CN Freight Train Struggles To Climb The Hill and Yard Power For Pushers! [HD]

Turn up your speakers for this one: The grade on Canadian National's Dundas Subdivision between Hamilton-Dundas is noted for being the one of the steepest grades east of the Rocky Mountains. In this video a lengthy westbound train 385 is seen struggling to climb the steep grade past aging searchlight signals, even with the assistance of power on the end of the train! More information coming soon
Watch in HD for the best viewing experience: LRF Video Productions

[@GP9railfan]

Gotta love that GP9RM chugging away in the mix too!!

[@dfk4500]

that GMD-1 wow!!!!!!! sounds like heaven!!!!!!

[@LocalRailfan]

CN 4776 is a GP38-2W and 1444 is a GMD-1, thanks for watching

[@TrainTrackTrav]

HOLY SMOKES! Listen to that GP9 SCREAM!!!!!!! She says, "I know we can!" God bless!

[@aspenGF8]

you have to admit that GP9 sure did good hauling that train and pushing those toasters

[@redgreen66]

Love those GMD1u's - is there anything they can't do? Plus the sound out of them hard at work is virtually unmatched on any of today's class 1 RR's.

[@redgreen66]

@Drew Smith thanks for that update. Really sad to hear that

[@hansgruber9591]

When i worked at CN in the 1970's and had to calculate the tonnage for a train going up that hill, i made a slight error and the train had to stop and remove half the consist go to Copetown and come back for the other half I think that was a 10 demerit day

[@Tom-Lahaye]

Fantastic train, just everything that was available powers this train. GP-9, C40-8 and a SW, must be a dream seeing and hearing them on a mainline freight.

[@montyvox0510]

That in one word was......awesome!

[@CentralPennRailProductions]

Wow, how steep is that grade? That's pretty cool to see a GMD-1 shoving a big train like that! I could be wrong, but the head-end power seems to only be in Notch 6 or so, definitely not full, as evidenced by the turbo. I wonder if they were getting hot! Nice catch! I really hope to see a GMD-1 some day, but those days are numbered, I guess!

[@Creeperboy099]

I can feel the ground shaking as those locomotives climb up from the horizon

[@GP9railfan]

GMD-1 pushing with everything she's got!

[@johnbidochka2795]

And the 1400's aren't exactly state-of-the-art at this point!

[@MrSd40jk]

I would lead with a GMD-1 . Love em.

[@monicamorales8902]

John Bidochka

[@TheOilman747]

Excellent video I like the last engine I never seen them before they look pretty neat that were suffering pretty bad up that hill that's awesome.

[@joeq1984]

Norfolk Southern Lehigh Valley Railfan those engines used for road switching and yard work only used when trains get stalled on a hill yard crew help shove up the hill to cooktown.

[@TheOilman747]

Joe Q Old fashion way

[@trainboi21]

awesome catch Ryan ! love the sound of the engines rumbling and struggling hard !

[@farmerbb11]

A little background for those not familiar with this part of Canada.... I am certainly not an expert, but I think this hill is on what we locally call the Niagara Escarpment.. This is a cliff that runs along quite a distance of southwest Ontario. If you have ever seen photos of Niagara Falls, that is the point where some of the water falls off it. My father-in-law drove trains in this area for the TH&B (Toronto Hamilton and Buffalo).

[@artaxerxesgp]

farmerbb11 Ya that is the Niagara Escarpment, I am from Hamilton. You see... all the factories and steel mills are down at the harbors edge and the only way for the trains to get down in there is by heading down the Escarpment.

[@CCTCanada]

Good old GMD-1 to the rescue!

[@Trainsbigandsmall]

Very good video Ryan. 4776 looks good in that paint which looks fairly clean.

[@australiasindustrialage689]

Awesome video, love the roots-blown GM behind the GE's

[@BenjaminEsposti]

Haha, all that crude oil is really heavy! (Crude oil is the D.O.T. placard (red diamond things) # 1267. Another common placard is # 1075, which is LPG, aka Liquefied Petroleum Gas)

[@deep416841]

@ billy bob, there are crew change points where out bound crews take over! and in bound crews are sent to hotel or bunk house for rest! if youre in bound crew and at your home station then you can take longer break than if you were on road!

[@briansumner2700]

Nice video of these impressive babies doing the work human muscles cannot! Must have been real short of units to use a yard locomotive.

