Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday’s to all our readers! Revised 12/02/08 www.canadianrailwayobservations.com CANADIAN NATIONAL CN Locomotives retired since last issue: (Previous retirement October 10th) CN SD50F’s 5403, 5409, 5410, 5412, 5414, 5419, 5425, 5427, 5428, 5430, 5431, 5433, 5435, 5436, 5449, 5452, 5457 and 5459 on October 27th CN SD50F’s 5400 and 5444 on October 30th (These two are the last of the series). With the retirement in late October of the last 20 SD50F’s listed above, the locomotive is now off the CN roster. The SD50F was a 3600HP unit built in 1985 and 1987 by GMDD- London and sported a full cowl car body and looked very beefy with its “Draper taper” and 4-piece windshield. Some of the 5400’s have had expensive repairs done such as truck, main generator, and engine change outs in the last couple of years, however the entire class was retired. As a homage tribute to this model, Mark Forseille provided CRO these fantastic roster shots showcasing the “full bodied” SD50F! CN 5432 Coquitlam, BC June 9, 2002 (Sporting CNNA Paint) CN 5407 Burnaby, BC Feb 1988 CN 5421 Matsqui, BC Mar 6, 1998 CN 5428 Boston Bar, BC June 1995 CN 5443 Boston Bar, BC Apr 1995 CN 5415 Port Coquitlam, BC Jun 2, 2005 CN 5419 Kamloops, BC Apr 1993 CN 5413 N Vancouver, BC June 24, 2000 CN 5456 Coquitlam, BC Oct 14, 2002 CN 5455 Coquitlam, BC Sept 6, 2002 (In the Noodle livery) As Editor of CRO, it is always disheartening when I must report the final retirement of any locomotive series, especially when I am particularly fond of the model. As an MLW-fan, I can attest the 1990’s were especially brutal! However due to a variety of circumstances, several SD50F’s were seen active following their retirement date. On one of these occasions, Glen Mounk caught a pair of SD50F’s (5427 and 5435) on Train 438 on November 1st. The two units above, along with CN 5433, 5414, and 5436 and a few others other’s were forwarded operating to the Woodcrest shop where they were checked and then placed in storage along with the other retired and stored SD50F locomotives. In Late October, Paul Cordingley caught CN SD50F 5444 running on the BNSF at Fort Madison, Iowa finishing up repayment of Horse Power Hours. http://hostovsky.com/~WDM/IOWA2008/20081023-BNSF7781Eb-Z-LACNYC1-23A-Fort_Madison-IA.jpg http://hostovsky.com/~WDM/IOWA2008/20081023-BNSF7781E-Z-LACNYC1-23A-Fort_Madison-IA.jpg http://hostovsky.com/~WDM/IOWA2008/20081023-CN5444-Fort_Madison-IA.jpg On November 1st, retired CN SD50F’s 5409, 5425, and 5433 were transferred from IC- Homewood to UP-Proviso Yard in Chicago, and used to repay HP hours owed to UNION PACIFIC. As Bill Miller correctly pointed out this is nothing new, as a few years back WISCONSIN CENTRAL SD45r 7525 was sent to work on UP for several weeks after it had been retired by CN. Then on November 5th, three more CN 5400`s interchanged to UP. CN 5412, 5414, and 5428 were positioned on UP train ZYCMQ which is the hottest train on the former C&EI/MP heading south, out of Chicago! By mid- November, several SD50F’s had been sent to UP to repay HPH: CN 5409, 5412, 5414, 5419, 5425, 5427, 5428, 5433, 5435, 5444, and 5449, and were seen on the UP. Unfortunately, on November 8th CN 5409 suffered a failure on UP, and was promptly returned to Woodcrest. Ironically, CN 5414 arrived back in Toronto Mac Yard mid-November repaying HPH to UP. Glen Mounk caught CN Train 438 heading south with five different locomotive models including an SD50F and A Genset! The consist was: CN 2556, CN 5649, IC 6100, CN 5419, NREX 2007 passing through Fort Frances Yard, Ontario, a few minutes away from the US border, with the SD50F enroute to Woodcrest Yard. Also returning to the US, NREX 2007 which had been testing at the CANFOR facility at Prince Rupert, BC. http://www.canadianrailwayobservations.com/2008/12/438.htm The last photos of CN SD50F 5446 and 5456 taken on November 18th at Metro East Industries in East Saint Louis, Ill. http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1396201 From October 22nd to November 12th, CN held an auction sale for the following 50 locomotives. It is believed that these units are all in Woodcrest Yard except for SW1200RS CSO3, which is the car shop switcher in Winnipeg, MB. The CN units for sale were as follows: CN SW1200RS CSO3 (formerly CN 1387) http://www.cn.ca/en/9964.htm (Photo of CS03) DMIR SD38AC’s 200, 201, 205 and 207 DMIR SD38’s 214 and 223 DMIR SD18u’s 303 and 316* (See below) DMIR SD40T-2’s 410, 411, and 417 (all ex-SP) BCOL RS3 Slug 404, 407, and 410. BCOL RS18CAT’s 604, 617, 629, and 630. SAR B36-7 3604 ANY GP9RM 4005 GTW GP9R 4635 CN SD40-2 5380 (Ex-UP) CN SD50F’s 5401, 5402, 5404, 5405, 5406, 5407, 5408, 5411, 5416, 5417, 5418. CN SD50F’s 5423, 5424, 5426, 5429, 5434, 5437, 5438, 5439, 5440, 5443, 5445, CN SD50F’s 5450, 5451, 5454, 5455, and 5458. http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=258543 SD50F 5455 stored at Woodcrest. