Train 406
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- Опубликовано: 23 янв 2019
- An account of a fast freight train on a run from Toronto to Halifax, with glimpses of the vast amount of organization necessary in the operation of a country-wide transportation network.
Directed by Fergus McDonell - 1958 | 30 m in
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"Railroading gets in your blood." Boy, isn't that the truth! I never thought that I would be viewing old videos on RUclips about railroading, now that I am no longer able to work.
86 and still at it!
I’m going to start talking like this at work and hanging up on people after I make a statement. Wish me luck...
Just like all the spam callers? Good luck I blockthem and the numbers get sent to a database of scammers which are distribute red nationwide (worldwide even)
Doctors do it to nurses everyday
I rode on my dad's train in the caboose back in the late 40s and early 50s. He was a Soo Line freight brakeman, and I can remember him telling me that you could smell a hot box sometimes before you would see it smoking. A lot of memories come up watching something like this.
You’ve got that right. As soon as some broad would walk by me, I’d get a whiff of her hotbox and boy oh boy, I’d just know she was ready to start smoking and I’d move away from her as soon as I could. It’s not for the faint of heart.
My grandfather retired from the CNR . As did a few of my uncles. They had some great stories. In the 20's, 30's, and 40's you packed a hell of a lunchbox. You never knew how long you could be gone. Especially in winter.
Thanks for posting this gem of a video.
And as always safety first!!!
It's fascinating to see how railroads, like airlines, have evolved over half a century. It takes a crew of 5 to cover Train 406 like an old DC8 required a crew of 4 (sometimes 5). Now the biggest jumbo jets are run by 2 people - and I think that's all we'll find on the trains now too: The Engineer and the Conductor. Even the caboose is gone Great old film. Thanks for posting this, NFB.
"Now the biggest jumbo jets are run by 2 people - and I think that's all we'll find on the trains now too"
That train that destroyed Lac Megantic had a single crew member. Just one guy for the entire train and that was part of the problem.
Wonderful vintage film. Who, in all seriousness, gives this a thumbs down??? What, because it wasn't in color???
Canadian Pacific employees
4 July 02.Train 406 Canada. Rail System. From UK. (Full of corruption).Remarkable film. hard word maintaining the system and the public just dont care either way long as they get there. old US scenes are far more interesting than simililar situations in uk, incredible open spaces vast engines. on top of that is the US easy going and determined efforts. also the still existing backwoods attitude which exists throughout. a country of extremes. vast wealth and poverty stricken trailer dwellers.despite that I always (often) am at home with US folk so why am I here stead of there.Its an auditory country and UK is a visual one. How miserable is fate.Most Brits are fooled by the vast Film industry re US. They think every one lives in a huge luxury house. But they are wrong bout most things aint they. Incl politics.The amat radio group bill n friends 3.840 daily Dallas open the lid of US issues and they have stores of weapons. The downside is that that group only numbers about 7.After 15 years it should amount to 7 million.Just imagine the brits doin what they do. .Thank goodness you threw them out.One of their ststements is - Truth is now a hate crime. Same scams in uk.Are we and they the only carers. Awww just missed the sports programme. A world that has eveerything and, nothing.Most folks laugh at Keeton when in fact they ought to be crying. Dont tell them them that cos violence could be offered.
@@AlexR2648 good one!
I never understood why someone is so concerned about the number of thumbs down a certain video gets. Who gives a shit.....if you like the video great!! Every video has some wanker whining about how many folks hit the thumbs down 👎.
@@rapman5363 Who says "wanker" ?
I love the wink he gives at 21:15 such an awesome gesture
Good to see these old “infomercials” since they have a lot of historical interest as well. Many forget how important transportation and distribution are to “modern” life. Thanks for posting this!
The National Film Board of Canada made films about cultural life in Canada -- it's not entirely wrong to call them a kind of infomercial for their time but they were considered documentaries before we even understood the modern concept of a documentary as being different from the traditional newsreel of the era. The NFB was based in Montreal and made most of it's films about Canada at the time from that hub so anything that was done frequently used Montreal as the centre of the story. It's certainly not an informercial by any contemporary sense but I understand why you would label it that way and, as I said, it's actually not inaccurate to do so as this film likely had some financial input from Canadian National, if not participation to make it. Railways at the time were contracting due to increased use of road trucking and they were attempting to 'rebrand' their usefulness.
