NBEC 1821

In my recent survey, someone posted they liked MLW locomotives and would like to see more. For those who don't know, MLW was the Montreal Locomotive Works, originally a subsidiary of the American Alco company and later owned by Bombardier. Alco/MLW engines are revered by many railfans for the smoke they produced as well as a certain sound the diesel engines made.

My personal exposure to MLW engines comes from two main sources: the former New Brunswick East Coast Railway's extensive roster of MLW locomotives and the Salem and Hillsborough Railroad's pair of MLW locomotives.

I've decided to feature NBEC 1821 in this post, as it was the NBEC RS-18 locomotive I happened to see the most, and also one of the two NBEC locomotives I saw first.

I first saw NBEC 1821 on July 5, 1999 in Miramichi (Chatham) paired up with NBEC 1866. I took some truly bad photos of the pair of them at sunset.

Well before I learned how to pan

These were the among the very first railfan photos I ever took. The very first ones I took were on May 3, 1999 I believe.

The best of the lot

If you're familiar with the area, you can see that the latter photo shows them crossing Water Street in Chatham in front of the Lafarge facility.

I didn't see 1821 again until January 9, 2001 when she was paired up with 1840 and 1864 for local switching. By then I think my film camera was broken so I really had nothing to photograph with.

The next photo I have of NBEC 1821 dates from July 22, 2003 when I was using the 1 megapixel digital camera in my Sony DCR-TRV25 video camera. I still hadn't learned to stand on the sun side of the train.

I'll take a moment to explain what type of locomotive NBEC 1821 was. MLW produced a series of locomotives designated RS-18 (Road Switcher 1800 horsepower). It was essentially the Canadian version of the Alco RS-11. CN bought the vast majority of the RS-18s (225) and ran them long-hood forward, while CP bought 72 and ran them short-hood forward. The PG and E (which became BC Rail) bought 29 and various resource railways bought a few each. All of these were delivered with high short hoods like CP 8743 here (Greg Brewer slide):

CP 8743 in Fredericton, slide by Greg Brewer

NBEC 1821 was built as CP 8741 in April 1957. It soldiered on for years until 1984 when it was rebuilt, the short hood was cut down, and it was renumbered to CP 1821. It continued in service on CP until the New Brunswick East Coast Railway bought it in April 1998.

OK, moving on. My next photo of NBEC 1821 was from October 6, 2003 in the Miramichi yard. 1821 was paired up with NBEC 1849 and was nicely parked in the sun.

Still only a 1 megapixel photo

I next photographed it down at the port of Miramichi on January 8, 2004, doing some switching with leading engine NBEC 1814.

Note the long string of BCOL and CN boxcars. This was after the CN-BC Rail deal was announced...

Later that month I photographed it and 1814 in the Miramichi yard on January 28, 2004. I was taking some detail photos, I guess.

Note the class lights above the number boards, the bell mounted right in the middle, the red safety stripes (some of NBEC's engines had black stripes) and the "NBEC" painted over the CP in "CP Rail".

On February 18, 2004 she was paired up with NBEC 1867 as yard power in Miramichi. The yard power tended to change fairly frequently as they went back to Campbellton for servicing and reassignment. The only constant seemed to be that black NBEC 1857 stayed close to Campbellton most of the time.

Hadn't really mastered night photography...

My next photograph of NBEC 1821 was taken on March 29, 2006 and here I have a different camera! The Fuji FinePix A210 was/is a 3 megapixel camera and takes decent photos as long as nothing is moving.. kind of like today's smartphone cameras.

So much better quality

Here 1821 was coupled up to derelict NBEC 4219 and 4243, locomotives used for parts. They were apparently moved to Miramichi for final scrapping and languished in the back of the yard for months before finally meeting their doom.

Next we fast forward to May 28, 2007 with NBEC 1821 at the head of an empty ore train in Bathurst, NB. You'll note yard power NBEC 1845 to the left and a string of blue ore cars to the right.

