Comments on: A slide taken by my Dad from the caboose door of a work train. I have little info on this slide, he did work in Athabasca during the 50′s, so, I have made a guess that this may be the Athabasca Sub. It will be safer to say in the Edmonton area. My Dad was a carmen for the extent of his CN career, not sure why he would be on a work train, unless catching a ride to some point to repair a disabled car. The engine is an RS3. It can be seen on the slide that the rear headlight has been converted from a single to a double beamed, which coincides with late 50′s for the time period. There is no making out the engine number or hood details to help date the photo. The slide film used is called Munshaw Pix-A-Color, it did not age as well compared to his other photos on Kodachrome. The sky and golden/orange colours needed some work to bring them inline to a more natural hue.

By: bcr_766

bcr_766 — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 14:02:43 +0000

Looks like it could be near the Rochester/Tawatinaw area of the Athabasca Sub.

By: First954

First954 — Sun, 02 Feb 2020 16:00:16 +0000

Great picture!!! In the early days of CN’s dieselization, MLW and FM units roamed the entire system and were common west of Winnipeg.

By: Larry Parks

Larry Parks — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 05:58:48 +0000

I know what you mean. The time period of 50′s to mid 60′s there were a few assigned to Calder. My one brother who worked as a brakemen in the mid 60′s actually made a few rides in an Alco. By the 70′s, it became a heavy GM domination, with most freights going west headed up with SD40′s. The only Alco’s I saw during my time at CN were a couple of brand new BCR B units as they made their way to BC.

By: jennlovestrains

jennlovestrains — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 04:51:30 +0000

How odd an alco in Alberta…