The Last Big Alco

Not the best shot but you take what you can get in low light conditions...

Canadian Pacific had a sizeable fleet of MLW C630, M630 and M636 locomotives.  These were railfan favourites (not so much for the crews) for many years.  Initially they ran across the CP system, but when CP standardized on the SD40 and SD40-2 during the 1970's these units migrated to eastern Canada.  Some would make it as far west as Winnipeg, and a few even went west of there on occasion.  

Growing up in western Canada these units were a rarity by the time I became more aware of what was running on the railways.  I saw the occasional C424, S-2 or S-3, but the "Big Alcos" were not something I can recall seeing prior to moving to Winnipeg for university.  These quickly became a favourite, and I was quite happy to see them lurking around the city.  

CP retired these units in the early 1990's but reactivated a few when traffic levels required more motive power.  The reactivated units were kept as trailing units but they still roamed the system for one last Hurrah before their ultimate demise.  

I saw a few of these units during that time but work travel to remote areas for extended time periods limited the amount of railfanning I could do.  During breaks when I was home I would roam around looking for rail activity to photograph.  

One evening in November 1994 I was lurking around the Westin shops and yard in Winnipeg.  The sun was starting to set and I started for home.  I was driving west along Logan Avenue when I saw an SD40-2 sitting on the west side of the Keewatin Street overpass.  I still had some sunlight left so I decided to drive along the back lane of the houses on Midmar Avenue and take a look at the locomotives.  

My automotive "tripod" kept the shot reasonably clear in the low light conditions.

When I arrived there I was floored to see CP 4704 trailing SD40-2 5959, especially since this train was coming in from the west.  The light was failing but I had to try and get some photographs of this unusual consist with a favourite locomotive type.  

There wasn't enough light to hand shoot the camera: what could I do?   I did have my car sitting beside me, so I shut off the engine and used the roof as a steady surface to shoot the consist from.  A few frames were exposed before the train got cleared to enter the yard.  A suitable plume of black smoke erupted from the MLW as it headed east.   

I was a happy little railfan that day.  Little did I know that the 4704 would be the last CP Big Alco that I would see.  I left on another extended work trip to South America a week or so later and all these units were retired by the time I got home.  I'm glad I decided to stop in and see what the consist was on that eastbound train.