November 26 Observations

On Saturday November 26 I did my usual survey of the CP yard in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba. There were a collection of the "usual suspects" (GP38s, AC4400s, SD90s) with a few more interesting units. The first was CP 8957, another one of the shiny new ES44AC engines that Canadian Pacific Railway has purchased.


Canadian Railway Observation's December issue has a better photo of 8957 by Ken McCutcheon in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan.

For me the most interesting unit in the yard was CP 9015, a "red barn" SD40-2F. Blog readers know I like the red barns, but this one is special because it has a rebuilt nose.


CP 9015 was involved in a grade crossing accident with an oil truck earlier this year (I believe) and the Weston shops here in Winnipeg rebuilt the nose end.

Compare it to CP 9017... shot here in Winnipeg on October 25, 2009.


The candy stripes are gone, the bell is painted, and most importantly, the shop didn't bother repainting the whole locomotive! Given the age of the red barns, it doesn't make sense for CP to spend a lot of time and money doing cosmetic work to them.

Here's a photo of CP 9015 from Flickr.

Complete list of units seen.