Upcoming UPM Plant Closure in Miramichi

UPM-Kymmene has announced it will close the Miramichi mill in August 2007 for 9-12 months, citing weak demand and the strength of the Canadian dollar as factors. This will be a huge blow to the economy of the Miramichi area (and beyond) and will definitely affect the New Brunswick East Coast Railway's operations in the area. UPM is their main customer in Miramichi and no doubt there will be layoffs on the NBEC as a result of this.

This is not a permanent closure (yet) but it looks grim. Coming on the heels of the announcement that Weyerhauser's facility will remain closed, things are looking bad for Miramichi.

CBC report

January 8 and 9, 2004

I found this old post I made on the AtlanticRails mailing list and thought I'd share it with you.

Not a bad couple of days for watching trains, except for the cold!

2004/01/08 08:25, Location: Miramichi - UPM Outside Yard
Saw UPM 711 moving about.

2004/01/08 08:30, Location: Miramichi - NBEC Yard
In yard: NBEC 6905

Since the normal two RS-18s weren't there, I went looking. I found them down on the wharf spur:

2004/01/08 08:48, Location: Miramichi - Newcastle Port
-- (Train #578) Leaving port area: NBEC 1814, NBEC 1821, BCOL 100247, BCOL 100394, CNA 404833, CNA 404831
-- Left at port: CV 50062, CV 50016, BCOL 850261, BCOL 80311

I shot them leaving the port, crossing Pleasant Street and then after they crossed highway 430. It's pretty easy to keep ahead of them as they have to stop for the crossings to let the brakeman out to flag. It was a beautiful day for video, except for the bitter cold.


2004/01/08 18:30, Location: Miramichi - NBEC Yard
The night switcher (train 580) was shunting with NBEC 1814, NBEC 1821. As I said in a previous post, they were having brake problems due to the cold. I chatted with the brakeman for a bit but he was pretty busy fixing problems.

2004/01/08 19:43, Location: Miramichi - NBEC Yard
VIA 15 arrived at 19:30 and left at 19:43.
VIA 6424 / 6410 / 8619 / 8141 / 8139 / 8130 / 8511 / LOUISE / LEMOYNE / CADILAC / LAVAL / PAPINEAU / MARQUETTE / DOLLIER / BAYFIELD / YOHO PARK

Right after VIA left, the night switcher left. I shot them leaving the yard.

2004/01/08 19:50, Location: Miramichi - NBEC Yard
-- (Train #580) Left with work for UPM and Weyerhauser.: NBEC 1814, NBEC 1821, UTLX 646047, LW 50115, CN 598166, TILX 16254, ENGX 15149, ACFX 45971, ENGX 15232, ENGX 15255


I zoomed ahead of them to the bridge over the highway outside UPM and thought I'd catch them there. Due to the new intersection there, there's a nice little "parking lot" just up from the bridge where you can stand trackside. I waited there in the bitter cold for a few minutes, then figured they must have beat me to UPM. Of course, they rolled by just as I was waiting at the lights. Darn it!

They left a few tankers at UPM then continued on. I shot them from the other end of the bridge.

2004/01/08 20:19, Location: Miramichi - Repap Outside Yard
-- (Train #580) Leaving Repap for Weyerhauser: NBEC 1814, NBEC 1821, UTLX 646047, LW 50115, CN 598166

Not much happening in the yard in the morning of the 9th.

2004/01/09 07:40, Location: Miramichi - NBEC Yard
-- In yard: NBEC 6905
-- (Train #578) Idling: NBEC 1814, NBEC 1821

I stopped by the yard around 12:45 and a friendly brakeman informed me that #402 from Campbellton would be arriving soon. I set up outside the VIA station and waited. Sure enough, they showed up with three SD40s as power. I happened to be just in the right spot as the last car stopped right beside me. They had spotted the head end at the NBEC shack.

2004/01/09 13:06, Location: Miramichi - NBEC Yard
-- (Train #402) Arriving: NBEC 6900, NBEC 6901, CFMG 6906, 32 cars
-- In yard: NBEC 6905
-- (Train #578) Idling: NBEC 1814, NBEC 1821

On my way out of Miramichi, I saw UPM 711 going onto the main line. Unfortunately, I was out of time and couldn't stop to watch.

