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A bunch of us fans gathered on a rather miserable cold day; alternating bits of sun but mostly cloudy and damp; to catch the last run of the rather infamous aluminum bodied CN Turbo Train, heading east to Montreal. The location we chose was a wooden bridge over the line in Newtonville, popular among the local fans. I have forgotten the exact location, but it apparently became known for a time as the "Bee Bridge". An explanation for this can be found in the comment section of RP photo #6832.
The gas turbine powered Turbo, built by United Aircraft, was a bit of a lemon from the start, with various problems sidelining it. On the first trial run in Dec 1968, it hit a truck at a crossing near Kingston. Not a good omen. Five sets were originally ordered, and one of those caught fire and burned the control car and a couple of coaches near Morrisburg in 1975.
Due to various conditions, the train was kept to a 95 MPH limit, although it was capable of much faster speeds.
I had this in mind when shooting this image. Using film, dull days meant slower shutter speeds, and the blurring of such a fast train was very likely; so shot it quite a ways before it got to where we were standing.
Anyway. This is history. None of the trainsets were preserved, and I have no idea when or where this one was scrapped.  Anybody??
Copyright Notice: This image ©A.W.Mooney all rights reserved.



Caption: A bunch of us fans gathered on a rather miserable cold day; alternating bits of sun but mostly cloudy and damp; to catch the last run of the rather infamous aluminum bodied CN Turbo Train, heading east to Montreal. The location we chose was a wooden bridge over the line in Newtonville, popular among the local fans. I have forgotten the exact location, but it apparently became known for a time as the "Bee Bridge". An explanation for this can be found in the comment section of RP photo #6832. The gas turbine powered Turbo, built by United Aircraft, was a bit of a lemon from the start, with various problems sidelining it. On the first trial run in Dec 1968, it hit a truck at a crossing near Kingston. Not a good omen. Five sets were originally ordered, and one of those caught fire and burned the control car and a couple of coaches near Morrisburg in 1975. Due to various conditions, the train was kept to a 95 MPH limit, although it was capable of much faster speeds. I had this in mind when shooting this image. Using film, dull days meant slower shutter speeds, and the blurring of such a fast train was very likely; so shot it quite a ways before it got to where we were standing. Anyway. This is history. None of the trainsets were preserved, and I have no idea when or where this one was scrapped. Anybody??

Photographer:
A.W.Mooney [2133] (more) (contact)
Date: 10/30/1982 (search)
Railway: Canadian National (search)
Reporting Marks: Turbo (search)
Train Symbol: #62 ?? (search)
Subdivision/SNS: CN Kingston Sub. (search)
City/Town: Newtonville (search)
Province: Ontario (search)
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Photo ID: 42436

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6 Comments
  1. I think I know why it was dubbed the “bee bridge”. I got stung once while on one of those bridges!

  2. A historic photo. Why is it that last trains always happen on crummy days?

  3. In terms of the fate… this one was scrapped at the Naporano Iron Metal Company in Newark, NJ, in July 1984.

  4. They scrapped a few others in London, Ont. I remember seeing one being cut up. I was lucky enough to have worked a few trips on the Turbo as a brakeman, back in the good old days

  5. Very nice, Mr. Mooney!

  6. Thanks Jakob. Now that you mention Naporano, I seem to recall that name. I really appreciate this info, as I had totally forgotten about it.

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