1). A Big Mike hauls a single combine for 7 months! They retired gas electric #9004, ’ Old Sparky’ and replaced her run with the Mikado and a combine but I wonder if they really thought this through.
Talk about over-powered! P1 Class 2-8-2 5187 has only a combine to haul on #342 southbound at Guelph in this October 18, 1958 better view of the well-kept station. R.J. (Bob) Sandusky
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5405 arriving with passenger train 740 from Guelph. Sat, March 28, 1959.Bud Laws Collection
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9004 sits at Guelph, Sept. 10,1956, hiding most of the well kept station next to the Speed River, between one of its many shuttle runs to Guelph Junction to connect with CPR Detroit or Toronto trains. Dave Shaw/collection of Carleton Smith
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9004 “Sparky” shown here Sat. April 26,1958 on the last run of train #346 to Guelph Jct. R.J.Sandusky/ |
A Mikado pulling one combine? Well, better to have all that power and not need it, than to need it and not have it!
My, that 9004 was a battleship! I wonder why they retired it, and then replaced it with a Mike and a combine? Must have made sense to someone…
Good educational point with those N&W F-Units. Mergers were the only way the old N&W got road diesels other than Geeps. When Saunders killed steam ([:'(]) the N&W went straight to Geeps and ignored other diesels. Waiting until the late 50’s certainly saved them all the experimentation the other 'roads went through.
Some of those ex-Wabash F-units were leased to the Jersey Central around 1970 or so, the CNJ was really on the ropes by this time and were dealing with motive power shortages. They kept their N&W markings however, the CNJ was prohibited from applying any Jersey Central logos.
Love that “We ain’t mad at nobody!” caboose assortment!
And aren’t those CN “speeders on steroids” the cutest thing?
F2 3001 Chinook the only named Jubilee (or any other modern CPR steam engine). Named for the train it hauled between Calgary and Edmonton. 1942 L.A.Stuckey/Ken MacDonald Joseph Testagrose Collection.
It was also the only F2 with an F1 style front end…
Apparently there were many more grade crossing accidents between Edmonton and Calgary than affected the remainder of the class in the eastern provinces, which retained the curved pilot until the end…
Perhaps Miningman can comment if automobile drivers in Western Canada are still more susceptible to crossing accidents.than the residents of Ontario and Quebec?
As track permitted trains always have travelled at higher speeds on this route, the roadbed undulating, trains appearing suddenly out of nowhere in the heat haze.
Passenger trains could and did do Ninety Miles an Hour w Steam = 4-4-4s
RDCs were FAST, made little smoke. Fitted w Gyralights in Mid Door. Terrible to ride in cab at nite, eyes following lite beam.
One of the earliest incidents involving the new RDCs as here.
Consider this statement from Agent Kid: "Man, oh man, I leave you guys for a few weeks and I can’t believe what you get up to.
THAT is “THE SUBWAY” between Millicent and Patricia on the abandoned Bassano Sub. For a few decades it might have been the only grade separated crossoing on the CPR in Alberta outside of Calgary."
Saskatchewan was much the same, a great many rural crosings and virtually no grade separations. They always say how flat it is but in reality it is, as NDG states, very undulating.
Sask., Alberta and Southern Manitoba had a myriad of tracks all criss crossing each other and every little place with a grain elevator had competing railroads laying track to it, Grand Trunk Western, Canadian Northern and CP all wanting the business.
2920 with passenger train leaving the station, Outlook, Sask.,
4:20 pm May 23, 1953, headed westerly for Macklin, Sask. Photo by Jim Biss.
A few more notes on the CPR Calgary-Edmonton service.
It was 192.6 track miles from Calgary to the Edmonton Station north of Jasper Ave. Back in the day it had 10 scheduled stops and four flag stops, with a running time of four and a half hours. Meeting the schedule meant pretty fast running, 80-90 MPH.
The stretch between Cagary and Red Deer was very flat, but the section north of Red Deer was very undulating. The whole route was mostly built on the original Calgary-Edmonton freight wagon trail. North of Red Deer conductors would point out places where the CPR ROW deviated from the wagon trail. You could still see the ruts right up to the end of the RDC service. The deviations were due to the fact Iron Horses couldn’t climb grades as steep as the real ones.
The service ended after several people used the RDC to commit suicide. In a world of randomly occuring freight trains, a passenger train that held to a schedule was too tempting for those folks. The company had been asking for permission to end the service for years, but it was this issue that ended the service, in September 1985.
Geez, really? That’s weird. Would qualify for a good quiz question though.
One story that has mysteriously stuck with me. I read about a truck driver operating out of Simcoe, back when I lived in Simcoe, who killed himself because the price of Diesel went to 60 cents. Had to more to it than that I thought.
