1931 Dominion Atlantic Railway Employee Timetable

There is a scanned copy of the June 21, 1931 Dominion Atlantic Railway employee timetable online at the DAR DPI. I love employee timetables.

In later years the DAR's timetable was combined with CPR's timetable. It looks like it happened between 1968 and 1972, because the April 28, 1968 timetable does not have the DAR lines in it, but the April 18, 1972 employee timetable does.

The Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative (DAR DPI) is a project to make available materials on Canadian Pacific Railway's Dominion Atlantic Railway, which ran from Yarmouth to Windsor Junction in Nova Scotia. Have a look at their site!

RS18s

NBEC 1857 in Miramichi, February 9, 2005

NBEC 1857 is in the ERS shops getting ready to depart for "a better life" elsewhere.

NBEC 1849 is in Sept Isles, but is due to be retired when it returns. There are some buyers interested in the RS18s.

There are a few other RS18s around Campbellton that need work before they can leave, along with C424 NBEC 4235.

There might have been a plow extra yesterday east of Chandler to deal with the big snow drifts. The Chaleur didn`t make it to Gaspe on Friday.

Bathurst Power Today

Michel Boudreau told me the power for Saturday's ore train was CN 5343 and 5241. The same units are being used for the Bathurst switcher, as it is only shunting twice a week. The rest of the time, shunting is done by the mainline train.

He says trains 402 and 403 are no more, replaced by 568 and 569. Train 569 had CN 5373, CFMG 6909 and CFMG 6910 with no cars. They did a pickup in Bathurst and Michel heard on the scanner that they were going to work Beresford and Petit Rocher before going to Campbellton.

Here's Michel's video of 569 arriving and leaving.

Train Magazines For Sale

I have a collection of train magazines that I am selling, here. There are many Model Railroader magazines, some Trains, some Railroad Model Craftsman, and a few others. Many of the magazines were my dad's, from the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Prices? Any magazine before 1980 sells for 50 cents, anything after costs a dollar. I can do a really good deal for multiple magazines if you are interested. I just want to get rid of these. :)

Currently there are 49 Model Railroader, 56 Railroad Magazine*, 8 Trains, 5 Railroad Model Craftsman, and 5 others.

Follow the link and look at the spreadsheet. There are tabs along the bottom to switch between magazines. Send me an email (stevetraingeek@gmail.com) with what you would like, and I will get back to you.

First come, first served.

* Railroad Magazine was the precursor to Railfan & Railroad.

NBEC SD40 Spotting

Michael Da Costa (aka trainmaster_1) spotted two former CFMG units on CN 363 at Beare in Ontario. Train 363 had CN 2254 and 2613 doing the work, with the two SD40s dead-in-tow.





Check out the rest of his photos.

NBEC SD40s On The Run

NBEC 6900 in Belledune, May 26, 2008

NBEC 6900 left this morning, and I understand NBEC 6905 is next. Based on what I reported earlier, that means only 6907, 6909 and 6910 will be left.

NB Southern at Night

Matt posted a night video of the NB Southern westbound leaving Saint John. It had NBSR 9803 and 3 other units, with 33 cars. The engineer was really laying on the horn!

NBEC Power Update

CFMG 6903 leads train 403 out of Miramichi on January 29, 2007.

CFMG 6903 and NBEC 6904 are heading out of Campbellton tonight to CN's shops in Woodcrest, Illinois.

You might wonder what will be left, given the recent departure of 3 others.

What's left: 6900, 6905, 6907, 6909, 6910.

Michel Boudreau noted that 6905 and 6910 were on mainline freight train 402/403 through Bathurst, and CN 566/567 (Bathurst local) had CN 5343 and NBEC 6900. Presumably 6907 and 6909 are on the Quebec side.

The Chaleur at Grand Cascapedia

Another one that didn't make the Chaleur video cut... the train going away from me at Cascapedia.

