Canadian Railroads > A Short Day on CN's Westlock Sub

Last Monday (November 14th) I headed out to do a little railfanning on the CN mainline west of Edmonton AB. Usually CN's Edson sub is quite busy with trains, however on this day there was a lull in traffic coupled with a large amount of clouds rolling into the area. I was just about to give up and head for home when I heard the RTC acknowlegde an OS from a train on the Westlock Sub. The train was the daily Smith to Edmonton freight A418, which uses the Westlock Sub to transport goods from northern Alberta to Edmonton and beyond. I couldn't make out all of the radio conversation between 418 and the RTC, but I did hear the lead unit identified as an ex. BC Rail model. Since branch/secondary line traffic trumps mainline (at least in my books) I pointed the truck north on an intercept course.

#1 Dapp is located a few miles north of Westlock Alberta, and features this wooden grain elevator. I decided to camp out at Dapp to await A418's arrival, since any travel further north puts the tracks away from the highway, and would increase the chances of the train slipping by the photographer (been there, done that!). A418 has the BCOL 4654 in the lead, along with an SD40-2W nad a piar of GP40-2W's. The trailing geeps are offline and are headed to Edmonton for their 90 day inspections. 

#2 With A418 running at maximun tonnage, and the shorter fall days upon us, I figured my chances of getting anymore shots south of Dapp in daylight were slim. I headed to the town of Westlock to await 418's arrival. With just a few short minutes of sunlight left, 418 grinds past the town's elevator row. 

-Trevor
 

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This is former NAR trackage, is it not?

KG

Correct!
-Trevor
kgmontreal Wrote:
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> This is former NAR trackage, is it not?
>
> KG

OMG, 4654 soldiers on !!!  The last locomotive I operated.   Doug

2nd image is really good!

611

Posted from iPhone

A part of the CN world almost completely unknown to me, sadly. I should get out more. Your use of the light is spectacular, and I know how little sunshine we've had for months and months in Edmonton. It's been a tough year.
Fred

Thanks Fred! The Westlock sub is one of my favorite Edmonton area branches to shoot, mostly due to the use of older GMD power on the line in recent years! The southbound 418 was a good train to find SD40 models on the head end, however now that it is set up as a DPU train there's less of a chance of getting some older power on it!
Here's 418 near Busby back in Spetmeber of 2014

-Trevor
feclark Wrote:
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> A part of the CN world almost completely unknown
> to me, sadly. I should get out more. Your use of
> the light is spectacular, and I know how little
> sunshine we've had for months and months in
> Edmonton. It's been a tough year.
> Fred

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Who says the 3/4 wedge shot is boring? What a beautifully-balanced composition, nice fall colours, and with smoking units - who needs MLWs?
Fred