CANADIAN NATIONAL

 April 22nd  George Redmond was first to capture CN C40-8W 2099 in CN paint, seen along with 2188 and 2147 at the Centralia turntable.  CN 2099 is one of only two ex-BNSF C40-8W’s in this CN number series. 

 On April 9th, Joe Ferguson photographed CN C40-8W 2188 fresh paint at Centralia, Illinois.  CN 2188 had been one of the ex-BNSF units that was CN patched in preparation for service, but then got redirected for the full CN repaint.

Joe clicked EJE 670 working Du Quoin, IL on April 9th,  one of several EJE locomotives that have worked their way down into Southern Illinois and even as far as Kentucky. For example, EJE 666 was in Fulton, KY mid-April.

Joe also caught GTW 4929 at Centralia, IL on April 9th. Note the cab is stenciled "Do Not Occupy".

IC 9605 is seen in Decatur, IL on April 9th.  Joe points out this GP38-2 is somewhat unique with two "IC" stencils on the side of the cab. 

 IC 9635, captured by Dan Braun trailing thru Neenah, WI on June 6th also sporting stereo IC’s.

http://flic.kr/p/8hEgXM  

Ken Lanovich added this is the 2nd CN paint scheme for 9635 – she also was stenciled I.C.R.R.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=42375

 Ken also noted IC 9628, seen in this 12/29/10 Brent Erdmann shot at Homewood, IL, is the only GP38-2 still wearing its IC paint scheme.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28660043@N05/5310555268/

 CN 2152 emerged from the Woodcrest paint shop April 11th; so far it has eluded trackside cameras.

 As of April 25th the latest repainted CN C40-8Ws were CN 2099 and 2188, both have the narrower cab side numerals. Several other BNSF C40-8W's were released in new CN livery in late March and during the month of April.  CN 2152 emerged from the Woodcrest paint shop April 11th  and Joe Ferguson caught newly painted CN C40-8W 2163 at the Centralia Shop  April 11th.

 George Redmond caught CN 2188, 2109, GTW GP38-2 4929 and CN 2146 basking in spring sun near the Centralia turntable March 30th,  CN 2155 was shot on April 9th, and CN 2147 April 14th at Centralia.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2468287

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2475998

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2491499

Delivered from GE in the late 19080's in the CN stripes livery, Walter Pfefferle caught recently repainted CN "patched" ex BNSF  C40-8W 2195 leading train 332 through Ingersoll, Ontario on April 3rd.

Mike Garza caught CN 2138 C40-8W, recently outfitted and released  by the Centralia Shop, visiting the Woodcrest Shops April 27th.

CN ex-BNSF C40-8W roundup as of May 1st 2011 :   

 In full CN Livery

2099 - (painted at Centralia in April 2011)

2138 - (painted at Centralia)

2141 -  (painted at Woodcrest)

2144 - (painted at Centralia)

2146 –(painted at Centralia)

2147 - (painted at Centralia in April 2011)

2148 - (painted at Woodcrest)

2151 - (painted at Centralia).

2152-  (painted at Woodcrest in April 2011)

2155 - (painted at Centralia in April 2011)

2163 - (painted at Centralia in April 2011)

2188 - (painted at Centralia in April 2011)

CN "Noodled" in BNSF paint in service in USA except three noted. 

2137 - (In Canada in April)

2145 - (In Canada in March)

2149 -

2154 - (Toasted April 1st and currently out-of-service)

2159 - (In Canada in March)  

2175 -

2189 -

2195 - (In Canada in April)

2196 -

CN 2100's awaiting work at Woodcrest or Memphis:

2140 - Memphis

2164 -Woodcrest - (805)

2171 - Memphis

2194 - Woodcrest  - (859)

 CN "Noodled" in BNSF paint sent to various contract shops.

CN 2162 (801) - Metro-East Industries @ E. St. Louis, IL

CN 2170 (817) - Metro-East Industries @ E. St. Louis, IL

CN 2165 (807) - NRE-Dixmoor @ Chicago

CN 2168 (813) - NRE-Dixmoor @ Chicago

CN 2167 (851) - Quality Rail @ Madison, IL

CN 2176

CN 2177

CN 2191 (856) - Quality Rail @ Madison, IL

CN 2193

Here is George Redmond's CN 2098-2199 class photo archive which includes all the liveries:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archiveThumbs.aspx?id=58348&Page=1

Woodcrest Shop released repainted CN GP38-2 4705 the first week of April; its first assignment in new paint was in local service on Wisconsin Central.

CN C40-8W 2154 (ex-ATSF 838) was photographed by William Beecher  Jr at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on April 2nd. CN 2154  has a large burn mark on the engineer side and on April 5th arrived in Otto, IL and is currently out of service.

Robby Gragg caught a good shot of the burn damage CN 2154 while moving through Franklin Park, IL on April 1st.

