Caption: In July 1993 I was invited for my first cab ride by the crew of the 15:30 Kitchener Job. They would be taking a train north to Elmira on the Waterloo Spur, which was only a block away from my house at the time. The crew said they would get me at the crossing as they headed-up. For a 13-year-old kid, there was no greater excitement than knowing that this time I wouldn’t just be watching from the sidelines, but actually on board this day. CN GP9RM 4138 slowly came into view as it led the small train across the two streets ahead of mine. Once the train came to a stop, I climbed aboard before being handed a bottle of cold water as it was an incredibly sweltering afternoon. Rollie, who was the conductor, let me have his seat as we began across my street and towards Uptown Waterloo.
The entire trip lasted about two hours as the job switched Nutrite Feeds and Sulco in Elmira after arriving. I took photos of as much as I could. Seeing things from high in the cab gave a new perspective on the line. The friendly crew even took photos of me in the engineer’s seat as well. So many wonderful memories were made that day, however, in the end that’s all that became of my first cab ride on the spur….just memories. Unfortunately, it was later discovered that the roll of film in the camera wasn’t advancing at the time while the number counter was, giving the illusion of things working properly. It was my first hard lesson in photography, to ensure all equipment was fully functioning and working properly before a shoot.
While time had continued on in the following years, I was always still determined to photograph 4138 on the Waterloo Spur again to somewhat make-up for the photos lost from that day. I had to wait over three years, until September 1996 when CN had assigned 4138 to Kitchener again. On a hazy late summer afternoon, my dad and I followed the 15:30 Job up to Elmira and back. Here, 4138 is seen emerging from a large corn and vegetable field as it approached Scotch Line Road south of Elmira with cars for Nutrite as well as Sulco Chemicals. However, the GP9RM looked a lot different from three years prior as it no longer had any CN logos….