View allAll Photos Tagged fp9a
No joke, it took me 70 miles to get another shot of this train, credit to the CP MOW brigade on highway 55 for that. Here the train heads through the pond at Milepost 39, a couple miles west of Buffalo. Was a pretty frustrating chase to say the least.
Vintage FP9s have been a staple of Pioneer Railcorp's Keokuk Junction Railway since they were acquired for freight service in the mid-2000s. However, Pioneer's new owner BRX Holdings has deemed the venerable EMDs unfit for KJRY's needs and plans to take the units out of service and place them in storage at the railroad's facility in La Harpe, IL. On what looks to be the last week of service for the Fs hauling freight, FP9A #1750 and its accompanying B unit (and a GP20) lug cars from the Tazewell and Peoria's yard in East Peoria westward through the jungles of Illinois on their return run to Mapleton. The crew will tie the train down in just a couple more miles before resuming the westbound trip to La Harpe the next day...for the final time with the Fs.
Smacking thiccc drifts between Dorchester and Harriestville roads, OSR's plow puts on one hell of a show for everyone who could make it.
The CP business train pulling into La Cresent to pick up the head honcho on a perfect fall Minnesota day.
Full video on youtube at:
What a great day! I gave up shooting a pair of GP7s to shoot a pair of Fs! OSR 1401 leads enroute to Putnam before they make a trip to Woodstock to interchange with Canadian Pacific.
The pride of CPKC's fleet - EMD FP9As 1401 and 4107, along with an attractive five-car business train - hold the main at Banff West as the tail-end remote on train no. 112 blackens the sky in diesel exhaust as it notches out of town. While the skies were (mostly) clear at the time of this photo, unbeknownst to the photographer, some 180 miles to the north, uncontrollable wildfires ravaged Jasper National Park. Within a couple of hours, the skies of Banff had turned ominously smoky, along with the gut-wrenching news that the fire had reached the Jasper townsite making for a very somber drive back to Calgary later that evening. My heart truly goes out to all affected by this unthinkable tragedy.
It's high noon as the Pan Am OCS crosses Messalonskee Stream into Waterville, Maine on the final trip of the FP9As before the CSX takeover. Less than a month later, CSX sent the Fs down to Waycross where they have remained ever since. Their future remains uncertain.
The operator hoops up some orders to the head end of VIA #72 at Tecumseh, Ontario with FP9A 6510 in May of 1987.
CP 4107 runs around their train here at Field as they prepare for their run back East to Calgary. After coupling onto the train on this end they will shove into the yard for a brief layover before departure.
The Woodstock job heads towards Putnam to do some switching with matching Ontario Southland FP9A's 6508 - 1401
With everyone else heading home long ago thinking the day was over, we stayed with the plow. To our surprise, the crew made multiple passes north of the Salford shops trying to get the deep cuts pushed back before calling it a day. Notched out and cooking along the two F's make one final push with the plow. The drifts in this area were taller than the F's in places, you can see the deep cuts to the right of the photo. This evening light might have been the best light I have ever shot in.
Northbound Norfolk Southern deadhead OCS move No. 956 rolls through the South Carolina countryside at Simpson on April 15, 2019 with their Executive F-units.
ST PORU and OCS power lays over in front of the Rigby yard office on a Sunday afternoon in the last month of Pan Am operations. A week and a half later, CSX officially assumed control of Pan Am Railways becoming the latest successor to the Boston and Maine and Maine Central. Another chapter of New England railroading had finally come to a close.
I'm not sure where the time goes.
CP FP9A leads the dead head business train on its way back to Canada. The train is nearing Buffalo, IA in this shot.
Shot on 11-20-2017
Looking eastward from the Plains Road West overpass, VIA FP9-6525 is leading a W/B Corridor train. Based on the time of the photo, and after consulting my VIA System Timetable, I'm going to say this is Rapido train #85, the St. Clair. It was scheduled out of Toronto at 1700.
OSR's classic and fan favorite F's shove plow 401005 into the shops to thaw out and stay warm as the cold sun sets across the Ontario farm lands. This was the third time the plow had ventured into the snow this year and it did not disappoint.
