Throwback Thursday 17 CN CP9 4536 at Hamilton Jct

CN 4536 starts up the Cowpath with an eclectic 1980's consist. March 4, 1983, Keith MacCauley photo.

Today's Throwback Thursday features a guest contributor, my dad Keith. Here's his article on some CN GP9 action in the Steel City, back in the day (March 4, 1983). Thanks dad!

- Peter.

In this image we find back to back Canadian National Railways GP9’s Nos. 4536 and 4565 powering a relatively short mixed freight past the CN HAMILTON JCT. sign board as they head northwest (RR east) to merge onto the Dundas Subdivision and exit the ‘Steel City’. In the background above the tank cars is the York Boulevard structure known locally as the ‘High Level Bridge’. Note that 4536 is leading the consist long hood forward as Dick Dilworth intended when he created the legendary EMD GP diesel road switcher platform back in 1949. Perhaps not immediately obvious; the ‘Zebra Stripes’ on No. 4536 have been applied in reverse! (aside from CLC CFA/CPA/CPB’s GMD F/FP’s and MLW FA/FPA’s, the stripes should align on coupled units regardless of operating direction). Spotting features of the mid-production 1957 GMD-built GP9’s are twin 36” fans above each radiator section and a longitudinal fuel tank tucked under the frame between the trucks. Standard CN-issued accessories include the skate style cab roof antenna, below cab hanging re-railers, barrel-style spark arrestors, winterization hatch above the end radiator section, forward mounted bell, MU connections and cross over platforms. Note that 4536’s foot boards are still in place! Trailing the 16-567 powered duo is one of CN’s then-numerous boxcar come caboose (aka ‘van’) created at the mammoth Montreal based Pointe St. Charles facility. Attached to the PSC van are a couple of CN’s modernized 40 ft. boxcars (shortened ladders – no roof walks) and a hodge-podge variety of freight cars. Vans at both ends of the consist most likely imply that the crew has a long afternoon of switching ahead of them in Brantford involving a number of reverse moves requiring crew protection.

Remarkably, the overall scene above is little changed today, although work is currently ongoing that will significantly alter the landscape – a project was recently launched to widen the grade such that a third mainline track can be added adjacent to the bay side right of way. Noteworthy ‘can you spot the differences’ include removal of the maintenance shed (above the first 40 ft. boxcar) and track immediately parallel to 4536 (which actually stub ended a couple hundred yards past the signal). As well, unseen in the distance is enhanced track work under the High Level Bridge added several years ago to bring GO Train service to the former T, H & B Hunter Street station. No doubt the signals shown have been revised and updated.

What has become of the GP9 duo? Incredibly, both are still extant. No. 4536 was remanufactured in 1992 into GP9Rm #7053 by Pt. Ste. Charles and continued to serve her original owner until late 2010. Declared surplus, the unit was sold off and is now part of the Rail Trust Equipment Fleet as RTEX 7053. Wearing her fifth (at least) paint scheme, she is currently dressed in an attractive black with diagonal orange end stripes design (http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3401167). Similarly, 4565 was remanufactured by PSC into GPRM #7231 in 1986 and continues to serve her original owner on Canada’s west coast out of Prince George in central British Columbia. (http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1595368)

Otherwise, the PSC van and 40 ft. boxcars are of course long gone, as would be any unrebuilt freight car from the consist manufactured prior to July 1, 1974 (freight cars built prior to July 1, 1974 are limited to an AAR Interchange life of 40 years, those built after; 50 years). Most likely the steel is still with us, albeit recycled into another form - I wonder if Gillette bought any of the steel from these cars?!

- Keith.

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Correction to Throwback Thursday 12 Mingo Jct OH not Sayre PA

A very helpful reader of the blog pointed out a glaring error I made in last week's Throwback Thursday - the location of the photos is actually Mingo Junction, Ohio, not Sayre, PA. The slide mount does say Sayre PA on it, but I can only surmise that the photographer made a typo in his notes that day. We were only off by 300 miles!

But this actually brings me to another related topic - one of the reasons I started this blog was to interact with, and share tips/tricks/knowledge among other railfans and modelers. So I'm glad that my mistakes are pointed out (and moreover, that people are actually reading my posts!) - I'd rather have accurate photo descriptions than look like some half-baked know-it-all. And if anyone notices errors in my future posts (no doubt there will be some), please let me know - I welcome the comments or info you have to share. 

Stay tuned for some upcoming posts on recent HO work in the next couple of weeks. 

