CN Coal and Sulphur Operations in the Alberta Foothills
By Norm Skretting & Model Photos by Timothy J. Horton

With the imminent arrival of the HO & N gauge 4000 cu ft. all Canadian Steel gondolas from
North American Railcar Corporation; I would like to discuss the 4000 cu ft. gondola as it wasused by Canadian National Railways from the early 1970’s up to the current time. CN had wellover 1000 (leased or owned) of these cars in service in the 1970’s, 1980’s and ‘1990’s, prior toswitching to aluminum equipment and Sultran had 360 of its own for use by CN and CP.
I am waiting, not so patiently, for the arrival of the HO gauge 4000 cu ft. coal/sulphur
gondolas being produced by North American Railcar Corporation for use on my model railroad,a loose representation of the CN’s Clearwater Sub from the 1970’s to the current time. I enjoy
all of the years in between, but my fondest memories are from the 1970’s and 1980’s whenthese cars were the backbone of CN’s coal operations.
Coal Service

Figure 1: CN 199001 built February 1970

The 4000 cu ft. gondola was the preferred car style of CN for transporting coal from five
Alberta mines to either the west coast ports for export or to ports on Lake Superior (ThunderBay, Marmion Lake) for use by Ontario Hydro. The first cars were built in 1970 for CN as CN
199000 series and the first eight in the series were built as double rotary cars with a rotatingdrawbar on each end. The cars had a capacity of 263,000 lbs. and a light weight of about
58,000 lbs. giving them a load limit of approximately 205,000 lbs. Thus the cars could carry acargo of 100 tons with a little room for overloads. When the maximum capacity was increased
to 286, 000 lbs., all of the coal cars had the load limit increased by 23, 000 lbs. (The SULX cars
kept their original load limit).
The cars also had a load-empty feature that increased the braking capacity of the cars when
loaded, similar to a retainer. The purpose was to reduce the brake pressure when the cars
were empty in order to reduce the number of skidded wheels while providing sufficient braking
capacity when loaded.

Figure 2: Load-empty feature – Newer cars had the same featureThat was mechanically applied when the car was loaded.
Norman Skretting photoWith the beginning of unit coal train service and the promise of other unit train operations
such as sulphur, potash and grain, CN began a plant expansion program that involved extending
sidings to a minimum of 6050 feet in order to handle trains of 6000 feet.
Neptune Terminals in North Vancouver, the only coal unloading terminal on CN at the time,
was also restricted to handling trains of 6000 feet or about 98 coal gondolas plus units andcaboose. Eventually the train length was increased to 100 coal gondolas or any other car ofsimilar length. Neptune Terminals only handled coal from Luscar mines at Cardinal River andCoal Valley as well as the mine at Winniandy, both in the foothills of the Rockies in Alberta until
the Obed Mountain mine opened in 1984.
Luscar Mines: 53°03’52.97”N 117°24’43.96”W, 53°00’15.82”N 117°18’59.03”W, 52°56’56.69”N 117°18’28.38”W

When CP began shipping coal from southeast BC, a new super port at Roberts Bank was
opened. All trains originating from Gregg River and some trains originating at Coal Valley and
Obed Mountain (Dalehurst) on CN also unloaded at Roberts Bank. Track length at Robert’sBank did not limit train length, but siding capacity on CN did, so CN’s trains were always shorter
than CP’s.

Figure 3: Roberts Bank Coal & Container Terminal

Ridley Island, near Prince Rupert, was developed to handle coal mined in Northeastern BC
and the trains were designed to operate in the same manner and length as coal trains from
Alberta on the mainline.

Figure 4: Ridley Island Terminal (Prince Rupert, B.C.)

All port terminals used rotary dumpers which necessitated the use of rotary couplingsystems on the cars. The rotary coupler end of the car was indicated by a yellow stripe or
stripes on that end of the car. Double rotaries had a yellow stripe on both ends, as well as two
air hoses, one on each side of the drawbar. This made it easier to couple the train line to carson either end as well as avoided twisting the air hose around the drawbar while being dumped.

