Caption: My connection to CN 4138 goes back over 30 years. In July 1993, I had my first cab ride in the GP9RM on the Waterloo Spur, which at the time still had a CN logo on its nose.
Two years after that, it famously had its logo/CN noodle removed and AR Illinois lettering was applied for its role in the Canadian movie “The Wrong Guy,” which was filmed around Toronto and was featured in the train scenes.
In the three decades since my ride, 4138 still occasionally can be found heading to Elmira on the spur, now on Kitchener-based CN L566. Both the GP9RM and the line itself have survived the test of time, however the world around the tracks in Waterloo has been transformed. The downtown core and the former Waterloo Town Square Mall have been altered with the addition of the ION Light Rail network. As well, infrastructure along the spur from King Street to the Northfield Drive area of the city has been modernized to accommodate the light transit corridor. With this addition also came an operational agreement where freight trains could now only operate over this portion of the spur to Elmira between 23:00-05:00 due to the LRT schedule.
However, there is no better example of time, then on 4138 itself. As the veteran GP9RM emerges through the buildings and onto King Street, it’s fading, and battle-scarred AR Illinois logo is evidence enough. Here, the conductor has just finished protecting the crossing while onlookers and casual bystanders bring out their smartphones to capture it with photos or vids. And just for that moment, 4138 is a star again. If someone had told me when I was a teenager that 30 years later, I would still be photographing the same unit on my hometown line, I don’t know if I would have believed them. This likely won’t be the case moving forward as the remaining aging CN GP9RM fleet are in the twilight of their storied careers.
For my 1000th post on rp.ca I’ll cross the tracks and step back in time to the summer of 1996 where myself and 4138 were both much younger.