Down on Beaverbrook, 1992...

When CN transferred the switching and terminal operation around Moncton to the TerraTransport division in 1988, as part of the wider move to group the loss making routes in the Maritimes under one umbrella, a small fleet of MLW S13u were included along with the myriad of worn out RS18 and RSC-14...

A rail fan captures the S13, expecting it's days are numbered, whilst the crew try to contact the mill foreman to get permission to switch the spur.

These venerable Montreal Locomotive Works designed and built switchers had been re-built twice by CN and were worn out, and despite being branded with the TT logo over patched out CN markings, none ever received the emerald green before being retired. They were all off the roster by 1996, and rail-fans were keen to capture these peculiar top heavy looking machines at work whilst they still could. 

I love the combination of the TT logo on the ex-CN liveried S13 with the brunswick green of the HSWR box car that is travelling to Canada to join Andrew's fleet on the Hopewell Sub.

I love, love, love this. Of all the TT things we’ve schemed this S13 looks like it actually happened. It just looks so right.

Chris is right, there is something about this patched locomotive that lends a real sense of reality to the whole 'what if' Terra Transport alternate history. We've enjoyed writing chapters over the past year, there are more to come, but sometimes it's good to remember that the historic research and enjoyment we get from that activity can really flow into and energise the creativity we show in the physical side of the hobby. I strongly recommend you consider how the real world, whether proto-freelance, prototype or completely imaginary, informs your own modelling, understanding the blend of emotional energy and connection with the timeline of events and raw physical facts. Enjoy this wonderful hobby of ours. More soon...