ABOVE: A CP AC4400CW leads 112 cars of grain on the Outlook Sub across the Qu’Ap- pelle River Dam at Lake Diefenbaker south of Elbow, Saskatchewan, on August 27. LEFT: Mobil Grain power at Bethune, Saskatchewan, includes an ex-Modesto & Empire Traction 70- Tonner.
Satisfied with Mobil Grain, we bailed and headed back to Regina, planning to seek out the rare GMD1s.
probably a good thing given the time of day, and the distance to the motel. Thus, we left for Regina where we would stay for the next three nights. On the way, we stopped and roster shot four more wooden elevators.
Monday, August 26: No rest for the weary! Up again at 0530, and this morn- ing we headed directly for Bethune, where we knew one of the old GE 70- Tonners owned by Mobil Grain for their Last Mountain Railway was assigned. We arrived there shortly before 0700, and got a shot of the that unit and an SD40. Soon people began arriving, so we figured we’d better get on up to Ayles- bury where we thought the “HQ” was lo- cated. When we arrived at about 0730, the place was locked up tight. We berat- ed ourselves for not having asked in Bethune. We waited a few minutes then asked a local who was walking his dog, and he gave us some good info which
sent us speeding back to Bethune. We questioned a chap working at the Bethune facility, and he told us no train today.
Now we were really wracking our
brains for viable options. I called one of my CN contacts, and we chatted about a recent trip of his. I actually started the car a couple of times and was get- ting ready to head back for Regina while we were talking. Suddenly a worker came out, threw his grip on the engine and started to fire it up. Ques- tioning him revealed that he would run north to Chamberlain and lift two cars from the elevator — there was some hope for us after all. He ran light and we dutifully chased and shot, but at Chamberlain (much to our surprise) he kept going. He went to Aylesbury, lifted ten cars and turned back, so naturally we were quite happy. He got to Cham- berlain, switched the elevator in sun, and we followed him back to Bethune.
As we approached Regina, we saw a northbound potash empty on the CP Lanigan Sub. Since there were four el- evators we wanted on this line, includ- ing the first Saskatchewan Pool eleva- tor (at Bulyea), we wheeled about and chased him to Govan, getting three of the four elevators, but not quite in full sun. He had a single widecab and 100 empties, and also made a nice shot in the Qu’Appelle River valley. Finally, once again we turned for Regina and a search for the GMD’s. We hunted high and low, found the yard and many industries they served, but not our quarry. What we did find in an- other “must get” elevator that the one train a day had passed — 15 minutes earlier... Something to try for again on Wednesday. We retired at a reasonably earlier hour, and took a much need rest.
Tuesday, August 27: We leapt out of bed at 0530, and didn’t decide on a plan until we were through with breakfast. Several situations changed overnight, destroying our carefully laid plans. Af- ter discussing and tossing out several ideas, we decided to try for Gardiner Dam, the end of the CP’s Outlook Sub- division just north of Loreburn. It’s a line I’d wanted to do for a while, and this was a good chance. We knew a set of light power left Moose Jaw about 0600, and would go to Gardiner, and
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