Rail Blockades by First Nations People

A movement called "Idle No More" has sprung up in Canada, with First Nations people demonstrating over a variety of concerns - land claims, environmental stewardship, and more. I'm not going to get into the politics of it. I am mentioning it because one of their tactics to attract attention has been to blockade rail and road routes. I am not listing every blockade, just the ones that interest me.

Gaspé
On December 27 protesters blockaded the rail line at Pointe-à-la-Croix ("Cross Point" in English) in Quebec. This is the line from Matapedia to Gaspé which is now owned by the Société des chemins de fer de la Gaspésie (SFG, aka the local municipalities). I believe that trapped the VIA train (formerly known as the Chaleur) on the Gaspé side, so passengers were bused along the route. I understand the protesters contacted CN in advance to warn them the track would be blockaded, unaware that CN no longer owned the line.

The blockade was lifted on January 3 after having little effect. I am guessing they didn't realize how little traffic is left on that line.

Truro
On January 11 "Idle No More" protesters blockaded the CN main line just east of Truro, Nova Scotia. VIA Rail ran the Ocean out of Halifax early before the blockade went into effect, and bused their passengers to Truro to board the train to continue west. I believe the blockade began at 2 PM local time and ended after several hours.

Portage la Prairie
On January 16 protesters from the American Indian Movement blocked the CN main line west of Portage-la-Prairie, Manitoba at the Highway 16 (Yellowhead Highway) crossing. A CN freight train was seen stopped near the crossing. They also stopped cars and trucks from using the crossing.

CN swiftly obtained a court injunction against all blockades in Manitoba, but local RCMP declined to enforce the injunction. The RCMP re-routed vehicle traffic around the area but of course they couldn't re-route the train. The blockade was supposed to last "72 hours" but was ended later that night.

I did not go out to Portage but I observed a couple of CN trains (401 and 197) stopped at Waverley Street in Winnipeg that evening, with CN 197 heading west around 8 PM. I expect many trains were staged waiting for the blockade to come down. I don't believe any trains were re-routed via the north line through Dauphin but I suppose they would have been, if the blockade had lasted longer.

Many other locations in Canada were blockaded on January 16.

I have no public comment on the movement. If you choose to comment, please be civil.

McCully Aerial Photos From 1931

Check out these amazing aerial photos of Nova Scotia from 1931. The Nova Scotia Archives holds the Richard McCully Aerial Photograph Collection. These photographs were mostly taken by Harold Reid, owner of Reid's Picture and Equipment Ltd., and the plane was flown by Marty Fraser, an ex-RCMP officer and military pilot.

The photographs are fantastic - the detail is incredible for 1931! The best part about this display is that you can zoom into the photographs to see details.

The Archives acquired the 221 glass negatives in the spring of 2012. The negatives were printed and scanned and they look fantastic.

Here's the Truro yard and roundhouse. I can see 4 steam engines, various rolling stock (mostly boxcars), and quite a collection of passenger equipment in the yard.

Here's the Halifax grain elevators area. Lots of outside-braced boxcars are visible. Just to the left of the centre of the photograph are an old passenger car and an outside-braced wooden caboose!

In this photo of the Yarmouth Cotton Mills you can see a yard with some passenger cars, and just to the right is a roundhouse.

There are some nice photos of Amherst, including this one of the Enamel Heating Plant with the train station in the background.

VIA and CN Outside Halifax

As I mentioned before, I am in Halifax this weekend. I did a quick pass through Dartmouth yard on my way to the train show this Saturday morning, and saw CN 2288 and another unit in the fog. I just missed CN 407 leaving at 09:45.

After visiting old friends and meeting new friends at the train show (hi Alan!), I decided to hit the road and see VIA 15 off. I chose to go to Brookfield and wait for the Ocean there, then proceed to Belmont on the other side of Truro and get it again before heading back to Halifax.

As I approached Brookfield, I heard the RTC calling CN 407 on the scanner. 407? What was it still doing around? From the discussion it appears they were waiting for a pickup, presumably the CB&CNS. The RTC asked 407 to follow 15 out of Truro. Good news for me!

VIA 6421 blasted through Brookfield at 13:50 with 6409 trailing. The kids and I were out of the van to give them a rollby inspection.


We hotfooted it for Belmont, and set up at the east end of the siding on the Old Tatamagouche Road. The camera angle isn't fantastic there but I wanted somewhere safe for the kids to wait. If I were alone I would have chosen Onslow instead.

We heard VIA start honking for crossings, and in short order the Ocean rolled past at 14:18.


The signal turned red-over-red, then yellow-over-red. CN 407 broadcast that it was leaving on a clear-to-stop signal, and the signal turned green shortly after that. 407 was very slow leaving Truro and wasn't exactly rocketing when it rolled past at 14:34.

407 had 2588, 5621, 8817 and shiny 4728 pulling 104 cars. Maybe that's why they were so slow starting out!

CN 3656

One more CN diesel for now, RS18 CN 3656 at Truro, Nova Scotia, on July 21, 1975. Note the CN Truro sign behind the unit. This is where the VIA station is now.

CN Videos

New YouTuber downeastrailfan put two videos up for our enjoyment. The first shows CN 306 rolling through Penobsquis, just outside Sussex.


The second shows shiny CN 4728 shunting the Truro Industrial Park. 4728 was recently repainted and looks good as new.


Finally, Jammin' Joel caught a CN local at Napadogan with CN 6021 pulling 20 cars.


Thanks, guys!