Cheers,

Peter.

PS: Thanks Scot!

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Throwback Thursday 12 Conrail Roundhouse at Mingo Jct Ohio in May 1977

A humid May 1977 morning finds an interesting variety of power laying over at the ex-Lehigh Valley roundhouse at Sayre, PA Mingo Junction OH. Don Laing photo, author's collection.

Edit April 19: Note: Location should be Mingo Jct OH, slide has incorrect location on mount.

It’s late, but at least its’ still Thursday! Today’s Throwback takes us 38 years to a hot May 1977 day at Mingo Junction, OH, on the banks of the Ohio River not far from the steelmaking communities of Pittsburgh, PA and Weirton, WV. Inside the roundhouse on this day we find Conrail GP9 #7256, one of more than 300 inherited from Penn Central, C636 #6788, C628 #6743, and SD45 #6104 (ex-Reading). Also among the congregation is CN M636 #2326, making this a three-builder photo (EMD, Alco, MLW). Mechanically the same as stablemate 6788, the CN unit must have felt at home here while on lease to the newly-formed Conrail. It’s just over a years since Big Blue (well, maybe not in this photo) assumed operations over a number of bankrupt roads in the northeast, primarily the Penn Central, so the lack of a cohesive paint scheme is understandable. The railroad had much bigger problems than deciding on a paint scheme, including – but not limited to – excess/duplicate track, inefficient operations, far too many derailments, and bad track, leftovers from years of running in the red under Penn Central management. Over time though, the railroad managed not only to survive but indeed thrive under talented management who carefully developed a very large X-pattern of operation, bringing cars from the Midwest to the northeast and cars from Chicago to southeastern roads. Track was either improved or abandoned (the amount of duplicate trackage at merger time was staggering), train speeds increased, and a sense of pride was instilled in the employees of the new road. A fascinating read on the subject is Rush Loving Jr’s book The Men Who Loved Trains (highly recommend, quite an interesting read). The Conrail that was split in 1999 was indeed very different than that of April 1, 1976. Conrail successor Norfolk Southern continues operations through Sayre, though much of the track laid by the LV has since been removed. 

As far as the motive power goes, it’s classic early Conrail – hastily renumbered and patched, and not all in the same paint scheme. While some geeps were rebuilt by Conrail into GP10’s, it is probable that old #7256 wasn’t one of them. Built in November 1959 as Pennsy 7256, it’s probably safe to say that the engine has since met the torch, like hundreds of other tired old engines from the merger roads. Mingo Junction was an Alco-lovers dream, as many of the Schenectady-built engines were collected here for use on coal and ore trains serving the northeast’s steel mills. Both 6788 and slightly older 6743 were inherited from Penn Central, though 6743 was in fact built as Pennsy 6305 in March 1965 (6788 was ex-PC 6338, built April 1968). Poor old 6743 survived only a year and a half after this photo, relegated to the Altoona deadlines by December 1978. Though I am a huge Alco fan, the ex-Reading SD45 might be the coolest unit in the bunch – the last of five SD45’s inherited by Conrail from Reading, the unit has a rather unique feature. Like the PRSL GP38’s, the Reading SD45’s featured built-out front cab windows, I believe for dual controls (or extra space for a crewmember if cabooses were eliminated). The engine was built in July 1967, and once deemed excess by Conrail, the engine was subsequently sold to the Chicago & Northwestern, who ultimately scrapped it in 1985. CN 2326, despite being the newest unit among the group, built in February 1971, didn’t fare much better – a wreck in December 1985 left the unit a write-off, and was subsequently removed from the CN roster.

It is interesting to note that the roundhouse doesn’t appear to have doors, but at least someone spent a few bucks to get some new ballast on some of the tracks. It always struck me as odd seeing diesels in a roundhouse – something anachronistic about not seeing steam engines in the stalls! 

‘Til Next time,

Cheers,

Peter.

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F Unit Friday Wabash 667 at Canfield Jct in April 1964

Wabash 667 leads a westbound freight on the CN Cayuga sub as it crosses the CN Dunnville sub at Canfield Jct in April 1964. The CASO mainline is behind the photographer. Uncredited slide, author's collection.

I was going to post this as a Throwback Thursday but it seems the day got away from me yesterday, so here is a slightly delayed “golden oldie” photo discussion.

It’s April 1964, and we’re at Canfield Jct (Ontario), a railroad location roughly fifteen miles east of Hagersville. In this view, we see Wabash F7A #667 leading a freight westbound on the CN’s Cayuga Subdivision over the diamond that intersects the CN’s Dunnville subdivision.