2004/01/09 13:30, Location: Miramichi - Repap Outside Yard
-- UPM 711 going onto the main line / bridge

October 11

2005: I was in Winnipeg, Manitoba shooting trains on the CN mainline. I saw nine trains in four hours, 8 CN and 1 CP. Here's my blog entry for October 11 2005.


2004: I saw NBEC train 578 shunting the UPM yard in Miramichi. NBEC 1867 and 1856 were drilling the yard, frequently going on the bridge over the Miramichi River.


2003: I wasn't railfanning, but other railfans around the region noted a few sightings.

• The CBCNS was borrowing a couple of CN units, CN 5367 (SD40-2) and CN 9581 (GP40), spotted in Stellarton, NS (Geoff Doane)
• A few oddball units were seen in Moncton, including CN GP40 9416 and two CN GP9 units in the Gordon Yard, 7038 and 7248 (Wendell Lemon)

2002: No reports

2001: I was travelling north through New Brunswick and saw quite a few NBEC units.C-424 4210 was paired up with RS-18 1856 in Miramichi. I spent quite a bit of time in Campbellton looking at the dead lines and watching CFMG train 402 arrive in the dark. Units spotted during the day included RS-18s 1809, 1818, 1830, 1856, 1857, 1859, 1867, 1868; C-424s 4210, 4219, 4230; SD40s 6902, 6904, 6908, 6910; and some MOW equipment. I really should make a blog entry for that day - it was a good one!

UPM 711 update

UPM 711 is sitting in Walkley Yard, Ottawa. It was sighted leaving Bathurst on April 9 2006 by David Chiasson. UPM is now switched by the New Brunswick East Coast Railway.

Tags: upm, nbec

UPM 711 on the move

UPM-Kymmene's switcher #711 was sighted by David Chiasson traveling north through Bathurst on April 7 on its way to points unknown. I assume it is going for servicing somewhere while the UPM plant is shut down.


David Chiasson caught UPM 711 in Bathurst.

Riding the Ocean from Miramichi to Amherst and back

Nick and I went to Miramichi today to ride the Ocean from there to Amherst and back. We met Luc Doiron at the station and chatted for a bit.

1029 VIA 14 arrived, with 6411 (Lifesaver) and 6434 (Spiderman) leading a Renaissance consist.


The consist was 6411, 6434, 7011, 7223, 7217 ... more to come .. and Yoho Park on the end.

1037 The consist rolled forward for the second platform stop.
1040 We departed Miramichi in car 7217.

When we arrived in Rogersville, I spotted David Othen filming our arrival. I took a few snaps of him from the car but out of respect for his privacy, I won't post them. :)

1120 We departed Rogersville. We hit two slow sections between Rogersville and Coal Branch. It was fairly rough track but the Renaissance cars went smoothly over it. I noticed how close some of the trees and bushes were getting to the track. It reminded me of the Salem and Hillsborough Railroad before we had them cut back.

1205 We arrived at Pacific Junction and got onto the CN Napadogan subdivision.

1215 We passed a number of CN ex-gypsum cars stored on the siding near Gordon Yard.

After arrival at Moncton, Nick and I detrained and went up to the engine. The very friendly engineer invited us up and we had a little chat about brakes with him. After a bit, we stepped out and ran into list member Tim Dryden. I admit I was a little brief with him, as I was worried about getting back on the train before it left. I apologize, Tim!



1255 We left Moncton station.

1307 We took the siding before Painsec Junction and spent 10 minutes crawling along before what I have to assume was CN 307 rocketed past on the main around mile 117. It had 3 big engines and a GP38.

After Memramcook at 1335 and Dorchester at 1342, we arrived in Sackville at 1353.



1421 VIA 14 left for Halifax.



1554 VIA 15 arrived at Amherst. I tried to take video of its arrival but some woman seemed to make a point of walking right between me and the lead engine. Very annoying. I'm sure she wasn't doing it on purpose but gosh darn it.





We boarded the train, dropped our coats in 8117, then took up residence in the dome. I hardly left the dome. :) I had a good chat with an older couple from B.C. who were doing a cross-Canada trip. They had flown into Newfoundland, toured Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and were off to Quebec City next.



