A Blue Barn Visits Winnipeg

Back in 1988, Canadian Pacific Railway received the first of 25 SD40-2F locomotives. These Canadian-built locomotives were the only new locomotives delivered in the “Action Red” scheme, and were unique to CP. They were essentially SD40-2 locomotives with a cowl body instead of the usual “hood” that SD40s had. They were quickly dubbed “red barns” by railfans because of their flat red sides. They were numbered CP 9000-9024.

These locomotives were used in general service on the CPR, but were retired starting in 2012. CP was retiring their large fleet of SD40-2 locomotives during this period as well.

Pretty reminiscent of the Intercolonial Railway IMHO
Pretty reminiscent of the Intercolonial Railway IMHO

The new Central Maine & Quebec railway (CMQ) acquired 10 of these “red barns” (9004, 9010, 9011, 9014, 9017, 9020, 9021, 9022, 9023, and 9024). All but 9017 were repainted into a silver and light blue livery, based on the CPR’s “heritage” maroon and gold scheme. CMQ 9017 was painted into a scheme inspired by the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, which used to operate in the same area as the CMQ did. These repainted locomotives were obviously dubbed “blue barns”.

I had hoped to see a “blue barn” someday when I visited the Maritimes. Alas, that didn’t happen, and in late 2019 CP announced that it was acquiring the CMQ. This would give CP access to Maine and a connection back to Saint John. The irony is that the CMQ lines are essentially all ex-CPR lines that were sold in 1994.

As part of this deal, the fleet of 10 “blue barns” became CP’s property again when the deal was finalized on June 4, 2020. Most people assumed the locomotives would be scrapped, since CP didn’t want them eight years ago. Think again!

The blue barns started appearing on CP freight trains, not just in the former CMQ area but in Ontario as well. Then rumours started that a few were coming out west to Winnipeg and perhaps beyond!

Apparently two locomotives (CMQ 9020 and CMQ 9022) did make it all the way to White River, Ontario before heading back east. The Winnipeg crowd was disappointed.

However, CMQ 9021 slid into Winnipeg late on June 18 as part of train 119. On Friday morning, I heard it was in Winnipeg, so I had to go see if I could find it.

I checked the east end of the yard and it wasn’t there, so I went up on the McPhillips Athletic Grounds that overlooks the Weston Shops area and there it was.

CMQ 9021 amongst the crowd
CMQ 9021 amongst the crowd

It was nice of the shop personnel to park it in a place where it could be photographed!

As I walked across the grounds, a local switch engine came along and blocked the view for a short time.

CP 4400 blocking CMQ 9021
CP 4400 blocking CMQ 9021

It was OK – they didn’t block the view for long. Whew.

The sun was playing cat and mouse with the clouds, so I timed my shots to get some sun on the unit. There was another railfan there, Ross, so we chatted while taking our shots and trying different angles.

The rear of CP 9021
The rear of CP 9021

I took about a dozen photos of the locomotive. Without being able to walk around it, there were only a few angles available! I would have liked to get a side on view of the logo…

So that was the “blue barn”. It has moved on – west, I think – and is no longer in Winnipeg. Hopefully more will come!

The next question – did I ever see CP 9021? Yes, I did!

CP 9021

CP 9021 in Winnipeg, August 30 2014
CP 9021 in Winnipeg, August 30 2014

I did see it as CP 9021, but only once it was retired. I shot it on August 30, 2014 as part of the dead line at the Weston shops – not too many metres from where I saw CMQ 9021, in fact.

Note those grubby SOO switchers in the dead line as well… and the roofs of the stored SD90MAC units in the distance.

Side view of CP 9021, August 30, 2014
Side view of CP 9021, August 30, 2014

I hope to see more “blue barns” – but even if I don’t, I’m happy I saw this one.

Just One More Thing

The late David Othen produced a video featuring many of CP’s “red barns” (but not 9021). Here it is for your viewing pleasure.

David Othen’s video of CP’s “red barns”

Here are a few of my blog posts featuring red barns:


Postscript: I did see Another Blue Barn in Winnipeg!

16 thoughts on “A Blue Barn Visits Winnipeg”

  1. Yay! I’m glad you were able to get one of the barns. There have been a few around but I don’t have any yet.

    Side note: I really like the lead photo with everything greyed out except for the blue on the unit. That’s great.

    • Hi Michael, I’m glad you liked the lead photo! I was a little worried that it would look too “cute”.

  2. It would be nice if one showed up in Coquitlam Steve…! I love that paint scheme and colour.

  3. Nice catch, Steve. So cool that you had a photo of 9021 when it was a red barn. Looking at the two photos, I think it looks a lot better as CMQ9021 !! Just my Quebec based truly biased opinion. Thanks for posting.

  4. I looked back through my archives and only saw 2 barn units in/around Lethbridge from 2012 to 2014; CP 9023 and CP 9012. Hopefully one day I’ll catch this blue barn!

  5. Got 9021 west end CP yard 5pm on the 19th as it was the third unit on a westbound . And I agree with your comment about it looking better now than in it’s Action Red scheme. Tonight 7055 and 7045 rolled into east end Wpg CP yard.

    • Hi Cliff, I’m glad you caught 9021 on its way out. Rumour has it another one is coming. Those 7000 units are becoming more common around here..

  6. Around 10:30 CMQ 9023 came out of from the shops bracketed by CP 8034 and CP 8948 and they went east. 7030 was the DPU on a late 299

Comments are closed.