[@FreedomtowerStudios]

Great Video! I like those old looking target signals at 0:30. If he didn't have helper locomotives in the back of the train, he probility would've never made it up this hill.

[@SteveMtrl]

Love the sound of the raw power!

[@irelandbloke]

Excellent video !

[@BurlingtonNorthernModeler]

Been a while scince Ive seen a GMD1. Fantastic catch

[@epicness69992]

That gmd1u is so cool!

[@BurlingtonNorthernModeler]

That's sweet. I saw one off the Algoma Central many years ago

[@sicilian12345]

Excellent catch Ryan, you think this will be a new trend???? I know I hope so....

[@nocoaviation8353]

Nothing like giving the horses a little workout

[@jeffskene42]

theres a gmd1 still asigned to aldershot yard for yard and pusher duty last seen mated to a gp40

[@pgo1972]

GMD-1! NICE finish!!

[@RailfanMax]

Well made video Ryan! Push, push! lol Looks like hes strugling alot. Great camera i see you have.

[@schul4]

awesome video. just wondering if in some of your other videos your panning is so smooth because of a nice tripod/ a certain technique or do you smooth it out in your editing program? thanks

[@RailfanTubeNetwork]

I LOVE THIS!!! Fantastic!

[@railhunterproductions]

Wow those old guys back on the main!

[@RailFan1981]

Sounds awesome.........nice catch!!

[@AdamV1313]

Wow! That was awesome to watch and hear!

[@randomfox2523]

What a beautiful sight!! :)

[@sc0tte1-416]

The lakeshore line runs right behind my house (right by the Mississauga/Oakville borderline) and I SWEAR I just saw that 1444 engine pass by a couple of days ago. I remember this because I've never seen an engine like that before. In the 20+ years I've lived here, I've never once seen a train with helpers on the back...why is that??

[@RailFan1981]

Sounds so damn good! Awesome catch!

[@randomfox2523]

Great train... Terrific!!

[@freddystanley9081]

From Brazil wachting you kkkkkk

[@chrisshoulders4066]

Great catch

[@haroldsmith45302]

Good video.

[@Patriot1776]

GE Toasters gettin' their BACKS BROKEN on the leading end in a BRUTAL WAY! Wonder how close the toasters were to catastrophically putting all the con rods through the block and wrecking the frame from the carnage? IMO, if a locomotive, steam or diesel, ain't getting its back utterly broken on a freight haul, its not being worked hard enough, and the engines ARE being worked hard enough here, straining for all they're worth. That's getting the utter last limit of load through and fully using every last scrap of power.

[@Barnekkid]

Nice video. How steep is the grade shown here?

[@frankbrazil7918]

love the foamer talk

[@pgo1972]

Love the GEEP!!

[@speediracer4]

Love the sound of the 3rd locomotive, good old EMD 567 power (I believe that's what it is and naturally aspirated?)

[@gravelydon7072]

Matt Kelly EMD 567 engines are never naturally aspirated. The 567s are 2-stroke engines and require a blower to supply air to clear the cylinders and provide combustion for the next cycle. They are basically Detroit Diesel engines that grew big. sdrm.info/roster/diesel/emd/history/16-567-1.jpg The two oval covered units at the top of the picture are the blowers. Some later units have gear driven turbos that decouple from the gear drives as they spool up.

[@Cnw8701]

All newly-manufactured EMD units are turbocharged, and have been since the mid-1980's with the launch of the 710 line. The 567D was the first turbocharged engine produced by EMD with collaboration with UP through their Omaha GP20 units (besides the SD24's). The first full production turbocharged locomotive models built by the company were the GP35 and the SD35 (apart from the DD35).

[@Cnw8701]

The GP20's and SD24's essentially began as upgraded GP18's and SD18's. They eventually became production models after UP reported their success with their early pre-production shop testbed units.

[@Cnw8701]

Literally every domestic (or Canadian) EMD model built prior to 1961 was roots-blown. The only modern roots-blown units in active service on US Class 1 railroads (excluding KCS, CN, and CP) are the 645 models like the GP38-2, MP15AC, and the GP15-1.

