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Caption: This work extra arrived in Redwater at 16:45, stopped and picked up a few cars out of the siding and then the crew went for supper at the Redwater Hotel. This photo shows them leaving town at mile 26.6, the time is 18:00, just a quick bite to eat and it is off to Gibbons. How lucky to have a sunny evening, as this was the last time I would photo a train with an f-unit in the lead. On the 30th the 9198 went by between the 4808 and 4705. The grand finale happened on Sept. 2nd and 3rd. On the 2nd it was the 4216, 9167 and 4603 heading out. The 3rd had the 4602, 9102 and 4351 heading out, plus the return of the 4603, 9167 and 4216. I never saw any type of f-unit again on the Coronado in active service.
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Another beauty shot…and historical to boot !
Your photos are simply amazing! Such great shots of all the classic CN equipment.
Thank you very much for the kind comments.
I made a comment on another photo several days ago about the 9167 becoming a monotonous subject as 1988 wound down. Humorously, the 4285 was even a worse case of this. I can look at these 2 now, all these years later, and see the great subjects they actually are. Back then it was literally “OMG, not again”. These 2 obviously gave good, reliable service, till the very end. Good on them.
beauty larry. love that the work train grabbed some grain cars. couldn’t be more fitting
Thanks Jamie, you can see the result of all the work trains at this time. The roadbed never looked better. There was still one more upgrade to go, heavier rail for 6 wheel power. That was still 15 or so years into the future. This crew actually picked up a bunch more loads of grain in Gibbons.
Seeing that well ballasted track section and the windrow of spoil running along the ballast toe line the length of the train I would suggest a production ballast undercutter has passed through the area in the not-too-distant past.
Did you happen to shoot them at Gibbons?
You are very correct Paul. Starting over a year ago, ballast and track re-hab was like a bee hive. Almost every train, for awhile, brought ballast cars with it to leave for the work train. The new ballast is supreme compared to the old, you can see the old in the toe line, like gravel with a lot of sand in it.
Yes to bcr_766. I got them in Redwater, leaving Redwater, Gibbons and leaving Gibbons. The photographers nemesis showed up in Gibbons as a haze of clouds on the horizon. They were busy at Gibbons until after 19:30. The shots of them coming into that big corner just before the track heads straight south to the Jct. are pretty dismal.
Great shot of classic CN units. Maybe a few extra miles on the ticket for picking up revenue cars in Work Train Service? I always enjoyed seeing these units.