Status of CN's GP40-2W locomotives

[Ulrich]

I haven't seen these engines in awhile now (Ontario).. has CN purged them from their roster or are they concentrated somewhere else in their system?

[SD70Dude]

The fleet has really shrunk from its one-time high of nearly 300, this roster looks accurate to me:

https://www.thedieselshop.us/CN.HTML

There are some down east (Quebec, Maritimes) and stateside, but I believe the largest remaining fleet is found in northern Alberta.  6-axle units are prohibited on the former Great Slave Railway, and non-turbocharged units are banned from road service out west, which means the GP40's are the only units allowed north of Roma Junction (just west of Peace River, AB).  The regular southbound freight from High Level to Roma Junction often has over 100 cars, and I have seen up to 6 GP40's on it (3 or 4 are normally required to handle the tonnage).  

There is a small shop at the McLennan, AB yard which serves as their maintenance base, but major repairs are done in Edmonton.  The McLennan area also has a couple industry tracks that 6-axle units are prohibited on, so 2 or 3 GP40's are usually kept there too.

A few others can be found working yard and roadswitcher assignments across Alberta.

[SD70Dude]

And I just found this, looks like CN has finally realized they need more yard engines.  Just when you think they've run out of leasers!

http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=34318

Maybe getting rid of all those GP40's wasn't such a good idea...

[Ulrich]

Great detailed response from you as usual, SD70Dude.. thank you..

[traisessive1]

Well when you refuse to buy new 4 axle power something has to give. 

CN is losing GP9s and GMD1s and are demoting SD40s, GP40s and GP38s into yard service. All three models have various units equipped with Beltpack and more are being done. 

When you take these units off the mainlines and the branch lines you end up in a pickle. 

[Leo_Ames]

How's the SW14 fleet doing now that they're short of yard and local power (If you can call what's left a "fleet")? 

Last I saw, even the units rebuilt a few years ago had half their number stored. So I imagine the three unrebuilt units, if The Diesel Shop roster is correct and they're still even rostered, probably were all stored at that time.

There's a picture online of one of the unrebuilt units from last year with capped stacks, and another from January of this year with the stacks capped.