Canadian Railroads > Time Flies Tuesday - Looking Back at CN Intermodal #214

On September 24, 1976, CN intermodal train #214 was passing through Bells Corners, on the west side of Ottawa, at 1450. This mid-afternoon arrival was more or less routine, as was the GMD trio, with one exception. Sandwiched between GP40-2L(W) 9567 and trailer 9418 was GP38-2 5511, which was a big thrill, or at least a welcome change from the steady diet of widenose Geeps I saw on the through freights in Ottawa at the time. The train is on the main, you can see the passing siding which was immediately east of Bells Junction, and then there is the set-out and transload track in the foreground. The time-travel element is in the skeleton container flat, equipment that I loved in terms of its simplicity, and the smooth 20' container. If you look closely, you can also see the special trucks CN experimented with, designed to minimize the unsprung weight. I posted up some shots of these a long time ago, at https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,4284015,4284015#msg-4284015. The design concept foreshadows the modern GE diesel truck.
Fred



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/21 11:16 by feclark.

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Thanks for sharing this photo.

Seems like both the CN and CP had unique intermodal equipment in the 60s and 70s. Railway Age had a photo of a 89' proto-double stack car the CN developed with 20' slots on each end and a dropped center for 2- 40' boxes.

Great picture Fred!

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