Figure 5: Two sets of train line hoses on each end of a double rotary
Norman Skretting photo

Figure 6: North American Railcar- CN Double Rotary Marked
HO Scale # 11-31004002, N Scale # 11-11004002

The coal trains were serviced in the empty direction and the location of servicing changed
with the different service plans developed by CN for its terminals. Replacement of brake shoes
and inspections changed between Thornton Yard, Kamloops and Jasper for west coast trains
and Winnipeg and Edmonton for the Ontario Hydro trains. Spares used to fill out the trains tothe correct number of cars were also added at these terminals and could require turning cars tocorrectly orient the rotary drawbars. Bad orders would be switched out at any location
depending on the severity of the defect. (Sulphur trains were also serviced in the samemanner.)Figure 7: North American Railcar – CN
HO Scale # 11-31003004, N Scale #11-11003004

All of the coal mines on CN prepared the coal in a similar fashion. The coal was pulverized
before being stockpiled and loaded which necessitated that each car be sprayed with a latex
spray to reduce the risk of coal dust blowing out of the cars. Each loadout used a hopper scale
to weigh the coal before it was loaded into the cars. All locomotives on coal trains had to haveoperating pacesetter equipment which allowed the trains to move at extremely slow speeds(typically 0.25 MPH) as required by the loadout operator. Frequent stops to fill the loadout
hopper were common and unpredictable.

Figure 8: Coal Loading Facility

Figure 9: Coal load being sprayed with latex to reduce dust

Figure 10: North American Railcar – CN (ex-BC Rail)HO Scale # 11-31003001, N Scale # 11-11003001

CN assigned a lot code to each train depending on origin and destination and would get
progressively larger until the end of the year. These will be shown in the discussion of eachmine. Each set of equipment would have the current lot code as well as a tentative next lot
code as assigned by the coal/sulphur coordinator.

Figure 11: Coal mines and Sulphur loading points

Winniandy – Mile 108.9 Grande Cache Sub (Lot code SN-001, SN-002, etc.)
The first mine that I will discuss is located at Winniandy (54°00’24.83”N 119°06’21.01”W) on theGrande Cache sub about 25 miles north of Grande Cache, Alberta. The coal produced from thismine is a high quality metallurgical coal. The mine was originally operated by McIntyre
Porcupine Mines Limited (then Smoky River Coal) and shipped coal to Japan via Neptune
Terminals in North Vancouver. The trains were operated in 98 car sets that included one
double rotary car that was located on the end of the train. This was an important car because
without it, either engine, caboose or coal car without a double rotary drawbar would suffer abroken drawbar or yoke when the coal car was turned to unload it. The cars used were 4000 cu
ft. gons in the UNPX 100000 series and had a placard placed on the side of the car near the
middle with the McIntyre Porcupine Mines Limited name and logo applied.

Figure 12: UNPX 100259 leased by McIntyre Porcupine Mines Limited at Winniandy
Rick Walker photo

These cars have been renumbered and rebuilt, but can be recognized by the large plate
welded over three side panels. I first saw these trains in 1972 while working on a gang in the
Fraser canyon at Falls Creek on the Ashcroft Sub. This paint scheme is currently not available
from North American Railcar Corporation.
The mine at Winniandy was costly to load at because it required a five man crew from Jasperincluding two engineers and five dynamic brake, pacesetter equipped locomotives (SD40, SD402). Power requirements changed as units increased in horsepower. At least one of theengineers was required to be on duty at all times. One engineer would run from Jasper toWinniandy, and then go to bed; the second engineer would deadhead on the train and then goon duty to load the train. When the train was loaded, one engineer would run the train withthree units on the head end and the second engineer would push the train from the tail end
from Winniandy to Jasper. In 1975, while working on a ballast dumping gang (cable gang in CN
terminology), one crew was required to push a coal train from Winniandy south to Denard
because they did not have sufficient power.
The loadout at this mine is very unpredictable and can take more than 10 hours, dependingon whether the train was loaded from the stockpile or direct from trucks and cats. The train is
run under the loadout on arrival so that the inside of the cars can be inspected. Except forremoving the caboose and changing ends with the locomotives, the train was usually not splitup.
Eventually this mine was supplied with cars from the general coal car pool that included any
and all of the UNPX and CN cars produced by North American Railcar Corporation, although theex CNHX cars were not used until the contract with Ontario Hydro expired. As discussed further
in the section on sulphur, SULX 2000-2359 series cars were used in solid sets to load coal at any
mine in Alberta. Whenever trains were loaded for Gary, IN, cars from the US were used andcould have been either steel or aluminum.