Finally, NOT Miramichi!

By this time I was using my Canon S3.

Here's a video from 2007 featuring three RS-18s including 1821 in Bathurst, pushing some ore cars back across Golf Road.

A few months later I was photographing the loaded ore train in Bathurst from the St. Anne Street overpass on September 14, 2007.

Ready to roll!

I took video of this train leaving. THIS is why people love Alcos... that chugging noise.

I chased this train... I caught it on a curve at Madran on its way to the smelter in Belledune.

A little pop of fall colours..

My next photo of NBEC 1821 was at Belledune on February 21, 2008.. apparently it was cold as there is some fog on the lens.

Note the black box behind the cab. This is new and I believe NBEC 1821 was one of the engines to get retrofitted with smart start but I could be wrong. 1821 was behind two SD40 engines on the main line train. For some reason I was back to using the Fuji camera on this trip so the resolution is not as good.

I saw 1821 again the next day (February 22) in Bathurst by the station.

I didn't know it but NBEC 1821 had less than a year of operation before she would no longer grace these rails. In fact, I would see it only for three more months.

Here's a Bathurst video from the spring of 2008 featuring NBEC 1821 and 1819.

Here it was on May 26, 2008, the last time I saw it. It was on the empty ore train, heading out of Bathurst toward Brunswick Mines.

But 1821's story doesn't end there. My friend David Morris photographed it in Gaspe meeting the Chaleur on December 2008, after CN bought the NBEC and its sister railways back.

Photo by David Morris

Michel Boudreau caught it in Bathurst, NB on February 7, 2009, paired up with a CN GP40, presumably on the ore train.

Photo by Michel Boudreau

But that still isn't the end of 1821.

It was purchased by the railroad of Le Massif de Charlevoix (together with NBEC 1868) and pulls the tourist train in Quebec.

Still operating, after 57 years. Not too shabby.

Aerial View of VIA's Ocean Outside Bathurst

Check out this really cool drone video of VIA 15 aka the Ocean crossing the Tetagouche River south of Bathurst, New Brunswick. François Foulem does some really good camera work with his drone - steady, clear video. Nice job!

Growing Opposition to Northern New Brunswick Rail Plan

Following last week's announcement that the provincial government would invest in most of the northern New Brunswick CN track, but leave the Bathurst-Miramichi segment out, opposition is growing to the government's plan.

Members of Parliament Yvon Godin (NDP, Acadie-Bathurst) and Dominic LeBlanc (Liberal, Beasejour) are both opposed to the government plan, according to this CBC article. The other eight MPs, coincidentally all Conservatives, have not said anything on this issue that I am aware of. I'm especially curious what Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, MP for Miramichi, has to say on the matter, and I have emailed her to ask.

Some accuse VIA Rail of "deliberately attempting to discourage ridership". Ted Bartlett, acting president of Transport Action Atlantic says that VIA's decision to cut the Ocean back to three trips/week and VIA's lack of marketing have led to reduced ridership (almost precisely half what they were prior to the cut, according to some accounts), and the recent CN-New Brunswick announcement "has presented VIA with a golden opportunity to get out of a service that they really don't want to operate."

Transport Action Atlantic's report "Revitalizing New Brunswick's Rail Sector" was released on December 30, 2013 and recommends a number of key points:

• Explore options to retain CN's Newcastle subdivision;
• Restore the Ocean to daily operation and establish VIA as a full Crown corporation with stable funding;
• Revive Industrial Rail Services in Moncton.

CN has said that it would cost $10 million to restore the missing segment from Bathurst to Miramichi. A "spokesperson from Economic Development" (presumably the New Brunswick government) was quoted as saying it would cost $50 million to reroute the Ocean over the Edmundston-Moncton line. The cost to VIA was said to include the cost of buying land, building at least 5 stations, and installing signals. That cost sounds high to me but it would have to be studied and probably is being studied by VIA Rail.