CN C40-8 2126 was clicked at Fond du Lac, WI with the remains of former Expo ‘86 SD40-2W 5334. As the FRA has deemed this unit unfit to move to the local scrapper, it will be cut up where it sits. An unworthy death to the unit that wore CN's colorful Expo 86 paint scheme with pride. (Wm Beecher Jr photo).

CNNA SD40-2 5368 hangs in there as one of the last of these second hand ex-UP/Mopac SD40-2 units on the CN roster. Only 10 remain and many of these are mostly in the Edmonton area. Wm. Beecher Jr shot CNNA 5368 with EJ&E 658 at Joliet, Illinois on April 1st.

 At the Woodcrest Shop scrap track March 28th Richard Rosinski caught the remains of  IC SD40-2 6114 and 6132  getting loaded  onto a truck and hauled away.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=358758Roman

Ken Lanovich reported the following CN units moved to the Woodcrest, IL scrap track April 5th :  CN SD40-2(W) 5252, 5327, 5361, and WC SD40-2 6004 (ex-Algoma Central 186), unsold in the CN auction sale.  WC 6004 was being cut-up on April 7th.   

 Moved to the Woodcrest scrap track April 12th: CN SD40-2(W) 5254, IC SD40-2`s 6109, 6118, WC SD40-2 6005. IC 6109 was the last black SD40-2. WC 6005, the last WC SD40-2 on the roster, built as Algoma Central 187 

In April CN sold GP9RM 7053 to Rail Trust Equipment (RTEX), in Monroe, Georgia.

 Eight more ex-WC/Alstom SD40-3`s that were stored at the BRC Clearing yard were relettered in April for their new owners: (Aberdeen Carolina & Western) ACWR 6909, 6919, 6925, and one other-number unknown; (Nebraska Northeastern) NENE 127, 128 (ex-WC 6931 and 6948) and (Diesel Locomotive Company) DLCX 6051 (former GCFX 6051) and 6930 (former WC-6930).  To date, 38 GCFC/WC/Alstom SD40-3 have now been sold, leaving only 12 left some of which are bad order. 

 Woodcrest shipped out retired IC SD40-2 6137 on train 199 in April, enroute to its new owners.  It will used to switch the coal dumper at Prince Rupert, British Columbia for new coal business for China.  At press time we did not know the name of the company.  

In transit at the BRC locomotive facility April 22 was SVGX GP9RM 8626. The former CN (or NREX number), of this jeep is unknown and was out shopped March 2011 at NRE Silvis shops.

David W. Brandenburg  caught CN ES44DC 2310 leading SD60F 5546 and SD70M-2 8815 through Hay Lakes, AB on a bright morning April 18.

William Beecher Jr. caught IC SD70 1039 at Fond du Lac on April 24th. sporting CN paint and also appears to have new trucks. 

Dan Braun caught two CN Dash 8’s acquired from BNSF and UP leading train A446 south from Green Bay, WI on March 25th.  With CN 2196 on point and CN 2122 trailing, Train A44681-25 has now completed it's work at Neenah, WI and is seen passing MP 175  on the CN Neenah Sub at Oshkosh, WI.

 Illinois Central 6204 leads the recently refurbished CN 2196 northward on the Neenah Sub at MP 180.41 on Sunday March 27.  The full symbol for this train was L51082-27 and the train was 71 cars of coke.  The notables of this train include the combination of power at the head end and the symbol.  Typically the L510 symbol doesn't run north of Shops Yard (North Fond du Lac, WI).  Shortly after this picture was taken the crew took a Track Authority to Green Bay, WI via the Fox River Sub.  (Dan Braun photo)

Henry Nye clicked the CN TEC Budd car #1501 moving northbound through Neenah, WI, on March 8th. The photo was taken at MP 184.8 (Neenah South Signal) on the CN Neenah Subdivision.

Joe Ferguson took photos just after the first severe storm front came through Centralia, Illinois on April 20th. Much of Centralia had no power, large limbs littered most streets, and many small sheds were destroyed. There was significant damage to the mothballed Centralia Car shop; the catwalk in one photo helps illustrate the enormous scale of this building.  CN had pulled all important equipment from the building. No locos were damaged.  The paint and prep shop are in another smaller building southwest of the former car shop. As mechanical work is still is done in the old roundhouse, the storm had little impact on Centralia operations.

 Over the next year, Canadian National and their partners Wesport Innovations and Gaz Métro Transportation Solutions (GMTS) are working jointly to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) engine technology for locomotives. The parties will receive $2.4 million in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada to help fund development.  The initial stages of the project call for designing and testing — both in plant and in the field — an LNG system for powering a locomotive. GMTS will provide LNG expertise during the tests and be responsible for fuel supply logistics, while CN will provide locomotive expertise and conduct field tests. The partners expect a prototype of an LNG-powered locomotive to begin operating in 2013.  

CN 435 highballs through Ingersoll Ont. April 27th with CN 2148 and CN 2144, a pair of ex BNSF C40-8W earning their keep.

