Author Topic: Ya see the darnedest things on the 401...  (Read 2259 times)

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Puddington

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Ya see the darnedest things on the 401...
« on: May 14, 2008, 07:36:45 PM »
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I was on the 401 in the east end of the city - it's major highway through Toronto on Monday; great place to railfan because a/ it runs right beside the CN main line, which is the VIA main line and right beside it the GO Transit lines and b/ the thing doesn't move that fast in rush hour ( which starts at 5 AM and goes until 11 PM....) Anyway, a very odd looking CN consist caught my eye.

A CN roadswitcher was pulling 8 odd looking power units..... closer inspection showed them to be "ribbed sided" - like a Milwaukee Rd boxcar and painted an off white with the words "Euro Cargo Rail". After some Googling and some investigation, the units turned out to be EMD Class 66 euro diesels belonging to a French based cargo railway.....I'm guessing these had been at EMD in London, Ontario and were headed to Montreal's ports for loading on a ship.

Odd looking things for North American rails - duel ended and long and lean - I'm guessing they caught the attention of more than one sleepy driver or GO passenger as they dawdled along at 15 mph or so.....pity I didn't have the camera.....
« Last Edit: May 14, 2008, 07:38:38 PM by Puddington »
Model railroading isn't saving my life, but it's providing me moments of joy not normally associated with my current situation..... Train are good!

wm3798

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Re: Ya see the darnedest things on the 401...
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2008, 08:52:19 PM »
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Must be nice to live in a country that actually manufactures things...  I've seen Japanese or whatever-built transit cars being imported through Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore.
Lee
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Lee Weldon www.wmrywesternlines.net

lock4244

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Re: Ya see the darnedest things on the 401...
« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2008, 08:58:40 PM »
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Probably EMC export units out of London... were they like these?

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=228319

BTW, I've shot trains on CN from my car on the 401 in the Ajax area. Why not, I ain't going anywhere!

nscalesteve

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Re: Ya see the darnedest things on the 401...
« Reply #3 on: May 14, 2008, 09:08:20 PM »
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the model is available from Lemke (made by Kato/Hobbytrain) in 1:160 N scale...
...and from Dapol and Bachmann in 1:148

Puddington

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Re: Ya see the darnedest things on the 401...
« Reply #4 on: May 14, 2008, 09:13:24 PM »
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I think the last units (the off white ones) are the ones I saw...... yep Mike, you can take great shots if you have a camera, heaven knows you're not moving all that fast.......or at all........
Model railroading isn't saving my life, but it's providing me moments of joy not normally associated with my current situation..... Train are good!

cv_acr

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Re: Ya see the darnedest things on the 401...
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2008, 12:42:39 PM »
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Euro Cargo Rail is a subsidiary of EWS in Britain. They have 66 of the class 66s on order; I've seen at least 20 of them myself passing through on the Goderich & Exeter from London, including the set Puddington saw this week. I went and caught it in Stratford on Sunday as they left London. I'll post some pics later tonight when I get home.

This pic is of the very first three of the order, October 21, 2007 in Guelph:
http://acsoosub.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1038183