SRY HANDLES DETOURS FOR CP
Southern Railway of British Columbia was handling detour trains for Canadian Pacific during upgrades to bridges on the CP Mission—Huntingdon line. While the line was down, SRY ran an extra freight out of New Westminster in the morning to Huntingdon to handle CP—BNSF traffic for interchange at the border in the valley. (B.M.)
ANNACIS MARINE TERMINAL FOR SRY?
A story in the Globe and Mail in March says that SRY has long term plans for a marine terminal on Annacis Island. This would relieve the line of the costly and time consuming operations to Tilbury Island where the marine terminal currently sits over the joint CN / BNSF line. SRY and Seaspan would very much like a directly controlled access to their terminal.
E & N UPGRADE PEGGED AT $104 MILLION
The needed upgrade for the E & N line on Vancouver Island has been pegged at a cost of $104 million, reports Island news sources. This is almost triple the initial costs put forward initially by the Island Corridor Foundation, which owns the line. The new estimates are put together by both the ICF and Southern Vancouver Island (SVI) and would bring the line up to good operating condition for the future years.
VIA MALAHAT
VIA’s Malahat service has run frequently with two cars—RDC-1’s 6135 and 6133. (B.M.) On a recent visit to the island, however, your editor saw the train a couple of times, each time with #6135 only, but with good passenger loads aboard.
OTHER NEWS
UNION PACIFIC ROUTE STARTS TO RE-OPEN
OAKRIDGE, OREGON — Limited Union Pacific freight train service may resume as soon as Saturday (late March) on Union Pacific’s north-south Oregon line if the weather holds as crews rebuild a rail bed scoured away by January’s massive Frazier landslide.
Union Pacific officials declined to guess when full freight and Amtrak travel will return, because of unpredictable weather and a moisture-soaked debris pile. “Until we’re beyond weather challenges, we’re not going to be (giving) a set date. You will see some train movement in the evening, but the work is far from over,” Union Pacific spokeswoman Zoe Richmond said.
The landslide thundered down Coyote Mountain on Jan. 19, wiping out 1,500 feet of track in one place and another 150 feet farther down the mountain where the railroad switches back on itself. The slide occurred about 8 miles southeast of Oakridge on Willamette National Forest land. Union Pacific officials estimated that 2.3 million cubic yards of debris and 700 million board feet of timber cut loose from the mountain in the 64-acre slide. Since then, freight trains — about 15 a day — have detoured either through Bend or as far east as Salt Lake City, while Amtrak canceled its Coast Starlight passenger train service between Seattle and Los Angeles for several weeks before filling the gap with its bus service.
Cleaning up a landslide usually involves taking the rubble from the top of the slide and using it to buttress the bottom, or toe, said Bill Van Trump, assistant vice president of engineering and maintenance for Union Pacific. But the ground was too saturated to be usable, he said. “It’s not very good for construction. … So we’ve had to move that out and move in good rock to build the railroad grade,” Van Trump said.
Van Trump has been overseeing the cleanup effort, which includes crews that have ranged from 150 to 200 people and 100 machines — back hoes, earth movers, dump trucks, locomotives and rail cars capable of dumping their loads and carting away the mucky mess.
He estimates that crews have moved 400,000 cubic yards of debris, and figures that they’re a little better than halfway done. On Monday, under a sunny sky, crews laid the final tracks and will spend the next couple days ballasting them — packing in gravel — Van Trump said.
Mountains of dirt 80 to 90 feet high stand above the tracks and still need to be moved. Crews will do that work during the day, with rail cars ferrying debris away to a nearby site where the dirt can be stored. Those locations include sediment fences, berms and filtration systems to keep silt from moving into nearby streams, said Chip Weber, the Willamette forest Middle Fork District ranger.
If the weather holds this week, Van Trump expects freight trains to begin the north-south run by Saturday. Trains currently being routed through Salt Lake City will be the first to return, Richmond said. Running them at night will allow work crews to continue cleanup during the day. They’ll travel through the slide area at 25 mph, normal track speed at that section of the line because of the curvature of the tracks.
Officials will wait until much more of the cleanup is complete to estimate when train traffic will return to normal. They declined to say just how much the cleanup has cost but confirmed that it has been millions of dollars. (Eugene Register)
BNSF 1724 GOES SOUTH
BNSF SD-9 #1724, a regular at New Westminster and the BNSF unit that operated with the Royal Hudson in April of 2007, was towed south after a water pump failure in March. (B.M.)
ALBERTA RAILWAY MUSEUM DESIGNATED
The Alberta Pioneer Railway Museum has received the status of “AMA Recognized Museum”, reflecting the museum’s efforts in making it a significant and unique contributor to the railway history of Alberta. (H.D.)
WEST COAST EXPRESS FEMALE CREW
In what is believed a first, an all female rail crew operated a West Coast Express schedule in March. The CP crew was Conductor Sandra McCartney and Engineer Brenda Watson. Company records indicate this to be the first all female train crew in passenger service on CP in both Canada and the US. (CP NEWS)
CANADA LINE TRAINS OPERATE
The first operation of a train on the new Canada Line, which is under construction between Richmond and downtown Vancouver, occurred in early April on the Airport branch of the new line. The new trains, built in Korea, can be seen from the Oak Street bridge at pretty much any time at the maintenance base located on the Richmond side under the bridge. (J.V.)
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