NB Southern Update

There are some good photos and video available of the new NB Southern leased power now, plus a few run-through engines!

Jody Robinson sent me these two snaps from McAdam, NB from Sunday February 12. First up are two run-through engines, MEC 380 and 381. Both of these engines are GP40s but MEC 380 is unusual as it is a high-hood GP40. You can't see that from this photo, alas.


Also on the freight were the two leased SD40-2 engines, HLCX 6200 and HLCX 6318. You can see that they now have the bay windows fitted. I think they give a bit more visibility and are warmer than the standard windows. 6318 has her nose chevron stripes now.


Jody says that traffic on the St. Stephen subdivision has picked up quite a bit, with a daily train every weekday with good size trains to St. Stephen and the Woodland mill in Maine. Good news. Thanks Jody for the news and the photos.

Matt aka Saintjohnrailfan got out to Enniskillen today to catch the westbound freight. As it happens, it had HLCX 6318 on the point with the aforementioned MEC 380 second and NBSR 2319 trailing. You can catch a glimpse of the high hood on 380. Great snow action!


Dave Dineen aka NBSRfan was out on February 9 to shoot both the eastbound and westbound freights. Each train had one of the leased Helm SD40s on it. It's a typical quality video from Dave.


It kinda makes me want to be back in New Brunswick to shoot the mean green trains!

More Photos of 6200

Dave Dineen posted some great photos of freshly-painted HLCX 6200 in Saint John. Please view his album.

UPDATE: He also posted a video of his chase of HLCX 6318 / HLCX 911 / HLCX 6200 - all leased power.

HLCX 6200, Repainted

Here it is! I don't see the chevrons on the rear, nor the usual bay windows that NB Southern uses, but otherwise it looks complete. I think the white lettering under 6200 says "SD40-2".

I'm told it was on the westbound freight train tonight. I'm guessing HLCX 6318 will get a new coat of paint very soon.

Photo of HLCX 6318

Jody Robinson shot HLCX 6318 on the eastbound freight train on Sunday evening, January 15. It sure looks cold and dark there!


It looks like one of the ex-UP Helm units is behind 6318 and an NBSR GP38 is ahead of it.

I understand HLCX 6318 was to lead but the train crew couldn't get it to talk to the SBU (Sense and Brake Unit, the "FRED"/"EOT" device on the last car of the train). Maybe next time.

Thanks for sharing, Jody!


In other news, I'm told HLCX 6200 is being repainted into John Deere NB Southern Railway green and yellow. I guess it was too ugly!

HLCX 6200 Arrives

Several people went out on January 8 to shoot HLCX 6200 as part of train CN 406 en route to Saint John.

First, Matt aka Saintjohnrailfan shot it in Rothesay near the station... using his tried-and-true Picture-in-Picture technique. Very nice.


SD40-2fan shot it a bit closer to Saint John, in three locations.


Oh, and Brockrailfan shot it on a CN train in Belleville, Ontario... probably CN 308. It's in the video at about the 3:30 mark.


Barbarysheep1 was shooting in the same location. His video is here and is pretty much the same, except for some reason he seemed to have some hair on the lens. HLCX 6200 is just after the 4:20 mark.

Hopefully HLCX 6200 will get right to work on the New Brunswick Southern Railway, and HLCX 6318 will arrive soon!

NBSR SD40-2 Update

HLCX 6200 is on the move on train 308. CN 308 departed Joffre, Quebec at 08:05 AST and was in Edmundston this afternoon at 15:35, so it should get to Moncton before midnight. If all goes well, HLCX 6200 should be on train 406 to Saint John on Saturday.

NBSR SD40-2 Update

HLCX 6200 arrived in Joffre, Quebec today on train CN 310. Tomorrow it will go out on CN 308 to Moncton, then CN 406 to Saint John likely either Friday or Saturday, depending on when 308 arrives in Moncton.

HLCX 6318 is still in Toronto, according to CN's tracing system.

Here's a video of the two engines northbound through Illinois on a CN train, taken December 27.

Thanks to John and Ron for the information and Gerald for the link to the video.

NB Southern SD40 Update

The two "new" SD40-2 engines for the New Brunswick Southern Railway, HLCX 6200 and HLCX 6318, arrived in Toronto, Ontario Thursday morning, December 29. They had been traced through Effingham, Illinois on December 27 in the afternoon.

They are now traveling via CN and they may end up on CN 406 tomorrow (Tuesday) into Saint John.

EDIT: Well, that didn't happen... maybe on the weekend.

