CN's Prairie North Line and the Flooding

People in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are used to dealing with flooding every year. With the flat land, the water goes everywhere. 2009 was a bad year in Manitoba. 2011 was not great. This year the flood forecast for Manitoba is not too bad, but Saskatchewan... Saskatchewan is in trouble. They had a lot snow this winter and now it is melting and communities are experiencing flooding. So far five municipalities and one First Nation have declared states of emergencies.

The village of Borden, Saskatchewan is desperately fighting the flooding. Borden and the town of Radisson (also in emergency) are both located on the CN Aberdeen subdivision, part of CN's Prairie North Line. The provincial Water Security Agency is reporting that the water is backed up behind the railway grade today.

Another town in emergency is Maidstone, on the CN Blackfoot subdivision, also part of the Prairie North Line.

So far CN's State of the Railroad says its operations are normal, but they are monitoring the situation.

In what might be quite a coincidence, last week CN announced they are investing $30 million in upgrading the Prairie North Line. The investment is to upgrade the line to better serve CN when it has to divert some or all traffic off the main Winnipeg-Saskatoon line. Currently the sidings are in the 6,000-7,000 foot range, not long enough for meets with the typical 10,000+ foot trains that CN runs. CN is also investing $60 million in the main line "for additional double track and new sidings between Winnipeg and Saskatoon on the main line" as well as $15 million within Winnipeg's yards.

Stay dry!

Flooding Update

Here's an update on the flooding situation in Manitoba as it affects railroad operations.

• Dikes went up on the CP Emerson line on April 19, so that is cut off.
• Dikes also went up around Morris so the CP La Riviere and the CN Letellier subdivisions are severed.
• The washout on the CP Carberry sub just east of Brandon was repaired and the line was reopened on April 15 at 07:30. It was severed on April 12.

CN Eight Naught Naught Naught

On April 16 I was over around CN Symington and shot a few trains. As I approached the area on the Perimeter Highway I could see that a freight train was pulling out of the yard to head south on the Sprague subdivision. I wanted to shoot them on the Floodway bridge so I took the Kenora exit and parked just north of the Floodway.

As it turns out, the lead unit was CN 8000.


The Floodway is open and working hard to keep the Red River away from Winnipeg.


Contrast that with this shot of the Floodway from September 2010.

I imagine the Floodway is even more full now. I plan on going out this weekend to see how high the flood waters are.

The train was going fairly slowly so I headed south on the highway to get another shot. I didn't want to get it at Deacon's Corner because I would be rushing the shot, so I took the next crossing after that and waited.

By the time the train reached me, it had picked up some speed. These red winged blackbirds weren't sticking around to watch the train!




A nice wave from the conductor, then they were on their way. "Clear signal at Lorette."

Flooding Update

The spring flood is underway in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It is still unclear how severe it will be, but it is already affecting railways in Manitoba:

• The CN Letellier subdivision has been severed at Emerson, MB as the town has closed its dike (CTV News)
• A washout on CP just east of Brandon on the CP Carberry subdivision occurred on Tuesday. Detours are planned but customers should expect up to 48 hours' delay (CP Update)
• The CP Emerson subdivision is expected to be closed late next week as the community of Morris will close their dike.  The CP La Riviere subdivision will likely close a day or two later.
• A train struck a breached culvert on the CP Estevan subdivision at Menteith SW of Souris. The line is expected to re-open tonight.

I heard rumours of CP detouring on the CP Glenboro subdivision but I haven't heard any proof yet. Apparently there was a CP freight near Diamond in Headingley.

McAdam and Area Flood Update

Here's another Jody Robinson photo showing a washout under the main line in McAdam's yard. Note the culvert in the bottom left, clearly not large enough to handle the flow of water from the heavy downpour.

Long-time readers may remember I took a few photos of a washout in Grand Bay, NB back in September 2008.

I'm told that a lot of the water in McAdam has drained away, but there is a lot of damage left. I understand there are "at least six major washouts between McAdam and Saint John". Don't expect to see any main line trains for a while - just ballast trains.

It's a shame, given the amount of work that has been done to refurbish the track in the past two years after the funding announcement. Who knows how much worse it might have been?

Look at this video from St. Stephen showing the amount of water there.


Here's a video from Gary Lee showing the damage to the main street in McAdam. Near the end of the video he shows the main line in the McAdam yard hanging in the air.


EDIT: Added Gary's video from McAdam.

Flooding in New Brunswick

There was a ton of rain in New Brunswick yesterday. Environment Canada is reporting that St. Stephen received 166 mm of rain (that's 6.5 inches) while Fredericton received a mere 105 mm (4.1 inches). In concert with that were unseasonably high temperatures (>10 C) and high winds. Many roads are flooded, power is out in a number of places, and some people have been forced from their homes. I hope the cleanup goes well.

CTV News reported that part of the (NB Southern) railway washed out in St. Stephen, and that McAdam had a state of emergency declared.

Jody Robinson sent me some photos of the flooding in McAdam. You can see the wye area of McAdam in the photo above. The water breached the short dam around the pond by the McAdam station.

Water is doing what water does, going to the lowest area and carving out channels in the dirt and asphalt as it goes.

NB Southern held their eastbound freight at McAdam, and the St. Stephen job did not go down the subdivision, thankfully.

That's NBSR 9802 on the left with the St. Stephen caboose, and NBSR 9801 and two other engines were on the mainline freight train.

