I was in Saint John, New Brunswick in mid May 2018. I met up with Caleb Wentzell in the evening for a little... OK, a big chase.
Our target was CN 406, the daily Moncton-Saint John train. It usually heads down to Moncton in the afternoon and returns in the evening. Railfans were excited about this train because it had two leased units, CREX 1505 and CEFX 1011.
On the way down, CREX 1505 was in the lead. Since I was working, I missed that, but I knew it would be returning in the evening. Caleb was in town and wanted to meet up, so we arranged a rendezvous along Rothesay Avenue in Saint John, by the Ocean Steel rebar plant.
This is a good location because it's at the "throat" of Island Yard. All of the yard tracks converge just south (railway west) of the crossing there. When I arrived, I could see CN 2977 on the "bypass" track in the distance. I took this long shot using my 70-200mm lens and cropped in a fair bit.
CN 2977 pushing back in Saint John
As I watched, they pushed back and around the bend, out of sight. I imagine they were pushing the potash cars back onto the back half of their train to make up the whole train.
I knew this would take some time to complete, as they would have to do a full air test before coming back to my location. I ducked out to grab some supper, then returned to the location to wait for the train and wait for Caleb.
Caleb showed up, and we said our hellos. He had a few model train cars for me - part of a trade we made more than a year ago but never actually completed in person. Patience pays off...
Eventually CN 2977 pulled up, followed by the lease units.
CN 2977 with leased locomotives
As they pulled past, I took the opportunity to photograph the leasers.
Leased locomotives in Saint John - CEFX 1011 and CREX 1505
We didn't wait for the whole train to pass. We had discussed shooting it by the Rothesay train station, as Caleb had never shot a train there, and I always like that location. We were traveling in separate cars, because Caleb was going to carry on to Nova Scotia after the chase, and I had to return to Saint John to work the next day.
Rothesay
CN 2977 passing the historic Rothesay train station
Well, that shot worked well.
We arrived several minutes before the train did. Since there was no sun out, we had our choice of angles. I decided to shoot from this angle to include the historic station. Caleb was a little closer with a wider angle.
I shot the other leaser, CREX 1505, as they passed by us.
CREX 1505 on train CN 406
This time, we were trapped by the train, so it was time for a selfie by the train.
Caleb Wentzell and yours truly. He's quite a bit taller than I am!
We discussed our next move, and we decided to get them at Hampton. It's fairly easy to get into from the highway.
Hampton
When we arrived in Hampton, I suggested going to the one lane iron bridge just before town to get an overhead view. We arrived just in time to catch the train snaking around the curve and blasting underneath us.
Overhead view of CN 406 at Hampton
While breathing in those tasty diesel fumes, I grabbed overhead views of the two leased locomotives as well.
Overhead views of CEFX 1011 and CREX 1505
Next up... Norton! I had never been there, but Caleb had, so he led the way.
Norton
CN 406 at Norton
I liked that old building, now used as a recycling depot. I think this location would work well for westbounds as well, because you could include that yellow building seen in the photo below, plus there are a few interesting buildings on the other side of the tracks.
CN 406 rolling through the crossing
The next shot was a grab shot near Apohaqui, by the highway. It was getting pretty dark so the photography was getting challenging.
Apohaqui
Roadside view near Apohaqui
Caleb was showing good shooter form as he photographed CN 406 going away.
Bang bang
Caleb suggested another overhead view just west of Sussex. This was a good choice, as going into Sussex would be challenging to do in time, and we'd have no chance of another shot after that.
Sussex
Overhead CN 406
This would have been nicer with more light, but what can you do? I think the location was good and the photos turned out OK.
CEFX 1011 from above
Our final location was Penobsquis, by the shuttered potash facility.
Penobsquis
Here I elected to shoot video, as I hadn't done any video, and I knew this was the last spot. It's pretty dark and backlit, but here it is.
Once the train went by, we took a few photos of the potash facility... and its lonely locomotive.
PotashCorp plant in Penobsquis
Their locomotive is an EMD SW900, originally CN 7253.
Penobsquis switcher locomotive
The angle wasn't great but it was all that was available.
