Canadian Railroads > Thirty-Eight Thursday - Two on CP Fresh From London

The wayfreight from Montreal to Ottawa, #85, was almost exclusively in the charge of MLW 4-axle power. I covered some six-axle units on this run in posts a few years back. The most recent one involving an MLW six-axle unit was at https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,4507093,4507093#msg-4507093. A few weeks later I added some SD40-2 to the mix. Bizarre as it sounds, then, I was pretty happy to see something other than C-424 or RS-18 and RS-18u on the point. On April 14, 1986, brand-new GP38-2 3100 and 3101 led C-424 4235, 4 boxcars, and the van, up to Ellwood Diamond at 1335. The train has just come under Heron Road, and that's the CBC building in the background. We were graced with this set of spanking-new power (and it happened with other units in this order) by virtue of Ottawa's location. As I heard it, probably from LBC, the distance was just right to receive the new units in London, run them to Montreal, up to Ottawa and back on #85/86, then back to London for a 1,000-mile inspection. Looking up Galt, Belleville, Winchester, and Lachute Sub mileages, they total something like 570 miles, so just about right. The crews must have loved the upgrade.
Fred



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/21 10:24 by feclark.

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Your back story makes this beautiful photo even better.
Bob

Nice clean shot. CP red always looks good clean and in bright sunshine...

JG

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