Long may you run: F40PH-2

I have a soft spot for these locomotives. To me, they are the true unsung heroes of passenger railways. Their service on Via Rail Canada's network has been pretty solid for 25 years. My aim this week is not necessarily to go over the locomotive's history, but to explore the F40PH-2's curious role in passenger transportation in Canada. (For those interested in Via Rail history, I would suggest checking out Eric Gagnon's Via Rail book blog or his Trackside Treasure blog.)

My first impression of this locomotive is that what it lacks in style it makes up in reliability.

I wonder about this locomotive and its role in Via's history in the late 1980s and early 1990s when it was first delivered to the network from London, Ont.'s former GM Diesel plant. The locomotive falls into a funny period in Via's history, well after Via took ownership of CP and CN's faltering F units. But were it not for the problems with the original Bombarider LRC locomotives, I wonder just how many of the F40s would have been purchased and used on Via.

Above: Toronto bound F40PH-2 6441 idles at Sarnia Station in the winter of 1991

I would never call a 3000-hp, 16-cylinder locomotive with head end power a fall-back option for Via, especially since the locomotive has performed so well for Via and has been rebuilt for many more years of service.

But despite my admiration for this workhorse, I have come to the belief that there is something inherently awkward about the F40. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. It's kind of charming in a way. When you see these engines pulling the LRC coaches, it's clear that the two don't fit together all that well, but the site has become so common, we might tend to take it for granted that the F40 was not meant to pull these coaches.

Speaking of awkward, take a look at the Amtrak F40 332 with an older Amtrak coach in tow. The shot below was taken at Sarnia Station in the early 1990s, before the Toronto-Chicago rail connection, dubbed the International Limited, was discontinued by Via and Amtrak in 2004.

Why do I say awkward? Well, when you compare the smooth lines of the old Amtrak coach with the more angular F40, it's obvious that the two are not a natural fit. Just like when you see the F40 pulling the comparatively small LRC coaches, it's obvious that the two were brought together by necessity.

So, they might not win any beauty contests, but these locomotives have nonetheless become an icon of passenger transportation in Canada over the last 25 years, just like the old F9s were between the 1950s-1970s. If you don't agree, just check out the new Canadian $10 bill. (Link opens a PDF document)

Over the years, the F40 has proven its value time and again in Via's corridor service but also with its long-haul trains, especially the Canadian and the Ocean. The shot above was taken May 3 of last year at Ottawa's central rail station. It's another example of an F40 pulling what one would think would be an awkward looking consist, if it weren't such a common site.

Over the years, these locomotives have sported a number of different looks (who remembers the Kool-Aid, Spiderman 2, Home Hardware, Telus, Grey Cup painted F40s?) and are now settling into their new renaissance look after having been rebuilt and modified over the last several years. Via's F40 fleet is one of the last remaining fleets of its size since Amtrak and GO Transit have both retired their fleets.

Above: F40PH-2 6435 sits idle at Ottawa station as P42 913 bound for Montreal readies for its next run in late summer, 2013

Today, the F40s work alongside the GE P42 DCs. When I first started seeing the GE units on Via trains, I realized how much I had taken the F40s for granted. The F40s may not have the sleek contours of the GE units, but they also don't look like they have been dropped on their heads.

I suppose I could wrap this up with more than a backhanded compliment for this locomotive, but it kind of seems fitting.

The changing colours on the Sarnia Sub

Railways don't change their image all that often. Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern and CN are good examples of railways whose diesels have looked remarkably consistent over the last twenty years. CN's last major change occurred when it ditched its safety scheme for the CN North America scheme, which quickly gave way to the current CN look, complete with web address beneath the wet noodle. One railway that has bucked this trend is CSX. This railway, which was a creation of a number of diverse railways, has always been colourful, particularly on its oftentimes orphan Sarnia Subdivision. 

Above: Chessie System quadruple header makes it way through Corunna en route to Sarnia in Spring 1991. The railway ran the vast majority of its manifest freights with two GP38-2s at this time.

For years following the merger between the Seaboard System and Chessie System (which were in turn the result of the merging of a number of smaller railways), the GP38s on the CSX Sarnia Subdivision wore mainly Chessie System colours, with the yellow, orange and vermillion blue, although it often looked more like black to me. This was likely the result of the fact that the Sarnia Sub was formerly a C&O line. The above photo shows the rare combination of four Chessie diesels, some still bearing the markings of their original railway on the side of the hoods. You can see the B&O marking on the final GP38 in the above shot. In 1992 onward, those cab markings were removed in favour of a smaller "CSXT" marking, which was likely the precursor to being repainted in CSX's original grey and blue scheme.

One exception in the 1980s and the early 1990s was a scattering of units still painted in the B&O and C&O blue scheme. You can read the story of the below B&O unit here. A reader noted in that post that GP38-2 2100 was also a frequent presence on Chessie's Windsor operations around the same time. How this unit escaped repainting is an interesting question. One explanation is that CSX's Canadian operations were at the edge of the railway's network and often lagged behind the rest of the network in appearance.

Above: B&O GP38-2 2100 crosses Hill St. in Corunna in the early 1990s

The early 1990s brought changes to the sub as the first of the GP38s began to appear in CSX colours. They were often paired with Chessie units. Notice how the fuel tank and trucks were repainted along with the rest of the unit in the shot below.

