Here's something a little different. This was the VIA Rail lineup cross-country for Thursday November 13. This is the first (and maybe only) lineup I've seen. There is lots of interesting detail there. You can see the consist for VIA 14 leaving Montreal was VIA 6411 and 6409 with 10 cars, and the VIA 14 going through New Brunswick was VIA 6400 and 6444, after dropping VIA 6412 and 5 cars at Matapedia for the Chaleur. Conversely, VIA 15 leaving Halifax was VIA 6401 and 6453 with 13 cars.
Even VIA's RDCs are shown on the bottom, with 6250 and 6215 on duty on the Sudbury-White River line, and VIA 6135 on Vancouver Island.
I plan to be at the annual Halifax Sportsplex Model Train Show this weekend. The show is open Saturday from 9am to 4:30pm, and Sunday from 10am to 3pm.
This has nothing to do with trains - I beg your indulgence. I am participating in the Movember campaign to raise awareness of prostate cancer and raise funds toward prostate cancer research. Participants start the month of November clean-shaven, and grow facial hair all month. I am growing a goatee! If you would like to contribute, you can go here to donate. Thank you, and now back to your regularly scheduled train news.
Monday's Chaleur had a special consist. I understand they did some kind of extra run Tuesday with one unit and several coaches from Gaspe back, hence the extra engine and the coaches on the end. VIA No 16, the Chaleur 6420, 6412, 6435 8622, 8140, 8509, DENONVILLE, SALABERRY, 8137, 8139, 8138, 8103, 8109, 4000, 4116
VIA No 14, the eastbound Ocean 6411, 6409 7003, 7228, 7108, 7316, 7402, 7308, 7518, 7515, 7526, 7512, 7516
VIA No 15, the westbound Ocean 6400, 6444 7009, 7220, 7217, 7315, 7400, 7314, 7517, 7521, 7503, 7524
CN's TEST train is in the Maritimes. Joel Scott caught it at Parker Ridge, NB on the Napadogan subdivision as it headed east to Moncton on Saturday.
It was in Halifax on the weekend, turning on the Halifax Ocean Terminal (HOT) loop on Sunday night. It must have run to Moncton overnight, as it left Moncton on Monday morning for the Newcastle subdivision with CN 9455 leading. It ran to Campbellton on Monday.
On Tuesday morning it headed west through Tide Head and into Quebec, with a fleet of hirail trucks following it. There was a ballast train in Tide Head Wednesday morning, so expect some more MOW activity later this week.
Nice to see CN doing some maintenance!
Thanks to Joel, Jakob, Phil and Jim for the sightings.
EDIT: The consist of the test train is CN 9455, CN 15007, and CN 15008 (CAPE ROSIER).
My French is not great, but I believe this article says that the Gaspé rail line is blocked due to a washout near West Paspébiac. Apparently Monday's rain washed out some land between the rails and a seawall. Hopefully this will be repaired very soon.
The Gaspé line has been closed several times recently due to washouts. Hopefully CN will improve the maintenance somewhat.
The Telegraph Journal is reporting that an NB Southern train hit a truck in Grand Bay-Westfield. Fortunately, noone was hurt but it appears from the article and the comments that a young couple were in the truck and misjudged the train's distance. The engineer attempted to make an emergency stop but of course the train wasn't able to stop in time.
It goes to show you, again, that if the crossing lights are on, don't cross. However, I do think some of the crossing lights come on too early for the speed of the train. At Welsford, in particular, the crossing lights come on well before the train comes, and local people are in the habit of going through the crossing when the lights are on.
I want to thank all of Canada's veterans for fighting for our country, and also thank our current Armed Forces for all the good work they do for us at home and abroad. I am especially thinking of my cousin Chris in Afghanistan, and I look forward to seeing him when he gets back.
In 2005 VIA ran a special Veteran Train to honour our veterans. Here it is approaching Amherst.
I bought this slide a while ago on eBay. It has a very interesting subject - a Canadian Pacific car on the Reversing Falls bridge in Saint John on July 22, 1967. The seller labelled it as a transfer caboose, and it may well be that. Does anyone know what kind of car CP 402472 was? There is small lettering on the car that says "cabin car". Click on the image for a larger view.
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.
I took the kids down to the train show in Quispamsis today. I decided to take the Kingston Peninsula route, by taking the ferry by Westfield Beach and the ferry by Quispamsis. This was the first time I had taken those ferries. Recommended.