The Chaleur in Gaspe

cfmgd aka Jean-Rafael Parent shot the Chaleur in Gaspe yesterday (Saturday). This video shows the train arriving at the station, then backing out. After turning on the wye, the train backs to the station. Finally, he shot it just outside Gaspe on its way back to Matapedia. Nice job!

More CFMG SD40s Leaving

CFMG 6906 leading train 402 out of Belledune, 2007/09/04

CFMG 6902, 6906, and 6908 are due to leave Campbellton tonight for good. They are going to the CN shops in Woodcrest, Illinois for disposal.

This follows the sighting of 6901 in Woodcrest a few days ago.

Escuminac

As I mentioned, I am editing a DVD featuring VIA's Chaleur. Here's one clip that didn't make the cut, a roadside shot at Escuminac.

NBEC 6901 Gone

Loconotes is reporting that ex-NBEC 6901 arrived at the CN-IC shops in Woodcrest, Illinois and was placed in the storage line. Thanks to Ken Lanovich for the report, and to Stephen Reeves for passing it along.

Last VIA Stainless For The Winter

It's the first sign of spring on the rails! Rumour has it that the "last" stainless steel set of cars on VIA's Ocean will depart Halifax on Saturday March 21. Looking at VIA's web site, you can book a triple bedroom up to then. Triple bedrooms only exist on the stainless steel cars. You can't book a triple again until late November 2009.

VIA takes one set of Renaissance equipment out at a time for upgrades and renovations each winter, and replaces it with a stainless steel set. Many of us prefer the look of the stainless equipment... I know my video camera has trouble focusing on the green Renaissance cars for some reason.

What do you think... Renaissance or stainless?

Great Snowplow Videos

cfmgd posted two great snowplow videos.

The first has a Jordan spreader pushed by Dash 8 CN 2445 on March 4 2009 through Sacré Coeur, Quebec. It goes through the crossing all folded up, then unfolds one wing and plows the siding.


The day before, he caught a self-propelled snowplow (a "broom") plowing the same area.


Well done / tres bien!

NBEC Update

I see NBEC / CFMG SD40s are still on train 402 / 403. Chris M posted this video of NBEC / CN 402 on its way to Bathurst last Wednesday. It had CFMG 6903 and 6910 pulling a mere 8 cars.


cfmgd noted CFMG 6908 in Mont Joli last Sunday, together with a few QNS&L locomotives. He also saw a train with CFMG 6906, CN 5241 and CN 5245 in Sacré Coeur, Quebec recently.

A Railfan To-Do List

I've been thinking about what I'd like to do for railfanning this summer, and this is what I've come up with so far.

Chase the Chaleur: I did that back in August 2007, and it was so much fun that I'd like to do it again. It makes for a very long day but the photos, video, and experience is worth it.


Chase the Oceans: I've done that a few times with the Fredericton Gang, and I'd like to do it this summer... preferably while the one stainless steel set is still around.


Have a Cab Ride: Somewhere, anywhere, preferably outside a yard.


Shoot a Train on the Salmon River Trestle: I've had that privilege twice now.


What would you like to railfan this summer?

Chaleur Video Progress

I've been editing the footage I shot of the Chaleur in August 2007. I intend to produce another DVD, sort of a companion to VIA In The Maritimes, as a fundraiser for the New Brunswick Railway Museum. I have well over an hour of video that I intend to edit down to 30-40 minutes. On the same DVD, I will include the War Brides Train as well as some general VIA video I took after the first DVD.

Here are two scenes that will definitely be on the DVD. The first is the Chaleur leaving Matapedia.


Also, the Chaleur near Caplan.


While searching for my Chaleur videos, I found this one by Bernard Babin at the exact same spot near Caplan, from a slightly different vantage point.

CN Charlottetown Yard

Here's another photo I won off eBay. This one features CN's Charlottetown yard, especially the turntable. Note the roundhouse to the right and the caboose in the background. The photo was taken in July 1986.

