Caption: Marilynn Linley's image shows CN local 519 heading west at Moirs Mills in suburban Halifax. Moirs Pond is in the foreground. The train was outbound from Rockingham Yard to Milford with a cut of gondolas for gypsum loading at the National Gypsum mine at Mileage 36.6 of the Bedford Subdivision. Marilynn shot with her cellphone at 3.53 p.m. on Thursday, June 18, 2020. It was our first train sighting in over three months since we saw CSX GE 5355 on a local in North Carolina.
I did not expect that our trip to our grandaughter's drive-by birthday parade would include a train, so the Nikon stayed in Port Lorne. We did make planned stops at Costco and Starbucks.
The local featured two classic CN locomotives, both remanufactured GMDL GP9s from the late 1950s. The CNR bought the leader, 4135, as GR-17h class 4528 in 1957 and remanufactured it at their Point St. Charles Shops in Montreal in 1991. Designed for road switcher service, in class GR-418f, it's driving position was reversed to a short-hood-forward orientation. CN rebuilt forty-four similar units between March 1984 and May 1991. Between September 1981 and 1984, CN similarly rebuilt thirty-seven other GP9s in the 4000 series. The earlier rebuilt units were 9,000 pounds heavier. The trailing unit, 4115, was formerly GR-17u 4322 of 1959. CN assigned it to class GR-418d.
|