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About AlanP

Back in the mid 1970's while my older brother John was still shooting black and white 120 film, I loaded my new Pentax K1000 with Kodachrome and spent some time at the tracks. After a few rolls of slide film, switched to colour negative film for prints. Scans, image-editing, research, and captions by John Pittman.

AlanP's Railpictures.ca photo upload statistics

Number of images: 11
Total gold: 144
Number of comments recieved : 17
Number of comments posted : 1
Total views: 24664

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AlanP's 11 photos on Railpictures.ca:

CN 7508 is towed away from the scene of its mishap by another hump switching set: GP38-2 CN 7501, slugs CN 510 and 5??, and CN 7506. Likely going to Macmillan Yard Diesel shop first. It got repaired and returned to work the Macmillan hump.<br><br>
A good view of its EMD V 16-645E 2-stroke diesel prime mover is afforded by the loss of 7508's hood doors, with the same-colour Roots mechanical supercharger at the cab end, and the main alternator below it.<br><br>
The two-stroke diesel does not have an inlet stroke, so it cannot start or run without supercharging to force air into the cylinders in the brief time that the inlet ports are uncovered by the pistons near bottom of stroke.

Name:	Alan Pittman
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	March 1991
Location:	Concord
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 14 Favourites

GP9rm mother unit CN 7263 will have its front lifted by Toronto Auxiliary crane CN 50008 to get it back on the rails.<br> The paint on CN 7263 is clean and glossy, so it's not long since its 1990 remanufacture.<br><br>
CN 7263 had been in a collision with GP38-2 hump switching unit CN 7508 which appeared to have got the worst of it, including having all its right side hood access doors torn off. Both units returned to service after repairs.<br><br>
According to my 1990 Trackside Guide, CN 50008 was a 250 ton capacity Bucyrus-Erie built in 1946.<br>
Note the outriggers extended from the crane base and woodblock piles beneath to counter tipping forces.<br><br>
The bridge carries Rutherford Road over Macmillan Yard hump pullback tracks.<br>
Alan recalls taking these pictures in 1991. Foliage colour and some residual snow suggest March.

Name:	Alan Pittman
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	March 1991
Location:	Concord
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 20 Favourites

Built in the 1900's at the CP Mactier Sub crossing of Nashville Road, this CP No. 5 station design replaced an 1869 Toronto Grey & Bruce Railway structure. The station name is Kleinburg, though old Kleinburg is about 3 km away on far side of the West Humber River valley - this location is much closer to Nashville ON. Picture was taken not long before the building left this spot.<br><br>
My reference says CP trains last stopped at the station in 1964, from then until 1976 the station was a (rented?) residence. By 1976 CP wanted Kleinburg station gone - I recall hearing that CP agreed to sell it for a nominal amount, on the condition that it be removed from CP property.<br><br>
The station was purchased, and the structure was transported (as intact as was practical) to a new location at the north-west corner of the Kleinburg Public School grounds. Because of wires across the route, the roof and upper parts had to be removed. After its arrival, a foundation was made for the structure and the station was nicely restored, including station name signs, a baggage cart, and a semaphore signal. The brick chimneys did not survive, looks like gas heating now.

Name:	Alan Pittman
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	August 1976
Location:	Nashville (Vaughan…
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 14 Favourites

GMD F40PH GOT 511 with its train of 7 multilevel 2000-series coaches and a single-level cab car sit out the weekend beside GO Transit's fueling facilities, in this east-facing view. The reddish brown objects stacked in front of the closest pole could be brake shoes.<br>Left over from the former CN Mimico Yard here on the north side are some buildings, with the east yard tower prominent. We signed our releases and borrowed hard hats in another. <br><br>GO's F40ph locomotives were new in 1978, and GOT 511 is very clean and glossy. A CN person invited us into the cowl body engine room of an idling F40ph; he opened up a valve cover to show the exhaust valve rockers working and revved up the engine, a very loud and memorable experience. <br><br> The main line tracks of CN's Oakville sub are on the white gravel at right. The red brick buildings beyond the end of the train are close to Mimico GO station. Don't expect to be permitted into any rail yard nowadays - however Islington Ave bridge provides good views of the GO and VIA yards.

Name:	Alan Pittman
Railway:	GO Transit
Date:	June 1978
Location:	Mimico
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 15 Favourites

Hump GP38-2 CN 7508 has been returned to the rails by the lifting power of a CN big hook and the skills of CN people, after a hump switching incident. Despite its appearance, CN 7508 was repaired and returned to Macmillan hump duty. Alan's recollection is that CN 7263 was also involved. Viewpoint is Rutherford Road bridge.<br><br>
Hump switching is performed with the railcars free-rolling, no brakes other those of the locomotives and slugs. There was a collision, perhaps because the engines of a switching set did not have enough braking power. Macmillan Yard hump power was later converted to radio control, which seems to be satisfactory. <br>
Scan & caption by John Pittman.

