Canadian Railroads > Back When They Were New and Shiny

By the winter of 2010 it was becoming increasingly common to find a pair, or even a trio, of rebuilt F40s (F40PH-3) on the Ocean.  In the first image, 6444 was leading another rebuild and a Park car-less eastbound train across the Nine Mile River bridge in Elmsdale, NS on February 6, 2010.  6444 was wrecked a little more than two years later in Burlington, Ontario with the tragic loss of the three crewmen in the cab.  The bridge in Elmsdale is locally famous as the site of the first iron bridge built in British North America by a local company (Starr Manufacturing in Dartmouth, NS).  Previous bridges had been imported from the US or Britain.

On March 12, 2010 I caught the westbound train, this time with 6443 and 6454, a couple times on the Springhill Sub, passing two of the remaining 3-aspect searchlight signals.  The CTC on the Springhill Sub was set up to control medium speed switches at the sidings, although they were built for 15 mph to get the job completed quickly and less expensively.  In the end, none were ever upgraded, and most of the signals were modernized with only two heads.  Even when the siding at Salt Springs (2nd photo) was removed, the main line signals remained as a control point, until they were removed in the last few years.  

Farther west on the same day, 15 is accelerating away from the west end of Amherst, passing another ancient searchlight.  This one looks like the middle light has been repositioned slightly, but it's still there today, even if it is redundant.

GTD

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/21 05:07 by cn6218.

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Once again great photos, Geoff.

Sometimes one identifies with a locomotive for one reason or another.  For me, CP Ottawa switcher 7028, CN 6532 and VIA F40 6400, 6435 & 6444 come to mind as being special.  The reason 6444 pulled certain heart strings is because it adorned an Austrian stamp.  I believe this was a homemade stamp where one bought the value and could add their own photo.  Austrian being part of my heritage and I being a VIA fan, buying this item when offered on eBay was a no-brainer.  Next thing was the quest of getting a shot of the engine with the plan of framing the photo with the stamp.  But sadly this did not come to pass as 6444 was involved that tragic accident killing 3 crew members including the VIA trainee Patrick Robinson who had worked here in Ottawa for CN, then the Ottawa Central.

Gerry Gaugl
Ottawa ON

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Very nice shots!

RC Lundgren
Elgin, TX