Well, it would seem that the Kootenay Western has received some new power from both CN and the Santa Fe. A former NAR SD38-2, recently repainted and renumbered as 1653, was spotted on its way to Kelowna from Fort Steele. This is being leased to Kootenay Western from co-parent CN.
Here is 1653 on the high trestle over Dolores Creek, just outside of the town of Canyon Creek on Jack Slimmon's Kootenay Southern. The 1653 will be assigned to yard switching and local freight duties between Kelowna, Winfield and Vernon.
KWR's "new" F45's were spotted on the point of a through freight in the town of Canyon Creek. KWR management might not be able to repaint the 3600 hp units for awhile, as they are needed for the daily through freight from Kelowna to Fort Steele on the Kootenay Southern. These were purchased outright from the Santa Fe.
This the same train departing Canyon Creek for Fort Steele. These Athearn units have been reworked, with the powered unit having a Mashima can motor, NWSL wheels and fitted with a T1 DCC decoder. The dummy unit will eventually be equipped with a small CCD wireless video camera. Talk about realism in miniature!
On to the real McCoy...I was called on a grain "spotter" to Vermilion AB on the former Canadian Northern mainline, now CN's Vegreville Subdivision. What with all of the residents of Ukrainian descent around Vegreville and Vermilion, we call this "the Kubassa Trail". Taken late in the day just east of Vegreville. I had just spotted 22 hoppers at the adjacent elevator.
The next morning, we returned on a loaded grain train with SD70M-2 8017 on the point. This is at the west switch at Vegreville, after a meet with train 452. This is "dark" (OCS) territory. Apologies for the off lighting on both shots!
Now this little guy must be a railfan at heart...a true ferro "equine" ologist!! One short blast from the Nathan P5 horn sent him running back to Mommy, seen to the right in the photo!
That's all for this edition, ecxept to say that Len K. will come over bfore the end of july to finish wiring the basement. After that, I will finish the drywall and the suspended ceiling. Once that is in place, then construction of the Kootenay Western can begin in earnest!
Have a good weekend ... hopefully I will have more to report soon!
2 comments:
Hi Ken. Looks really fine. You will have to do a photo essay on her angive an account of the history behind the NAAR SD38-2s. Why they were bought tand the various paint schemes and numbering they went through
Hi Ken,
Great to see you posting some more to the weblog. That locomotive will be an awesome addition to your fleet. Thanks also for sharing your prototype shots as well!
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