Saturday, January 29, 2011

Crazy Eights

CN 8888 in Winnipeg
I went up to Waverley Street in Winnipeg on Thursday to shoot the Canadian. It turned out that they had a problem with toilets and stayed at the Maintenance Centre at Fort Rouge until 14:00, so I never saw them. However, I did see CN 111... with CN 8888 on the point.

For noon, it was pretty dark!


CN 8888 is an SD70M-2, one of CN's shiny new units. The DPU unit was another SD70M-2, CN 8021, but it's not so shiny now!
CN 8021 in Winnipeg

Most of the current Class 1 railroads have an 8888 in use.
  • The most famous would be CSX 8888. The movie Unstoppable is based on a true story about CSX 8888 (an SD40-2) going runaway.
  • CP 8888 is an ES44AC.
  • Norfolk Southern's NS 8888 is a Dash-9.
  • BNSF 8888 is an SD70MAC.
  • I don't think there is a Union Pacific 8888.

5 comments:

jddc.trains said...

I do like the look of that particular model of SD70. I also like seeing locomotives with that kind of special detail like CN's 8888 unit you saw.

Cheers,

Canadian Train Geek said...

I think a lot of railfans do not like the SD70M-2's look. I like it a lot. It's square and brutish, reminiscent of a big working animal like an ox. Save the streamlined look for the passengers. ;)

Unknown said...

Hey Steve! I was just wondering...if you knew why some CN SD70M-2's have 2 headlights on the bonnet, but some, instead, have 2 lights right above the windows? Just something I've been wondering about...cheers!
R

Canadian Train Geek said...

Hi Rory, good question about the SD70M-2s. They were ordered in two number groups, 8000-8024 and 8800-8964. The 8000-8024 group came first, being built in late 2005 and early 2006, and they have the lights above the windows like many American locomotives do. I wonder if CN was in a big hurry to get them or not willing to pay extra to have the lights moved to the nose like most Canadian units have. The 8800 group was built from mid 2007 to the end of 2010 and they have the lights in the nose.

Unknown said...

Ah I see! I did know there were 2 batches but had never put 2 and 2 together when looking at the lights and corresponding number series - doh!! moment :P

Thanks for the info Steve, and keep up the good work! And I really do like the look of SD70M-2s myself, Im with you on that one!