I miss those SD40-2 units on the mainlines. I also love the MLWs & whatnot, but they weren't very common where in British Columbia from what I can remember. My all time favourites though were the GP38-2 & GP9u in Action Red and there were plenty in this vid to enjoy. I used to love seeing those in the last years of the KVR as a kid. Thanks for the great video!
I started railfanning during that period. The lashups were far more interesting than today's boring GEs. Railroading at it's best. Thanks for the upload.
While CP Rail has SD40-2 locomotives stored rotting away in storage, PKP of poland still uses Soviet locomotives built before 1989 and they are modernizing the M62s or ST44s
MLW's were actually more fuel efficient then GM's and had more tractive effort at lower speeds. In 1996 as a teenager I got a ride on a 3 C424 & 1 GP38-2 lashup with 4237 in the lead from Ignace to Kenora Ontario, making their way into Winnipeg on an empty grain train. Then 30-31 years in service it was an interesting ride and the last time I would see these locomotives. The SD40-2 was king in these parts with GE's starting to see action in 1998 as trailing units to SD's. I still have photo's of the training unit 9650 that sat in the Kenora yard that summer to get the train crews used to operating them. Aside from the SD90mac's making their short lived ventures through here prior to being purged and occasional SD consists on smaller trains it is all GE. Even switching duties are done with an SD now instead of GP9's and in the mid 90's we had SW1200RS's. The trains and the equipment is just not as interesting as it once was. I am all GE'ed out here. Miss the older stuff.
Well they have large amounts of SD40-2 because they have proven to be reliable no matter what, The only reason why CP doesnt use them on many mainline frights is because there not at fuel efficiant as the Gevos, but dont forget the SD40-2 were bult in a time when fuel was cheap and there were no emmisions standards. CP still sees value in them and is rebuilding them so they can last longer and meet greater emissions standars and fuel economy.
See those SD40-2's(5777, 5918, 5575 etc.), those are waaaay better than Maureen Brazeau of Rebuilt Resources and all the good reasom why I'm eventually moving to southern Ontario as well to see those awesome trains, now AC4400CWs, ES44ACs, GP9Us, some SD40-2s and SD60's as well as GP36-2'a as well. Goodbye Rebuilt Resources, hello trains:-)
Unfortunately none of those classic MLWs and GMDs are in service today, even the sd40-2s are not running under hunter's rule (well that gp38-2 is of course still running, but I am not very fond of them)
ok I have to criticize CP's poor use of their sd40s, especially their 2nd iteration models, they're more in favor of those AC4400CWs, only for fuel efficiency. that's it, the AC4400CWs were unreliable, allot of mechanical problems, wheel-track gauge conflicts (allot more prone to derailments) and a poor design of an alternative current traction motor. their ES44ACs were better, but still lack the reliability. They should buy the Canadian iteration of their sd40 with the safety cab, or their sd40 bio fuel iteration that CN is using. or get an sd40u. Even worse, they're retiring their MAC locos. at least they're retiring their AC4400s as well. I'm more in favour for the GE ET44AC/AH models, or every iteration in the SD70 series. their sd90mac & sd90mac-h units were top of the line though
okay the AC4400's are absolute crap, and they've been in service for 15 years now and their already being retired, and the SD40-2s have been around since the 70's and are still working perfectly, the GP9's have been in service since the 60's and their just starting to take them out of service, 90% of all the SD40-2's are either being rebuilt or kept in service because they are much better then the AC4400's and ES44AC's
I miss those SD40-2 units on the mainlines. I also love the MLWs & whatnot, but they weren't very common where in British Columbia from what I can remember. My all time favourites though were the GP38-2 & GP9u in Action Red and there were plenty in this vid to enjoy. I used to love seeing those in the last years of the KVR as a kid. Thanks for the great video!
Superbe, merci pour ces souvenirs d'enfance!
Brings back OH so many great memories . GREAT STUFF !!!
I started railfanning during that period. The lashups were far more interesting than today's boring GEs. Railroading at it's best. Thanks for the upload.
Great video. Just love the snarl and grunting of the MLWs. Espesially when they drown out the GMDs.