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1137331 Early 2008 Dead Line UPDATE #1: Although listed above as for sale, DMIR SD18u 316 is to be donated to the MISSABE RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY in Duluth, Minnesota. This unit was built at GM-Lagrange in 1960, and released as DMIR 186. http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=161485&nseq=11 UPDATE #2: On November 23rd CRO learned that CN had sold five SD50F’s to the DAKOTA MINNESOTA & WESTERN. They are 5402, 5404, 5416, 5438, plus one more unknown number. On November 20th CN sold SD40-2W 5292, which had been stored in Edmonton, AB, to RIMX 5292 and has now moved to Prince George, BC for scrapping. Tim Stevens and Bruce Mercer reported the CN Walker Yard to Toronto manifest, M30451 on November 18th departed Edmonton, Alberta with CN 8838 and BCOL 4620 for power, and hauling PRLX SW1200RS’s 1339 and 1371 dead in tow and directly behind the power. Both are relettered but still in CN paint, and are heading for PROGRESS RAIL in Waycross, GA. Here is the first photo we have seen of the new EMCC-built CN SD70M-2 series (8850-8874). The locomotive pictured and numbered 896 - 4, is expected to become CN 8853: (Froth) http://i517.photobucket.com/albums/u335/Railfancody_/October262008024.jpg In mid-October, CN’s Woodcrest Shop released the second ILLINOIS CENTRAL SD70 repainted into the current CN livery. On November 1st, IC 1012 was spotted as the trailing power on a CN freight in Pontiac, Michigan. Earlier this year, IC SD70 1039 was big news to CRO readers, as the first CN painted SD70 ventured for the first time into western Canada. http://www.flickr.com/photos/high_iron/3001055203/ In late November the following 15 (ALSTHOM-Built) GCFX and WC SD40-3’s were moved from IC Woodcrest, to the BSC yard in Chicago for long term storage; GCFX 6051, 6057, 6067, 6072, 6076, and WC 6904, 6905, 6908, 6914, 6918, 6925, 6933, 6943, and 6946. On November 1st, 2008, CN closed a deal with the QUEBEC RAILWAY Corp. to acquire three of their short lines, and one freight-rail ferry. While the proposed Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. acquisition remains under federal and public scrutiny in the United States, Canadian National Railway has completed this acquisition in Canada. CN will acquire Quebec Railway Corp.’s (QRC) three principal railroad subsidiaries and the company’s rail- freight ferry operation for $41.5 million. The railroad subsidiaries are: the 221-mile Chemin de fer de la Matapédia et du Golfe (CFMG), which interchanges with CN in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec; the 196-mile New Brunswick East Coast Railway (NBEC), which interchanges with CN in Moncton Yard; and Ottawa Central Railway( OCRY), which interchanges with CN in Coteau, Quebec. CN also acquired Compagnie de gestion de Matane Inc., a shuttle boat-rail freight service on the St. Lawrence River between Matane and Baie-Comeau, Quebec. The rail ferry can handle up to 25 freight cars and connects with CFMG in Matane. Under the transaction, CN has purchased 540 track miles it formerly owned in eastern Ontario, eastern Quebec and northern New Brunswick. CN sold the lines to QRC in the late 1990s and has held a minority equity interest in the ferry operation since its 1975 start-up. "The operations we're buying are important to CN because QRC is our second-largest short-line partner, serving important customers at origin and directly feeding our mainline network,” said CN President and Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison in a prepared statement. “With CN's industry-leading operating model and track record of seamlessly integrating acquisitions, we expect to realize meaningful operating efficiencies from the addition of these properties to our network." CN plans to invest capital in the lines during the next three years to upgrade infrastructure. The Class I also will replace the railroads’ existing locomotive fleet with more modern motive power. The transaction does not include QRC's other short line’s the Sydney Coal Railway in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Chemin de Fer de Charlevoix which operates out of Quebec City. (See “Shortlines” for more QRC news). The QUEBEC RAILWAY CORP operate a small but interesting fleet of ex-CP MLW RS18u’s, C424’s and ex-CN SD40u’s, all of which are likely not to be added to the current CN roster.