Cardinal River Coal – Mile 4.8 Luscar industrial Spur (Lot code LN-001, etc.)
The second mine was located at mile 4.8 Luscar Industrial Spur, which is near
Leyland/Cadomin on the Mountain Park Sub. This mine originally loaded coal destined forJapan in brown CN 199000 series cars in 98 car sets. As with Winniandy, any of the UNPX andCN cars produced by North American Railcar Corporation were used, although the ex CNHX cars
were not used until the contract with Ontario Hydro expired.

Figure 13: CN (ex-Procor) built by Hawker Siddeley

Figure 14: North American Railcar – CN (ex-Procor)
HO Scale # 11-31006004, N Scale # 11-11006002

BCNE cars could also be found when not required in BC for the Teck and Quintette mines. As
discussed further in the section on sulphur, SULX 2000-2359 series cars were used in solid sets
to load coal at any mine in Alberta. These trains were also unloaded at Neptune Terminals inNorth Vancouver.

Figure 15: North American Railcar – CN (ex-BC Rail)HO Scale # 11-31003002, N Scale # 11-11003002

Because of very steep grades, loading at this mine and at Gregg River Resources Ltd, required
the trains to be split at Holloway. The first cut would leave with 44 (later 45) cars, three units(SD40, SD40-2) and one caboose. The units required dynamic brakes for the grades andpacesetter for loading. The Edson crew would load the first cut and then wait the arrival of thesecond cut at Leyland. The second cut would leave Holloway with 54 (later 55) cars, two units
and one caboose. The crews would exchange motive power at Leyland so the first cut would
leave with two units, 44 loads and a caboose and the second cut would go up to Cardinal River

Mines to load. When finished loading, the crew proceeded back to Holloway with 3 units, 54
loads and a caboose, where they would make up the train with three units, 98 (later 100) loads
and a caboose (provided the crew did not run out of time). Without dynamic braking, this coaltrain would not have run safely. A Jasper crew would take the train to Jasper on the Edson Sub.
Once again, a double rotary car was required for unloading, so the crew was responsible to
make sure that it was located on the right end of the train.

Figure 16: North American Railcar – CN (ex-BC Rail) Double Rotary Marked –HO Scale #11-31003003, N Scale #11-11003003

Spot market sales also saw trains loaded for Roberts Bank, but the loading operation was thesame, as were the cars. Operations have changed with SBU’s, aluminum cars and higher
horsepower locomotives.

Figure 17: North American Railcar - CN (ex-Ontario Hydro)
HO scale # 11-31004001, N scale # 11-11004001

Gregg River Resources Ltd – Mile 7.1 Luscar Industrial Spur (Lot code GR-001, etc.)
This was a similar operation to Cardinal River Coal and the mine closed in the late 1990’s.
However, Gregg River shipped the majority, if not all, of its coal to Roberts Bank.
Luscar-Sterco-Coal Valley Mines – Mile 48.5 Foothills Sub (Lot codes, H-001, S-001, Y-001)
The majority of the coal from this mine was shipped to Ontario in train sets and locomotives
paid for by Ontario Hydro. There were typically three 98 car sets of CNHX equipment operating
at one time, although sets could be stored if Ontario Hydro did not need the coal. These cars
are produced by North American Railcar Corporation, although they are painted in their postCNHX scheme. Once again a double rotary car is required for each set.
Loading was somewhat different because the grades were not as severe as going to Leyland.
The entire train left Edson with four units (F-B-F-B), 98 (later 100) cars and two cabooses. The
first crew began loading on arrival and left with two units, 49 (later 50) loads and a caboose.
They took the first cut to Holloway and deadheaded home to Edson. The second crew

deadheaded to Coal Valley and finished loading and brought the second cut of two units, 49(later 50) loads and a caboose to Holloway. There they would make up the train as four units,
98 (later 100) loads and two cabooses and take the train to Edson. There an Edmonton crew
would take the train to Edmonton.
The only time other cars were used was if the mine loaded a train to either Neptune Terminals
or Roberts Bank. The same loading pattern would be used, but the train would quite often
leave with only three units and one caboose. The cars would come from the general coal pool,so any UNPX or CN car, or solid sets of SULX cars could be found in these trains. BCNE cars
could also be found when not required in BC for the Teck and Quintette mines.

