Railpictures.ca - Parks Photo: For most eastern folks, CN 4414 (or any of the heavy GP9′s) is/was something all to familiar. In Redwater AB, it was an oddity. In just over a week it made 3 round trips through town. In this photo (trip No.3), the cab hop was made into a train by picking up 5 empty hoppers out of the Egremont siding. The cab has been tacked back on and it’s off to somewhere north for 4 days. | Railpictures.ca – Canadian Railway Photography

For most eastern folks, CN 4414 (or any of the heavy GP9's) is/was something all to familiar. In Redwater AB, it was an oddity. In just over a week it made 3 round trips through town. In this photo (trip No.3), the cab hop was made into a train by picking up 5 empty hoppers out of the Egremont siding. The cab has been tacked back on and it's off to somewhere north for 4 days.

Caption: For most eastern folks, CN 4414 (or any of the heavy GP9's) is/was something all to familiar. In Redwater AB, it was an oddity. In just over a week it made 3 round trips through town. In this photo (trip No.3), the cab hop was made into a train by picking up 5 empty hoppers out of the Egremont siding. The cab has been tacked back on and it's off to somewhere north for 4 days.

Photographer:	Parks [335] (more) (contact)
Date:	07/02/1985 (search)
Railway:	Canadian National (search)
Reporting Marks:	CN 4414 (search)
Train Symbol:	Work Extra (search)
Subdivision/SNS:	Lac La Biche Sub. (search)
City/Town:	Egremont (search)
Province:	Alberta (search)
Share Link:	http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=59465

Click here to Log-in or Register and add your vote.


18 Favourites	Photographers like Gold.Log-in or Register to show appreciation
View count:	255 Views

Share this image on Facebook, Twitter or email using the icons below
Photo ID: 58130

Sorry, there is no map for this photo. Photographer did not add GPS co-ordinates. Please add next time or ask for a correction to this photo.

All comments must be positive in nature and abide by site rules. Anything else may be removed without warning.

7 Comments

Stephen C. Host

July 9, 2026 at 4:41 pm

As nature intended, long hood forward
MrDan

July 9, 2026 at 6:48 pm

Those Blomberg B trucks apparently added an extra 6,000 lbs of weight to the units over Flexicoils. That and smaller fuel tanks/lower fuel capacity made up some of the difference for light rail branchline service (not sure if they had any extra ballasting weight or not, but it seems likely given the 248k vs 231k weight difference).
Todd Steinman

July 9, 2026 at 7:57 pm

And a high nosed GP9 too….awesome!
L. Parks

July 9, 2026 at 8:50 pm

Yes, it looks like weight was added to the frame, that large side skirt around the fuel fill compared to the teeny one on the 4344 will add a few lbs. Other ways were used to add metal weight to the frame. Some units had an increase by thickening the frame.
Thanks everyone.
Paul O'Shell

July 10, 2026 at 12:53 pm

Another great photo of classic CN power in action. Those GP9′s sounded so good under load.
L. Parks

July 11, 2026 at 2:01 pm

“Sounded so good under load”:-), bonus of having that grade up from the river next to town. Grain and sulphur trains returning home were great sounding, in particular at -30°. Thanks Paul.
Funny, the other bonus of loaded units. I lived on the west end of town and the grade became much more moderate. About a mile or so past town is when those old units would make transition. The sound, again, was terrific, and you knew the train was finally getting up to speed.
Stephen C. Host

July 11, 2026 at 5:11 pm

Oh my.. sounds like that live rent free in my head Mr. Parks!! The joys of this hobby are exactly that. I am glad in 2026 I can still find these sounds on CN on the daily.!

Cancel reply

To comment you must log in. Not a member? Click here to register