Inside the Dever Road Shops

I was in New Brunswick last week and I had the opportunity for a quick tour of NB Southern's Dever Road shops.

Outside the shops, HLCX 6315 was parked with NBSR 3703 parked on an adjacent track giving it a boost.


The battery cables were a bit larger than what you would use for your car! I was in 6315's cab for a few minutes and I have never seen such a bare-bones cab. It had the control stand and two chairs and that was it. No desk, no hot plate, no fridge, and no electronics of any sort other than a speedometer. Amazingly, 6315 led the westbound freight the next evening after some frantic equipment installation!

There was only one engine inside the shops, Maine Northern 9801.


This was the first time I've seen it in its Maine Northern lettering.


The shop has two tracks for working on the engines, and the rest is devoted to repairing MOW equipment and car repair.

Once NBSR is finished leasing engines, they should have 28 engines. With only two tracks for servicing they are going to be tight for space! Maybe it's time to look at expanding the building?

Here's a view of the rest of the shops with a Kershaw brush cutter in the building.


Here are some locomotive trucks being rebuilt.


Behind the shop there are a variety of old boxcars being used for storage. The CP Rail is starting to show through on this old car.


NB Southern's sole Jordan spreader #402896 is parked back there, as well as caboose 79624.


Back at the shops, ex-UP engine HLCX 911 was beside the shop with NBSR 3702. NB Southern refuels its engines there, right beside the shop. This was my first view of 911.


I appreciated the opportunity to go inside the shop and hopefully I'll get a chance to do so again.

Random New Brunswick Sightings

As I mentioned, I was in New Brunswick this past week. On Sunday June 19 I flew out of Winnipeg at 8 AM. On my way to the airport, I stopped at CN's Rivers subdivision and found an eastbound train coming. It turned out to be CN 8956 on the head end with Dash-8 CN 2421 trailing.


Anyway, on to New Brunswick. In CN's Island Yard I found CN 4132 and 4141 shunting. I have seen very few of the CN 4xxx GP9s. The 70xx GP9s were much more common in New Brunswick.




After viewing that and the Herzog ballast train with CN 2512 and CN 5694, I met my family for supper. Afterward, I headed over to the NB Southern yard on Dever Road in the evening. I went to the west end first, and found NBSR 2318, slug NBSR 008 and NBSR 9802 shunting there.



I watched them for a bit then went to the east end of the yard. Imagine my surprise to see the Herzog train's engines there. As I watched, CN 5694 and 2512 rolled up to the shop, presumably to get serviced before their trip back up CN's Sussex subdivision to Moncton and beyond to drop ballast.

That's NBSR 9803 and NBSR 2610 beside them, and I think NBSR 3701 on the other side of the shop building. Caboose NBSR 422990 is just off the right side of the photo.

Just to the left of that photo is the rest of the yard.

There's a lot going on in this photo. On the left you can see the hulk of NBSR 3700, leased caboose CN 79624, and you can just see the number board of NBSR 9802.

On the right you can see NB Southern's passenger train. In the background is a set of wood chip cars with an open top Sunbury chip truck beside them.

That was the extent of my railfanning that week. I spent the rest of the week in St. George, far away from any trains!

NB Southern Ballast Train

On Friday August 17 I was making my way across Saint John, heading to Fredericton to visit my family. I heard "NBSR 2612 East" getting an OCS clearance from mile 22 to the Saint John yard limits.

Now, mile 22 is just railway east of Welsford. How do I know that? Read the timetable and you will see that Welsford's station sign is at mile 23.4.

This told me that the train had not cleared Welsford, which gave me plenty of time to intercept them. As it happens, I was approaching the ferry landing at Westfield Beach when I saw the crossing lights come on there. I made a quick U-turn and shot them just across from a nearby school.

The train consisted of GP38 NBSR 2612, caboose CN 79624, and ten NBSR ballast cars.

As I gave chase, I considered where I would shoot it next. One thing I have always struggled with is whether to go for quantity or quality. I knew I wanted to get the overhead shot by the Grand Bay Co-Op, and I was considering whether I could squeeze another shot in between. In the end I decided not to take the risk of getting stuck behind a slow vehicle, and proceeded directly to the overpass. I think it was the right decision.

After a few minutes of waiting, the train rolled by with a few toots for my benefit.

I gave up the chase at that point, as I had an appointment to keep in Fredericton. It was nice to see an NB Southern train on the road again... just like old times.

NB Southern in Saint John

I was in Saint John for a business trip this week. On Tuesday (Sept 15) I decided to drive by the NB Southern Railway yard at Dever Road after work. I drove down the Galt Road toward the Westfield Road. As I approached the railway crossing I saw the lights were flashing. I stopped short of the crossing and jumped out, just in time to see NBSR 9801 and 9802 and caboose CN 79624 roll by, pulling ten NBSR ballast cars and six boxcars. I had enough time to get my camera and shoot them going away, just at the west end of the wye.

I raced down the Westfield Road hoping to beat them to the overpass at the west end of the yard. When I arrived, I saw NBSR 3703 and 9803 shoving back into the yard to make room for the road freight to arrive.

Soon enough NBSR 9801 East rolled in, after lining a switch. I think they stopped here to line another switch to pass into the yard.

I zipped over to the other end of the yard, thinking that the ballast train might come over and then back in. It didn't, but I found NBSR 2612 and NBSR 2319 doing some shunting there. Bonus!

It was nice to see the old green and yellow again.