Friday's Trains

On Friday afternoon I drove from Halifax to Moncton. I tried to time it so I could catch VIA 14 (the Ocean) somewhere between Truro and Halifax. I looked at Enfield but didn't find any angles I really liked, so I made my way to Elmsdale amongst some very bad drivers. I parked on the Elmsdale Road near where it crossed the tracks, and tried to find a good location. There is a bridge there over the stream, but there is no good place to shoot eastbound trains from. I ended up walking to the former station, and as I was getting my camera out, I heard the train. Quickly I took a shot as they blasted by.

The engineer gave me an extra toot as they passed.

After that, it was back on the highway and off to Moncton. As I neared Moncton I heard CN 539 call the RTC to say they were heading out to Amherst. The RTC said they would have to stop at "Kinsac" and get further orders. I was confused because Kinsac is near Dartmouth! I eventually figured out that he said "Painsec" with a French accent.

I took the Shediac Road (route 134) exit and headed north to the tracks. There CN 9584 was waiting at Painsec West, just west of the crossing, for their light.


It looked like they might be a while, so I went to the actual Painsec Junction where the Point du Chene spur branches off to the north. I had never been there before. There's not a lot to see - the two tracks of the main and siding, and the Point du Chene line branching off into the wilderness.

In due time the CN foreman gave up his block and CN 539 got their orders to proceed. They rolled by with their two engines and two freight cars.


I proceeded to Gordon Yard to take inventory of the units there. Two GP40s were shunting in the yard (CN 9468 and CN 9433), which was nice to see because I don't see GP40s very often in Winnipeg.

That was the end of the evening for me, and probably the end of my railfanning in the Maritimes for this trip. Thanks for reading!