The train show was great. I was glad to meet up with old friends like Wendell, Art, Steve, Ron, Carroll, Danny, Chuck, Tim, and probably others I cannot remember! I spent a grand total of $7 there but the experience was worth it.
Afterward, we went back through Rothesay in pursuit of CN 405. I heard them shunting on the scanner so I knew they were still in the yard. I found the head end up where the yard narrows near the shops. I also noticed CN 7038 and 7010 waiting outside the yard at 15:00.
I drove a bit to get a higher vantage point to get this shot of the head end of CN 405. It had CN 5338, 4728, 5269 and 5771 for power.
CN 7038 and 7010 crossed Rothesay Avenue and entered the yard. CN 7060 was doing some shunting, and as it retreated I got this shot of the three trains together.
Here is a short video I took of 7038 pulling up.
According to the scanner chatter, the plan was for 7038 and 7010 to go get some tank cars and take them to the refinery. After that, CN 405 was free to leave the yard and get on its way. I did not have time to wait so I took off for the road home.
A call to McAdam told me that the NB Southern eastbound train left McAdam at 14:10. I knew it could not get the 60 miles from there to Welsford in less than 1:30, so I made it to Welsford at 15:40, confident I didn't miss the train. We parked there and waited, and at 15:57 I heard the EOT squawk on my scanner. At 16:00 precisely, NBSR 2317 East rolled through the crossing. NBSR 2317, 9801, 2318 and 2319 were pulling 45 cars.
You can see it was raining. I had my hand over the lens to shield it from the rain, but the train blew mist onto the lens. Sorry for the handheld shot - I forgot my tripod at home.
Not a bad day, all around. I was glad to get out and see some trains!
Continuing the theme of CN engines now at the New Brunswick Railway Museum, here is a photo of CN 1754 and 1750 from July 4, 1986 in Borden, PEI. These lightweight RSC-14 units were used on branchlines all over the Maritimes. CN 1754 was sent to the Salem & Hillsborough Railroad in 1995, after their disastrous fire of September 1994.
Here's an older photo of CN 8245 in Moncton on August 16, 1975. CN 8245 was retired in 1985 and would later go to the Salem & Hillsborough Railroad (now the New Brunswick Railway Museum) in 1989, where it is still operational. Also visible in the photo are CN 2300 and CN 1714.
I was surprised to see that I received some railway spam in my inbox last week. A fellow named "Norbert Mthombi" claims to have 360,000 metric tons of rail scraps for sale. He's only asking $125/tonne, so buy now! Oh, one caveat - you have to go to South Africa to close the deal. ;)
I'm told that there will be a mock collision in Harvey today, run by the New Brunswick Operation Lifesaver committee. It will start at 13:00 (1 PM) and will involve NB Southern, students from the Harvey High School, the RCMP, Saint John Ambulance, and local emergency services. Press release
The CN - Quebec Railway Corporation deal finally hit the news. CN is purchasing most of the assets of the QRC, specifically the CFMG, NBEC, OCR and the COGEMA rail ferry service (CN Press Release, Canadian Press, Financial Post, CNN Money, Progressive Railroading). CN says "Post-transaction, it will be 'business as usual' under CN ownership, with no immediate changes in freight, VIA Rail passenger rail service or employment levels," but we all know there will be changes in the future.
(CFMG = Chemin de fer de Matapedia et Golf, NBEC = New Brunswick East Coast Railway, OCR = Ottawa Central Railway)
From the Canadian Press article: "CN said it plans to invest capital over the next three years to upgrade the rail lines and will replace the existing locomotive fleet with more modern motive power. The company does not plan any changes to freight, VIA Rail passenger rail service or employment levels."
At the same time, Logistec purchased the Sydney Coal Railway (SCR) from the QRC (Logistec release). Logistec owned a portion of the QRC already, and it looks like it will be financing the purchase of SCR from the money it receives from the sale of the other QRC properties.
The Canadian Press article also says that CN will operate the Gaspe line, which makes sense.
The QRC will be left with the Chemin de fer de Charlevoix (CFC) near Quebec City, and that's it.
