The roster pages that followed are intended to be an all-time roster of the diesel locomotives of the Canadian National Railways system. It includes the diesel locomotives of Canadian National (CN) plus subsidiary companies or other organizations including Grand Trunk Western (GTW), Grand Trunk (GT), Central Vermont (CV), Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific (DW&P), Bessemer & Lake Erie (BLE), Elgin, Joliet & Eastern (EJE), Duluth, Missabe & Ironton (DMIR), British Columbia Railway (BCOL), New Brunswick East Coast (NBEC), Ottawa Central (OCRR), Chicago, Central & Pacific (CC&P), Illinois Central (IC) and Iowa Northern (IANR).
The roster is broken down into five segments:
Build dates and builder’s numbers are generally only provided with the as-built road no. of the locomotive. Likewise retirement dates and dispositions are only provided for the road no. that a locomotive wore when it was retired.
Within the roster abbreviations are used to identify Canadian National and railways in its system (as shown above). Other railways are generally identified by their full name.
The roster is intended to be a living document and will be updated as the roster changes and as additional information becomes available.
The five roster summary pages allow you to access detailed number-by-number information on CN’s diesel locomotives. Clicking on the link for any number series on a summary page will take you to the detailed information for those locomotives.
If an individual locomotive road no. appears as a link (blue underline) this indicates that at least one photograph of the locomotive is available. Click on the link to access the photographs.
This roster has been compiled using many sources including:
- Magazines:
- Branchline
- X2200 South
- Websites:
- Don Strack’s Union Pacific roster pages https://utahrails.net/up-diesel-roster/up-diesel-roster-index.php
- The Diesel Shop https://www.thedieselshop.us/
- Illinois-central.net
- The Santa Fe Railway Modelling and Historical Society https://sfrhms.org/resources/
- https://www.trainweb.us/wisrail/wcroster.htm
- nsdash9.com
- Books:
- Canadian Trackside Guide (various editions)
- Ainsworth, Jeff, CN Motive Power Review Pictorial as of June 30, 1999, Monte Vista Publishing, LLC, 2002
- Del Grosso, Robert C., Burlington Northern 1992 Annual, Hyrail Production, 1993
- Hyde, Frederick W., Soo Line 1993 Review, Hyrail Productions, 1993
- Karam Jr., Duane and Ainsworth, Jeff, BC Rail Motive Power Review and Equipment Pictorial 1984 – 1999, Monte Vista Publishing, 1999
- Hayden, Bob, Model Railroader Cyclopedia – Volume 2 Diesel Locomotives, Kalmbach Publishing Co., 1980
- Marre, Louis A. and Pinkepank, Jerry A.., The Contemporary Diesel Spotter’s Guide, Kalmbach Publishing Co., 1989
- Marre, Louis A. and Withers, Paul K., The Contemporary Diesel Spotter’s Guide Year 2000 Edition, Withers Publishing, 2000
- McDonnell, Greg, Field Guide to Modern Diesel Locomotives, Kalmbach Publishing Company, 2002
- McDonnell, Greg, Locomotives – The Modern Diesel & Electric Reference (Second Edition), Boston Mills Press, 2015
- McDonnell, Greg, Locomotives – The Modern Diesel & Electric Reference, Boston Mills Press, 2008
- Pinkepank, Jerry A., Diesel Spotter’s Guide, Kalmbach Publishing Co., 1967
- Pinkepank, Jerry A., The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide, Kalmbach Publishing Co., 1973
- Wagner, F. Hol Jr. and Chornell, Dave. G (editors), Burlington Northern 1975 – 76 Annual , Motive Power Services, 1976
- Del Grosso, Robert C., Burlington Northern 1980 – 1991 Annual, Hyrail Productions, 1991