6,000 tons? Aw, how quaint ... a LITTLE train!
Whoa, Fairbanks-Morse C-Liners at 23:25! Now THAT is rare footage!
I really like fairbanks morse.
And at 28:53 it immediately becomes an EMD F-unit,
@@davidmackey344 😂
Fascinating view of the era during transition from steam to diesel electric.
I was born in 74', but I'm a railfan who grew up in Lachine, close to where the Turcott yard was. A lot of scenes here are familiar to me... 4:48 is near Beaconsfield, QC, in the next cut, you can just make out the top of a granite stone culvert in the bottom of the frame at 4:59, its still there today (UPDATE 2024: the stone culvert has been updated to a corrugated tube steel pipe) this is along Hwy 20.... 5:57 is the intersection at 1st ave Lachine, QC. The restaurant next to the SKF truck is still there (now closed). If you look in the background, there is a FINA gas station that is also still there (its just a service garage now). That train line used to run all the way through Lachine but most of it was pulled up a few years after this film was made. 7:05
4 July 02.Train 406 Canada. Rail System. From UK. (Full of corruption).Remarkable film. hard word maintaining the system and the public just dont care either way long as they get there. old US scenes are far more interesting than simililar situations in uk, incredible open spaces vast engines. on top of that is the US easy going and determined efforts. also the still existing backwoods attitude which exists throughout. a country of extremes. vast wealth and poverty stricken trailer dwellers.despite that I always (often) am at home with US folk so why am I here stead of there.Its an auditory country and UK is a visual one. How miserable is fate.Most Brits are fooled by the vast Film industry re US. They think every one lives in a huge luxury house. But they are wrong bout most things aint they. Incl politics.The amat radio group bill n friends 3.840 daily Dallas open the lid of US issues and they have stores of weapons. The downside is that that group only numbers about 7.After 15 years it should amount to 7 million.Just imagine the brits doin what they do. .Thank goodness you threw them out.One of their ststements is - Truth is now a hate crime. Same scams in uk.Are we and they the only carers. Awww just missed the sports programme. A world that has eveerything and, nothing.Most folks laugh at Keeton when in fact they ought to be crying. Dont tell them them that cos violence could be offered.
Lance, yes the station at around 5:43 is in fact Cornwall, Ontario. And at 7:05, it is Dorion, Quebec. Going forward, the train is moving eastward and crossing the bridge over the Outaouais River and into Pincourt.
5:57 yep . Those tracks musta been really busy back then , with the steel factory also
The Cornwall scene is my favorite one
I viewed this video and I thought it was phenomenal, it’s the Canadien National Railway with a freight train that I plan on viewing several times over because the details of this video are spectacular. It also shows this train pulling into a siding to let a steam locomotive with passenger trains pass and shows a water spout, freight yards and their actions there. It also shows shops and changing of wheels and trucks. I give this video and the finder/producer an A+++++ Thank You for sharing
That’s a big big interlocking machine in Montreal. These are the days of Automatic Block System with Train Orders. CTC was in effect in small stretches.
“That’ll be fine” as he stares longingly at the pair of legs visible at the top of the frame at 8:30. Apparently the “numerous practical advantages” and “few privileges” include being allowed to post pinups in the caboose.
Thank you so much for posting this. I like see the old Canadian National. I’m a crazy American that loves trains. Again thank you so much for posting this.
Christopher Clipper
did you ever go on a cross-country train trip. I did it was a blast. from Washington State to Michigan
sage osho, I rode the California Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville.
Christopher Clipper
Christopher Clipper where is Emeryville
Really enjoyed that. Made me feel like a kid again.
