Manic Monday in Saint John

I was in Saint John on Monday for most of the day and saw a few trains here and there.

At 10 AM the power for CN 405 was still in Island Yard. CN 5634 and 5738 were resting at their usual spot by the shops. It's nice to see SD75s back in Saint John. SW1200 NBSR 3703 is still parked on the other side of the shop building. I wonder why that is not in use any more? CN 7060 was shunting the yard.

I saw a large maintenance of way (MOW) crew at work by the Staples off Russell Street. I shot this little video of the tie crane rolling by with my Canon S3. Sorry for the jerky zooms - I'm not used to zooming with this camera. My video camera is much smoother.
There were a lot of ties beside the track so clearly they were changing them out.

Maintenance equipment near Russell Street in Saint John, NB

At noon the MOW crew was still at work. I talked very briefly with saintjohnrailfan nbsrfan before heading back to work.

On my way out, I saw CN 7038 and NBSR 9803 parked by Irving Paper off Bayside Drive. I parked at the top of River Avenue and ran over to the overpass to take a few shots.

CN 7038 and NBSR 9803 near Irving Paper

When I returned, a woman came out of the house and was curious what I was doing. She said that I was the second person to park there that day and she was getting concerned. I assured her I was taking photos of trains, not of her kids or anything weird like that. OK, maybe taking photos of trains IS weird, but it's a GOOD weird.

On my way out, I noticed some MOW equipment in the siding at Westfield Beach.

NB Southern's Harsco 6700 production/switch tamper

Eastern Maine Railway ballast tamper

See also:

• Video of the ballast tamper in action
• CN maintenance of way in Winnipeg

Vertical Video

I was in Saint John on Thursday. On my way I saw CN 5746 and 2591 sitting in Island Yard at 10 AM. Later, while enjoying the lunch lasagna at Vito's, I saw CN 7010 and rare (to Saint John) CN 4138 shunting along Rothesay Avenue.

We finished our lunch and headed back to the plant. As we were about to turn, I saw NBSR 2610 and CN 7038 shunting the Irving Wallboard plant. The pair was half sticking out of the building itself! I had been wondering where the centerbeam flat empties were, and now I know - they are being loaded inside the building.

I raced to get my camera then hurried up the stairs to the roof of the building. 10 floors is a long way! When I got to the top, I saw the engines were backing onto a string of loaded cars. I noted they had a tank car right behind the engine, presumably from the nearby Irving Paper facility.


I shot some stills and then took video as they crossed Bayside Drive on their way out.




I'm glad I was able to be in the right place to get the shots. It's too bad the sun was against me but you work with what you have! :)

CN 7038 in McAdam

As I mentioned earlier, CN 7038 was in McAdam on Saturday and returned to Saint John on the afternoon eastbound. Here's a little video I took of it shunting near the station in McAdam.

McAdam Today

I decided to go to McAdam today with my two youngest kids. I knew the weather would not be great, but it has been a while since I've been out railfanning and it was time. We arrived at 12:30 and found two units in the yard, NBSR 2612 and CN 7038. I knew the CN GP9 had been there for a while, on the Saint Stephen (South) Job, but it was a surprise to see 2612 there. I understand she had a traction motor fire and was set off Friday night by the westbound freight.


7038 had an alarm bell ringing and her radio was on, so I assume it has some kind of SmartStart device in it to save fuel.

We grabbed some hot dogs at the place next to the Family Restaurant and then came back to witness NBSR 2318 East arrive at 13:00 precisely with 2318, 2317, and 9801.

The three units took the front cars and pushed them back into the west yard. They then waited out on the east side of the yard.




Afterward, 7038 pushed five cars up to the pulp transload facility, then joined up behind the eastbound's power. My kids were providing a running commentary throughout the video!


The train left at 13:43 (without 2612) and I headed to my favourite spot at Harvey Lake to tape them. I decided I would forgo any still shots and do a long pan of the train as it went around the lake. I'm pretty pleased with the results.


After the train left, we threw stones in the water, watched the resident Canada geese, then went back to Fredericton.

I want to give a shout out to Chris Gallant, conductor, who took the time to say hi to me. I'm sure we'll meet again!

CN 7038 in McAdam

Gary Lee shot CN 7038 in McAdam on May 20. You can see it pulling two loaded wallboard cars out of the plant.


Kevin Gaudet saw it on the NB Southern westbound freight on May 18.