Friday, September 21, 2012

GTW and YAM

I was driving on the Perimeter Highway over the CN Letellier subdivision in Winnipeg when I spied CN 533 coming home. It was really the most remarkable coincidence, as there is only a short stretch of track visible to the south, and there was the head end of 533 rolling along, with two engines including a grey one leading!

I exited at Waverley Street and headed up to Bison Drive, intending to get well ahead of the train to photograph this mysterious grey engine. They were going a lot faster than I thought, as the gates were coming down at the crossing as I approached it. I ended up stopping and clawing for my camera as the train approached. Good thing I keep the camera on the passenger seat. (Doesn't everyone?)

Here's the grey engine.
Ex GTW 5948 in Winnipeg

This engine is former Grand Trunk and Western (GTW) 5948, an SD40-3 now owned by Alstom and lettered GCFX 5948. It was apparently originally built for the Kansas City Southern railway.

The above shot was through the windshield, and I rolled my window down to take the "going away" photo below. You can see where the large white "CN" on the side has been painted over.
Alstom 5948 in Winnipeg

On my return from my errand, I noticed that there was a CN freight train parked just west of Diamond outside Winnipeg. The train had IC 2703 on the point and was apparently waiting for a westbound freight before heading into Winnipeg. I set up my video camera to point at 2703 for the meet... and then they rolled ahead a few hundred feet! Maybe they were shy.
IC 2703 near Winnipeg

In good time the westbound train arrived. It was led by a Dash-9.
CN 2597 near Winnipeg

The crew of 2703 were on the ground to inspect the train.
Meet at Diamond with IC 2703 and CN 2597

Not bad for Yet Another Meet!
CN 2597 and IC 2703 near Winnipeg

Here's the video.

Oh yes, after 2703 started rolling, I headed out to get another shot of it. First, a pacing shot.
IC 2703 and CN 2538 in Winnipeg

They were not going especially fast yet. I decided to nab them on the other side of Diamond and call it a day. Here's that shot.
IC 2703 in Winnipeg

You can see they were crossing over to the south track here.

4 comments:

Robert Nicks said...

The SD40-2 was originally built as a CN SD40. Note the Canadian positioning of the front headlights on the nose and the bell. It had been leased to KCS for a time after it was rebuilt, however, before joining CN's roster again. Now, I think CN terminated the lease so it's just a lease unit now.

Canadian Train Geek said...

Thanks for the correction, Robert!

Karl A. said...

I love the grey Alstom snowshielded 40's. They are on the top of my favorite engine list. Great catch!

GP9Rm4108 said...

The lease must be done and CN must have full ownership as the FRA card shows owned and operated by CN.

For comparison, any IC units show operated by CN and owned by IC.