So, what does this mean? Nothing in the short term. In the long term, the MLW units will all disappear and be replaced by the usual CN units. I expect the maintenance shop in Campbellton (Eastern Rail Services, ERS) will be shut down. The big plus for shippers and passengers is that there should be significant capital investment in the line to bring it up to snuff for the big CN units and trains, and that means faster transit times for passengers and less slow orders. I wouldn't be too surprised to see one of the two regular CN freights (305/308 or 473/474) shifted from the Napadogan subdivision to the former CFMG/NBEC line to replace the NBEC 402/403 freight.
Get your shots of the NBEC and CFMG units while you can!
I don't know if you read this in the local Moncton Times & Transcript, but an AC/DC fan video was filmed at the New Brunswick Railway Museum last month. Here it is.
Gary from Newfoundland wrote me a while ago, asking for VIA schedules for the Ocean. I pointed him to the PDF file available on the VIA site, and he used that to shoot the train at Sackville. Here are a few of his photos, and a video.
Approaching the station.
Loading the Ocean.
A nice shot of the Sackville station.
He shot a short video of the train leaving the Sackville station.
Matt aka saintjohnrailfan has been out taping trains again. Here are a few of my favourites from yesterday at McGivney.
A honkin' big CN 121 blasts through McGivney in the dark with IC 2714, CN 5507, 8801 and 2683 pulling 162 platforms.
Around sunrise, CN 305 rolled through McGivney with 5717, 5548 and 5531 pulling 98 cars. There were quite a few autoracks on the tail end.
Next, CN 473 went through around noon. It had CN 5319 and IC 6130 pulling 60 mixed cars. It's hard to tell 473 and 305 apart, unless you know 305 goes first!
Here are two (silent) videos of freight trains in Amsterdam.
The first shows a VolkerRail diesel engine leading a unit train.
The second shows a pair of RaiLion electric engines pulling a longish freight train. I say "longish" because it seems long for the Netherlands but definitely not long by North American standards. This was one of the rare freights I saw with two engines.
Two trains race into Centraal Station. The rear one is a "Sprinter".
The Thalys train outside Centraal Station. Apparently it goes between Amsterdam and Brussels, and also to Cologne and Paris.
"Every train has 8 synchronous AC traction engines, producing 8.800 kW. Has a weight 385 tons. Is 200 meters long. Has a capacity of 377 seats (120 in Confort 1 and 257 in Confort 2)"
One of Amsterdam's wonderful trams. They are very popular and pleasant to ride on. Note the Maintenance-of-Way (MOW) equipment on a back track.
My wife and I are in Amsterdam for a few days for a conference. We arrived around noon Saturday and we're leaving Thursday morning. We've been having a great time. We took a train from the airport to Centraal Station, not far from our hotel. Nice. There is a great system of public transportation here, as one would expect in Europe, and we have used the tram several times. I like it a lot - very quiet and smooth.
The trains are constantly going in and out of the station. There seem to be several different companies' trains, from the blue and yellow to something called a Sprinter to the ICE train. Railfanning would be ridiculously easy here.
Here are a couple of videos I took from the 6th floor of the hotel. Sorry for the lack of sound - I was using the cheap Fuji. I also apologize for the window glare. If I have time, I'll try to get outside tomorrow for a few minutes.
I had an interesting email late in September from Megan, a Communications Specialist from GE. She was writing to inform me of the the launch of the Vancouver Olympic Games Spirit Train. "The train is a partnership between GE and Canadian Pacific and is designed to be a mobile ambassador of goodwill traveling across Canada celebrating Canada's athletes, Olympic heritage and Canadian pride."
She also included a blurb about the GE Evolution engine: "As you know, the Evolution series locomotive is the most technologically advanced, fuel-efficient and eco-friendly diesel-electric locomotive to date and was one of the first GE products to be "ecomagination" certified".
I put a modernized version of the McAdam Subdivision timetable online. This is based on old CP timetables plus current observations. I do not have an NBSR employee timetable, so I have no idea what theirs actually says. Please have a look and offer your comments.
Recently a good friend gave me some number plates he purchased at North Bedeque Antiques on Prince Edward Island. I am grateful for them, and I asked if he would mind going back to see what other engine numbers were available there. This is the list he gave me, current as of late September. They are all CN number plates as far as I can tell.
The store is North Bedeque Antiques, North Bedeque (near Summerside), PEI, postal code C1N 4J9. Thelma Moase is the owner and the telephone number is (902) 887 3298.
Matt posted a video of CN 436 at Marsh Junction leaving Moncton with the nine export locomotives. The video was taken at about 19:30. Nice use of the car headlights to get some light on the subject!
