Showing posts with label Thursday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thursday. Show all posts
Throwback Thursday 11 CNW RS 32 4241 on the Alco Line in July 1980
on Thursday, October 27, 2016
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| CNW 4241 eastbound on the CNW Alco Line at Balaton, MN on July 12, 1980. Michael P. Guss photo, author's collection. |
Today’s Throwback Thursday takes us back 35 years to the American upper Midwest, to the small town of Balaton, MN, some 95 miles west of Mankato, MN, in the southwest part of the state. An eastbound freight powered by Alco RS-32 #4241, RSD-5 #1690, and EMD GP9 #4508 is crossing the north-south highway that runs through town. What seems to be an unimportant branchline, is in fact quite significant from railfan perspective. We are in Alco country – trackside on the famous CNW Alco line, running east-west from Mankato, MN and Rapid City, SD. This secondary mainline, completed westward to Pierre, SD in 1880 (and to Rapid City by 1907), was home to many Alco products, based out of the shops at Huron, SD, throughout the mid-part of the 20th. Up until the early 1980’s it was common to find locomotive models such as: RS-3’s, RS-32’s, RSD4/5’s, and C425’s (often paired with slugs converted from retired RS-3’s) slowly pulling trains over the hill-and-dale countryside. Rural railroading at its’ best, the line passed through many miles of desolate countryside and provided service to many small communities along the way. Light rail, slow track speeds, and plenty of switching made the Alcos a good fit for the line – one not often seen as Alcos seemed to be far less popular west of the Mississippi.
Never a stranger to buying second-hand power, the consist of this train provides a good example of the railroads’ penchant for finding a bargain. The slow pace of branchline railroading is in stark contrast to the lead units’ previous life: as the former NYC 8038, the unit likely spent many days hauling hotshot freights on the Water Level Route. Acquired from Penn Central in the late 1970’s, the unit probably felt at home in the company of many other Alcos. RSD-5 #1690, the oldest engine in the consist, was built new for the Northwestern in 1954. Its’ light weight spread over six axles made it well suited to navigating the light (and often rickety) prairie rails on this part of the system. Though details are few on the demise of the Alcos, it is probably safe to assume they have long since met the torch. The third unit in the consist, GP9 #4508 was another bought-new engine for the railroad – well, sort of. Originally Minneapolis & St. Louis #710, the engine became the property of the CNW when the latter acquired the M & St. L in 1960. A rebuild in 1974 resulted in a chopped nose, which probably helped extend the longevity of the unit. Sold by the CNW when declared excess, the engine then went to work for the Wisconsin Central (still in CNW yellow), before finding a new career on the Portland & Western Railroad, a Genesee and Wyoming shortline (repainted into G&W orange!). Photos reveal the unit survived up until 2011, though details about its’ current whereabouts are a bit fuzzy.
Though everything seems perfectly normal on this summer afternoon, changes were soon coming to the Alco line. The bankruptcy of the Rock Island in 1981 provided the CNW with a bargain in the form of 120 ex-RI geeps purchased that year. This not only spelled doom for the 244-powered Alcos, but the Alco line in general. This was the end of the line for the 244-powered Alcos, and also meant a relocation of the 251-powered Alcos to lines out of Green Bay, WI. No more was the Alco line operated by Alcos. Eventually the old Alco line fell out of favour with the CNW and was sold to the Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern. Operations by DME began on September 5, 1986; 22 years later, Canadian Pacific assumed operation after purchasing the DME and Illinois, Chicago, and Eastern. A new operator was established, however, in 2007 when CP sold 670 miles of the DME to shortline operator Genesee & Wyoming. A new shortline, the Rapid City, Pierre, and Eastern, took over operation of the old Alco line on May 30, 2014. A number of former DME/ICE SD40-2’s now haul freight over the line, and are a far cry from the days of 244-powered Alcos. Traffic, much as it has been for the past several decades, consists largely of bentonite clay, fertilizer and other agri-products, and carload freight to industries along the line. Impressively, against the march of time, its’ light rail and the mass-abandonment of secondary lines following de-regulation, much of the old Alco line continues to serve the communities where the bark of a 251 engine could once be heard.
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| A Google street-view of the same crossing as it looks today - wow, have the trees grown up! |
‘Til next time,
Cheers,
Peter.
Throwback Thursday err Friday! 22 CN Stuart Street Yard Over the Years by Keith MacCauley
on Monday, October 17, 2016
I started this post when it was Thursday, but the night seemed to get away from me, so maybe we'll call this a "flashback Friday" instead... Anyway, tonight's post features another article by my dad, Keith. It's one that I had been wanting to write for a long time, but he beat me to it! I hope to expand on it in the future, though I don't have any set time frame for doing so - one of those "someday" projects. Over to you now Keith.
- Peter.
