Canadian Railroads > Carrying Rail - The Long and Short of It, and Almost a Trophy

I chose not to call this Freight Car Friday because it's possible OCS doesn't count. Here are a few versions of flat cars CN used to carry rail. The bright orange paint was always a nice sight. If you skip to the end, you'll see a Reply wherein I've attached improved scans of the slides. After a couple of years of cursing how bad the new software is compared to what I was used to using, I found the magic slider that makes them pop again.
1. CN 44524 was photographed on February 4, 1977, standing just west of Bells Junction on the Beachburg Sub. It's in the tail end of an EB train that suffered a derailment at the junction, if I recall correctly, and not part of the cleanup train. I shot it from the lot of Steenbakker's Lumber; I didn't pay enough attention to where I laid down my mitts. Rookie mistake. This flat was built in 5-53, but honestly I don't know what P.U. stands for, but it happened in 12-74, and I'm guessing was the date of its repurposing for carrying rail. It's a shorty, maybe 36'; note the Removable Bulkhead.
2. This is something that could have become a trophy. On August 31, 1976, I saw this lying to the side of the Beachburg Sub between Corkstown Road and CN Nepean. Moonlighter will know the location. It's the info panel from sister rail flat CN 44592, blt. 10-41, P.U. 8-75. I didn't drive at the time, plus my folks would have been none too pleased if I'd brought it home. But it makes me think of Mike and Frank on "American Pickers." This would look great on a train room wall, instead of a gas station sign.
3. We've seen the short, now here's the long. CN 44905 is an 84'4" flat, built by Marine Industries Limited of Sorel, QC (very distinctive logo) in 2-81. The date is February 26, 1988, and the location is Hawthorne, east of Walkley Yard. The train might be 2nd #214.
Fred



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/24 13:19 by feclark.

---

[img::]https://cdn.trainorders.com/attachments/thumbs/1783000/CN_44524_664817a238311.jpg[/img]

---

[img::]https://cdn.trainorders.com/attachments/thumbs/1783000/CN_44592_664817ca726a8.jpg[/img]

---

[img::]https://cdn.trainorders.com/attachments/thumbs/1783000/CN_44905_664817ef80180.jpg[/img]

Interesting photos - You covered a less-seen set of cars well.
Bob

Hi,
Thanks for the vintage rail-carrying car photos. Excellent.
Here is a CN CWR (continuous welded rail) train just north of Kamloops BC.
There is more capacity than what is being carried.
Always neat to see these trains going through a curve.
Images taken about a month ago.
Thanks.
611

---

---

---

feclark Wrote:
 This flat was
 built in 5-53, but honestly I don't know what P.U.
stand for, but it happened in 12-74, and I'm
 guessing was the date of its repurposing for
 carrying rail. 

You are correct about the second date Fred.  The P.U. is the the shop that performed the work, in this case Transcona Shops.

Gerry Gaugl
Ottawa, ON

Train611 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi,
> Thanks for the vintage rail-carrying car photos.
> Excellent.
> Here is a CN CWR (continuous welded rail) train
> just north of Kamloops BC.
> There is more capacity than what is being
> carried.
> Always neat to see these trains going through a
> curve.
> Images taken about a month ago.
> Thanks.
> 611

Great shots; the flexibility of rail is always unexpected, somehow. The set of cars still lettered for NAR is also a nice catch.
Fred

moonliter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> feclark Wrote:
>  This flat was
>  built in 5-53, but honestly I don't know what
> P.U.
> stand for, but it happened in 12-74, and I'm
>  guessing was the date of its repurposing for
>  carrying rail. 
>
> You are correct about the second date Fred.  The
> P.U. is the the shop that performed the work, in
> this case Transcona Shops.
>
> Gerry Gaugl
> Ottawa, ON

I would love to know how Transcona Shops becomes "P.U." Thanks for the info, Gerry.
Fred

Here are the improved scans.

feclark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I chose not to call this Freight Car Friday
> because it's possible OCS doesn't count. Here are
> a few versions of flat cars CN used to carry rail.
> The bright orange paint was always a nice sight.
> If you skip to the end, you'll see a Reply wherein
> I've attached improved scans of the slides. After
> a couple of years of cursing how bad the new
> software is compared to what I was used to using,
> I found the magic slider that makes them pop
> again.
> 1. CN 44524 was photographed on February 4, 1977,
> standing just west of Bells Junction on the
> Beachburg Sub. It's in the tail end of an EB train
> that suffered a derailment at the junction, if I
> recall correctly, and not part of the cleanup
> train. I shot it from the lot of Steenbakker's
> Lumber; I didn't pay enough attention to where I
> laid down my mitts. Rookie mistake. This flat was
> built in 5-53, but honestly I don't know what P.U.
> stands for, but it happened in 12-74, and I'm
> guessing was the date of its repurposing for
> carrying rail. It's a shorty, maybe 36'; note the
> Removable Bulkhead.
> 2. This is something that could have become a
> trophy. On August 31, 1976, I saw this lying to
> the side of the Beachburg Sub between Corkstown
> Road and CN Nepean. Moonlighter will know the
> location. It's the info panel from sister rail
> flat CN 44592, blt. 10-41, P.U. 8-75. I didn't
> drive at the time, plus my folks would have been
> none too pleased if I'd brought it home. But it
> makes me think of Mike and Frank on "American
> Pickers." This would look great on a train room
> wall, instead of a gas station sign.
> 3. We've seen the short, now here's the long. CN
> 44905 is an 84'4" flat, built by Marine Industries
> Limited of Sorel, QC (very distinctive logo) in
> 2-81. The date is February 26, 1988, and the
> location is Hawthorne, east of Walkley Yard. The
> train might be 2nd #214.
> Fred

---

---

---

C&O invented the welded rail train and rail unloader car...Shared with AAR and now everyone has them. 

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> C&O invented the welded rail train and rail
> unloader car...Shared with AAR and now everyone
> has them. 

I've just finished scanning shots of individual cars in a CN CWR train, including the rail threader car, and will work on posting them today. Thanks for the historical note.
Fred