Figure 18: North American Railcar – SLUX (2 line)
HO Scale 11-31005001, N Scale 11-11005001

Obed Mountain Coal Co. Ltd. – Mile 172.9 Edson Sub (Lot codes DN-001, DR-001, DT-001)
This was the newest mine in Alberta, but it produced the poorest coal from a mine that wasmore than 10 miles from the CN mainline and the loadout.
The cars would come from the general coal pool, so any UNPX or CN car, or solid sets of SULX
cars produced by North American Railcar Corporation could be found in these trains. BCNE cars
could also be found when not required in BC for the Teck and Quintet mines. A double rotary
car was required.
The trains were loaded by Jasper crews and the train was not split for loading. Coal from thisloadout went either west or east. Because larger power was in service when the mine opened,
the trains typically operated with only two units, back to back.
BCNE Coal service (Lot codes TR-001, QR-001)
I will not discuss the operation of coal trains on the BCR to the Teck and Quintette mines, but
the BCNE cars (produced by North American Railcar Corporation) were originally used in 98 car
sets including a double rotary with a CN caboose. These cars ran as pure sets for a number ofyears, but they too ended up being used on any steel train set in Alberta and BC as required by
CN. These cars are now being used in coke service along with any other type of steel car.
Coke service
Most of the remaining steel cars of this design in revenue service are now being used in coke
service from Fort McMurray, Lloydminster and Clover Bar to Ridley and other various
destinations. Double rotaries are not required, but there are still a few left. As of the summerof 2012, there were two ex CNHX , two CN 196 series and four CN 199 series double rotary cars
still in operation. The balance of the cars have been demoted to OCS service, sold or retired.
Sulphur serviceAs large gas plants in Alberta began to accumulate large stockpiles of solid sulphur, the gas
companies formed a sulphur marketing group, called Sultran, charged with selling this form ofsulphur to the world market. A by-product of the natural gas refining process, the liquid sulphur
is either poured into huge blocks or pelletized (prilled) and stored at the gas plant until requiredby Sultran to fill any sales.
There were/are three sulphur loading gas plants northwest of Edmonton on the Sangudo Sub at
Windfall, Benbow and Kaybob. In addition there are two sulphur loading gas plants on the Ram
River Sub west of Red Deer near Rocky Mountain House at Ram River and Strachan, and one
plant at Bryan Spur on the Foothills Sub southwest of Edson. Each gas plant has/had a flood
loader capable of loading 100-104+ car unit trains made up of Sultran’s bathtub and 4000 cu ft.
gondolas. Loading of an entire train can take as little as 5-6 hours or two days, depending on
the loadout at the plant and mechanical breakdowns.

Figure 19: Procor UNPX 102037 built by Hawker Siddeley in June 1975

Figure 20: North American Railcar – Procor UNPXHO Scale # 11-31006001 N Scale # 11-11006001

Some of the first trains to operate made use of various types of CN owned or leased
equipment. UNPX 102000-102299 and UNPX 102300-102599 series 4000 cu ft. rotary coupler
equipped cars were used in sets of 82 cars. These cars were painted with the unique Procor
sign or with the newer wordmark style of PROCOR printed in large letters across the left side of
the car. These cars were taken from the coal pool and most had a lining applied to reduce thecorrosive effect of the sulphur. Both of these versions are being produced by North American
Railcar Corporation.

Figure 21: North American Railcar - Procor UNPX (Word Mark) – Built by Marine Industries 1975
HO Scale # 11-31006006, N Scale # 11-11006006

