Canadian Railroads > MLW Monday - Taschereau Yard...

Back in June 1975 I received authorization by CN to spend a day inside the Taschereau Yard complex photographing the hump yard operation. I'm just starting to scan those negatives now. Here are the first couple of pictures.

Picture #1 was taken from the road bridge near the southern end of the yard. The three tracks lead up from Ballantyne, the junction with the main line. The train on the bridge is one of the in-yard jobs powered by a hump trio comprising S-13 8614, S-3 slug 309 and S-13 8605. I recall CN called their slugs HBUs (for "Hump Brake Units").

Picture #2, taken a few minutes later, shows the same train backing in the direction from which it came. You can see an interesting truck adaptation on these MLW units - that was to permit them to operate more easily through the hump retarders.

By the way, the hump was at the opposite end of the yard from where I took these pictures, a long long walk. I had been invited to stop by the central office (about mid-point in the yard) for a tour, and It was good to get out of the sun for a while. One thing the central office featured was a large static 3D model of the whole complex. This was used to train employees about the track numbering and the operation of the various sub-sections of the yard.

Ray

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