Two of Keokuk Junction's F units sit outside of the shop building in La Harpe, Illinois. I made a point to come here in hopes of seeing something Keokuk Juction-related, preferably F units. These will apparently be moved off property.
CP 41B-07 races westbound as it clears Darlington West with CP FP9A 1401 leading the way! CP 7019 and CP 1900 trail as CP finally got the leader correct. The beautiful P3 horn could be heard for miles.
After a hot, late July day in Winnipeg, my father and I boarded VIA 3, the Super Continental, for our return to Vancouver, BC. Following our opulent eastbound ride on the Canadian, with its fabulous ex-Canadian Pacific Budd sleepers, full Budd diner and Budd dome observation, the Super Continental was much more utilitarian. Except for an ex-CP Skyline dome, the entire train was former Canadian National cars, painted in VIA's classy blue with yellow stripes. Add an A-B set of F units for power, and the Super was a nice representation of a secondary 1950s streamliner.
We were assigned to a double bedroom in an ex-CN "E" series sleeping car. It had apparently sat out in the sun at Winnipeg all day. It was a rolling sauna when we boarded, and too hot for sleep. As fate would have it, that was okay. Once we were out on the prairies, we discovered that a northern lights display was underway. As our car gradually cooled to a temperate level, we watched the show for nearly two hours. Dad thought that watching the aurora borealis from a sleeping car on the CNR was probably the most Canadian thing we could do.
The following morning, the Super Continental paused at Wainwright, Alberta. I walked up to the head end and recorded this image of the train. It was the first time I had ridden behind F units on a mainline train since I had traveled on the Rio Grande Zephyr over four years earlier.
We were three hours east of Edmonton. That stop would be the photographic highlight of the trip.
KCS Train B-KCJV-26 rolls East at a brisk 40 miles per into the small mid-Missouri town of Higbee. The train is just about 40 miles out from the crew change at Mexico where a new crew will hop onboard for a trip to the grain loop at Jacksonville, Illinois.
Canadian Pacific's elegant "Canada 150 Train" charges east through a timeless scene at Brighton, ON. Even with my shutter set to 1/800th the slightest bit of motion blur started to show - these guys were really motoring!
Canadian Pacific 4107 leads the Royal Canadian Pacific over CP's Portal Subdivision between Portal and Harvey, North Dakota. The train is bound for the 2016 Ryder Cup.
Racing along the picturesque shoreline of Ghost Lake, a striking trio of A-B-A configured EMD FP9 locomotives lead the Royal Canadian Pacific westward into the foothills of the Rockies on a private charter bound for Banff. Later that day, I caught up with the train again at Lake Louise, where they performed a run-around move, as seen in my previous post.
A shot I did not upload previously, the RCP is at the approach for Glenwood yard, almost finished with its trip on the Paynesville Sub. This was one of my desperate attempts for sun, luckily however the clouds stayed away most of the time for the rest of the chase.
CPKC business train no. 21B from Calgary to Banff skirts along the pristine waters of the Bow River near Exhsaw, Alberta.
The KCS Business train is deadheading south from Kansas City Missouri back to Shreveport Louisiana and is seen passing through the "Tunnel" in Gravette Arkansas on CPKC's Heavener Subdivision. The tunnel is more of a giant culvert that carries 2nd Ave NW over the CPKC trackage here in town.
Ever since the merger between Kansas City Southern and Canadian Pacific there has been much speculation about what is going to happen with the KCS Business train especially since some of the passenger cars are starting to get painted into the CP Maroon scheme. So while the future of this classy looking train is certainly in question I was happy to have gotten a successful chase in before any major changes could be made.
Two of Canada's most beautiful train sets sit side by side at the Banff station on a Tuesday evening. Both trains will depart early on Wednesday morning.
On route to Montreal, Canadian Pacific train no. 40B races along the Belleville Subdivision at Newtonville, Ontario. This bucolic scene is viewed from the soon to be demolished Nichols Road bridge. To the left, Canadian National's double-tracked Kingston Subdivision can be seen.
Covered wagons and a wooden elevator, doesn't get much better than that. The train heads through the tiny town of Farwell, population 51.
Keokuk Junction F units are slowly rolling out of Canton with a Christmas wreath on the nose from the Santa trains that were running during the 2016 holiday season..