I said my goodbyes to Caleb and I headed back to Saint John. It was great to see him again, and I look forward to railfanning with him again!
Running Extra
NB Southern's yard in Saint John
I didn't do much railfanning the next evening, but I did take this photo of NB Southern's yard and shops from the nearby overpass. You can see their passenger equipment on the left edge, a few tracks in. A GP38 and a blue MP15 are at the shops, with a GP38/slug set on the side, and a few locomotives in storage at the back.
In Fredericton, I bought the latest book by Owen Laukkanen, noted Canadian mystery writer (and railfan!), Gale Force. It's a thriller based around a salvage tug and its crew. If you like thrillers by Clive Cussler, you'll love this book.
I had a very early flight and I intended to sleep on either the Saint John-Montreal leg or the Montreal-Winnipeg leg, but this book is such a page turner that I read it straight through with nary a yawn. Highly recommended. BUY THE BOOK
After missing CN 406 (see previous post "Saint John Railway Scenes") I tried again on the next two days with some success!
These days CN 406 leaves Moncton in the early afternoon, arriving in Saint John late in the afternoon. They usually have a quick turnaround, dropping their cars and picking up the cars to go back to Moncton and onward. Since NB Southern does all the local switching in Saint John (except for the potash terminal), they don't have much to do and can get out of town quickly.
CN 406, The First
On October 12th I spotted CN 406 pulling out of the yard at about 5:40 PM. I raced down Rothesay Avenue (which parallels the CN line) and decided to get it at a little private crossing I shot at years ago (Gerry Drive, here)
I popped my 70-200mm lens on my camera and started shooting.
CN 5653 at Coldbrook, leaving Saint John
I stepped across the tracks to try the other angle. Keep in mind they were half a kilometre away and not moving quickly.
CN 5653 leaving Saint John
I hopped in my car and hit the road. I wasn't sure where I could catch them, so I fell back onto my own knowledge and headed for Hampton.
I like Hampton because it's not far from the highway, and it has a nice station there. I photographed it back in September 2011 after chasing CN 406 in the area.
I walked around a bit, looking for any angle that might feature a bit of fall foliage and yet have some light. With an eastbound freight at sunset, you don't have many options.
The fall foliage was really nice, though.
Eventually I decided to shoot at the main crossing in town, to grab a "coming" shot by the station and then get the lead locomotive just past the crossing with fall foliage behind it.
As the train approached, one car stopped at the crossing as the lights started... then darted across as the gates started to come down.
Jackass.
Way to go, GWD-361.
ANYway, here's the "coming" shot with CN 5653 passing the station. I was shooting with a low shutter speed (1/40s) because of the low light at 6:30 PM.
CN 5653 passing the Hampton train station
Unfortunately, I messed up the "going away" shot. Nothing's in focus.
CN 5653 blurring through Hampton
It was a short train and I shot the tail end too. This turned out better.
Tail end of CN 406 in Hampton
So that was CN 406.
As I returned to Saint John, the coming sunset was pretty special, so I searched for a spot to try to capture it. I ended up just upriver of the Reversing Falls bridge to capture this scene.
Sunset near Reversing Falls, Saint John
CN 406, The Second
In the afternoon of the 13th I learned that CN 406 left Moncton around 1 PM and was expected in Saint John around my quitting time. I left work and headed up Rothesay Avenue, wondering if I was too late. I decided to go to the Lafarge concrete plant just beside the highway (here) and hope I wasn't too late.
I had just arrived when I heard the horn of the approaching train. My camera was in the trunk and I didn't have time to get it out, so I jumped out of the car and snapped a few photos with my iPhone as the train passed.
CN 2326 approaching Saint John, NB
It had the same consist as the previous day (2326 - 8000 - 5653), but 2326 was leading because they were coming to Saint John this time.
After the (longish) train passed, I headed back into Saint John. To my surprise, I saw that 406 had stopped for a few minutes and then got started again. Maybe they had to throw a switch? I'm not sure why they stopped.
Regardless, this allowed me to get ahead of them and I took a video of the train as it entered the yard. Be warned, it's long, as the train was long and slow.
