Saint John sightings 2006/03/04

As I mentioned earlier my daughter and I went to the Saint John model railroad show. We got into Saint John just before 11:00, with not a word on the scanner. I drove by Island Yard and saw CN 5757 (SD75I) and CN 2689 (C44-9W) by the engine house. There were no GP9s in sight, so I assume they were out on locals.

The show itself was very good and I got to see a bunch of people I haven't seen in a while.

After the show, I crossed the Courtenay Bay causeway, intending to run down Bayside Drive toward the Island Yard. As I crossed the causeway, I saw a local returning from the Irving refinery area with CN 7015 and 7000 (both GP9s) leading a tank car train. They had a few bright blue boxcars on the tail end. With little traffic and a lucky green light, I got ahead of them before they got to Thorne Avenue/Loch Lomond Road. I beat it down to Staples and waited for them there.. but they didn't show!

After a few minutes, I backtracked up Bayside Drive to find them switching the Irving lubricant facility at the corner of Mt Pleasant Avenue and Bayside. The rest of the train was under Mt Pleasant/Union. As I watched, they pulled three tank cars out of the facility, then slammed them into the rest of the train. It was quite a bang! This was at about 13:58.


I figured they would be a few minutes, so I zipped down to the west end of Island Yard. There, I found CN 7010 pushing six NBSR flatcars with white trailers on them up to the piggyback ramp. The brakeman was setting the handbrakes on the cars when I shot this:

You can see that there was a bit of snow and not much light.

I also shot this beat-up gondola at the Strescon siding.


14:10: I returned to the corner of Rothesay Avenue and Russell Street to find the CN 7015/7000 local approaching the crossing by Staples. I was the second-last car through the crossing before the lights started flashing, so I pulled over and jumped out to get the video. They ended up pulling about four tank cars across the street before stopping, coupling up to a few tank cars in the yard, then pulling the rest of the way into the yard. They had 10 tank cars and 8 boxcars, including 4 bright blue Pan Am Maine Central cars.


I went across Reversing Falls to the NB Southern Dever Road yard, where I saw three switchers (NBSR 3702/3701/3703) assembling a train at 14:35. Tim Dryden was already there, so we chatted for a few minutes before the green goats took a train east to Island Yard. It had a mixed consist including about 8 single-stack container flats on the tail end.

I noticed an ancient MOW car by the former train station in Dever yard, so I drove up and took a shot. It's accessible, as the road is used for a recycling drop spot.


With that, I went home in the flurries.