I understand that VIA Rail does not have $10 million to spend on the Bathurst-Miramichi segment. Their budget has been squeezed by the federal government for the past few years and extra cash cannot be found.

I believe the federal government needs to step in and provide this capital cost to upgrade the line and retain service, just as they have stepped in to join provincial governments for a rail underpass in Winnipeg ($22.2m), rail widening in the Greater Toronto Area ($8.3m), port upgrades at Belledune ($26.4m, jeopardized by the soon to be very long rail connection to the rest of the world), rail upgrades for NB Southern ($9m), and on and on... the federal government needs to come to the table.

The Minister of Transport, Lisa Raitt (Conservative, Halton), has been ducking this challenge. She spoke on February 3 to the Canadian Club of Ottawa as the Minister, and her notes contain not one word about VIA Rail. When asked by MP Bruce Hyer (Green, Thunder Bay-Superior North) about the future of passenger rail in New Brunswick and Sault Ste. Marie (also in jeopardy), she said, "We are monitoring closely. We are working with VIA Rail and with everybody who has an interest in these lines to get to the right place. That said, it is incredibly important to note that VIA Rail is an arm's-length corporation that makes its own business decisions."

With respect to the honourable minister, at the end of the day, VIA Rail answers to the federal government. They might be at arm's length but it is the federal government's arm that holds them accountable.



Time to step up. Write your Member of Parliament. Contact the Minister of Transportation. Get involved and make some noise, or this rail line will be gone forever.

NB Government Invests in MOST of Northern New Brunswick Rail Line

The CBC is reporting that the New Brunswick government has agreed to give CN up to $25 million to upgrade and maintain most of its rail infrastructure in northern New Brunswick, with a matching investment by CN. This is a most puzzling announcement.

You may recall that in August 2012 CN applied to abandon the section of track from Catamount (the junction with the CN Napadogan subdivision) to Irvco (in Belledune), citing poor economics. This would have resulted in no rail service to Bathurst, Miramichi and Rogersville. CN would have retained the section from Irvco through Campbellton and into Quebec.

Today's announcement shortens the amount of track to be abandoned, but does not eliminate it. The entire Campbellton to Catamount track is to be upgraded and retained, with the exception of the section from Nepisiguit Junction to Nelson Junction just south of Miramichi which is to be offered for sale in February.

CN's own maps show it best. These photos were taken by Marc Genuist of CBC and kindly sent to me.

The double blue line areas are to be retained and upgraded. Both the southern and northern portions will have ties and ballast replaced and bridges remediated as required. The Loggieville spur (shown in the inset and below) will also have turnouts remediated and will have a "new Moncton connection". I'm told this is an east leg to make a wye at Nelson Junction so trains to/from Moncton don't have to cross the Miramichi, as they currently do.

So... what does this mean?

VIA Rail's Ocean will not be able to run through northern New Brunswick any more. Understandably, local mayors and residents are very upset.


The agreement also means that existing shippers will continue to have rail service. To my knowledge, these are the major shippers on the northern portion of the line and their locations. Note that not all of them may be active rail shippers at this time.

• AV Cell, Atholville
• Irving Oil Limited, Campbellton
• Chaleur Sawmills, Belledune
• Xstrata Smelter, Belledune, Irvco spur
• Port of Belledune, Irvco spur
• NB Power Generating Station, Belledune, Irvco spur
• Superior Propane, Beresford
• Holcim cement, Nepisiguit Junction
• Fornebu Lumber, outside Bathurst, near Nepisiguit Junction

What this also means is that traffic from northern New Brunswick will have to go all the way across Quebec before it rejoins the CN main line at Rivière-du-Loup. Effectively northern New Brunswick would be at the end of a long, long spur. This does not bode well for the future of rail freight in New Brunswick.

There are no shippers between Nepisiguit Junction and Miramichi, nor have there been for quite some time.

On the southern portion of the line, these are the only two major shippers that I am aware of.

