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Caption: 5787, 5677,5667, 2598 and GCFX 2035 wind an enormous 180 into the connecting track at Snider. They'll wait a while at the Humber because 111 has BIT all tied up. Ironically, at the same time, 384 was heading in the Halton Inbound with 8102 leading 4 other units. Perhaps even more rare than 10 engines on 2 trains passing, 384 went straight into the yard with no wait. On a Friday, that has been rare lately.
Mac Yard is a whole new world from when I worked there in the 80's. Everything seems to be done through the Dual Yardmaster including the jobs of the Receiving Control and the North Switchtender. Massive double over tracks extend from C yard down to South Control ( no idea who's controlling it, but the days of 3 or 4 yard jobs there seem to have passed). The cars shop is gone. Nothing ever stays the same.
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That’s a crazy number of 5′s,6′s and 7′s on the first 3 units.
@Dave. Much has changed since the 80′s my friend. When I hired in 81 there were yard jobs everywhere. East (blue) West (green) South (white) Local (yellow) Dual (red). As you noted there was receiving, north switchtender positions. Today the dual controls all movements into the yard, the route to the shops, all of those large (super tracks) in L yard , all movements in south including York 3. All movements through West yard are controlled by the BIT/west yardmaster and has to be reached on channel 1 with a tone button. All these positions (including BIT) are controlled from the dual tower on the west side of Mac Yrd at the north end of C yard. The car shops were closed yrs ago and now CN forces the car dept to work outside in sometimes brutal weather on the east side f C yard. No idea why as the car shops were larger and heated in winter. Progress? Not likely. As you said. Nothing stays the same.
I think it was 82 I started; laid off for a year half way through my training trips. I recall working East Control midnights on the “package deal” with Jim Hunter?? being the Tuesday through Saturday yardmaster as he was the only one they trusted to get 221, 217, and 219 out of the yard in decent shape. To think, he had a clerk up there to help him with the paperwork as he kept running down stairs to throw switches so the 2 yard jobs could pull side by side. Getting that magical call for a light engine with Phil Mallinson and learning just how fast a GP40 could go on the York Sub. Del McCarger at Malport.. a legend who I met again when he was a Commissionaire at Pearson. There were so many characters in those days