Marc Caya caught this rare All-American railroad consist on CN train 324.  Marc could not recall this occurrence in the 10 years  he has lived in St-Jean, QC.  UP 9132 and NS 7667 were shot at MP 22 on the Rouses Point Sub, on April 15th, and  the pair returned as CN 323 with NS 7667 leading.

The first week of April, Ronald Pelletier clicked these freshly painted CN covered hoppers at the Ste-Foy CN yard in Quebec City.  He counted about 75 of these refurbished cars all built in the 1970’s and therefore cannot be interchanged off CN. It is expected that most of these are needed for a new CN contract; hauling nickel ore  shipped from a mine in Quebec to the  harbour in Quebec City for shipment to the Falconbridge Smelter in Sudbury, Ontario.   The smelted matte is then returned to Quebec City and shipped to the company’s Nikkelwerk refinery in Norway for final nickel production. Therefore cars will be moved loaded in both directions.

André St-Amant caught CN 461 at Charette, QC with CN Dash 8-40CM 2434 and CN GP40-2L(W) 9449 on March 29th.

The Globe and Mail reported April 25 that Bill Gates currently owns 46 million Canadian National Railway shares or 10.4 per cent, worth about $3.2-billion, making him the largest CN shareholder. The Globe's Brent Jang writes that CN disclosed Mr. Gates's holding in its management circular for its annual meeting. Based on CN's share price of $69.88 on Thursday, the railway has a stock market capitalization of $32-billion, with Mr. Gates' portion valued at $3.2-billion. Through Cascade Investment LLC, he controls 37.4 million CN shares. As co-trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he oversees another 8.6 million CN shares. In 2006 filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Gates emerged as a CN shareholder, owning a 5.8-per-cent interest at the time through Cascade, and another 0.8 per cent through the foundation. "He has been gradually buying more CN stock," says RBC Dominion Securities Inc. analyst Walter Spracklin. Billionaire Warren Buffet "must have given a tip to buy railroads at one of their bridge games," says Mr. Spracklin. Mr. Spracklin says he is impressed with consistent profit being reported at CN, despite harsh winter weather.

Dan Braun shot the B790 potash train Thursday April 21st B790 with 166 loads.  CN C44-9W 2675, CN SD70M-2 8933, CN C44-9W 2644 and dpu Sd70m-2’s CN 8011 and 8840.

On April 22nd Dan shot this 8-headed M341 @ Medina Jct. just NW of Neenah WI. Total of 34,450 HP had all 8 motors been online. Horses were: CN Sd75i 5697, IC Sd70 1003, CN Sd75i 5775, and all 5 locos (above) from Thursday’s B790.

Friday April 22nd CN 2250 + 2448 led their 119-load B790 potash train thru Neenah WI south to the Chicago area, with CN 2449 and 2322 as dpu’s. Those four would soon return northbound.

The following day, Saturday April 23rd , Dan caught M341 again with Horsepower leading into Fond Du Lac shops. The LMS blue IC C40-8W 2463 stood out in the sea of red, white, and black.  The seven  7 heads: NS ES40DC 7502, NS C40-9W 8984 , CN C40-8M 2448, CN ES44DC 2250, IC C40-8W 2463, CN ES44DC 2322, and CN C40-8M 2449.

Track Stability Car CN 619-28 pauses briefly at the former Oshkosh CNW passenger depot to copy track authority to Fondy Shops yard from Foreman Nichols. Dan Braun noted it Tuesday April 26th working southward on the Neenah Sub.

On March 31st at Walker Yard in Edmonton, Alberta CN GP38-2 7501, Slug 508 and GP38-2 7518 were all sideswiped in a yard move.  CN 7501 shows significant collision damage and is being evaluated on whether to repair or not.

Don Hicks caught BCOL C44-9W 4641 back home on former BC Rail trackage at Chetwynd, BC, on March 29th.

CN M30131-07 suffered a derailment of 43 cars on the CN Ruel subdivision on April 7th, near Makwa, ON, affecting traffic running between Toronto and Winnipeg.  Here are photos of the scene after the line was reopened the next day: 

Aaron Eslinger reported that CN’s tie replacement and track upgrades are proceeding nicely on the former Athabasca Northern Railway (purchased by CN two ears ago). After being only weeks from abandonment in 2007, this vital link to the Oil sands is now freshly ballasted, and will soon have new traffic. 

Andy Cassidy caught this incredible pure SD60F lashup on April 23rd.   CN SD60F's 5541-5552-5557 East are rolling grain empties on a transfer run at Mile 146.4, Westminster Sub.

CN VIGNETTES:

Douglas Leffler submitted these terrific shots GTW version of the CNR 6400 class.  These beautiful locomotives were photographed by a friend of his, the late Richard J. Cook in Durand, Michigan...a wonderful place to watch trains back in the day!