I was surprised that someone gave my video a "thumbs down". Who does that? :)
Every post needs a kitten
I didn't have time to stick around to see it leave, as I headed up to Oromocto to visit my mother. She had a kitten!
So that was CN 406, twice.
In my last post of this trip, I related how I took some time between flights to railfan the Dorval train station in Montreal on the way home. READ ON!
I was in Saint John, New Brunswick last week for work. I didn't have any specific plans for seeing trains, as I wasn't sure how long I would be working each day. As it happened, things went pretty smoothly so I did see some trains.
My plane landed in YSJ (Saint John airport) pretty much on time at 17:35, and fetching the rental car and luggage was quick. One big bonus of small airports is doing the renting in sight of the only baggage carousel!
I decided I would head straight to the former train station in Rothesay to photograph it with the fall colours. I had a hope in the back of my head that I could catch CN 406 passing by (to reproduce this), but I wasn't counting on it.
As I approached Station Road by the Rothesay station, I saw the last couple of tank cars on CN 406 roll by on their way to Moncton. Missed it by that much. You can't catch 'em all.
There was no point in pursuing them. It would have taken a lot of time to get back to the highway and the light was failing.
Fall colours and the Rothesay train station
At least I got the shot I wanted.
I headed into Saint John. As I drove along Rothesay Avenue, I spotted a set of locomotive headlights on the track leading to Courtenay Bay / Irving Oil / Irving Paper. I headed up and found GMTX 2226 working the crude oil terminal at Courtenay Bay. The sunset light was pretty sweet.
GMTX 2226 at sunset
I thought about staying to watch them switch, but I decided against it and continued on along past Island Yard. I was going to head to the NBSR Dever Road yard and see what was going on there before turning in for the night.
Imagine my surprise when I saw this excursion train at Harbour Station!
NBSR 9801 and an excursion train at Harbour Station, Saint John
I believe they had taken some people from a visiting cruise ship out for a spin. I saw a large cruise ship leaving Saint John that night.
In the photo above, you can see the crewman walking back to the cab. I must have looked pretty comical running back and forth as I wasn't sure which direction they were going. As it happened, they headed toward the Dever Road yard / NB Southern yard.
The train had NBSR 9801 with the three ex VIA Rail coaches (5448, 5471 and 5537) along with their "new" #508 and the Metis. NBSR 2317 was on the other end.
NBSR 508 and the Metis
The light was pretty low so I was shooting with a 1/20s shutter speed, meaning the blur was inevitable.
They took off and I gave chase. I decided I would try to catch them crossing the Reversing Falls bridge. I got to the Falls well before them, so I parked and ran up the hill to get a broad view of the bridge.
This was at 7:15 PM so the sun was already down below the horizon. Tricky light!
NBSR crossing the Reversing Falls bridge
I decided to stick to my original plan and headed to the Dever Road yard. I didn't think I would beat them there, and I was right. They were rolling under the Green Head Road overpass when I arrived.
I did managed to catch them passing the night switcher, NBSR 911. I like how this turned out.
I was staying in Saint John NB Thursday evening. I awoke Friday morning (Dec 12) at 8 am and checked my email / Google+ / Facebook and found a post in the RailsNB Facebook group from Brian Barchard reporting an NBSR eastbound freight train through Harvey at 07:25. I did some mental calculations and figured they couldn't cover the 40+ miles to Welsford until 08:30 at the earliest. I grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed out. My intention was to follow the NB Southern line all the way until I stumbled across the train. On my way out of Saint John I saw these two units at Island Yard..
I passed the Ponderosa Yard at Dever Road in Saint John but nothing was going on. Onwards!
I passed through foggy Grand Bay-Westfield without any sign of trains. As I approached Welsford I heard the EOT squawk* on my scanner just as I came to Aikins Lane/Sand Hopper Road and saw white tank cars going east. Time to turn around!
I decided to get them at Brittain Road first. I got there about 2 minutes ahead of the train. Looking at the bright(er) overcast sky and the dark ground, I set the exposure compensation on my camera to -2/3 of a stop. I do that in these situations to prevent the sky from blowing out when the camera meters the ground. I also had the shutter speed at 1/250s because of the low light. Normally I'd prefer 1/400 or faster but it wasn't possible given the available light. It turned out OK.
