Caption: Faced with the limited options at the time of not having a car, I didn't have much options for pictures. With the shadows having already overtaken the overpass in the distance, this was my last resort in the fading light. CP 421 at the time still had EMD power quite frequently, but a solid six unit SD40-2 lashup was one of those twice a year things, and I used all the energy I had to bike to Essa. On this day, 421 was luckily working Utopia, and got there with just 10 minutes to spare. Unfortunately, 421 took the siding to wait for 420, greatly reducing the angle I could get of the power, however, all of it still managed to get into the shot. The power included CP 5988, 5953, 5959, 6072, 6040, 9006. After 421 cleared, I told myself, this will most likely be the last time I see an SD40 lashup of more than three units. And it was. The short lived oil boom started tapering off soon afterwards and was almost all but over by early 2015. 5988 was the only multimark unit in the consist, and outlived all the other five units in the consist. Alas, it was removed from service in December. While St. Paul still has five SD40-2's active for the hump yard, mainline duties, at least for now are history, after exactly 50 years of roaming the CP system. I had read somewhere that E.H.H. and his buds don't intend to buy new motive power for about six years, which in that case, perhaps an economy upturn can extend their life. For now though, lets enjoy the memories.
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