St. Quentin Update

David Chiasson discovered that the former Smurfit-Stone caboose, lately NBEC 1000, at the St. Quentin museum.

The caboose seems to be at the end of the replica train, but not in line with it. Perhaps they need a little more rail before they can put it in line with the rest of the train.

You may remember I visited that station back in August 2007. At that time the station was done but there was no train present.

Here's the first photo I ever took of that caboose, when it was sitting under the highway 11 overpass in the Smurfit interchange track.


Nice to see the caboose get a new lease on life!

Smurfit Stone Plow

Chris Mears sent me some photos of the snowplow that Smurfit Stone used to own in Bathurst. These were taken back in August 2006, when the mill was shut down but before the plow was taken away. Thanks, Chris!

The snowplow is ex-CN 55121, built in 1916 by CC&F as CGR 295542.











Here's a photo I took of it back in July 2002.

Smurfit-Stone rail assets distributed

Since Smurfit-Stone's facility in Bathurst shut down late last year, their rail assets (engine, caboose, plow) have sat idle. No more!

I'm told the engine is going to Belledune to the smelter there. The smelter used to have a little trackmobile but in the past few years they have been "renting" an NBEC RS-18 to do their shunting while NBEC train 587 is around.

I'm also told that New Brunswick East Coast Railway has acquired the plow and caboose. The plow will join NBEC/CFMG's fleet of ex-CN plows, but I'm not sure what they are going to do with the caboose. Maybe it will go to CFMG? I hope not. I'd like to see it in New Brunswick!