While CP Rail has SD40-2 locomotives stored rotting away in storage, PKP of poland still uses Soviet locomotives built before 1989 and they are modernizing the M62s or ST44s
thaks for making this it helped me with my cp train layout 5 stars
Oh my god I can not thank you enough for this gem!!
The sd40-2 is my favorite locomotive out of the sd70ace and gp38-2
Nice footage, apparently Cobourg is that place to go thru really fast....lol
Nice catch with the SOO and the EX UP units
MLW's were actually more fuel efficient then GM's and had more tractive effort at lower speeds. In 1996 as a teenager I got a ride on a 3 C424 & 1 GP38-2 lashup with 4237 in the lead from Ignace to Kenora Ontario, making their way into Winnipeg on an empty grain train. Then 30-31 years in service it was an interesting ride and the last time I would see these locomotives. The SD40-2 was king in these parts with GE's starting to see action in 1998 as trailing units to SD's. I still have photo's of the training unit 9650 that sat in the Kenora yard that summer to get the train crews used to operating them. Aside from the SD90mac's making their short lived ventures through here prior to being purged and occasional SD consists on smaller trains it is all GE. Even switching duties are done with an SD now instead of GP9's and in the mid 90's we had SW1200RS's. The trains and the equipment is just not as interesting as it once was. I am all GE'ed out here. Miss the older stuff.
Love this!!!
love the MLW's they could pull, but rode like a jalopy with a bad wheel.
Do you happen to have some of the railway crossing videos in Cobourg and other Ontario places?
well i said "back then".. I mean the running scrap that CP now uses on mainline freights
Well they have large amounts of SD40-2 because they have proven to be reliable no matter what, The only reason why CP doesnt use them on many mainline frights is because there not at fuel efficiant as the Gevos, but dont forget the SD40-2 were bult in a time when fuel was cheap and there were no emmisions standards. CP still sees value in them and is rebuilding them so they can last longer and meet greater emissions standars and fuel economy.
also CP has been using a lot of CN SD75i's lately because they dont want the crappy Dash 9's or ES44DC's that CN has
they dont use SD40-2s and GP9s on mainline trains now do they
Kvr3005 they still do, but most of them are ECO iterations (SD30c-ECO)
Was this filmed in Ontario?
Yup - mostly Cobourg, Ontario - although I noticed a few Port Hope scenes in there too.
See those SD40-2's(5777, 5918, 5575 etc.), those are waaaay better than Maureen Brazeau of Rebuilt Resources and all the good reasom why I'm eventually moving to southern Ontario as well to see those awesome trains, now AC4400CWs, ES44ACs, GP9Us, some SD40-2s and SD60's as well as GP36-2'a as well. Goodbye Rebuilt Resources, hello trains:-)
yup, back when CP didnt run tin cans with lawnmower engines on their mainline
Unfortunately none of those classic MLWs and GMDs are in service today, even the sd40-2s are not running under hunter's rule (well that gp38-2 is of course still running, but I am not very fond of them)
ok I have to criticize CP's poor use of their sd40s, especially their 2nd iteration models, they're more in favor of those AC4400CWs, only for fuel efficiency. that's it, the AC4400CWs were unreliable, allot of mechanical problems, wheel-track gauge conflicts (allot more prone to derailments) and a poor design of an alternative current traction motor. their ES44ACs were better, but still lack the reliability. They should buy the Canadian iteration of their sd40 with the safety cab, or their sd40 bio fuel iteration that CN is using. or get an sd40u. Even worse, they're retiring their MAC locos. at least they're retiring their AC4400s as well. I'm more in favour for the GE ET44AC/AH models, or every iteration in the SD70 series. their sd90mac & sd90mac-h units were top of the line though
okay the AC4400's are absolute crap, and they've been in service for 15 years now and their already being retired, and the SD40-2s have been around since the 70's and are still working perfectly, the GP9's have been in service since the 60's and their just starting to take them out of service, 90% of all the SD40-2's are either being rebuilt or kept in service because they are much better then the AC4400's and ES44AC's
their in storage because their junk