Looking for something to do this weekend? Why not head to Orangedale in Cape Breton for the "OrangeRail - Work Days and Slide Shows".
"Star presenter will be Stan Smaill, a CPR Train Dispatcher from Montreal who will show us the highlights of his 1975 trip to Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island. Don't miss this featured show but do bring your own images to join in the fun. Kyle will provide us with lots of challenges for the work day, notably, a clean up after this week's demolition of the old house which stood in our front yard."
Saturday October 25, 2008 Work Day 10am to 4 pm Saturday October 25, 2008 Slide Show and Supper 4pm to 9pm Sunday October 26, 2008 Work Day and/or Slide Show 11am to 4pm
Some accommodation available, all meals are potluck for participants.
For more information Phone: Martin Boston 902-756-2539 or email: bill.linley@gmail.com
I often carry a camera with me, even when I am not anticipating any trains. Sometimes it comes in handy...
Today (Tuesday) I was working near Saint John, and on my way back to Fredericton I passed through Welsford. Bump-bump over the highway crossing, then the usual glance into the siding and WHOA - TRAIN! It turned out that NBSR 2319 East was stopped on the main line for some reason. I pulled over and pulled out my old Fuji A210 to take a few shots.
2319 had her lights doused and both crew were on the ground, walking back to the engine from the consist. I'm guessing they tripped the hotbox detector coming into Welsford and had to fix the problem. Within a couple of minutes of my arrival, they started the engines up (with a big puff of white smoke) and headed out.
NBSR 2319, 2317 and 9801 rolled by me at 3:13 PM with 30 cars in tow.
CN 436 arrived at Gordon Yard in Moncton at about 15:00. It left Gordon Yard at 19:25 with the same consist, CN 5739, a flatcar, 9 export locomotives, and a trailing flatcar. It will likely arrive in Halifax around midnight.
Phil Ross got a great shot of the train at Lutesville. Click on the photo for the large Railpictures version.
The export train #436 was due to meet late CN #121 at McGivney. It is due at Pangburn (30 miles west of Moncton) at 13:00. Thanks to Phil Ross for the information.
There is a train of export locomotives on its way to Halifax. Train 436 is scheduled to leave Edmundston this morning at 11 AM with CN 5739 leading 9 export locomotives (and two spacer flatcars).
The export units are Freightliner 66954/5/6/7, Fastline 66302, and Direct Rail Services 66431/2/3/4. Thanks to Bruce Hollett for the numbers.
On Monday at 16:36 (Eastern) it went through Belleville, Ontario and it went by Dorval, Quebec at 20:03 (Eastern). At 21:34 it was past Bagot on the Drummondville subdivision, and some estimate it arrived at Joffre around 01:00 this morning.
If it does leave Edmundston at 11 AM, it should be through McGivney around 3-4 PM and into Moncton by 6 PM. It is expected that it won't stay too long in Moncton.
I want to draw your attention to a very interesting blog by Eric Gagnon, called Trackside Treasure. He has posted some great photos and narrative from train-watching over the years. I encourage you to check it out.
Don't forget about the NBSR Rally of Hope charity excursion leaving at 1 PM from Harbour Station tomorrow (Saturday). This trip is to benefit the Saint John Regional Hospital. The train will travel to Welsford and back in about 2.5 hours.
I was determined to get some photos of trains with fall colours in them. My plan was to go out Thanksgiving Monday to St. Stephen and shoot the NB Southern South Job there and on the way back to McAdam. Given its slow speed, there are plenty of opportunities for photos in picturesque locations, as I saw in May 2007.
My youngest son and I set out at just after 9 AM. I knew the train would leave McAdam around 8 AM so I figured I might catch it just before St. Stephen. Well, just after Harvey my little guy got quite car-sick and that was the end of the chase. We headed straight home for cleanup and I was a bit bummed out.
He recovered quickly enough, though, so after lunch I figured we could get the eastbound NBSR freight instead. We went to Rooth (just west of Tracy) and set up at the private crossing just west of milepost 52. We drew letters in the dirt road and waited for the train to show up.
At 15:35 the scanner chirped with the sound of the EOT (End-of-Train) device. Within 30 seconds I heard the nearby crossing bell ringing, and soon NBSR 2319 East came around the corner. It had 2319 and 2317 leading a short train of empty gypsum cars, a single covered hopper, and three autoracks.
