NBSR Oil Train With CP Power

Several New Brunswick railfans caught the NBSR unit oil train coming into New Brunswick on NB Southern Railway tracks on July 2. The great thing about this train was that it used run-through Canadian Pacific Railway power... with a great leader.

Jody Robinson was first up with these great shots of the train at McAdam.


The train had Iowa, Chicago and Eastern engine ICE 6450 on the head end. ICE 6450 is an SD40-2 built in September 1979 as Oneida and Western OWTX 9956. It became a BC Rail BCOL 749 and then ICE 6450, "City of Welcome". I don't know if the engine refers to Welcome, Minnesota or Welcome, North Carolina!

What a rare sight in New Brunswick!

Behind ICE 6450 was CP 5926 and CP 5928, two more SD40-2 engines. I've never seen CP 5926 but I did see CP 5928 once, trailing on a train through Pense, Saskatchewan back in 2008.

It sure is nice to see Canadian Pacific Railway engines in McAdam again.

The fourth engine was an MMA engine, MMA 3603, a GE C30-7 built as ATSF 8016 in 1977.


Now on to the videos. Gary Lee shot a handheld video of the train leaving McAdam.


Next up was Brian Barchard shooting the train through Harvey. His video combines three NBSR trains, two from June 30 and the July 2 oil train starting at 5:17.


Matt aka saintjohnrailfan shot it at Welsford at the first highway crossing. Nice wave from the engineer! I noticed that there were several doors open on the MM&A engine; maybe it was having mechanical issues.


Dave Dineen aka nbsrfan was also at Welsford and shot it there, at my favourite spot in Grand Bay, and entering the yard in Saint John. Here they all are in one video.


Great shots all around for a great train. Thanks to Jody, Gary, Brian, Matt and Dave for the photos and video. Well done.

August 18 at Belle Plaine, Saskatchewan

On August 18 my youngest son and I left Regina, Saskatchewan and went west to Belle Plaine, almost midway between Regina and Moose Jaw. There is a spur at Belle Plaine to Kaolin, the potash mine. I had always been interested in Belle Plaine due to this spur and the little yard there.


The Kaolin mine. It is hard to get a sense of scale. The piles on the right are about five times higher than a locomotive.


The yard at Belle Plaine, looking west.

My son and I spent a little time outdoors in the sweltering heat before we retreated to the car. After a while, I heard the RTC and a conductor talking about a meet at Belle Plaine. Yay! At 14:19, CP 5914 West rolled into the siding to wait for two eastbounds.




I drove up to the head end for the meet, and took another shot of the consist. Note the MOW vehicle on a flatcar two cars behind the engines.

The consist was CP 5914, CP 6039, CP 5959, and CEFX 1044.

The first eastbound train (container train 106) blasted through at 15:06, with CP 8555 leading and CP 8507 pushing hard on the rear. I hopped in the car and headed east to Pense, hoping to catch the train in a shot with the grain elevator. Alas, I was a bit too late to make that so I settled for a few distance shots at 15:17.

I was trying to be artistic here.


One of the great things about the Prairies is that you can see the whole train, even if it's a hundred cars long.

The second eastbound, hot on the heels of the first at 15:22, was led by CP 9548 and CP 5928. I set up with the sun at my back and composed the shot with the grain elevator, thinking this would make a great picture. I'd say it didn't.

In retrospect I should have been on the "lead" side of the elevator, so the elevator's shadow didn't fall on the engines. Live and learn. I believe the train was CP 212, and it had 5 platforms and 13 cars.

I drove around the elevator to take a few shots from the other side. Looking up the track, I saw a freight leaving a siding after 9548 went by! A bonus train... CP 6007 East at 15:31. The power was CP 6007, CP 3103, CP 1611, and CP 8505.