[@paradiseroad6405]

+MK ...all non-turbocharged EMDs are considered to be naturally aspirated...that's because the roots blowers provide only scavenge air...the exhaust valves close after the intake ports...so there is no supercharging effect taking place...on turbocharged EMDs...the exhaust valves close before the intake ports exposing the cylinders to supercharged air from the turbocharger...

[@brucie7350]

Just out of curiousity, do train crews stay on the same train from the start of the trip to the end? Or do the crews stay within a single sub?

[@rhondaw1]

Those EMDs have the best sound

[@williamyoung6715]

CN M385? I think I see that train here in Michigan

[@LocalRailfan]

@Charlie Schulz Thanks! To answer your question about my panning technique, I generally try to avoid smoothing while editing so I try to pan as smoothly as possible, however, I also use a Manfrotto tri-pod which makes the effort much easier

[@MultiSuperman800]

Great Video.

[@albanomathias9559]

insist forming composition as long as, in Europe, for example, the compositions are shorter, fast and efficient.?

[@AwesomeRailFan]

WOW Sick one ryan !

[@joeq1984]

some crew will stay on a entire trip eg sarnia to toronto or toronto to niagara falls. trains from montreal to toronto will change crews at belleville. in toronto thier are lots of subs so no you dont stay in one sub

[@estebanbrenes6325]

Ok

[@AQLandscaping]

It is mostly because of the amount of tanker cars. Liquids are a very very heavy weight.

[@Kulio_ib3wc]

8896 loooookkkking goooodddd coming thru!

[@cn7835656]

i see them all the time because i live near CN Oakville yard

[@YvesD91]

I am always surprised to see how long and dead slow are the fret trains in Canada and USA (compared to here in Europe). Why is it so, and why not dividing a convoy in two or three parts that could be moved faster. This may save at least one (or may be two) days of travel time from one coast to the other... Very nice video though. Thanks

[@25mfd]

why divide a train into 3rds when you can move it all at once??????????… way too expensive for the railroads to do that... you're doubling or even tripling every expense doing it your way

[@ucicweallc]

Only CN does wacky consists like this. I can create this lash up with my n-scale collection of CN power.

[@aprotosimaki]

Really great video!

[@daveatqsr]

Hell. Who needs sleeping pills anymore?

[@kgeorgeson]

awesome!

[@billbubba9505]

Dundas hill...grew up there lol

[@heelblocks]

With DC traction motors at low speeds you shouldn't be in the 8th notch, you still put the same amount of tractive effort out. If you are in the 8th notch you risk the chance of slipping with a higher amp rating.. which would bring you to a stop.

[@kennyspry5189]

If The Engineer would have had All EMD Power They would made the Grade with No Problem. Those GE ENGINES Don't come Close to EMD POWER.

[@aspenGF8]

canadien is french and canadian is english, CN's older boxcars used to be bilingual being english on one side, french on the other

[@katieokiley1]

What company do you like the paintjobs of most CN or CP?

[@rickyallanson2285]

Cn for sure

[@paulwarner5395]

Wouldn't want to break an air hose or coupler. It would never start off again..

[@ImCripplyYo]

Where was this video taken?

[@rickdawg73]

Too bad it wasnt an all EMD lash-up..wouldve been nice to hear some 645's or 710's climbing this grade

[@Trust291]

They should have a engine in the middle as well.

[@sc0tte1-416]

My bad...it was CN 1412 I saw behind my house.

[@Rainbowdangerdashy]

Is it spelled Canadien National or Canadian National?

[@KTrainz]

why was there a geep 9 in the main consist

[@jeffskene42]

my thinking is it was being transfered(the GP9) to Sarnia or London from Mac from being serviced....

[@Steelers2841]

SWEET HELPERS

[@rodzor]

uphill slow, downhill fast...tonnage first, safety last.

[@SylarArnold]

THAT I CALL POWER

[@ryanparsons3025]

train had just over 11k hp too

[@Rainbowdangerdashy]

Ok thank you

[@tylerl6400]

Pull! Damn you!

[@cnman234]

Lucky a C40-8!

[@barbarysheep1]

A GMD-1.i bet that mde your day.you don't often see them.

[@greglaplante7593]

Let the old school boys do the job.

[@admydragon]

Deeeeeece.

[@Barnekkid]

safer than flying.

[@upheritage6]

yep i know about that bogus rule

[@allstarjamz80]

not a big fan of massive trains, i think its dangerous

[@MarkmBha]

One is french and one english.