CANADIAN NATIONAL
September 2011At Iron, Minnesota on the CN West Wye (MP 64.0 on the CN Missabe Subdivision), Chris Wilson clicked CN ES44DC 2250 leading M34791, Gary, IN - Prince George, BC freight.
http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=372714&nseq= Motive Power News
CN ex-BNSF C40-8W ROUNDUP Wearing full CN Livery with their paint shop and August releases.
Joe Ferguson caught two of the newest C40-8W’s to be released from Centralia with CN 2139 and 2159 wearing fresh paint August 18th. The same day, Joe also clicked 2135 which was painted in July and now almost complete. Inside the Woodcrest shop CN C40-8W 2154 was being painted, and CN 2195 was being sandblasted, the next on deck for repaint.
After sitting outside the Woodcrest Shop for four weeks, completed Quality Rail contract repaints CN 2167 and 2191, moved north through Wisconsin August 23rd, enroute to Canada. It is interesting to note Mike Garza's shots of Quality Rail-painted CN 2167 and 2191 show the white stripe behind the cab of 2191 incorrectly extends up to the roof line, a unique variation to the standard livery.
On August 18th, Joe Ferguson caught CN 392 pulling into Centralia with several ex-BNSF C40-8W’s, and noted the following units at the Centralia Shop on August 18th: Still to be painted: CN 2158, 2160, 2150, 2143, 2142, and BNSF 825, 855, 835, 847, 823, 843, 845, 833, with BNSF 839 pushed into paint shop August 18th. In CN paint around the roundhouse/paint shop area: CN 2161, 2156, 2099, 2136, 2145, 2135, 2159, with CN 2139 pulled out in fresh paint August 18th and noted CN 2196 inside. Joe noted CN 2109, an ex-UP C40-8 repainted earlier this year, remains stored at Centralia. Other units around the shops included GTW 4929, CN 4715, and the fleet of BCOL B39-8E's (with the exception of BCOL 1700) are stored south of the roundhouse along the southbound main. On August 18th the assigned yard units were EJ&E 670 and GTW 5826. On July 30th, George Redmond caught freshly painted CN 2169 at the CN engine facility Centralia, IL. July 31st George snapped ex-BNSF 839 in very shabby warbonnet livery, and freshly painted CN 2149. August 9th CN 2145 popped out, and the 12th, CN 2159 appeared
Manifest A432 to Memphis, lead by CN C40-8W 2138 August 9th, has priority (once the fresh crew's aboard) over this 160-car coal load at Centralia, IL, lead by BNSF Es44AC 5850. George Redmond notes for nearly 3 weeks BNSF has been running coal south with 2 lead engines and 3 rear DPU's.
Trace locations of CN 2098-2199: CN ex-UP C40-8, ex-BNSF C40-8W) Report compiled by Joe Ferguson, (with thanks): http://www.canadianrailwayobservations.com/2011/sept11/cnc40.pdf
On July 31st, George Redmond clicked CN SD70M-2 8022 leading a SB freight, and Amtrak P32B-WH 517 expediting NB train 390 by the CN engine facility at Centralia, IL.
Outside the
Woodcrest Shop at Homewood, IL August 4th, Richard Thompson clicked
CN C40-8W 2189 and 2175 (BNSF paint with
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2652380
The CN Homewood Storage line was photographed by Richard Thompson June 24th, with many WC units including WC SW1500 #1560 in the mix.
Ken Lanovich reported Intermodal #148 out of IC Markham Yard August 11th with CN 2520, 2552, 7517, and 126 cars. Hump-Yard GP38-2 7517 had been at Woodcrest for the past four months under repairs and has received an engine change out. The unit has not been repainted, still coated in rust. Other recent CN yard power that arrived at Woodcrest Shop in August were GP9RM 4100 for main generator change out and , GP9RM 7027, 7216, and 7502 for repairs. CN GMD1u 1415 arrived DIT at Markham Yard in August, and has been moved to the Woodcrest Shop storage lines. Only a few months ago, CN 1415 had been working in the London area. Earlier this year James Gardiner caught CN 1415 on train 435 crossing Hardy Road in Brantford, ON.
At Huntsville, Ontario on August 2nd Wayne D. Shaw snapped CN GP9RM 4136 leading train 595 southbound to Washago.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=371544 Cor van Steenis clicked CN TRACK GEOMETRY CAR # 1501 as it evaluated the 21 mile remnant of the CN Drumheller Subdivision from Calgary's Sarcee Yard to Lyalta, AB., on August 9th.
Mid-August CN operated an “Officer’s Special” lead by CN SD70M-2 8945 and IC E9A 100 from Chicago to the Canadian border. Mike Garza caught this unusual EOT bearer @ South Holland IL Aug. 13th; with IC GP38-2 9574 leading this reverse move.
Henry Nye captured the train Aug. 14th turning west toward Stevens Point, in northern Neenah Wi.
David Schauer hunted it from below at the Nemadji River near Saunders MN August 15th. And received a friendly officer wave from the Southern Regional VP near Adolph MN.
CN News:On August 3rd, CN announced a $165 million investment project to build a new locomotive repair facility at Kirk Yard in Gary, Indiana. Currently their main repair facilities in Homewood, Illinois at the Woodcrest Shop are over capacity, and intend to relocate its Chicago-area locomotive shop to the 350-acre yard in Indiana. This project is designed to increase the yard's processing capacity from 1,500 cars to 2,500 cars per day. The railroad plans to add classification tracks and receiving and departure tracks to enable the yard to handle longer and more efficient trains, improve interchanges, and consolidate switching operations in the Chicago area. To be completed during the next four years, the project also calls for a new wastewater treatment facility, utility upgrades and renovations to several yard buildings. Locomotive repair work currently is performed at the Woodcrest Shop in Homewood, Ill., south of Chicago. Work gradually will be transitioned to a new 155,000-square-foot shop at Kirk Yard, which will service CN's fleet of locomotives operating across the U.S. network. The shop relocation will free up space in CN's Markham Yard for redevelopment adjacent to CN’s Chicago Intermodal Terminal. CN has partnered with the state of Indiana, Regional Development Authority and the city of Gary on an economic development incentive package for the yard development. CN acquired Kirk Yard as part of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway acquisition in 2009. With Kirk Yard as the primary Chicago-area classification yard, rail satellite operations in Markham, Schiller Park, Hawthorne, Glenn and Joliet can focus on local car pick-up and delivery services, CN officials said. On July 19, CN announced plans to construct two more extended sidings on its Northern Ontario main line bringing its investments in seven long sidings in this corridor to more than C$30 million. The two additional extended sidings, costing a total of C$10 million, are planned for this main line in 2012. The railway’s longer sidings program is creating sidings of 12,000 to 13,000 feet long from sidings that were previously 6,000 to 7,000 feet in length. CN’s main line through Northern Ontario currently sees an average of 14 freight trains daily, including intermodal trains between Toronto, Ontario and the cities of Winnipeg, Manitoba, as well as Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta and the west coast ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, British Colombia. The corridor also hosts two VIA Rail transcontinental passenger trains three days a week. These extended sidings allow the railway to maximize the benefits of its longer-train operating plan in main-line corridors across its system. Reportedly, CN’s infrastructure improvements to date in Northern Ontario permit the highest average freight train speeds on its entire operating system at 40 miles per hour. The CN siding investments are part of the railway’s C$1.7-billion 2011 capital expenditure program. Jay Brooks clicked CN 435 which derailed while shoving into Aldershot Yard, August 25th.
http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=1186 http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=1187 CN VIGNETTES:
© CRO Sept 2011 |