• Arbec, Miramichi, Loggieville spur
• Ultramar, Miramichi, Loggieville spur

CN lifted the Miramichi port spur last year, which removed Miramichi Lumber Products as a potential shipper.

The province's press release says that "CN, the province and local businesses will continue to work together to increase freight traffic in future years, with benefits to be shared between the two partners". I don't know what the terms of the sharing would be. Would CN repay some of the investment?

The federal government was very noticeable in their absence from the announcement.

More to come.

Other coverage:

• CTV News video (they're in Chatham!)
• CTV News Article
• CBC article
• NB Government Press Release
• CN Press Release

Two More Cuts

There were two more deep cuts recently in the "death of a thousand cuts" affecting rail service in northern New Brunswick.

The first was the planned end of mining at Brunswick Mines (outside Bathurst) on May 1. Once the largest zinc mine in the world, it was in operation for 49 years. Here's a great video on the history of the mine.
This was the major customer for CN on the Nepisiguit subdivision. The last train to the mine (CN 566) ran on May 3 and it returned as CN 567 on May 4 to unload at Belledune at Xstrata's smelter, which will remain open for the time being. Michel Boudreau posted this video of the last of the blue ore cars used in the mine service leaving Bathurst a few days afterward.

Here's a video I took of two New Brunswick East Coast Railway RS-18s powering the empty ore train on its way to the mine.

The second cut, a direct result of the first, is the final closure of the Campbellton shops. Since there are no more ore cars to repair, CN has laid off the last five of the car repair crew at the shops and their final day was yesterday.

The shop area dates back to the opening of the Intercolonial Railway. At one time Campbellton boasted a roundhouse, turntable, and workshops.

The shops dwindled in importance over the years, but enjoyed a resurgence during the New Brunswick East Coast Railway years when the NBEC (and subsidiary Eastern Rail Services) was based out of there. I had the pleasure of touring the area in 2009 but by then it was being sold to CN.

Tim Jaques, editor, wrote a nice article in the Campbellton Tribune about the closure of the shop on May 31. I can't show it here because it's behind the Brunswick News paywall. However, if you are a member of the excellent RailsNB group on Facebook, you can read it here.

More cuts, and more to come. It's hard to be optimistic about the future of rail service in northern New Brunswick.

CN Moves to Abandon Most of Newcastle Subdivision

CN detouring past the now closed UPM-Kymmene mill in Miramichi, May 2008.

CN has begun to abandon 139 miles of the Newcastle subdivision in New Brunswick. This stretch of track runs from Catamount (where it joins the CN main line at Pacific Junction) to Irvco (at Belledune). This track includes the communities of Bathurst, Miramichi and Rogersville, as well as the Nepisiguit Subdivision serving the Brunswick Mines.

CN purchased the Newcastle subdivision when they acquired the assets of the Quebec Railway Corporation in November 2008, including the New Brunswick East Coast Railway that operated this portion of track. At the time, many wondered why CN would be interested in a line that did not seem to have any growth potential. Now it seems CN is wondering the same thing.

CN was talking about abandoning this track about a year ago. Now the news articles say CN is looking for $50 million to maintain service. I assume this is deferred maintenance on the track.

The current shippers on the affected portion of the line include the Brunswick Mines (slated to close soon), Ultramar in Newcastle, the lumber mill on the Nepisiguit subdivision, and probably a few small shippers. The CBC article says CN has 12-15 customers on the line.

Of course, VIA Rail would be affected, since they run over this line. VIA has made some hints recently that they could consider running over the Edmundston-Moncton CN line instead. Obviously they had prior knowledge of this announcement.

Opinion: Obviously I think this would be a tremendous loss for the province and the area. Rail lines provide a vital link in the transportation infrastructure of this country and once they are gone, they don't come back. Even if there is insufficient traffic at the moment to sustain the line, it could come back and without rails it would have to travel on our roads.

