Local switchers – the unheralded but vital part of railroading.The main line trains get all the glory, but someone has to gather all the cars for those trains and sort them.
Sometimes they’re called “yard jobs” or “local trains” or “transfers”, but whatever the name is, they usually have one or two locomotives and whatever ragtag group of cars they are picking up or setting off around a local area.
I happened across this train doing some switching in the Stockyards area of Winnipeg. It’s called that for obvious reasons.
Back before mass refrigeration was common, live animals were transported by rail to slaughterhouses for processing. It was common for many towns to have small stock pens where animals would be let off trains for feeding, and many railway terminals like Winnipeg had large stockyards where the animals would be taken off the trains and sorted before being sent for processing.
With the advent of mechanical refrigeration, stock cars went the way of grain boxcars, railway post office cars, and other railway car types made obsolete by technology or process changes.
The stockyards in Winnipeg are still mostly undeveloped land but CP has a small yard at the south end of the area. There are six tracks for auto carriers, as well as seven tracks for car storage and sorting cars.
These two locomotives – CP 4433 and 2325 – were working the east end of the yard. I saw them crossing Speers Road on the track that connects to CN’s St. Boniface lead / Terminal Cutoff track (see St. Boniface Action).
You’ll see the large Masterfeeds feed elevator next to the track, with its own remnant of a railway spur complete with track stops. As far as I can tell, it’s not connected to anything on the other end.
I didn’t stay long but I noted them moving back and forth. Likely the conductor was lining switches and coupling/uncoupling cars around the bend.
You might note the unusual lettering for the locomotive number under the engineer’s window. This locomotive is an ex SOO Lines locomotive, repainted for CP in 2012 while keeping the same number. It’s a GP38-2 built in 1979 with no dynamic braking. You can see photos of it in the old SOO white / red scheme here.
The second unit, CP 2325, is one of the GP20C-ECO locomotives “rebuilt” from CP GP9s. I put “rebuilt” in quotes because not much of these locomotives is original parts.
Here’s a short video of the train rolling through the crossing.
I love catching switching operations. I like that you caught a GP38 in CP colours. I don’t much CP action where I am, but the switching I have seen in Smiths Falls is done exclusively by the GP20 ECO units, so it’s nice to see something different. I like that these shots capture some of the stockyards buildings. It makes for a colourful and interesting image.
Thanks, Michael. I tried to “go wide” and bring in the industrial feel. There’s a lot of this area that I haven’t explored very well.
Great catches Steve! Is the yard you refer to the major CP/CN interchange in Winnipeg?
Yes I think that’s where it all happens.
Steve- Any idea why it’s almost always two locomotives? I’ve often thought that it might be a safeguard against a locomotive breaking down leaving the train stranded, but that’s just an uninformed guess.
Hi Peter, I think the main reason is so they always have a locomotive facing in the direction of travel. Usually the two locomotives are back to back so a cab is facing each direction, so if they have to “run around” the train to return, there’s still a place for the crew to sit comfortably without having to peer around the long hood.