Name:	Alan Pittman
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	Sept 1991
Location:	Concord north
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 14 Favourites

GP40-2(W) GOT 702 is tied up outside GO Transit's Willowbrook maintence facility this June 1978 weekend, with a train of GO Transit's original single-level coaches. At the front of the building can be seen another coach and an AMC Gremlin.
This loco was delivered to GO Transit in 1973 as GOT 9810, and was re-numbered GOT 702 in 1975. Unlike GO's previous locomotives (GP40TC), units 700-710 had no Head End Power (HEP) generation for passenger coaches. They were intend to be used with an APCU (GO 900-911) unit at the other end of the train. (Other HEP alternatives being an ex B-unit APU's, or with an HEP equipped locomotive).
Subsequently GO mainly bought HEP equipped locomotives, and the GP40-2(W)'s were sold in 1991, all but one going to CN. GO 702 became CN 9670; the ex-GO units ran in Green and White paint on CN for a while.

Name:	Alan Pittman
Railway:	GO Transit
Date:	06/1978
Location:	Mimico (Toronto)
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 9 Favourites

FP7A CP 4071 leads CP train 11, the Toronto section of "The Canadian", north on the Mactier sub in Vaughan. The train is running on the near track, Elder siding, at reduced speed as it approaches the north siding switch and signal - Train 12 had recently passed it on the adjacent main track. <br> Train 11 will meet Train 1, the Montreal section of the westbound "Canadian", at CP Sudbury station.<br><br>

Name:	Alan Pittman
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	06/1978
Location:	Vaughan
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 10 Favourites

Auxilliary Power Control Unit (APCU) GOT 903 in class CAP-60a is having a weekend rest in Willowbrook Yard. It is at the end of a train of single-level GO coaches, while new bi-level coaches are a couple of tracks over.<br>
Originally built as an FP7A ONT 1512, it was converted for GO Transit use and delivered in 1974 with original number GOT 9861. It was renumbered to 903 in 1975 and survived until 1995.<br><br>
APCU's were intended to work with a non-HEP locomotive, GO's 700 series, at the opposite end of the train.
The cab and operating controls are retained, with MU cabling through the train to the locomotive.
The original prime mover diesel, main generator, traction motors, etc were removed. They were replaced by a 600 HP diesel generator set that powers lighting, air conditioning, and other electricals in the coaches.

Name:	Alan Pittman
Railway:	GO Transit
Date:	06/1978
Location:	Mimico (Toronto)
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 11 Favourites

C424's CP 4239 and CP 4211 and an FP7A are working hard pulling a long train of general freight northbound on the Mactier sub. Recently re-painted CP 4239 has the wide stripe multimark scheme, as does the FP7A. CP 4211 wears the original narrow stripe multimark scheme it received some years before.<br>
The train is on the main line with Elder siding between it and the photographer. <br>
Interesting flatcar loads on this train included a combine harvester and a large transformer.<br><br>
Our mode of transport was hastily abandoned in the grass when my brother and I heard this train coming. We were only expecting to see "The Canadian".<br><br>
Since 1991 the south lead to CP's Vaughan Intermodal Terminal branches off Elder siding right about here.

Name:	Alan Pittman
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	06/1978
Location:	Vaughan
Province:	Ontario

6 Comments | 18 Favourites

$GP40TC GOT 503 and 504 are sitting out the weekend in GO Transit's Willowbrook Yard, at the time maintained by CN. One of the original batch of locomotives purchased for GO Transit, it had previously been CN 603, GO 603, and GO 9803, before adopting GO's long-term green and white colour scheme and its final GO Transit unit number 503. Some of GO's original bi-level coaches can be seen the next track over, first deliveries began in 1977. <br><br> The GP40TC (TC = Toronto Commuter) was unique to GO transit, being more or less a GP40 built on an SD40 frame. The nose is shorter and the long hood extended to provide space for an auxilliary power diesel generator set. The fuel tank occupies a fraction of the space between the trucks. <br><br> GO Transit's GP40TC fleet 500-507 were sold to Amtrak in 1988, renumbered 192-199 and modified for Amtrak's purposes. They were renumbered AMTK 520-527, and got de-turboed. Some remain active in 2015 for work trains etc, having outlasted Amtrak's F40PH locomotive fleet.$

Name:	Alan Pittman
Railway:	GO Transit
Date:	06/1978
Location:	Mimico (Toronto)
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 7 Favourites

CP train 12, the Toronto section of "The Canadian" heads south across Major Mackenzie Drive in Vaughan, Ontario. FP7A CP 4069 is leading, a single FP7A in this range being typical power on this run at the time. <br><br>CP 4069 is approaching the power-operated switch at the north end of "Elder" passing siding. <br>By 1991 Elder siding had become the connection to and from CP's then-new Vaughan Intermodal Terminal. <br><br> Just over 4 months after this picture, on October 29 1978 VIA assumed responsibility for CP's passenger rail services. An early casualty was the Toronto section of the Canadian, CP trains 11 and 12. <br> The VIA national timetable for 1979 shows VIA had rationalized passenger services with the "Canadian" trains 1 and 2 between Montreal and Vancouver while the "Super Continental" trains 3 and 4 ran between Toronto and Vancouver. Winnipeg was one station that both trains used - therefore the recommended place to change between trains.

Name:	Alan Pittman
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	06/1978
Location:	Vaughan
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 12 Favourites

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