RS-18s in the 1970s

Here are a few slides I purchased showing CN RS-18 locomotives in the 1970s.

The RS-18 was built by Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) as the Canadian version of the Alco RS-11. These locomotives had an 251B diesel engine under the long hood powering the traction motors driving all four axles. Just over 350 were produced, mostly for CN.

The top slide shows CN 3858 in Moncton, New Brunswick in “Easter 1975” as the slide mount says. This locomotive was rebuilt in the same year into an RSC-14 (see below) and became CN 1761.

CN 3838 was rolling through Sydney, Nova Scotia when this slide was shot in January 1976. That red building in the background looks like a scale house.

CN ordered its RS-18 locomotives with the long hood as the front. This was contrary to CP’s preference.

Here’s a shadowed shot of CN 3729 in Halifax, Nova Scotia on November 4, 1975. Sister CN 3629 is connected to it, and “big Alco” C-630M CN 202x can be seen on the adjacent track.

Just One More Thing

Here’s a “bonus shot”, a photograph showing CN 1762 in Charlottetown, PEI on March 8, 1978. CN rebuilt 38 RS-18 locomotives into RSC-14 locomotives like 1762, derating the locomotive to 1400 horsepower, and equipping them with “A1A” three axle trucks salvaged from scrapped RSC-13 and RSC-24 locomotives, for use on light branch lines.

RSC-14 locomotives roamed all over the Maritimes and even served at Port-aux-Basques Newfoundland at the standard gauge yard there.

CN 1762 is still on Prince Edward Island, on display in Kensington by the historic stone station. She is mentioned in my book Diesels on Prince Edward Island.