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Caption: Since CN's take over of the Guelph sub, 542 has tied down in Guelph a few times. On one occasion, I believe 542 was in Guelph latter then normal, meaning they were trapped and unable to switch-back across the Grimsby Sub and onto the Fergus Spur due to all the rush hour GO trains (shown here). On another occasion 542 was required to stay in Guelph overnight to allow the track inspection train to go down the Fergus Spur, for the second time in eight months (I think this was the first time it went down the spur, but you get the point). On that occasion 542 tied down very similar to this shot, only facing east not west (proves this happened on GEXR as well).
And with that long-winded history, I'll get to the shot at hand. After a few days back in Guelph, I was riding along (in my automobile) and found an outlawed 542. I'm not sure of the situation but when driving past Alma Street earlier I noticed a track crew seemingly fixing the only switch leading to the Fergus Spur. 542 normally parks the power in Preston (on the Fergus Spur) over night (as shown by Marcus Stevens' nice night shot here). If my suspicion is correct and that switch was not useable then 542 would've been trapped north of the Guelph Sub for the night. The truck which pulled up during my shot to survey the situation belongs to the owner of the property. He asked me a few questions concerning the train parked next to his private crossing and didn't seem too pleased that it was there. Didn't seem to mind me, or the other railfan, which was fortunate (and surprising) for us. h
On a bit of a side tangent, a quick search revealed 7068 had been in the area here for most of the last decade. I shot this "old faithful" figure in London in 2012, whereas (to show a few examples) it was in Malport Yard in 2007, in 2008 is was loaned to SOR for at least a day (shown in James Gardners neat and foreshadow-ie shots here and hear), it was an Aldershot or Oakville unit in 2012, an Oakville unit in 2015, then back to Aldershot in 2017 and I think it's been on and off the Guelph sub ever since then. But I digress, I found that was interesting, but I realize now not everyone might!
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Nice night shot Mark. That is very odd for them to outlaw at that spot I imagine. Just after Christmas I saw that 7068 was paired with GMTX 2325 in Cambridge.
I spoke to someone in the know about this incident pictured – a traction motor had cut out and the unit wouldn’t load over throttle 4.
I’m curious what happened the next day – did they get rescue power to pull this into the clear or send a mobile mechanic to fix? At least they got over the grade pictured
Thanks Jason! I saw 542 the previous day an it went to Preston with the GMTX unit, so it was on the same day as my picture above that 7068 parted with the GMTX unit.
Thanks for the info Steve, love hearing those unique stories. Ironic how I called 7068 “old faithful” in my caption, but apparently that wasn’t actually the case lol.
Very nice shot, photographing that train is definitely one thing I miss from working night shifts in Milton and Cambridge.
Nice shot Mark. I’ve seen them tied down here a number of times, odd considering 5 minutes away is XV yard where they are often outlawed 1-2 times per week. Last night they were outlawed in siding XW12/XW13, the siding north of the Guelph sub just west of Alma st.
Cool find Mark. Always love to see a good night shot!
SOR had 7068 (and 7076) from approximately May 2008, to sometime in October-ish 2008
nice shot mark with the Spirit of “RAM TRUCK”