The provincial government has already stated it will not purchase the line, but is willing to "work with" other parties. I know the province is already deeply in debt, and it has never supported railways in the province in any meaningful way, other than a meager contribution to NB Southern's maintenance in 2009. Colour me bitter but nobody should expect any significant help from the provincial government, even though they should help out.

The only possibility of saving this line, as far as I can see, is for someone like J.D. Irving to step in and purchase it. From afar, I do not see a good business case for them to purchase the line but they were able to make a go of the old CP lines, so there may be efficiencies they can bring that CN cannot.

Let's cross our fingers and hope for some solution to retain the rails.

Alco Memories

I miss those NBEC MLW / Alco units.

Here's train 591 (the Dalhousie turn) with NBEC 1813 and 1857, in the evening of October 6, 2003.


A little further south, NBEC 1845 brought a short woodchip train from the Nepisiguit Subdivision into Bathurst on May 28, 2007.


One more... with a different Alco, a C-424. NBEC 4230 and RS-18 NBEC 1840 were en route from the port in Miramichi to the yard on September 20, 2002. This was "back in the day" when the C-424s were on yard duty in Miramichi.

User Favourites - Alco chugging as NBEC 587 leaving Bathurst

Here's another user favourite video, with 9,577 views... little Alco power!

I blogged about this one. This was NBEC train 587 taking loaded ore cars to the smelter at Belledune on September 14, 2007.

I love that Alco noise!

Two Rebuilt Engines

David Chiasson posted a really nice video of Sunday's VIA 14 rolling over the Nepisiguit River. This had two rebuilt VIA engines on the head end, 6400 and 6402. You can tell 6402 is the second engine by the little hump on the back.

This is a great example of a great video. Well lit, good composition, great subject, and no 30 second lead-ins. Well done.

CN Ballast Train

Michel Boudreau saw a special ballast train headed by CN GP9 4115 today near Bathurst. I saw 4115 yesterday in Moncton but I didn't post it because I couldn't read the complete number. Here is Michel's video.

Strange VIA Yesterday

There was a problem with VIA 14 and they had to leave most of the Renaissance cars in Charny, Quebec. VIA 6449 took the 9 cars back to Montreal early yesterday. VIA 14 proceeded with the Chaleur consist and 4 Renaissance cars. It went through Tide Head (just on the NB side of the border) at 15:30 Thursday, and left Bathurst at 18:35. Michel Boudreau caught it there with VIA 6416 and 6412 leading.


Doug Lawrence saw them leave Halifax today at 12:49 with the following consist. One has to assume these are the same cars that were on VIA 14 yesterday.
Engines 6416, 6412
Baggage 8618
Coach 8124
Skyline 8507
Chateau Brûlé, Roberval, Latour
Baggage 7011
Coaches 7228, 7230, 7231
Service car 7309

More NBEC Power Updates

CN 5288 leads CN 564 at Bathurst on April 4, 2008. Photo by Michel Boudreau.

Michel Boudreau noted CN 564 left Bathurst today around 5 PM, with CN 5288 and CFMG 6910 and 4 cars of lumber from Chaleur Lumber in Belledune. No sign of CFMG 6909.


In other news, NBEC 1851 left the area Thursday morning on CN 562 for Woodcrest, Illinois. The next RS18 to leave should be 1857.

NBEC 1851 leaving Bathurst, May 5, 2008

Thursday, Continued

After my luck at finding CFMG 6909 and 6910, I still had a few trains to see on Thursday.

In Bathurst, CN 5260 and 5251 were at the head of a longish ore train in front of the VIA station at 17:20. I didn't stick around to see them leave.


I went to Miramichi with the intention of seeing VIA 15 before heading home. They are due in Miramichi at 18:53. I thought of going to the south end of one of the bridges to reprise this shot, but the access road was full of snow. I decided to shoot them on the bridge by the former UPM facility.