4 July 02.Train 406 Canada. Rail System. From UK. (Full of corruption).Remarkable film. hard word maintaining the system and the public just dont care either way long as they get there. old US scenes are far more interesting than simililar situations in uk, incredible open spaces vast engines. on top of that is the US easy going and determined efforts. also the still existing backwoods attitude which exists throughout. a country of extremes. vast wealth and poverty stricken trailer dwellers.despite that I always (often) am at home with US folk so why am I here stead of there.Its an auditory country and UK is a visual one. How miserable is fate.Most Brits are fooled by the vast Film industry re US. They think every one lives in a huge luxury house. But they are wrong bout most things aint they. Incl politics.The amat radio group bill n friends 3.840 daily Dallas open the lid of US issues and they have stores of weapons. The downside is that that group only numbers about 7.After 15 years it should amount to 7 million.Just imagine the brits doin what they do. .Thank goodness you threw them out.One of their ststements is - Truth is now a hate crime. Same scams in uk.Are we and they the only carers. Awww just missed the sports programme. A world that has eveerything and, nothing.Most folks laugh at Keeton when in fact they ought to be crying. Dont tell them them that cos violence could be offered.
Then there’s atomic power that will almost be certain to figure one day, ahh the optimism about new fuels back then. I wonder what they would think if the knew those old Smokey diesels would be virtually unchanged in the 21st century? One of my favourite things of my time living in BC was the sonorous sound of the horns sounding in the dead of night echoing in the mountains. We don’t get that here in Austria!
They have actually changed quite a bit since those days; perhaps in ways not readily seen. Modern diesels are quite a bit more fuel efficient than the ones used at that time.
I live in New Westminster and it's a major train depot heading into Vancouver -- I can report that the horns still sound day and night ; )
@@heronimousbrapson863 Not only more fuel efficient but much less pollution, more pulling power with less locomotives and more effective tractive effort with computer controlled systems and AC current electric traction motors.
We are certainly transporting used atomic fuel cells to cave storage facilities.
The ruskies and red Chinese have atomic powered steam electric.
LIKE THOSE RS18S.DIDNT HAVE THOS IN THE US.
This takes me back. Judging from the mix of steam and diesel, the cars on the roads and the mention of satellites, I'd put this film in the late 50s. Some of the names on the cars, such as BA (an oil company that became Gulf and then part of Petro Canada), B&O and others are long gone. The freight cars are also much larger these days. Roller bearings have replaced friction bearings and the hot boxes they caused. I used to work for CN Telecommunications for several years, but in the mid 70s, I was a relief tech, based in Capreol, Ontario and worked on the communications equipment then in use. There was one scene where train orders were passed to the crew. Those were written on thin yellow paper, called "flimsies". In several scenes, the crew would check their pocket watches. They were not allowed to set their watch, but had to take them to a specified jeweler for cleaning and adjustment. By my time, those pocket watches were pretty much gone. My work would take me into the dispatchers office and the car load centres. Back then, I'd work on the dispatcher's phone, train to wayside radio system and a computer network called TRACS, which managed the train consists, among other things. In my work, I frequently rode trains, often freights, to get to my work locations along the main line between Capreol and Armstrong, though I also worked elsewhere around the province. Railroading is certainly a different way of life!
We were allowed to 'set' our watch if there was a variation of more than 15 seconds from the correct time but had to make a note of that on the train register.
@@bobjohnson205 I wonder what they do these days, with extremely accurate time sources, such as the cell phone network and GPS, so readily available.
@@James_Knott I can tell you that most of the rules/regs regarding watches, etc. are long gone...
Hey ,i'm realy happy that you finaly put that vidéo on line . This is a great and good souvenirs
to see with family member that working at turcot yard at that time . I'm an vintage cnr and cp's
trains of the 50's to 70's and this video clip is very cool . Thank's to you ONF .
Now there’s no romance in those big box diesels
You are absolutely right! It’s all business now. 🤷♂️
Extremely well filmed look at action on the high iron - especially switching out cars in the yard and assembling a train. A very entertaining look at the life of a railroader.
Great informative video about the operation of the railroad in the 1950s
My cousin was a “gandy dancer” on the Great Northern and as the freights rolled by he and the rest of the crew would inspect the truck journals for “hot boxes.” These were the days before railroads converted rolling stock to roller bearings.
and even today rail employees are required to inspect passing trains
And lineside hotbox/dragging equipment detectors. Radio was just then coming into widespread use.
This is one of the last video showing steam engines at work
Back when Men were needed to run a railroad.
🙄
Back when the men were steel and the cars were wood!