There's no question that CSX is a strange name for a railway, although it seemed less odd after Burlington Northern Santa Fe morphed into BNSF. I read about the origin of the CSX name. The C in CSX stands for Chessie System while the S stands for the Seaboard System. The X is the symbol of the merger and the fact that the combined entity was obviously much larger and more dynamic than its predecessors. That was the rationale at the time, anyway.

Above: CSX GP38-2 2013 sits on an idle freight train near St. Clair Blvd. in Corunna in Spring 1991

In about 1993, a single unit appeared on the subdivision with a yellow stripe added (GP38 2006). This unit was a tough one to capture in a photo. I recall chasing this unit for months before I finally caught up with it around sunset near the CSX Clifford Street rail yard in Sarnia. There was a span of three to four years where the old Chessie units continued to work the sub alongside the newly painted CSX units, making for colourful consists.

Above: CSX GP38-2 2006 near the Clifford St. station in Sarnia in July 1993. This was the first diesel on the Sarnia Sub to wear the newer CSX scheme.

Following this change of paint scheme, most units on the sub looked very much like GP38 2006 until CSX decided to make a wholesale change, going from grey units with blue and yellow trim to blue units with yellow trim. I'm not sure when this change happened, since I have not lived in this area for years and have only been in the habit of photographing trains on this sub very recently. When CSX began to adopt a new colour scheme, the essential design of the scheme remained the same, as did the logo. Last year, on a visit to the Sarnia area in October, I caught a glimpse of a few geeps in the blue and yellow colour livery.

Above: October 2013 on the Sarnia Sub near Clifford St. in Sarnia as two GP38-2s in the blue paint scheme grind to a stop. Note the difference in the background from the 1993 photo above. Gone are the storage tanks, replaced by a gravel dock on the river.

The latest version of the CSX logo has been rolled out since last year, with a boxcar design being added around the CSX script. I have read some negative comments about the new boxcar logo, since boxcars aren't exactly the most popular freight cars on North American railways anymore. Some have suggested the new logo symbolizes container traffic. Either way, it's changed. I caught a unit on the Sarnia Sub with the new logo on Dec. 23rd. The engineer was kind enough to give me a wave as he brought his unit to a stop. Notice some of the modifications on the unit including ditch lights, the removal of lights next to the top number boards and what I am assuming are air conditioning units on top of the cab.

Above: GP38-2 2697 pulls into the Clifford St. yard in Sarnia on Dec. 23, 2013. The "boxcar" CSX logo is the latest livery for the railway.

Despite the changes that the diesels have undergone on the sub in the last 25 years, the one thing that has remained the same is the type of engine used. Ever since I can remember watching trains on this sub, the unit of choice has been the GP38-2. It's been the one constant on a railway line that has sported many colours over the years.

Our first stop in 2014: Mandaumin, Ont.

So, where is Mandaumin anyway? Mandaumin is a tiny farming hamlet that straddles Mandaumin Road, the dividing line between Sarnia and its neighbouring township. It is a rural community of less than 100, just east of the city. It has a farmer's co-op, a few homes, a United church, an ancient barn and an abandoned (and supposedly haunted) farm house. For our purposes, it is also bisected by the east-west CN Strathroy Subdivision at milepost 50.9 (Sarnia Yard is at 57.2) Long freights eastbound for London or westbound for Sarnia's rail yard and the St. Clair Tunnel speed through this community regularly.

On Dec. 23, I was on my way into Sarnia when I saw this intermodal train (above) making its way east. The first thing worth mentioning is this area's resemblance to the prairies. Sarnia and Lambton County is an area of fertile farm land, which is as flat as the prairies, albeit with more trees. The ice storm that blasted Toronto on the 23rd brought rain to the Sarnia area, which produced the above shot of this train making its way next to a fallow corn field, dotted with snow.

By way of contrast, this shot below is Mandaumin in the summer months, with the corn stalks at their peak.

As I drove down the road, I pulled over a few times to take a few shots of CN 5451 (SD60) and Illinois Central 1038 (SD70) hustling with a full train bound for London. You can make out the barns on the other side of the main line. I was really pleased with this shot and the one at the top of this post, since the terrain allowed me to get full shots of the train.

I was even luckier as the train made its way to the crossing (shot below). The sun managed to peak through the clouds to provide the perfect lighting for the train as it passed the railway's Mandaumin sign. You can see a small piece of the farmer's co-op to the right. I was pleased with the lighting and the clouds, which all contributed to some of the best rail photos I have taken. I have a few more from this meet that I will share later.

I made sure I was first in line at the crossing as the train sped by. You can see that the sun was in the perfect spot for photos. Due to the speed of the trains, this crossing has had crossing guards for a long time.

Almost as if on cue, the sun began to retreat behind the clouds as the end of the train came into view. I snapped a few shots of the end of the train through my car's open window before making my way into Sarnia where I spent an enjoyable morning getting some great shots at the end of the CSX Sarnia Subdivision, on the Point Edward spur and around Sarnia Yard.

Happy New Year to all my fellow train fans. Hope you enjoyed our first stop in 2014.