McAdam Railfanning 2006/09/30

I took my kids to McAdam to see the NB Southern eastbound freight. We couldn't leave Fredericton until noon since my oldest son had bowling. Typically the freight arrives in McAdam between 1 and 3 PM and heads east to Saint John about an hour later.

We arrived in McAdam just before 1 PM, and there were no engines in the yard. There were some freight cars scattered about, and a line of MOW equipment by the shed, but no power.

One of NBSR's cranes


A closeup of "Allie's Little Green Giant"


Another piece of NBSR MOW equipment


A tamper?


Two wee MOW vehicles.

I assumed the freight had not yet arrived, so I decided to carry on to the St. Croix river to try to catch the freight crossing the border. I set up my tripod by the river, and sat down to wait under the partly cloudy sky. The two oldest kids played in the van and I carried baby Jamie around. A couple of cars pulled up on the American side of the river and started unloading canoes and gear, presumably for a fishing expedition. I didn't hear a peep on the scanner.

The railway bridge over the St. Croix River.


Canoe time! The rail line is just behind them.

By 2 PM I had enough of this, so we headed back to McAdam. By then there were a few people around the station, so we went inside to see what was new. I spoke with one of the people working on the station and he told me the freight came through at NOON. Darn it! We talked a bit about times and it seems I missed the freight leaving McAdam by about.. oh.. 5-10 minutes. What can you do?

He gave me a tour of the ground floor of the station and I present some photos here for your pleasure. The station interior is looking really good. I am very impressed with the work they have done to date and their plans for the future. Visit their web site at www.mcadamnb.com for more information on the station.

The snack bar in the McAdam station.


Part of the dining room in the McAdam station.

In hindsight, the lack of yard power should have been a clue that the freight had picked up the resident GP38 to take to Saint John for servicing.

Oh, and my prediction for the power on the St. Stephen excursion train was wrong. NBSR 9801 was the power on that train. I hope to have some photos of the train in Harvey and McAdam for your viewing pleasure soon, courtesy of David Morris.