The sounds of them diesels, goosebumps.
The music sounds like the train is on its way to a gang rumble lol
They were.....with CPR
Sounds like a tornado/hurricane to me! lol
Thought he ran through that switch at 10:55, then I saw the SS Spring Switch sign.
great vid, thanks for posting
At the time this film was made my father was Locomotive Foreman in Brockville. At the time a division point west of Montreal, now closed. Steam had to be changed or serviced here, diesel could be "runthrough". The line between Cornwall and Cardinal was relocated during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway and if this was made in winter of 1958 (judging be the supervisor's 1958 Chevrolet) this would have been the last year for steam in Eastern Canada. Turcotte is now a shopping center.
Turcot isnt a shopping center, its a highway exchange between the 15 and the 20. I live one mile from there.
i bet the engrs in the vid were HAPPY to be running diesels rather than steam
Man what a complex job!!
This is back when passengers were treated with respect onboard trains and they had priority. Now, shipments of freight go through while passengers wait for the track to clear. It's ridiculous.
Nice vintage film for gen 1Deisels!
such a cool film. Seeing familiar places in times past.
Running those units long nose first :-)
I was going to say why are they running long hood forward, try that with an es4400 lol
And speaking of trains,I still renember that this channel have posted one video called getaway(i think),I really would like if this channel would make more of that kid of videos
I Love Trains too ~
Seems to be a good bit of license taken with location sequence and direction of film train(ex: with CPR train on far side, both must be westward trains). Ignoring that, as a not unusual case of taking liberties for effect, it gives an excellent picture of the era.
Looks like the guy in the caboose is "enjoying" a rough ride. Anyone have first-hand experience with that?
Yep. I used to be a technician with CN Telecommunications and, back in the mid 70s, often rode freights in Northern Ontario. On one trip, I was traveling overnight between Foleyet and Capreol Ontario. I was riding in the caboose and trying to sleep on a bench. I was tossed off a few times by the motion.
Me! Years of experience on the caboose as a brakeman and conductor.
@@James_KnottYep, you’ve seen it all Jimmy boy!
The Canadian rail lines must have been in better condition in those days. That's a high speed for heavy freight and likely the reason why Canada did better when there was a abundance of well maintained rail going everywhere. A time when passenger trains had a right-of-way over freight and people with a vested interest in this country going forward. Better times for Canada for sure.
Pretty astonishing view at history! Imagine the government making a video like this today though, the screams for perceived misuse use of tax dollars would be deafening. Lol!
Great video, really enjoyed it! I was confused that the train had geeps up front in one scene, then it was RS-18s, then back to geeps. Did the film makers think railfans wouldn't notice the difference?
Yes, they did. Railfans around the world aren’t too bright.
Ah the smell of diesel on a cold day......
There was a system of PRE-BLOCKING,on freights,so the cars,going to sundry destinations were put into a block,so the local switchers,could make,one or two moves,and assemble,or disassemble a train,rather quickly! Then the local yard would break down the block for distribution! The reverse was true on outbound cars! All systematically set up,and there was method in the madness! In hump yards there,also was a similar system,done by the trackage,in the yard[s],and destinations assigned! Anyway,a short version of a complex subject! Thank you for the attention! Thank you 😇 😊!
Is This From The 1950's. Yes Or No Love This Flim
1958
@@CNGP9 The year of the Chevy the superintendent drove.
Love those gp7s and gp9s
Long hood forward. Nice!🚂🚂🚂🇨🇦🙋
They actually did aquire turbojet trains. It ran on the Toronto to Montreal line, as a passenger train, from 1968 to 1982, with periods of a few years pulled from service due to mechanical issues. What killed it was: although on paper it could deliver passengers faster than by air, in practice it had to slow at the 240 level grade crossings, and share the line with slower freights. I wonder how they overlooked that to begin with.
I haven't noticed many atomic trains though. ;-)
LOL, They can’t make up their mind as to what power is on the train. One minute they’ve got Fairbanks & Morse, then they show EMD’s, then back.to the Fairbanks, then Alco’s.
My parents took the CN across Canada. It took about 5 days. My stepmom was a Canadian.
