Northern New Brunswick, 2006/03/29

On the 29th I went up to northern New Brunswick, and of course saw a few trains on the way. It was a beautiful day, blue sky and sunshine, so the photos turned out.

In Miramichi at 9:45, I found CFMG 6907 on the back track, idling away. The big surprise was at the end of the track, where I found NBEC 1821, 4219 and 4243 fresh from their stint at IRSI in Moncton. I believe 1821 is not operational and 4219 and 4243 are definitely not operational. They provided parts for SFEX 4203 and 4204 a while ago.



Apologies for the last shot - I had to shoot toward the bright sun

For some reason the paint on 4219 is much darker than 4243 or 1821.

A crew was doing work on the track just railway north/west of the station.

I ventured over to the Chatham side of the river and found a ram of tank cars at the Ultramar depot (GATX 75568 to 75584) at 10:00.


NBEC 1818 and 1849 were idling behind the mall at the end-of-track on the Loggieville spur.


NBEC 587, the ore train, was working the smelter at Belledune around 11:20. I dropped by the Chaleur Lumber spur and I saw six centerbeam flat cars there (3 loads, 1 partially loaded).

I heard NBEC 587 still at Belledune at 17:10 and I saw the second unit was CFQC 3000, mainly by the flashing light on top. There was another RS18 leading but I couldn't get the number.

I dropped by the yard in Bathurst and there was no power there, but I heard NBEC 403 get a rollby inspection from someone. Right after that, I saw an MOW crane get off the tracks at Golf Road and call the dispatcher (in French) to tell them they were clear. 403 arrived at 17:35 with NBEC 6901, 6904, 6900, and 1818 from this morning in Miramichi. It was unusual to see three of the four NBEC-lettered SD40s on one train!

Train 403 had 3 chip cars, 12 boxcars, 1 tank cars, 1 86 foot car (HLMX 86182), and the ram of 17 empty tank cars from Ultramar (GATX 75568 to 75584). 34 cars.

I arrived at the VIA station in Miramichi at about 18:45. I talked with the agent there and he said VIA 15 would arrive in about 10 minutes. I decided to try to catch him by UPM on my way out of town. I got stuck behind someone driving at 30km/h (seriously? 30???) but after they turned off I made good time. I made the left at the lights by UPM and saw the headlights on the bridge across the Miramichi river and brought the car to a screeching halt. I hopped out and started taping.. just in time. The engineer gave me a few toots on the way by.

VIA 6429 (Telus) led, and they were deadheading a Skyline car behind the second engine. There were 12 cars in total.

Another great day!