Comments on: BNSF 2098 replaced CN 4138 assigned to Brantford this afternoon, but unfortunately faced west, the same direction as CN 9547. The first order of business for the CN 581 crew was to run light to Parkdale to wye one of the units. The pair are seen departing the yard and crossing over to the south track to head east. It’ll be interesting to see how long BNSF 2098 sticks around. I suspect the Hagersville Subdivision is going to be a popular railfan destination while it’s here.

By: rsmith

rsmith — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 15:36:56 +0000

@Aitch – 581 used to be the “Brantford-Garnet-Paris West turn”. That traffic is now handled by 502/501 between Sarnia and Garnet.

@BradKetchen – yes, horsepower hour payback but it is rumoured that some are being evaluated for purchase.

@jknott86 – as always, thanks for your informative responses.

By: BradKetchen

BradKetchen — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 09:31:46 +0000

What’s the story about this ex-BN unit? Pay back hours? If so wouldn’t it be a similar unit on a long haul freight? or is 2098 deemed to be a future CN unit?

By: Kevin Flood

Kevin Flood — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 03:21:46 +0000

Very nice. Hope to see more pictures of this unit in action. Vancouver has 2082, which is also in BN green. It’s neat there’s still a few of these paint schemes around, as well as the warbonnets. I very much like BNSF.

By: Aitch

Aitch — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 00:09:12 +0000

Thanks for that info. I haven’t followed Hamilton area switcher ops for about a year so that explains it. I guess this means the cowpath is finally seeing some regular use.

By: jknott86

jknott86 — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 23:50:28 +0000

Grimsby Sub* road switcher.

Comes here several days a week. I don’t pay much attention to it. In fact last night’s was the first I’d even laid eyes on this year.

By: jknott86

jknott86 — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 23:48:09 +0000

581 replaced 551 as the Grimsby road switcher over a year ago. It still pains me to this day. 551 was great for photos. 581 not at all.

Wyed both at Bayview presumably for convenience. Spun entire train at Parkdale as that is the norm when switching out Triple M Parkdale. Spun just the CN to get them facing opposing directions. So much wyeing. Was mildly amusing for me.

By: Aitch

Aitch — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 23:38:04 +0000

That was an interesting set of movements to get it turned around. Was 581 working customers in Hamilton ? Isn’t it a Brantford-Garnet-Paris West turn ?

By: jknott86

jknott86 — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 03:21:40 +0000

Train wyed at Bayview for both units to face east. Then spun entire train at parkdale for both units to face wes. Then individually wyed the cn unit. At present it’s bn west cn east.

By: jknott86

jknott86 — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 01:30:32 +0000

They wyed both at Bayview. Both units currently facing east. May yet wye a single unit when they do Triple M later on.