There's another good NFB documentary on the elk valley and CPR coal country in British Columbia I cant remember the title
Litterbug at 13:04!
Fun to watch them kick the cars in the yard. Something that is longer allowed given the danger in having cars freewheel....was hard on equipment too if the crews misjudged and put too much energy behind the "kick"....
But they still hump cars in large yards, don't they?
@@heronimousbrapson863 I think Humptracks are still a thing and these usually have retarders that stop the cars so it is considered reasonably safe . Kicking the cars used to happen in many yards and it was a skill of the engineer and crew to not over shoot where they needed the car to stop...that became a no no sometime in the 60's I believe.
@@rvninnorthcarolina3377 The Montreal Yard with hump opened under that name in 1961, and was renamed Taschereau Yard probably circa 1975 (the same time its Toronto counterpart became MacMillan Yard). The hump was closed in the late 1990s and the yard repurposed for intermodal traffic.
@@rvninnorthcarolina3377 We were still 'kicking' cars in the 2000s where I worked.
Fantastic footage. 28:16
Better times, this is authentic Canada.
Yeah, no goddamned cell phones
Notice the spring switch at 10:50
Always wondered what a wheel set weighed (One Axle set). 18:24 Almost a ton.
@6:05 SKF bearings !!
Wow... same logo too.
Interesting view of the switch points at 10:52 showing them closed and the engine proceeding through. They must have been spring loaded to allow this and I am not sure I have ever seen points like this on the railroads I am familiar with.
Yes, they were common, allowing trains to leave sidings without having to stop and restore the switch. Usually just called a "spring switch".
Yes. Spring switches were often used on sidings.
CN used them quite often for sidings and yard tracks,
Those were the days,( at 5:15 - 5:20) a three man crew in the loco cab. The engineer, the head end brake man, and I am assuming, the fireman. Back in the caboose , the rear end brakeman and the conductor. By the 1980's the brake men and fireman were eliminated. Now it is just the engineer and conductor in the loco, with no caboose. The crew reductions needed to be made, with modern systems and diesel locomotives they just were not needed. But the unions sure put up a stink!. But that's typical, no wonder people accused the railroads of "featherbedding".
Brakemen still are around but its just the jr guy that gets called as the brakemen and even than that's only if there is alot of work to be done and its called very rarely. Most trains out there are 2 man crews. Ive yet to see or hear of a fire man, those were phased out many years ago.
Everyone working before rearend brakeman was dropped called A pool. Everyone hired after was called B pool. When caboose was removed from freight everyone called C pool. Engineers side everyone with steam experience is called "hog head." Everyone promoted to engineer afterwards is called ESB (engine service brakeman).
@@snoboi92 The title was eventually changed to "trainman".
Yep, those firemen were really busy on diesels. 🙂
I frequently rode diesels in the mid 70s. By then there was just the engineer and brakeman in the engine.
BTW, years ago, before air brakes, brakemen had a a really dangerous job. They had to hop between cars and run along the roofs, when the train was in motion!
@@sharonfieber6458 Where I worked we called them 'extra stupid brakemen'! lol
That's gotta be the best players in Toronto or Montreal producing the soundtrack. Peter Appleyard on vibes I bet...
new sub
What did the Train 406 By Charles E. Israel video character gang discuss with each other from 0:00 to 28:54?
Im in favor of atomic powered trains. Id like to see a train arrive before it leaves!
Looking at the older engineers they would have began their career with steam locomotives
Hand-fired steam locomotives - long before self-stokers or oil!
West of Boul.de Boucherville in St. Bruno, the 116 crosses the train tracks and I believe the cameraman was standing on that overpass looking west at 27:44. Crossing the highway, he then faced east towards St. Basile. You can vaguely make out Mt. St. Hilaire in the distance. It didn't look so different as a kid in the 80's nor even today, if Streetview is anything to go by.
I forgot to mention that the overpass that the cameraman sitting on well if you go across to the other side, it’s like a mini patio made of concrete and in 1981 I took a bicycle trip from longueuil to mont st hilaire and ate my lunch on the edge of that tunnel facing the mountain what enjoy it was to be a boy back in the day
@@Hot80s That's a very long way for anyone. 40 miles return? But yes, I wouldn't trade the time or place for anything. I'm sure you'd agree. Cheers!