The consist: 6412, 6442, 8622, 8137, 8117, 8506, Chateau Rouville, Chateau Iberville, Acadian, Chateau Joliet, Chateau Viger, Chateau Papineau, Chateau Iberville, Chateau Rigaud, Chateau Levis, Revelstoke Park.



1700 We arrived at the Moncton station.

1727 Outside Gordon yard we met NBEC #402, stopped in the siding with CFMG 6907 and SFEX 4204 leading 17 cars.



At Pacific Junction I caught a glimpse of an eastbound CN train waiting on the main for us to get onto NBEC trackage. Any idea what train this was? I just got a very quick grab shot so it's not great quality at all:



1830 We rolled past the Rogersville station without stopping.

There was a beautiful sunset:


I caught a shot of the UPM engine as we passed through:



1912 VIA 15 left us and Miramichi behind. The engineer gave us very friendly waves.

VIA 15 at Night

At 10:40, UPM 711 was working inside the UPM-Kymmene complex in Miramichi. Traffic looks a lot more like normal there, now that the strike is over.

CFMG 6907 was in the NBEC yard in Miramichi. No sign of the RS-18s but there was a ram of tank cars at the Ultramar facility. A flatcar, CN 668014, was on the team track in Miramichi by the VIA station. It was quite surprising because I haven't seen anything on that track in a few years, and before that the only thing that was there was an MOW crane. The flatcar was empty, by the way.

Since I'm staying in Bathurst tonight, I thought I'd try some night video of VIA 15 as it passed through. I set up at the one-lane bridge over the tracks just south of Highway 11. The friendly station crew had told me they were running about 30 minutes late.

I heard the hum of the train, then the scanner said "Approaching subdivision at Bathurst", whatever that means. About 10 seconds later, VIA 15, with 6412 leading a Budd consist, rolled into sight. This was 20:40.


The engineer was having fun with the horn. 6412 led out quite a series of short toots as they approached the next crossing.

I zipped onto the highway and beat it to Beresford to catch them at the overpass there. I arrived about five minutes ahead of them. I decided to stand on the slope below the road surface to keep the car noise down and quit being blinded by headlights. It was a good location. The Ocean showed up at 21:00.
By the way, there were no engines in Bathurst.

Northern NB Trains

I had a little trip to Dalhousie on Tuesday the 9th and managed to catch a few trains en route.

When I passed by the UPM-Kymmene plant at 09:45, switcher 711 was shoving a cut of boxcars into the plant. One would almost think it was a steam engine by the huge plume of white smoke it was emitting. I'm no mechanic but it seemed highly unusual. There were six boxcars in the outside yard.

The string of NB Southern log racks I saw on July 15 doesn't seem to have moved.

VIA 14 arrived at Miramichi at 10:06 with 6416 and 6432 leading 18 Renaissance cars and Evangeline Park. They departed at 10:14. Listening to the scanner, they had a slow order at mile 48 (near Rogersville) and were cleared only to mile 33 (near Harcourt).



When I passed by Bathurst at 11:10, I heard 402 working in the yard over the scanner.

I left Dalhousie around 17:45, after verifying that the Dalhousie local was not around. I heard a squawk on the NBEC channel so I went up highway 134. There are some really nice places for train photography along the stretch between Dalhousie and Belledune.

At mile 138.26 the track crosses the highway in Jacquet River, and the crossing lights were flashing. I quickly determined that there was no train around, so I called the NBEC emergency number and informed the RTC that the lights were stuck on. He thanked me and issued a notice to train 403 over the radio. Then he asked 403 for a position check and they were at mile 134 - almost on top of me!

I beat it back to the bridge over Jacquet River and waited for 403. They came at 18:32 with 6906?, a C424 and another SD40 leading about 88 cars. I shot video from the highway, and it turned out OK if a little wobbly. I think it would be a great spot for still photos. There's an ancient iron bridge over the tracks just north of the river that is a great place for getting an overhead shot.


In Miramichi, 1816 and 1819 were shut down on the "main" at the Ultramar facility with a string of boxcars behind them.