You can see the water headed toward the station. Fortunately, the station is OK.

Thanks for the photos, Jody!

Woodstock Bridge Washout, 1976

I'm just jotting down a quick note I saw in the May 1977 "Railroad" magazine.

"CP Rail has fully restored rail service to its 105-mile line between McAdam and Aroostook, N.B. The line had been in partial operation since April, 1976, when spring floods washed out a 449-foot bridge at Woodstock. Cost of reopening the line was over $1 million, with some $1,700,000 being used to rebuild the bridge. CP Rail will run about three trains a day over the reopened line and grant running rights to CN Rail trains into Woodstock."

There is also a CP Rail photo of a high-hood RS-18 leading a train of several boxcars over the bridge, the first train over since it was rebuilt. I can't read the unit number but it is 87xx. Anyone know what it was?

Flooding

It looks like we've passed the worst of it, thankfully. The New Brunswick government's River Watch web site is forecasting stable or decreased flows all along the Saint John river. This year was not nearly as bad as 2008.

Chris M is reporting that the mighty Restigouche River is going down. As I mentioned, CN put a ballast train on the bridge at Matapedia at the beginning of April, and stationed a locomotive (CN 9592) there to shunt the cars out of the way of passing trains.

Flood Protection

It has been reported that a work extra was dispatched last night from Campbellton with ballast-laden cars for the railway bridge at Matapedia. This was done last year as well, but a lot later in the month of April.

A locomotive will be in place at Matapedia to move the cars off and on the bridge to allow other trains to pass.

Chaleur over the Trestle

Here is a photo of the first Chaleur train over the newly-rebuilt trestle near mile 40, by David Morris. The trestle was washed out in early August. The Chaleur crossed on Monday, September 22.


The train had engines 6412 and 6420 leading baggage car 8618, coach 8140, Skyline 8503, sleepers CADILLAC and DENONVILLE, diner ACADIAN, and sleepers ROUVILLE, BIENVILLE, and LAUZON.

Here's one more shot of the same train, also by David Morris.

Grand Bay Washout Photos

Bob Boudreau was sent some photos of the washout in Grand Bay. There are some very interesting photos "as it happened".

Here's another photo I took on Monday, later in the afternoon when they were repairing the track.


Be sure to look at Bob's photos.

NB Southern Line Open

After last weekend's washout in Grand Bay, and yesterday's repairs, the NB Southern main line was open for business last night. The westbound freight arrived in McAdam around 3 to 4 AM this morning and the corresponding eastbound is due in McAdam around noon, assuming it hasn't already arrived. A good job by the MOW crews.

NB Southern Washout Photos

I happened to be going to Saint John today, so on the way I drove through Grand Bay to see if I could find the washed-out track. At Ferry Road in Westfield I saw two NB Southern MOW vehicles doing some work on the track near the crossing.

To my untrained eye, it looked like they were redistributing the ballast.

I also noticed three empty NBSR log cars in the Westfield Beach siding. I have never seen anything but MOW equipment in this siding.

The actual track washout happened in downtown Grand Bay. It looks like about 40' of track was undercut.


There were a few people there, apparently waiting for more loads of gravel. I spoke to one of the MOW people and they said the track should be reopened tonight. I presume it will have a slow order!

You can click on those photos for a larger view.

Rail Washout on NBSR

Tropical storm Hanna did some damage to the roads and rails around the province. CBC is reporting that 45m of the NB Southern line in Grand Bay has been washed out with the rails hanging in mid-air. No word on any detours but I think it unlikely. Read the article

Chaleur News Article

There is an article online about the flooding in the Gaspe peninsula that forced the Chaleur to return.

The article basically states that the flooding caused significant damage in or near the villages of Maria and Carleton. The railway line and highway 132 were both cut.

CN Detour Over

I understand there was one more CN 121 on the NBEC Sunday night / early Monday morning, but the rest of the CN trains have returned to the normal Pelletier / Napadogan routes.

Chaleur Flooded Out

The Chaleur is experiencing the same flooding that CN is. VIA 616 had to back up to Matapedia from mile 40 (near Carleton) due to a washout. They held at Matapedia for the late VIA 614 (the Ocean) to pass at around 10:45.

CN Detour in Progress

Due to washout(s) on the Pelletier subdivision, CN will be detouring over the NBEC for a while. I understand one train (121) was to leave Moncton at 13:30 after VIA's Ocean got in, and there will be one later on (305). This may last for a day or two. There is currently nothing on CN's state of the railroad page.

This detour comes not too long after the last detour at the beginning of May.


EDIT: CN train numbers added.

Water, Water Everywhere

Ron Pelletier is reporting that CN 121 is trapped in Edmundston because of a landslide west of Edmundston, presumably due to the flooding. Could there be a CN detour over the NBEC?

CBC reports that some 20 Edmundston families have been evacuated so far. My heart goes out to those who have to leave their homes. I've had water in my basement a few times, but not to the extent that many in the province are enduring.

You can access the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization's River Watch site. They are forecasting the Saint John river will reach 8.6m above sea level in Fredericton tomorrow and Friday, which is just shy of the 1973 flood, the highest on record. Total inflows at Mactaquac right now are at 289,000 cubic feet/s and rising, forecast to hit 389,000 Thursday.

There are a number of flooded roads around the province, too. Drive safely!

This photo shows Morell Field in Fredericton on April 25, 2007. A lot less of that field is visible today.