The Road to Gaspe

David Morris and I have been planning our Excellent Gaspe Adventure for quite some time. The plan was to chase the Ocean up to Campbellton, stay overnight at Tide Head, then pick up the Chaleur at Matapedia Saturday morning and chase it all the way to Gaspe and back. Sunday was set aside for CN freights.

We set off for Rogersville mid-afternoon Friday. We called VIA Rail and the lady told us that VIA 15 was 30 minutes late leaving Truro, so we knew we had lots of time. We arrived at Rogersville around 18:15 and I called Luc Doiron to see if he was around. We went to the station and Luc showed up, so we had a good chat... until VIA 15 roared by!! We didn't even have our cameras out of the van! Oooops. We ran for the van and took off after them. At least we noticed the VIA train was headed by repainted VIA 6400.

We arrived in Miramichi before them. I took a few shots of NBEC 1818 and 1840 by the crew shack, and then I shot the Ocean arriving at the NBEC yard at 19:00. We took some photos of them at the station, then shot them leaving the station before heading for Bathurst.

Notice the new reflective tape along the frame.





Listening to the scanner told us that the Ocean was by Nepigisuit Junction before we got to Bathurst, so we elected to bypass Bathurst and head for Jacquet River. We heard them report the Beresford mileboard just as we passed the Beresford exit, so we knew it would be close. I exited at Jacquet River, dropped David at the station platform and headed for the causeway. Fortunately, they did the flag stop there so I had time to set up my tripod.

I keep re-learning the same lesson over and over again. The lesson is: take video or take photos. Doing both is a recipe for disaster. The two shots I took were both blurry, and the video, while OK, could have been better. Here it is:


After that, I picked David up and we tore off to Campbellton. They were by Dalhousie Junction before we even reached Dalhousie, and in fact they were into Campbellton before we were. We took a few time exposures before heading off to bed for the big Gaspe trip Saturday.



I took a few for fun while the train rolled by:


Here's the consist of the Ocean for those who note these things:
6400, 6432, 7004, 7223, 7232, 7200, 7108, 7227, 7316, 7520, 7303, 7402, 7314, 7515, 7508, 7525, 7503, 7516, 7601, Chateau Salaberry (8226), Assiniboine Park (8702).

After this, the Gaspe adventure began. Part 1, part 2, and part 3.