Mechanical: higher availability, longer trains

Railway Age, August, 2004

"The concept is pretty fundamental. It's how we execute the plan that counts."

The last decade has certainly been one of revolutionary change at CN. But one revolution the company has passed on is a.c. traction motive power. While it has brought numerous benefits to other Class I's, CN has had good reasons to reject it. "The main one is that our grades are much gentler than most railroads," says Sameh Fahmy, vice president-mechanical, engineering, and supply management. "They're about half the average of other Class I's, and that gives us a natural advantage. We only need two modern d.c. units to power our main line trains."

While eschewing a.c. traction, CN has sculpted its 1,934-unit fleet over the last decade to produce one that is nevertheless modern, highly standardized, and geared to the service requirements of its low-gradient routes. Front line power is provided by 173 GMD SD75Is and 203 GE Dash 9-44CWLs. All have arrived within the last decade and account for about one-third of the main line fleet. A 30-unit Dash 9 order scheduled for delivery this fall will be the last until 2006, when CN expects to purchase 30 more units per year through 2008.

Older, variant, or unreliable power from the CN fleet and the Illinois Central, Wisconsin Central, and Great Lakes Transportation acquisitions has been removed, producing a reliable, standardized stable of high-, medium-, and low-horsepower locomotives geared to the needs of a scheduled railway. This strategy has eliminated almost 900 locomotives since 1997, while CN's revenue grew by 43%. Excluding WC, gross ton-miles per available horsepower has increased by almost 20%.

Says Fahmy, "A lot of what we do is really simple. Running a scheduled railway, we need power we can count on consistently. We average about 95% availability on our high-horsepower main line fleet. Combining higher availability with longer trains running on consistent schedules produces a need for fewer locomotives and crews. The concept is pretty fundamental. It's how we execute the plan that counts."

The motive power efficiencies that have resulted from CN's strict adherence to the scheduled railway service plan have cascaded down to the maintenance level. Excess capacity has been squeezed out through consolidation into fewer shops with higher reliability targets. CN has evolved a three-tiered system to do this. The first line of maintenance is a triangle of three main Locomotive Reliability Centers in Toronto, Chicago, and Winnipeg. Next are the secondary line point shops at Montreal, Memphis, and Edmonton. Finally, there are light servicing facilities at terminals across the system, catering largely to switchers and local power. Fahmy says more consolidation is anticipated.

The CN motive power strategy is mirrored on the car side of the mechanical equation. The efficiencies of the service plan have allowed for a fleet reduction of 24,000 cars since 1997. Recent purchases have contributed to this by simultaneously providing higher capacity, reliability, and utilization.