The passenger trains had priority back then. Then Via took it over
2:44 Apparently, the Assistant Terminal Superintendent ticked somebody off and had to beg for a desk in the back of the Maintenance of Way & Engineering office. Hopefully he was able to befriend the Roadmaster and learn something about rail, ties, drainage, and bridges.
Man riding the footboard now disallowed.
And rightly so! Extremely unsafe! Something I NEVER did!
Can’t have any fun anymore. ☹️
@@bobjohnson205 When I began my time railroading there were positions termed "footboard yardmasters." Did not sit in a yard office but worked outside where the action occured.
Excellent document of
a long gone past. But be careful with audio part. Sound of a Geep while showing an MLW RS18 can be confusing to those not knowing. But sxicher with 539 is pure joy to ear.
Turcot yard gone
In background Lachine canal, ancestor of St-Lawrence seaway that replaced it had CN track on north shore, served Canadian Car & Foundry shop that builted so many cars to CN and CP. Building still there with paint name still readable. Track is gone. On south shore of canal CP track gone. Lasalle coke plant at 13:01 served by CP can be seen. Everything gone except transfer crane that is preserved for historical value penfing restauration. Large bucket was used to unload ship. Ore was dumped on crane platform in narrow gage wagon, passing over Norman street the went in the plant.
What an idea back then, atomic friggin trains. Imagine that, it would reduce pollution a lot, but if you're an engineer, you also need to be able to operate a small nuclear power plant.
Interesting how in those days passenger trains got priority over freights, as they should. Why should a short passenger train wait for 15 minutes when a freight needs to wait for 3 minutes?
Every guy in these videos looks like he is 80 years old.
Ahh, the Montteal of my yoot. When people spoke English.
too bad the turbo jet engine and the atom powered trains never took got going, ....lol...but we still have reefers so thats cool
a turbo jet up top on the front unit..would be a massive power source to use
>Canada c. 1960
>looks like United States c. 1930
that's about right
SS or Spring Switch at 10:55
Is This The Canadian National Railway Yes Or No
i cant believe that u guys have a hard time seeing names on everything geeeeesh
No, this was Canadian National Railways which was a Crown corporation. Todays CN is Canadian National Railway; it has been that way since its IPO in 1995 thus becoming a publicly traded corporation.
great history. I wonder who may colourise this?
Nooooooo
Go Steam power go into history 🙁
Why is 406, a scheduled train, coming out of Montreal carrying white extra flags?
i will ask a former cnr enginner about this…stay tuned…he probably picked up this train back in the 60s …in Moncton for its trip to hfx..
the two flags were to indicate that this was a secondary train , a xtra cause of more cars maybe over a limit for one set of engines or whatever..i got this from a former engineer that took the train to and from moncton to hfx since 1965..
Train 406 was an extra train that was not authorized by a timetable schedule.Only regular trains are authorized by a timetable schedules and are listed in the timetable A train that has a timetable schedule cannot depart ahead of its leaving time At a station where its time is shown
the two white flags were to indicate a secondary train,or extra…..probably having too many cars for the first 406.. i got this from a engineer who was on that 406,405 going to and from..Moncton to Halifax since 1965,retired for 20 yrs…
All extra trains displayed white flags or white classification lights, even 406 Even though 406 was regular schedule train It was still an extra that was not authorized by the timetable schedule.This train 406 still had to respect yard limits
When I was with CN, in the 70s, almost every freight was an extra. The only scheduled freights I remember were the mixed freight/passenger trains in remote areas.
Freight trains deferring to passenger trains!!!
Passenger trains have priority over freight??? When did that change? 😅
right after the national highway system was built.
No welded rail.....
theres never welded rail !
I didn't see those refers .
Reefers
7:00 & 7:31 & 8:00 Please tell me they didn’t just dub a car horn in for a true diesel whistle here?! 🤮
At 17min37sec should have been applied by norfolk in east palestine....
Back when Canada was butch. 😂
from 15:17 till 15:23 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 cant blame them for saying such things tho... they knew so little about it at the time 😄😂 still a great film and AMAZING piece of History! 😁😃