CN also supplied railway owned equipment. There were 105 car sets of three bay hoppers
from the 320 series. Many of these cars were later rebuilt and had their hopper doors sprayedwith a foam material to reduce leakage and were renumbered into the 327000 series. Cars
from the higher-sided, outside ribbed 326000 series cars supplemented these rebuilt cars. CN
also owned a quad hopper in the 330000 series that were run in groups of 88 cars.
The reason for the shorter length (5100 ft.) of these trains was the restriction at the
Sapperton, BC interchange with CP. Sapperton is just north of the BN yard in New Westminster
on CP. Trains to Sultran’s facility in Coquitlam had to be interchanged with CP and power andcabooses did not run through. When the siding at Sapperton was lengthened, train length wasincreased to 104 cars. Trains destined to Vancouver Wharves in North Vancouver were handled
on the entire trip by CN crews. Unloading was performed by Vancouver Wharves personnel
and had to be coordinated with unloading of potash trains.
Sultran purchased its own fleet of cars to ensure that their product would be able to move tomarket. Their first cars (SULX 1000-16??) were built to a similar design as the coal fleet of CP
and were equipped with rotary couplers. CN and CP shared the use of these cars as requested
by Sultran and ran on CN as 82 cars sets until sidings and unloading facilities were lengthened.
Many of these cars have been damaged in derailments and have been retired because oftwisted frames. These cars are produced by Intermountain and are available in two different
paint schemes.
When the sulphur market picked up in the 1980’s and CN’s older equipment grew closer toretirement, Sultran ordered 4000 cu ft. cars similar to the Procor cars, but with only two ribs on
the end. By the time these cars (SULX 2000-2359) arrived the sulphur market had cooled off.
However, CN was desperate for equipment to move larger amounts of coal. An agreement wasreached with Sultran to use one or two solid 100 car sets of these newer cars to haul coal. One
unfortunate drawback was that heating coal damaged the interior liners and had to be reapplied on some cars.

Figure 22: North American Railcar – SLUX 3 line)
HO Scale 11-31005002, N Scale 11-11005002

For quite some time, the 4000 cu ft. SULX cars have been mixed with the SULX bathtub cars
with the only requirement being that the rotary couplers are all oriented the same way. Once
CN acquired enough aluminum coal hoppers, many of the steel coal fleet was made available
for other lading. In the early 2000’s, up until the stock market crash in 2008, CN filled out thesulphur fleet with these excess steel coal cars. It was quite common to find CN 196 (black andbrown) and 199 (brown) series cars of various heritage in sulphur service. Not many of thesecars received a liner, if any.
Currently, only former UNPX 102 series bathtub gons, now lettered OFOX with the same car
number, are being used along with the SULX cars. Sultran acquired a number of ex CP bathtub
gons and numbered them in the SULX 3000series.
As the coal business increased, more orders were placed with more than one manufacturer
for the 4000 cu ft. coal gondola. As a result there are now many different versions of the samecar. As this began to happen, it became more difficult to maintain pure sets of equipment. The
lease arrangements also changed and cars had their reporting marks and numbers changed toreflect that. Other than Sultran equipment, the cars that ran as complete sets for the longest
period of time were the CNHX cars built for Ontario Hydro service. The balance of the cars was
lumped together in a pool so it is possible to find any style and number series in any set of
equipment. This fact allows the modeller to purchase a wide variety of the North American
Railcar Corporation models to easily build a train longer than 12 cars for either coal or sulphur
service, or run shorter cuts of cars to move other commodities such as coke, ties, or sulphur
from smaller plants. Don’t forget that coal trains require a double rotary car and make surethe stripes are all oriented the same way throughout the train. Or this will happen!!!

Figure 23: Oops

By Norm Skretting
Norms experience with these cars began in 1972
while working on a gang at Falls Creek, BC on the
Ashcroft Sub, in 1974 on a Gang on the Camrose andAlliance Subs and then in 1975 on a gang again,
working on the Grande Cache, Edson, Foothills andMountain Park Subs. His career with CN really began
in 1979 as an operator at various stations in Alberta,
one of which was Edson. Edson was the away fromhome terminal for Jasper and Edmonton crews aswell as the home terminal for crews working theAlberta Coal Branch. In 1981 he became a Train
Dispatcher and worked all of the territory assigned to the Edmonton dispatching office. As hegained more experience, he was able to work as a Relief Assistant Chief Train Dispatcher,
before moving to Montreal Headquarters to work as a Motive Power Controller and inTechnological Development from 1986 until 1988. He then returned to Edmonton as an
Assistant Chief Train Dispatcher/Manager, Corridor Operations/Manager, crew Utilization andworked as a relief Regional Operations Control Officer. Much of his job as an Operator, Train
Dispatcher and Assistant Chief Train Dispatcher involved coordinating the movement of thecoal and sulphur sets between the mines and unloading destinations.