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Caption: As I have mentioned before, I am not much for shooting roster photos; but seeing this was far too good to pass up. By 1976 there were very few green/yellow CN paint locos around; having the scheme being phased out many years before, and this one is sitting clear in the open under perfect lighting. A gift!!! Even though it is coming up to 40 years since I shot this image, it remains one of my all-time favourite catches. Digital processing of a miserable old Woolco negative made this image presentable. Shot with a tempermental mechanical piece of junk called a Miranda camera (35MM) on a trip westward, it was one of the few images I managed to save from a terribly disappointing trip, photography-wise.................CN 4500 became 7260, GP9RM, under a rebuild program, but was retired in 2013.
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4500 is the last green one I saw at PSC shops in 1980.
A great photo indeed Mr. Mooney of the last of the last in that beautiful paint scheme. Here in Newfoundland, at least one of the 47 NF110/NF210′s made it to the late 1960′s as such. (NF210 # 925 was photographed in the St. John’s yard by Doug Leffler in April 1969) Even one narrow gauge G8 made it all the way to 1978 in her original green and gold paint! (G8 # 800 was captured at Donovan’s by Rich Taylor in August of 1978, faded and weathered but still in the green)
Thanks for the note. One of my greatest disappointments was realizing that, due to work, I did not have enough time to tour Nfld while driving around Cape Breton. And now the RR is gone. For the record, in 1976 I saw one other green CN that I can recall on this trip west, and that was 1364, also in WPG.
There were one or two stragglers here and there, I believe GMD1′s 1032, 1052, 1063 & 1905 and a few SW’s also lasted into the mid/late 70′s (if not early 80′s) before getting a repaint. It seems CN’s passenger power was all done very early on in the new noodle/zebra stripes of the era (last FPA4 repainted was 6765 in 1965), but there didn’t seem to be too much of a hurry with the freight power.
Thanks MrDan. Add 1026 to your list as I see I caught it in Brandon this trip, green/yellow!
They were repainted as they came in the main shop at 650,000 to 700,000 of accumulated miles,a passenger does that in 3½-4 years and a freight 7-8 years and yard goats over 10years.
Then that would explain why the Newfoundland G8′s made it to at least 1978 while the mainline 900 series were repainted by the late 1960′s.The six units, 800 to 805, only operated on the three of the CNR’s branchlines; Carbonear at 38.5 miles, Argentia at 20.7 and Bonavista at 87.9. With such short distances, even with the mainline portion to reach the branches, it would take quite some time to reach those mileage levels.It would also explain why only two of the units ever got to wear the later ‘zebra’ scheme by the time the branchlines closed in 1984. Thank you for the explanation Mr. Fournier!
Although many of the mainline NF210 units were eventually repainted in the Terra Transport Bi-Directional Arrow scheme, with the closing of the branch lines, none of the six G-8s would ever wear it.
It’s a good thing you didn’t visit Transcona shops in the “peg”.. They let apprentices tear down and reassemble retired units and they end ended up with panels from units with different paint schemes. They did not look good at all!
4500 lost her green paint at PSC shop in 1980.
Robin: That must explain an old GMD-1 (1063) I shot in the green and gold back then. The panels on the side were out of whack and it read: Canandi National. I wanted to post this but there was no way to shoot around a pole that rather ruined the image. The panels were from different units.
Indeed, this is CNR as it was meant to be in the Diesel era. It draws up just enough of the steam transition era and conveys a sense of greatness the noodle will never effect.
Once again Mr. Mooney, you have successfully and gratefully recorded history, CNR diesel paint scheme that to me was the best, helped many of us steam enthusiasts to make the transition to the diesel era. As always, well done, John