Follow the bird

December 18th, 2007
MP 189 CN Watrous sub
12:24pm CN 357, 122 cars
CN 2447-GT 6227
107 center-beams/13 tankers/2 autoracks

When I turned on the scanner this morning, 357 was the first train I heard. Naturally I was sure I'd miss it, but a couple hours later he was still sitting in the hole @ Riverview with mechanical problems. That's what CN gets for running a Bluebird outside GT territory, although to be fair it could of been the GE. Anyway, the crew ran out of time, but did manage to fix it.

This is only my 2nd GTW catch, the other one was 6425, a GP40-2 in CN paint, from a couple years back: http://tinyurl.com/28j475 This old GP38-2 started its carrer on the DTI of all places, now likely en-route to BC to supplement WC GP38-2's, that have replaced BCOL's vast, now sadly retired, CAT RS18u fleet. Nice!

I knew that the 2nd engine was a EMD spartan cab (rare on widenose cab CN), but still focussed on the lead unit, since one couldn't see the blue paint until he went by me. I never thought my location was a problem, until now. Starting with the next train (347 right on his tail) I moved to a new post, only 20 feet away, much more friendly toward 2nd, 3rd, 4th... etc. unit rosters. In compromise strait on photos like this one are no longer possible: http://tinyurl.com/2blq89

I should add that I was freezing, even though it was only -17C according to CN's own detector (not actual temp.) My -40C gloves were useless, with every finger feeling cold, until I hid the hands in my jacket for five minutes. What a rip-off. Still beats using bare hands though.