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| Classic 1970's Canadian railroading in the Steel City: MLW switcher, tank cars with a "flying P" logo on them, and lots of cars with friction bearing trucks. |
In the above photo, we find CN S-4 8169 (MLW 9/1956) shown sorting a quartet of tank cars at the Bay Street end of the Hamilton-located Stuart Street Yard. Nose-coupled to the veteran switcher are a trio of non-insulated 20,000 gallon (US) tank cars along with an underframe style tank car emblazoned ‘AIR LIQUIDE’. The scene is a wonderful synopsis of ‘traditional’ railroading (technically in Canada it would be ‘railwaying’, but this sounds silly!): flat switching, end cab switchers, forty foot boxcars, and of course, cabooses (or ‘vans’ in Canada). Note the cupola on the second car on the rip track.
In just over three years Canadian National would embark upon a mammoth upgrade/rebuild program on its vast GP9 fleet at their Pointe St. Charles facility that would ultimately eschew the likes of 8169 and brethren. CN 8169 would soldier on long enough to receive updated 1973 decoration with an all-orange cab (http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3438358), but would be set aside out of service in the early 1980’s. Seemingly, except for maintenance, the old girl never wandered away from Hamilton, prior to her demise.
The non-insulated tank cars are nominal 70-ton capacity (220,000 lbs total Gross Rail Load) most likely constructed in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s. Tank cars of this size and style (so called ‘non-pressure’, non-insulated equipped with hinged & bolted manway cover and bottom outlet valve) would primarily have been deployed in gasoline and diesel fuel-, or other similar-density flammable liquid service. Similar to the S-4, bigger and better technology in the form of 30,000 gallon/100 ton (263,000 lbs total Gross Rail Load) capacity would usurp their duties and eventually render them obsolete, though not as rapidly.
Note the track parts along the path beside the occupied track and materials stacked to the right of the rip track and the collection of maintenance structures in the background. Shortly, the City of Hamilton would embark upon a bay front revitalization initiative and change the surrounding landscape forever.
Stay tuned for future instalments; see below for some plot spoilers!
- Keith.
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| Fast-forward nearly 40 years: the MLW's, and in fact the CN itself are nearly gone from Stuart Street, replaced instead by EMD's owned by RailAmerica, and operated by the Southern Onrario Railway. Shortly RailAmerica would be acquired by Genesee & Wyoming, bringing a wave of orange and yellow paint to the shortline. |
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| RLK 4001 was originally constructed by EMD in August of 1959 as Southern Pacific No. 5872. Renumbered to 3708 in 1965, the built as low nose unit would be conveyed to the Central Western Railway and then onto the Lakeland and Waterways Railway, enterprises both located in the province of Alberta. Leaving Western Canada in 2002, the well-travelled locomotive has spent the last decade on the Goderich-Exeter Railway prior to arriving in Hamilton on the Southern Ontario Railway. |
Throwback Thursday 15 CN M420W Action
on Saturday, October 15, 2016
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| Somewhere, an MLW salesman must be smiling! |
Tonight's Throwback Thursday features a piece by guest author, my dad Keith. As a die-hard Alco (and MLW) fan myself, the M420W is one of my favourite models of locomotive, and a distinctly Canadian prototype. Without further ado, you're up Keith.
Cheers,
Peter.
In a scene that would have pleased an MLW salesman, three M-420 (W)’s (3530/3551/3515) single handedly (triple handedly?) head up a manifest freight with a book ended, albeit grimy, paint scheme configuration. Even 3551 is begrimed despite having been repainted. Unfortunately the date and location of the photo are unknown though a logical guess would be the early to mid-1990’s somewhere in Southern Ontario. Originally delivered in the 2500 number series, the four axle MLW’s enjoyment of the mainline was relatively brief as they were diverted at an early age to secondary service by the incoming hordes of higher horsepower GMD GP40-2 (W)’s. Reduced in weight for their new role by limiting the amount of onboard fuel and sand beginning in 1986, the modified M-420 (W)’s were renumbered into the 3500’s. Note the smaller sized fuel tank on 3530/3551 delivered in the second build group. As part of the MLW purge, all were off the roster by 1998.However, given their bullet proof Alco origin 251 prime mover, many found second homes with several continuing in service to the present.
Trailing unit 3515 was from the initial pioneering build (CN 2500 – 2529 in early 1973), the first series of North American locomotives to be equipped with the so called ‘Crew Comfort Cab’ (Canadian competitor GMD followed MLW’s lead with their version of what ultimately would become the ‘North American’ Cab on GP38-2 (W)5560 later in the year). Continuing the innovation theme, MLW developed a two axle version of their ‘Zero Weight Transfer’ truck. Designated as the ‘ZWT-2’ truck, conventional centerplate/bolster type geometry wasreplaced by a downward (from the frame) yoke and Metalastik pad combination. Unfortunately the lack of traditional springs resulted in the unit’s having a reputation for being rough riders. Unlike the preceding six axle MLW’s, and much more disturbingly, the units also gained a reputation over the years as being somewhat weak pullers. The M420 (W)’s were also noteworthy for launching the so called ‘Zebra Stripe’ paint scheme that would be applied to new power and repaints for almost 20 years. Still far and away my favourite modern era CN locomotive system of locomotive decoration.
- Keith.
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