Canadian Railroads > The GP50 Era on the Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Rwy.

By the summer of 1997, the the second hand C-630Ms and RS-18s the CBNS had acquired from CN at start up in 1993 were just about worn out.  RailTex, the corporate parent, sent some GP50s that had been working on sister road Indiana & Ohio after they came off lease at BNSF.  These were part of an order that had been placed by Frisco, but delivered to BN in 1980.  They are early examples of the 50-series, and still have the GP40-style traction motor blower duct on the left side of the hood.  CBNS eventually received 6 of this model, and by early 1998 they were handling the road freights in sets of 3 or 4 units, replacing 3 or 4 of the big MLWs.

On a whirlwind trip to Cape Breton on May 12th that year, I chased train 306 to Sydney, with 3104, 3107 and 3102, still wearing IORY reporting marks.  The train is shown here at Shunacadie, where a major washout happened a few years later when debris plugged the culvert the train is traveling over, and Ball's Creek, between North Sydney and Sydney proper.  Later in the year, on July 4th, I followed a 4-unit set on 306, with class unit 3100 leading.  They are shown here crossing Neilban Cove, just east of the Barra Strait swing bridge.  The GP50s eventually got CBNS reporting marks and 5000-series numbers, before being sent back to the US, and being replaced with a quartet of leased SD45-2s, another model which was not rostered anywhere else in Canada.

GTD

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Well-chosen locations and uncommon locomotives make these a first-rate set of photos.
Bob

I particularly like the location and composition of the third photo; that's a nice series.
Fred

feclark Wrote:
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> I particularly like the location and composition
> of the third photo; that's a nice series.
> Fred

Yes and look like home in Washington.

Bob

Matching paint;)