It’s April 1964, and the four F7A’s leading this train have just passed their thirteenth birthday, having graduated GMD London between December 1950 and March 1951. The engines were delivered as part of an order for 20 F7A’s, along with a single GP7 and three SW8’s. Tax and duty laws made it economically prohibitive at the time (recall, long before the days of Free Trade) to import US-built locomotives for Canadian use. The protective tariffs in fact contributed a significant portion of GMD’s early business as US roads with Canadian operations dieselized with Canadian-built locomotives (NYC, C&O, Wabash for example). Hence, these units seldom spent much time outside the country, at most wandering to Detroit or Buffalo to exchange cars with US roads. The lead unit, WAB 667 was now on her second number, having been delivered as WAB 1158A, and would go on to become N&W 3667. Distinctive features on the Canadian-built F’s included passenger-style pilots, square-top winterization hatches, double headlights (not often seen on Canadian F’s), and classy chrome-outlined number boards. About six months after this image was captured, in October 1964, the N&W leased the Wabash from the majority owner, the Pennsylvania Railroad, eventually gaining full control by 1970. After a repaint into N&W blue, the F’s continued to serve in their intended capacity for a number of years before being supplanted by second-generation power and ultimately met the scrapper’s torch.

If you’re looking for Canfield Junction on a map, you probably won’t ever find it, but it was synonymous with area railfans as a popular railfanning destination since it offered a diversity of railroading long since absent from operations in southern Ontario. Not only did two of CN’s own line cross here, but the CASO’s (Michigan Central/New York Central) double track mainline from Fort Erie to Windsor paralleled the CN Cayuga sub and also crossed the Dunville sub here. One could observe trains from four railroads: the CN, Wabah, NYC, and C&O (which had trackage rights on the CASO east of St. Thomas). Not only did this mean paint schemes not native to Canada, but also locomotive models such as the C&O’s U25B’s or NYC C430’s. Sadly though, time was not kind to Canfield Jct, with all three lines ultimately being abandoned. The Dunnville and Cayuga subdivisions, even though they crossed here, were effectively parallel to not only each other, but in principle the CN’s much busier Grimsby sub which runs east out of Hamilton to Niagara Falls (Clifton). Over time, as locally-originated carload traffic dried up, the lines no longer hosted through freights and became the domain of daily or as-needed locals before finally meeting abandonment in the 1980’s as all traffic was shifted to the Grimsby and Stamford subdivisions to move between Fort Erie and Hamilton. Similarly, through traffic dried up on the CASO, and never having much on-line traffic, was reduced to only a handful of trains per day by the late 1970’s. Deferred maintenance and reduced traffic in the Penn Central era eventually meant that the double track line once fit for 80 mph passenger trains (or higher) was reduced to operation over only the north track, and at greatly reduced speeds. As bridge line traffic dried up, or was shifted to an all-US routing, C&O (later CSX) became the dominant user of the line, but even that did not last as the line was sold to CN & CP in the early 1990’s. Not really intended for through use however, the line’s primary value was in the cross-border connections at each end of the line. That meant that most of what was left in between was already duplicate trackage, and of little value. Abandonment came, and like the CN’s own lines through Canfield, track removal left little but scarred earth to remember the better days at Canfield.

But what was the Wabash doing on CN in the first place? The Midwestern US road desired to reach Buffalo, NY, a jump-off point for traffic heading for New England and the northeast US. Arriving somewhat late to the ‘bridge line through Canada’ game, a deal was struck with CN to exercise trackage rights from Windsor to Fort Erie by way of the Chatham, Paynes, and Cayuga subdivisions (among others), informally known as the “air line”. The deal proved mutually lucrative, as CN gained utilization – hence, revenue – on an otherwise not very busy line, and the N&W gained high-value automotive traffic from the Ford plant in St. Thomas (Talbotville). After the abandonment of the Air Line, Wabash’s successors N&W and eventually Norfolk Southern were granted trackage rights over the CN Talbot, Dundas, Grimsby, and Stamford subdivisions pursuant to the original trackage rights deal signed in 1897.The end of this operation came, however, on December 30, 2006, as the 109 years of Wabash trackage rights expired, and present owner NS elected not to renew them. But at least we have numerous images from railfan outings to imaging what it must have been like back in the day at Canfield.

‘Til next time,

Cheers,

Peter.

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