CEMR Units Leaving the Windsor & Hantsport

CEMR 4012 (in Central Manitoba Railway black and grey) and CEMR 4013 (in CN stripes) are leaving Nova Scotia today. They were brought up to Windsor Junction on Thursday, to Dartmouth on Friday, and are on CN train 407 this morning on their way to Moncton. 4012 and 4013 have been non-operable for some time. 4012 and 4013 are both remanufactured GP9s.

Thanks to David Othen for the excellent commentary.

NBSR Switching

I was in Saint John very briefly at 15:30 on Thursday afternoon (March 5) and caught NBSR 3702 (SW1200) and 9802 (GP38-3) switching the west end of the Dever Road yard.

On my way back to Fredericton, I called to find out when the eastbound train was coming through and lo! there was no eastbound on Thursday. Apparently there was no westbound freight train on Wednesday night, so no return train.

I'm told this has been happening fairly frequently. I understand traffic is way down on the MM&A so that may have a lot to do with it. Kevin Burkholder reported a large NBSR eastbound freight on Tuesday March 4 with 4 units and a 45 car pickup leaving Mattawamkeag, Maine at 11:50. Perhaps the cars are being sent every other day instead of daily.

CN 3104 in Toronto

Here's a roster shot from a slide I purchased from eBay. This shows CN 3104 in Toronto - not sure where in Toronto but the VIA equipment around it might indicate Spadina.


CN 3104 was purchased as part of a lot of 30 units (3100-3129) in 1959. This series was equipped with a steam line pipe (but not a steam generator) so they could be used in passenger service. (source)

Railpictures.net has one photo of CN 3104, at Windsor Ontario on May 21, 1981.

Nice CN 121 Video

Matt aka saintjohnrailfan posted a nice video of CN 121 leaving Moncton with CN 2405, 5530,and 5632. The train had a fair amount of non-container traffic on the head end. Nice to see a Dash-8 leading!


Dave aka nbsrfan was there and taped the same train. Here's Dave's video of CN 305 and 121. I'm not sure I like the 30 second intro but you can skip past that. ;)

Kevin's Blog

You should mosey over to see Kevin Gaudet's blog. He has been posting some great photos and videos recently.

Track VIA Trains

There's a new feature on VIA's web site. You can see arrival and departure times now. Punch in a train number and it will tell you the current expected arrival and departure times. It supposedly is for corridor trains only but trains 14 and 15 (the Ocean) work, as do 16 and 17 (the Chaleur).

Now I won't have to call the VIA line. :)

VIA 6765

In my very limited number board collection, I have a board from VIA 6765. 6765 was built in 1958 by the Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) for CN as one of 6 in class MPA-18, with serial number 82274. It was transferred to VIA when CN's passenger business became VIA Rail.

I asked my good friend David Morris if he had any photos of 6765. David is a great resource for passenger train information. He found that 6765 was never on the Atlantic but did lead the Scotian at least once, as well as train 18.

Here is 6765 at the head of train 12, the Scotian, at Sackville NB on May 12, 1977. Note the CN logo on the nose, an indication that this was the transition era where VIA was a unit of CN, before CP transferred its passenger equipment to VIA. Also note the CN RS18 as the third unit.

The complete consist was VIA 6765, VIA 6625, CN 3119, 9640, 5419, 5444, 5505, 5722, SOIREE, 1366, and GREENRIDGE.

David also found a photo of 6765 leading train 18 in "Cape" (wherever that is) on April 27, 1980. Here the VIA logo has replaced the CN logo on the nose. This is a shorter train, but notice the dome car.

The consist was VIA 6765, 15410, 9616, 5440, 515, and 5489.

VIA 6765 was retired between 1987 and 1989. As it happens, she survives today at the Canadian Railway Museum in Delson, Quebec. Here is a photo I took of it in 2005 in its original CN livery.