NBSR 2319 at Rooth
As you can see, the light was not great. The sun played peek-a-boo all through the chase.
I gave chase. He beat me to the next crossing and then I outran him out of Tracy. I was well ahead by the time he reached the Fredericton Junction mile board, so I grabbed a few quick shots there at 15:48.
NBSR 2319 at Tracy
I wanted to get the shot across the field at Blissville to get as much foliage as I could. I pulled into the Baptist church parking lot, and as I was pulling the tripod out of the trunk, I heard the highway crossing bell ring. I set up just in time to catch him going past at 15:59.
NBSR 2319 and 2317 passing Blissville, NB
Here's the video.
For my next shot, I went to the long shot at Clarendon. It is starting to get very overgrown along the highway and the shot is going away. Maybe a chainsaw next time... The train was there at 16:19.
NB Southern Railway at Clarendon
The farmer in the foreground kept on working the field, oblivious to the train.
I took the long shot at Welsford Lake at 16:23. This was a very nice location.
NB Southern Freight Train at Welsford Lake
As I pulled through the west crossing at Welsford, the lights came on. I parked at the fueling depot by the east crossing and shot them coming through at 16:29.
NB Southern 2319 rounding the bend in Welsford
That was a great afternoon chase, but it was time to go. Thanks to my son for being so patient!
There's another article in the Tribune about the rumoured sale of QRC to CN. It doesn't have anything new, alas. The original rumour said an announcement would take place on September 30 or October 1. So far it seems "business as usual" on the CFMG and NBEC.
Check out the Riding the Rails online exhibit at the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN). This exhibit shows the railway stations of New Brunswick, and was developed by the New Brunswick Railway Museum in cooperation with CHIN.
Danny McCracken was kind enough to send along a few photos of CP units in McAdam in December 1994, just before NB Southern started, and early 1995 as NBSR leased some units. I understand the December photos were taken by Danny's father.
CP 1273, CP 8040, CP 8033 and CP 1275 were the power for the train.
CP 1275 and 1273 were both SW1200 units.
Here you can see 1275 and the nose of CP 8033, an RS23 unit.
CP 4231, MK 4303 and BAR 93 were in McAdam on March 20, 1995. I don't know if the units were run-through power or leased by NB Southern. Quite a colourful consist!
CBC is reporting that the St. Stephen Flakeboard Company is laying workers off due to the economic crisis in the U.S. Much of Flakeboard's revenue comes from the housing industry, and the sub-prime mortgage crisis and now the general economic crisis has hit the housing industry hard.
These layoffs are obviously going to have an impact on the amount of product shipped by rail on NB Southern. Let's hope the layoffs are short term and the good people of St. Stephen can get back to work soon.
I don't know how many people pay attention to video ratings on Youtube, but I do. I appreciate it when people take the time to rate my videos, and I hope they are doing so honestly. I like the feedback on what videos people enjoy, and which ones they don't - hopefully none! ;) For instance, this video features a night shot of VIA 15 at Nepisiguit Junction and it is rated 3 stars. I appreciate the honesty, and I agree it isn't a great video. Now the video below of the CP Reunion train last year in Harvey got 5 stars with 6 ratings, so... great!
I do find it suspicious when I see someone just posted a video with only a couple of views and it already has a 5-star rating on it. It's easy enough to game the rating system and rate your own videos, but what's the point?
I saw this article in leSoleil about a little bit of rail business for the Gaspe peninsula. Apparently Xstrata will be trucking 14,000 cubic meters of mine tailings to Gaspe, where it will be loaded into railcars and brought to the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda. Additionally, remediation work is scheduled for the Gaspe smelter, closed in April 2002.
The tailings come from the Murdochville complex. The tailings are part of the decontamination and decomissioning of the facility, closed since 1999. The article says that there will be 27 sets of 8 cars from mid-October to late November, and possibly another 125-150 cars in 2009.
At the time, both facilities were owned by Noranda. Noranda and Falconbridge merged in June 2005, and Xstrata purchased Falconbridge in November 2006.
It's good to see some traffic on the Gaspe peninsula. Hopefully more permanent traffic will be found.
On September 8 I mentioned I saw three NB Southern log cars in the siding at Westfield Beach. On September 24 I stopped and took photos of the three of them - NBSR 4012, 4018 and 4016.
It looks like their cargo will be the pile of old ties beside them. Here's 4012.