The consist was NBSR 6315, HLCX 6304, NBSR 6318, GMTX 2226 and GMTX 2233.
Next I was determined to get the overhead shot at Westfield Beach. I parked at the mailboxes and ran like heck up the bridge to get into position. Seconds later the headlights were visible as the train came around the bend.
Detail roof shot, anyone?
I knew I would be playing catch up so I drove through Westfield-Grand Bay. I wanted the curve shot at Milligan Road and arrived just in time. Part of railfanning is choosing your opportunities!
You can see there was some fog...
I grabbed a quick side-of-road shot as the train passed through Grand Bay.
Since I had an overhead shot I felt no need to get the overhead shot by the Co-Op, and the train was there first anyway. I had no real idea of what I wanted next except that I wanted the bridge shot just before Gault Road. I stopped to take this photo at Ketepec Road. The engineer really loved that horn and 6315 has a very loud horn!
Here's the bridge shot I wanted.
As you can see it was raining by this time, but whatever... The nice thing about a heavily overcast day like this is that you can shoot from any direction and the light is pretty much the same! I had to do some serious editing to lighten the pond and engines enough to be seen, yet not blow out the bright sky.
I went to the overpass to shoot them coming into the yard. "Huff and Puff" were working the west end.
These are NB Southern's two SW1200 locomotives.
The eastbound freight stopped for a while. I am not sure why but there was some chatter about a freight car.
Eventually they got started again.. very slowly. I imagine the rails were quite slippery with the rain and it was hard to get started up the grade into the yard. The engines sounded great and the sanders were doing their thing.
It's been a very long time since I chased an NB Southern train! Thanks to Brian for the heads up and the rest of the RailsNB group for all the information they provide.
In Calgary, I assume they will go around the loop inside the Park. (FAQ)
In Saint John, the train will depart from Long Wharf (near Harbour Station) and cross the Reversing Falls bridge to behind Moosehead Breweries, then come back for a total of 24 minutes. They start departing at 9 AM and continue until 5 PM, so there will be plenty of opportunities to ride or photograph the train.
As far as I can tell, the host railroad provides the coaches and a diesel to do the actual work, and the Thomas engine provides the steam and photo opportunities. There will be plenty of other Thomas sights and activities at the site, including photo ops with Sir Topham Hatt™.
Here are a couple of videos showing Thomas at work. The first shows Thomas in St. Thomas, Ontario.
The second shows Thomas at the Gwili Steam Railway in Wales. He's smoking it up!
The Irving Oil refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick has been receiving oil trains from North Dakota and the surrounding area. These have generally been coming over NB Southern's tracks as 80-car unit trains, although some oil cars have trickled in on CN via CN 406. Railfans were excited to hear that a unit oil train was coming with three BNSF engines on it. The train arrived at Hermon, Maine on December 29 with the BNSF engines, and ended up parked on MM&A rails for a few days, apparently waiting for a crew.
The train finally made it to McAdam this past Saturday (January 5) at 10:30. Jody Robinson reported that it dropped its train in track 28 and made up another train with the oil cars already in McAdam, then hit the road around 16:15. It was reported through Harvey at 17:00.
Jody Robinson and Gary Bowser did great work documenting the train in McAdam.
The train had BNSF 4649 (Dash 9-44CW), BNSF 9723 (SD70AC), BNSF 7589 (Dash 9-44CW) and HLCX 6332 (SD40-2) for power. Here are a couple of Jody's photos.
I think I can safely say that these are the first BNSF engines to ever visit McAdam... given that BNSF did not exist prior to NB Southern's existence.
Here are a few of Gary's photos, as well as a video he took.
Matt (aka Saintjohnrailfan) caught the train rolling through Grand Bay on its way into Saint John.
The power did not stay long in Saint John. It went west on Sunday the 6th with empty oil cars and some miscellaneous freight. This time both Matt and Dave Dineen (aka nbsrfan) caught the train. Here's Matt's video first.
Now Dave's:
Great work, Jody, Gary, Matt and Dave! Special thanks to Jody for keeping the Facebook RailsNB group updated on the train's progress.
