Sunday, January 03, 2010

Diesels on Prince Edward Island, Part 1

I was having a good discussion on YouTube about diesels that were on Prince Edward Island, so I thought I would do a few posts on them. I am no expert on PEI railway action but I can summarize from the reference material I have on hand.

The first two diesels on PEI were GE 44-ton units 7751 and 7752, built in 1947. These little pocket rockets had a mighty 400 horsepower. I would imagine they were used for switching, not for main line operation. They had their cab in the center, not on the end like most engines.

CN 7751 became #7550 in December 1950 and then #1 in June 1956. It was sold in February 1966 and became GWWD 103. In 1994 it was transferred to the Port Stanley Terminal Railroad and became #3, where it operates today.

CN 7752 was renumbered to 7551 and then 1501 before becoming CN 2 in June 1956. It was sold to Bowater Mersey Paper in 1965, and went to the Musqudoboit Harbour Railway Museum in Nova Scotia in 1991.

Next: the GE 70-tonners.

NOTE: The information in this blog post series has been collected and expanded upon to make an eBook:
click for more information

3 comments:

Eric said...

Hi Steve, found a couple of early photos of 6765 today, 7/76 and 3/77...will keep looking for more.
Eric

Unknown said...

Hi there= what colour was #2 when it was renumbered? Was it black with the CANADIAN NATIONAL on top of the car body or was it olive green like the others? Thanks
Steve

Steve Boyko said...

Hi Steve, sorry I don't know what colour it was. I'll see if I can find out.