This Day, 16 Years Ago

Here's a slide by David Stowe from June 26, 1994. It features CN 3578 on point with fellow MLW unit 2307 and SD40 5071 trailing. The slide was taken in Hamilton, Ontario.

Strangely enough, 3578 was the newest of the three units shown. CN 3578 was an M-420(W). It was originally built as CN 2578 in 1976, but along with many M-420s it was renumbered to the 35xx series when it had its weight and fuel reduced for branchline service. CN 3578 found a new life on the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad in 1998, then was sold to the Southern Railroad of New Jersey in 2003 (CN Lines web page). There is a photo of it here showing it with SRNJ lettering but still in CN stripes.

CN 2307 suffered a worse fate. It was an older unit, an M-636 built in 1970. It was retired on January 31, 1995 and scrapped just over a year later.

CN 5071 was an SD40 built in 1968. It was retired on November 27, 1998 and was sold to National Railway Equipment. It is apparently still in operation today, in Union Pacific colours.