I bought six of these units for Lake State Railway company, and all of the parts supply. They gave us very good service. Regards Michael A Wood , former CMO LSRC
Thanks for sharing this great Video of one of the most overlooked and underappreciated locomotives ever built. These units literally changed the face of North American Railroading... as the very first unit built with a Safety Cab was an M420 and now this type of Cab is the overwhelming standard design. I just wish CN had restored a couple of them and donated them to museums in Canada so that proper credit and recognition could be given to those that worked on a Concept that has doubtlessly saved lives.
The 3500 before and after the Knighthawk paint job. Dave Hanratty the Supt at the time had this unit painted with the new colours. The MLW's were prone to a lot of wheel slip and they must have had a million miles on them when we took delivery and basically worn out. Thank goodness we had some great mechanic's who kept things running. The only great thing about them and I operated them for over 10 years is they were a lot quieter than the GM'S. We use to haul up to 90 cars per trip out of the Okanagan Valley 5 days per week. With the sale of the KPR sadly, the new owner ran it into the ground.
I remember CN3571 when it was brand new back in 1976. There were sparks coming out of the exhaust stack. This is when the unit was numbered 2571 and it was in Rouyn-Noranda Quebec at the CN shops by Gamble Street. The shops don't exist anymore since the ONR has its main line going over the property to go over the overpass that was built in the 1980s.
I remember the 97 ice storm when they took one of those off the tracks with a railroad crane and ran it 2 blocks to the municipal building near Montreal and powered it up
The Providence and Worcester Railroad once purchased five of these locomotives, possibly in the early 1980's. Unsure of the exact dates. Seems that EMD and GE showed no interest to serve the P&W back then. (The P&W is now part of the Genesee and Wyoming Corporation family.)
they pulled passenger trains - I rode the Okanagan Wine Train in September 2001 pulled by 3575 - wine train had blue and yellow coaches; can only find one video of it in longshot.
Please bring these years back. Seems like the mechanically inclined working class men have given up on locomotives and railways and become obsessed with diesel pickup trucks which are a status symbol toy. MLW and Alco were real diesels with purpose instead of big tires, empty beds hauling nothing but egos. As a conservative my challenge to all the mechanically inclined guys- make Canada and USA great again, build a high speed rail system and catch up with Japan, China, and Europe. Stop being proud and blowing useless smoke in peoples face.
We had big American electric motors, W-1s, GG-1s, Little joes, and many more but problem was cost of electrification. I don't like foreign power on u.s rail because there Electric motors are too small and light. You'd need too many to power a two mile or more long train. We need big power like the W-1s, which were made for long haul trains with one unit. 101ft long, almost 500 tons, great traction, and impressive as a Cadillac.
I bought six of these units for Lake State Railway company, and all of the parts supply.
They gave us very good service.
Regards Michael A Wood , former CMO LSRC
Thanks for sharing this great Video of one of the most overlooked and underappreciated locomotives ever built.
These units literally changed the face of North American Railroading... as the very first unit built with a Safety Cab was an M420 and now this type of Cab is the overwhelming standard design.
I just wish CN had restored a couple of them and donated them to museums in Canada so that proper credit and recognition could be given to those that worked on a Concept that has doubtlessly saved lives.
As an Alco-Holic, really enjoyed the video.
The 3500 before and after the Knighthawk paint job. Dave Hanratty the Supt at the time had this unit painted with the new colours. The MLW's were prone to a lot of wheel slip and they must have had a million miles on them when we took delivery and basically worn out. Thank goodness we had some great mechanic's who kept things running. The only great thing about them and I operated them for over 10 years is they were a lot quieter than the GM'S. We use to haul up to 90 cars per trip out of the Okanagan Valley 5 days per week.
With the sale of the KPR sadly, the new owner ran it into the ground.
Thanks for your comment! Nice to hear from someone who worked with these locos.
60 years on, CN Wet Noodle is still the best railway livery in the world
I remember CN3571 when it was brand new back in 1976. There were sparks coming out of the exhaust stack. This is when the unit was numbered 2571 and it was in Rouyn-Noranda Quebec at the CN shops by Gamble Street. The shops don't exist anymore since the ONR has its main line going over the property to go over the overpass that was built in the 1980s.
I remember the 97 ice storm when they took one of those off the tracks with a railroad crane and ran it 2 blocks to the municipal building near Montreal and powered it up
The unmistakable chug and smoke exhaust of an ALCO 251 prime mover!
Incredible video! I grew up watching these units working in New Brunswick while still owned by CN, this sure brings back memories.
Great video! Love the mlw/alco sound ;)
awesome. not to many videos out there from the mlw era on the kpr.
LOVE the M420Ws!
The Providence and Worcester Railroad once purchased five of these locomotives, possibly in the early 1980's. Unsure of the exact dates.
Seems that EMD and GE showed no interest to serve the P&W back then. (The P&W is now part of the Genesee and Wyoming Corporation family.)
Fantastic!!!
Hi would it be ok if I used some of this footage in my upcoming RUclips video on the M420?
Yeah no problem. Can you link my video in your description please
they pulled passenger trains - I rode the Okanagan Wine Train in September 2001 pulled by 3575 - wine train had blue and yellow coaches; can only find one video of it in longshot.
What type/model locos are these? Who built them?
Montreal Locomotive Works, what's left of the old American Locomotive Company (Alco). See title for model #
awesome
Is there any operating railway in the Okanagan as of today - October 2020?
carmium The section between Lumby and Kelowna was turned into a trail
@@alexthebcrailkid1996 Was that the last of it, then?
carmium The section between Kamloops and Lumby is still in use
@@alexthebcrailkid1996 Wouldn't that be Lumby and Sicamous or Salmon Arm, where it could meet the mainline? (Not sure where rails go!)
carmium The tracks between Sicamous and Lumby (EX-CP) are also now abandoned, but between Kamloops and Lumby is still in use
wow 16:9 in the year 2000
almost like you can crop images in an editor or something...
Please bring these years back. Seems like the mechanically inclined working class men have given up on locomotives and railways and become obsessed with diesel pickup trucks which are a status symbol toy. MLW and Alco were real diesels with purpose instead of big tires, empty beds hauling nothing but egos. As a conservative my challenge to all the mechanically inclined guys- make Canada and USA great again, build a high speed rail system and catch up with Japan, China, and Europe. Stop being proud and blowing useless smoke in peoples face.
We had big American electric motors, W-1s, GG-1s, Little joes, and many more but problem was cost of electrification. I don't like foreign power on u.s rail because there Electric motors are too small and light. You'd need too many to power a two mile or more long train. We need big power like the W-1s, which were made for long haul trains with one unit. 101ft long, almost 500 tons, great traction, and impressive as a Cadillac.