More Details on New NBSR Locomotives

More details have emerged on the "new" locomotives being leased by the New Brunswick Southern Railway. The two engines are HLCX 6200 and 6318, both SD40-2 engines being leased from Helm Financial Services. The engines were delivered by the Alton and Southern Railroad to CSX in St. Louis.

A CSX trace shows them in Duquoin Illinois at 07:50 on December 24, waybilled for Saint John, NB.

Joe Ferguson shot them in Duqoin on December 24. I encourage you to click on the link to the left or on the photo below to see the full image that Joe Ferguson took.

HLCX 6200 and 6318 - photo by Joe Ferguson - www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2852583

HLCX 6200 is ex Chicago and Northwestern 6822. At one time it had the CNW yellow and black livery before being painted into the hideous purple and blue HLCX livery. There are plenty of photos of HLCX 6200 online. HLCX 6318 also has many photos online.

I hope they are repainted when they arrive in the Maritimes, but given that the other Helm leasers are still wearing the ex-Union Pacific colours, I'm not holding my breath.

What do you think of the Helm colours?

Thanks to Jeremy and Dave Dineen, Jeremy and John J. for the news.

Passenger Trains at McGivney

"Back in the day", McGivney, NB was a happening place. It was where the CN Miramichi subdivision (McGivney - Newcastle) and the CN Nashwaak subdivision (McGivney - Fredericton) met the CN Napadogan subdivision (Moncton - Edmundston). Freight and passenger trains rolled through on the Napadogan sub, while local freights went north and south on the other two subdivisions. In time, the Miramichi and Nashwaak subdivisions were abandoned, and all that remains is the Napadogan subdivision with its occasional freight trains.

Danny McCracken noted that the book "History of Boiestown" says the last passenger train between Newcastle and Fredericton returned on January 19, 1961 with CN RDC-3 D354.

Here are a few shots of passenger trains that called on McGivney.

At one time the Napadogan subdivision hosted RDC service. On August 28, 1976 David Morris shot train 619 at McGivney. For whatever reason, this particular train had conventional power on the head end with an RDC on the tail end.

CN 3617 (RS-18)
CN 15424 (steam generator)
CN 5382 (coach)
CN 6200 (RDC-2)
I find it strange that there was a steam generator car on the train in August!

For about six months, VIA ran the Ocean over the Napadogan subdivision due to a landslide in Quebec. David caught train 14 at McGivney on February 12, 1977.

6536 (FP9A)
6632 (F9B)
6534 (FP9A)
9626 (baggage)
9483 (baggage-dormitory)
5434 (coach)
5583 (coach)
5644 (coach)
757 (cafe-lounge)
5705 (Dayniter)
1343 (diner)
SOIREE
1178 (sleeper GREENBRIER)
1166 (sleeper GREENING)

Since the cessation of passenger service on the Napadogan, the only passenger trains that can be seen at McGivney are the occasional Ocean detours. David and I shot the westbound Ocean, VIA 15, on July 10, 2005.


I shot the eastbound Ocean at the west end of McGivney siding on September 14, 2008.

This may be one of my last photos of VIA 6400, given its involvement in the recent derailment.

Who knows? Maybe groups like Transport Action can get the various levels of government to increase passenger rail service in New Brunswick, and McGivney could get regular passenger service again. Hope springs eternal!

EDIT: Added Danny's note.

Sunday Night Railfanning

I was out Sunday night (Oct 18) to see a friend at VIA's Union Station. That didn't work out, but I did manage to see a few trains.

First I went to CN Subway to try to catch the Canadian as it came in. As I arrived, a westbound roared by at 20:04 with CN 8824 and IC 6100. I set up the tripod and put the video camera into "night mode". Soon enough a headlight was visible to the east, but it was not the Canadian

It had CN 2531 on the point, with a BC Rail Dash 8 and another BC Rail unit (an SD40 or SD40-2) trailing. There were a lot of loaded paper products cars in this train.

As the train rolled on by, I saw another headlight to the east, and the train ended up rolling up right in front of me. This one had IC 6200 and CN 5245.

With my view blocked, and time getting short, I figured I should head to the station. It turned out that the Canadian had arrived at the station almost an hour early. I wandered around the station looking for my friend, but I never saw him.

After a while, I left and headed over toward Symington Yard before heading home. I saw and shot an eastbound near Beach Junction with CN 5556 and CN 5534 for power. I last saw 5556 by the Prairie Dog Central.


I heard there were two westbounds ready to leave the yard but time was growing late, so I headed home.

EDIT: Added second video