To my surprise, I heard chatter on the scanner between a CN freight and the VIA train. It turns out that the CN Moncton-Miramichi freight (CN 569) was running ahead of the Ocean. The RTC was giving VIA short sections of track to occupy, to keep them moving but not run into the back of CN 569.

To make a long story short, CN Work 5343 crossed the bridge at 19:03 with 5241 trailing.

They had an interesting train behind them. There were a lot of gondolas, empty gypsum cars, and a long string of empty container platforms. 49 cars in total.


Hot on the heels of CN 569 came VIA 15 at 19:12 with 6434 and 6440 leading another Renaissance train.

I elected to shoot stills because I was standing on the highway bridge, and the noise and vibration from passing cars and trucks would have ruined the video. The lighting was great there, as you can see.


That was enough for me, and I headed home, satisfied.

Bathurst Videos

Michel Boudreau posted some videos of the same trains I saw today... first! So I will post his first.

Here is CN 567 (ore train) coming into Bathurst with CN SD40-2W 5260 and 5251.


Here is CN 565 (ex 403) going north from Bathurst, with doomed CFMG 6909 and 6910 for power. Be patient... the train does eventually leave.

Bathurst Power Today

Michel Boudreau told me the power for Saturday's ore train was CN 5343 and 5241. The same units are being used for the Bathurst switcher, as it is only shunting twice a week. The rest of the time, shunting is done by the mainline train.

He says trains 402 and 403 are no more, replaced by 568 and 569. Train 569 had CN 5373, CFMG 6909 and CFMG 6910 with no cars. They did a pickup in Bathurst and Michel heard on the scanner that they were going to work Beresford and Petit Rocher before going to Campbellton.

Here's Michel's video of 569 arriving and leaving.

NBEC Update

Michel Boudreau sent an update on the CN/NBEC situation around Bathurst.

The power for the ore train (586/587) is CN 9452, NBEC 1868 and NBEC 1821. NBEC 1851 is the local switcher.

Tuesday's train 403 was pulled by CN 9562 and a CFMG SD40.

I wonder how much is going to change on or about March 1, as the transition to CN's management (from a customer perspective) should be complete.

Here's a video from Michel showing CN 9452, NBEC 1821 and NBEC 1849 with the empty ore train returning from Belledune on February 7.

NBEC Update

Michel Boudreau reports that Bathurst is back in red with RS-18s.

The yard power is NBEC 1851, and the ore train is powered by 1868, 1821 and 1849.


CN 9452 was on the ore train for a few days, while 1868 was away for servicing.


CFMG 6906 and 6907 were the power on train 403 today (Sunday).

Michel passed along this photo of 1849 from a few days ago. Note the faded patches on the unit.

I wonder if these were parts taken from other units.

All photos by Michel Boudreau.

NBEC Alco Update

NBEC 1819 at the head of train 586 in Bathurst, January 31, 2009. Photo by Michel Boudreau.

Michel Boudreau reported yesterday the following power around Bathurst:

Train 597 (Bathurst shunter): NBEC 1813
Train 586/587 (Belledune-Nepisiguit ore train): NBEC 1849, NBEC 1821, NBEC 1819
Train 402/403 (mainline freight): CFMG 6903 and CFMG 6908

Apparently the CN GP40s are off the ore train because they do not have dynamic brakes, very useful when bringing loaded ore cars down the Nepisiguit Subdivision.

Thanks for the update, Michel!

RS-18s in Bathurst

I hear that there are four RS-18s working out of Bathurst now... NBEC 1821, 1849, 1851 and 1868. I understand the CN GP40s were not really suitable for the ore train run, so perhaps CN is putting the RS-18s back for now until they can find a better engine. Wouldn't it be great if the best engine for the job WAS an RS-18?

NBEC Update

Michel Boudreau reports that an RS18 is back as the power for Bathurst local train 587. Here's a shot of NBEC 1849 at work.


He noted CN 9461, 9452 and another GP40 powering the ore train on January 12.