What if: TerraTransport U18B...

TerraTransport, the Canadian National subsidiary set up in 1979 as a means to manage their Newfoundland operations was really the beginning of the end for rail operations on the island. Cynically the move allowed the loss making narrow gauge system to be singled out for abandonment... 

Despite a brave move to containerisation of freight, somewhat negating the time consuming and expensive re-trucking (where freight cars arriving from North Sydney in Nova Scotia saw their standard gauge trucks swapped out for narrow gauge ones), the line that linked St John's with Port Aux Basque was closed in 1988. At the same sort of time, rail operations were coming to an end on Prince Edward Island (1989) and CN spun off the Truro to North Sydney line to Railtex, operating as the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia railway (1993). 

The original Canadian Project scheme was a 'what if' CN hadn't closed the Halifax and South Western in stages (finally lifting in 2009)... what if it had been spun off, and taken over by another short line (as happened with the CB&CNS)...

I love the Terra Transport sea containers...

These distinctive green boxes continued to operate past the demise of the railway, shipped directly from St John's to North Sydney, and onwards via CB&CNS to Truro, until 1997 when CN began sailing these directly to Halifax... 

My mind began wondering 'what if' CN had transferred all the secondary lines in the Maritimes to the TerraTransport subsidiary, including the remains of the H&SW down to Bridgewater, the line from Truro to North Sydney and the island system of Prince Edward Island... 'What if' this newly created subsidiary had the 'mass' to integrate and optimise it's remaining operations... 'What if' it became an attractive proposition to be sold off as a whole entity... 'What if' the new 'short line' operator adopted those green colours as it's new identity?

My mind then turned to 'where would they get their power from'... the RSC-14s and RS18s were at the end of their lives, the large Alco's only suitable for the 'main line' to North Sydney... what was needed were some lighter 'second hand' power, so I did a little digging around to see what types might be suitable, especially for the lighter weight rail (85lb) on PEI, and the southern end of the HSW...

Manufacturer	Type	Power (hp)	Weight (lbs)	Truck axles	Axle limit (ton)	Length	CN max rail
MLW	RS13	1000	223828	6	16.65	55ft	60
MLW	RS24	1400	238000	6	17.71	46ft4in	60
MLW	RSC14	1400	230000	6	17.11	56ft6in	60
MLW	RS18	1800	230000	4	25.67	56ft6in	85
MLW	M420W	2400	272000	4	30.36	61ft	100
GMD	NF-211	1200	227666	6	16.94	55ft	60
GMD	SW1200RS	1200	230000	4	25.67	44ft8in	85
GMD	GMD-1	1200	239000	6	17.78	54ft9in	60
EMD	SW1000	1000	230000	4	25.67	44ft8in	85
EMD	SW1500	1500	248000	4	27.68	44ft8in	100
EMD	GP9	1750	249000	4	27.79	56ft2in	100
EMD	SDL39	2300	250000	6	18.60	55ft	60
EMD	MP15	1500	250000	4	27.90	48ft	100
EMD	GP15	1800	240000	4	26.79	54ft11in	85
EMD	GP38	2000	245000	4	27.34	59ft	100
EMD	SD35	2500	360000	6	26.79	60ft	85
EMD	GP40-2	3000	245000	4	27.34	59ft2in	100
EMD	SD40-2	3000	368000	6	27.38	68ft	100
GE	U18B	1800	219000	4	24.44	54ft8in	85
GE	B23-7	2250	252000	4	28.13	60ft	100

From this list a few options present themselves... when the operation was first 'privatised', say in the early nineties, CN would not have been interested in selling their GMD1s, nor CP their SW1200RS. For the branches, at this early stage the RS18s would need to struggle on perhaps supplanted by ex Conrail GP15 and SD35, or U18B either from CSX or perhaps Guilford... Other lines certainly used GP38s fitted with smaller fuel tanks on lighter 'branchlines'. There are more options later, the SDL39s from Wisconsin Central in 2001 would certainly have been a strong option for PEI. 

I guess it leaves a question of what would have happened to the line on Newfoundland itself, and I had given this some thought. It struck me that perhaps a just a section of the line remained, from Port Aux Basque, at least to Corner Brook (perhaps further) - and the line here re-laid to standard gauge, but with a limit of 27tons/axle, limit the locomotives that could work across the otherwise ageing infrastructure... so the same challenges on motive power remain. Smaller road units would suit, so perhaps GP15s or U18s would suit here as well? Certainly the NF210s only had 1200hp but did have 6 traction motors. 

So...

I've already modelled an ex-NS patched GP15, labelled up for the HSWR, my layout will be small, I don't have the space for long locomotives really... looking down the list the U18B catches my eye...

A quick sketch on Paper and it looks like the style would work, and the colour would really pop against the proposed industrial scene of the shelf layout. I've even got a set of the Black Cat decals for the container in stock... so I track down an Intermountain sound fitted U18B and set about transforming this former Mexican liveried unit...

After carefully removing the handrails, wipers and glazing (it pops out to the front), I used 91% IPA to strip the paint off the body and cab. I didn't bother taking the chassis back to raw plastic, just removing the blue paint from the upper half of the equipment and battery cabinets underneath the cab.

I set to work 'modifying' the unit for service with TerraTransport. The front bonnet handrails were broken during paint removal so replaced with wire, but all other original body detail survived. The same can't be said for the air pipework, I patched up the rear, and added a brake pipe alongside the coupling. On the front end I replaced the pipework with more flexible nylon hoses, again adding a brake pipe. The cut lever was modified and a small plough fitted. The front pilot top was modified to represent some sort of anti-climber, whilst allowing me to re-use the handrails. Final touches were MU hoses, and a replacement air-horn. The only thing left to add will be a bell, this will be fitted on the side of the hood, like on Maine Central units.

On the body I carefully smoothed the moulding lines on the bonnet front, and cut off the moulded marker lights, but leaving enough behind to be smoothed to look like a plate fitted over the hole. The model was then carefully set up for priming...

Here she is, with handrails partially re-fitted (I've masked and kept the corner uprights orange, I think these will look great against the green). The primer will be left for a few days now to harden before I begin painting it green. Originally I had intended to paint the bonnet ends white, but I think, having studied Burlington Northern U-boats, I will paint the front of the cab white, but leave the bonnets green, and use a small Terra Transport logo on these too... I will have some decals made up for the number boards, so they still light up, black with white numbers... anyhow, I hope that ramble has been interesting. I've enjoyed writing about it, I guess it shows the depth of thinking that sometimes goes into creating the actors on our layouts. Until next time, more soon...