The KCS Fs lead a measly four-car OCS over Rich Mountain on the final journey back to Shreveport. The train bears an uncanny resemblance to the final runs of the Southern Belle in November of 1969 which ran with nothing more than a single E unit and 4-5 cars. But this time, it really feels like the end.
Take 2 on CPKC 40B rolling up on Hoffman at last light after being stuck behind several BNSF eastbounds at University.
Just another reason full-frame and mirrorless is absolutely worth the money.
After a long wait for an eastbound at Dickinson, the CP business train is on the move again near Maple Lake, MN.
Tip of the hat to Moose for his heroic efforts in obtaining permission to access this private property.
Having just arrived from Calgary, the timelessly elegant 'Royal Canadian Pacific' glistens in the quickly fading light at Lake Louise, Alberta — evoking thoughts of an era when legendary trains such as The Dominion and The Canadian called on this scenic resort town — as EMD FP9A 4107 utilizes the high track to run around its train in preparation for a private charter to Banff. On this day, the consist of this distinguished six-car train included APU Power Car (CP 97), HB Bowen (CP 110), Glacier (CP 89), Major Rogers (CP 103), Selkirk (CP 3605), and the regal Mount Stephen (CP 74), all trailing A-B-A configured locomotives 1401, 1900, and 4107.
When push comes to shove, this is what it looks like.
After train no. 106 stalled on the Big Hill near Yoho due to unresolvable power issues, the Royal Canadian Pacific, which was sandwiched at Burgess between 106 and a 112 holding at Field, was summoned to assist. The three EMD FP9s assigned to the RCP formed an impromptu helper set, delivering the extra horsepower needed to shove 106 over the Continental Divide.
Check out the clip at the following link for the full sensory experience: youtu.be/MhyfMCECsbU
Keokuk Junction Railway Westbound Freight Train has just completed interchanging with Tazewell & Peoria Railroad in Peoria, Illinois & are headed back to LaHarpe, Illinois
With the crew change at Marquette, IA out of the way, Canadian Pacific’s Business Train squeezes through McGregor, IA on its run to Kansas City, MO and Knoche Yard. Once part of the Milwaukee Road’s route from River Junction (La Crescent, MN) to Kansas City, MO and the joint Kansas City Southern-Milwaukee Road Knoche Yard. Still a joint yard but with KCS and CP, Knoche Yard is the destination for this run of CP’s Business Train. Supposedly to rendezvous with Kansas City Southern’s Business train.
Getting an FP9 leader on freight was always a tough catch as they rarely led. I'd go to extreme lengths to shoot one often following for up to a 100 miles trying to get some semblance of sun on the train. Days like this were particularly frustrating as it was just wall to wall clouds and nothing could be done. WC train ESSOA rolls along near Dafter with 1753, 1755 and 6626 leading 52 cars on May 16, 1997.
KCS FP9A 1 leads the business train northbound at Page, Oklahoma on the Shreveport Sub enroute to Kansas City, Missouri.
KCS is taking their new executive VP around the system in style. On the first leg of their trip from south to north on the KCS, the business train passes a big patch of black-eyed susan's on the former SP Macaroni Line between Victoria and Rosenberg.
We hoped for a sucker hole, but as things usually go it opened after the train passed.
BLRKC 03 (Business Train- Laredo, TX to Kansas City, MO)
KCS FP9A #1
KCS F9B #3
KCS FP9A #2
Wharton, TX
May 3rd, 2021
We were not happy then as you set up expecting the usual cab unit on VIA train #73 at Woodstock, Ontario. Instead you get a freight GP40-2W leading a fresh rebuilt VIA 6300 FP9A, it's kind of neat now back in August of 1986.
On their final trip to Peoria and back, two of Keokuk Junction Railway's F units and a GP20 lead their train to Mapleton.
The lead unit, PREX 1750, was built as CN 6502 in 1954. It worked for different Canadian railroads before coming to the Peoria & Western (eventually the Keokuk Junction) in the mid-2000s. From then on, the F units worked in freight service and also ran on the KJRY's annual Santa Train. The future for these units is to be stored and who knows after that. Hopefully they can be saved!