I had a quick trip to Saint John on Thursday morning. Here are my sightings.
At 07:45 the Dever Road yard was pretty quiet and empty. I saw GP9 NBSR 3701, caboose NBSR 422990, and the three passenger cars near the shops.
At 09:45 NBSR 2610 and 2612 were shunting the west end of Island Yard, getting the transfer train ready to head to Dever Road.
About half an hour after that, on my way out I saw NBSR 3702 switching the west end of the Dever Road yard by itself. By then 2612 and 2610 had reached Dever Road and were shut down by the shops.
This one really was the last one for this spring, despite my previous post on the matter. David Morris chased it from Oxford Junction to Miramichi on Wednesday April 29. Here are a few of his photos.
First, Oxford Junction. Note the track curving off to the left, the former wye.
Next, Amherst.
And finally Miramichi, with failing light.
The consist was engines 6435 and 6440, baggage car 8621, coaches 8109 and 8140, Skyline 8503, diner LOUISE, and Chateau cars IBERVILLE, CADILLAC, LASALLE, and DOLLARD.
As I mentioned yesterday, the Springfield Terminal Railway (aka Pan Am) will be leaving the Calais Branch on Friday. There is a nice article in the Bangor Daily News about this. They have some good quotes from engineer Doug McLellan and conductor Terry Diadone.
I understand that Springfield Terminal (owned by Pan Am Railways) will be pulling their equipment out of the Domtar mill in Woodland, Maine on Friday. They have an engine, a few cars and an old snowplough that will be leaving. The NB Southern "south job" will pick them up at Milltown Junction and bring them back to McAdam for shipment back to the U.S.
I was in Toronto for a quick day trip today. I had some time after my meeting and before my flight, so I ended up at Port Credit, Ontario to see a few GO Transit trains.
Matt aka saintjohnrailfan posted some photos of the dormant Denison Subdivision recently. The Denison Subdivision runs 11.7 miles from mile 57.2 of the Sussex Subdivision to the former Clover Hill mine.
Wendell Lemon very kindly gave permission to me to post an article he wrote about New Brunswick potash operations back in 2006. Read Wendell's take on potash in New Brunswick.
This is a great video by David Graham in Ontario - two CN units with a block of eight "dead in tow" passenger locomotives, followed by freight. Be patient - the train shows up at the 2 minute mark, but there is some good engine noise, horn and scanner traffic before then.
For my next shot, I decided to go to Wirral. I had never shot a train there, so why not? They rolled through at 14:43. I took a few long-distance shots before they rolled past the siding.
I passed the boys at Clarendon and then threaded my way through an accident scene, before arriving at Welsford Lake. What a nice location! The train came through at 14:58.
The train beat me to the western crossing at Welsford, and then we got stuck behind it at the highway crossing. So, my next shot was my favourite S-curve on the beginning of the Riverside Road.
I took a grab shot at the side of the road next.
At Westfield Beach, I parked at the post office boxes and sprinted to the overpass to get this shot at 15:22.
At 15:29, the boys and I took the Grand Bay curve shot.
The kids were getting restless, so I promised them one more shot before we packed it in. I decided on the overpass shot near the Co-Op.
It was such a beautiful day that I had to go see some trains. My two youngest kids and I went to chase the NB Southern. I heard the freight was arriving in McAdam around noon, so I figured 2 PM in Tracy would be safe. I arrived there shortly before two, then headed west to Vespra to wait at the beginning of the dirt road.
There were two gentlemen already there, Mike and Peter? Peverett from Maine. We talked for a few minutes before the train showed up at 13:56. NBSR 2317 and 9802 provided the power for the 28 cars in the consist.
I shot them again at the next crossing of highway 645.
I easily beat the train to Tracy, and shot them once more at the side of the road. You can see the two Peveretts on the bridge.
The next shot, I decided, would be at Fredericton Junction by the station. I set up midway between the station and the caboose and got them there at 14:14.
I was a little behind them once they passed, so I elected to get the cross-the-field shot at Blissville by the cemetery. First, the traditional shot: Then something a little more artistic:
It looks like we've passed the worst of it, thankfully. The New Brunswick government's River Watch web site is forecasting stable or decreased flows all along the Saint John river. This year was not nearly as badas2008.
Chris M is reporting that the mighty Restigouche River is going down. As I mentioned, CN put a ballast train on the bridge at Matapedia at the beginning of April, and stationed a locomotive (CN 9592) there to shunt the cars out of the way of passing trains.
An update to my report on Wednesday. CN 1501 has been busy in the Maritimes. It arrived in Campbellton late Wednesday night, did the Newcastle subdivision Thursday (Rogersville 12:20) and arrived in Moncton around 14:15 Thursday afternoon. It was spotted in Moncton Friday night as well.
On Friday it traveled to Dartmouth, arriving at the yard at 19:15 after doing the entire Dartmouth subdivision all the way to Autoport. On Saturday the 11th it left Dartmouth after 9 AM and traveled to Halifax, testing all sidings. It was spotted in Amherst around 5 PM on its way to Moncton.
This Monday morning it was on its way to Chipman around 10:30, going all the way to Edmundston. It should be there by now, I would think.
I had called it CN 15016 but the last digit has been covered on all of the number boards, and the painted number is 1501. Apparently it has been renumbered as an engine rather than work equipment. On the radio the crew is calling it CN 1501.
Ken Goslett sent along several great photos of NBEC 4235 dead in tow on CN 309 passing through Montreal Sunday morning. CN 2562 and IC 2461 provided the power.
"EFT" is written on the fuel tank. I assume that means "Empty Fuel Tank".
Michel Boudreau saw a special ballast train headed by CN GP9 4115 today near Bathurst. I saw 4115 yesterday in Moncton but I didn't post it because I couldn't read the complete number. Here is Michel's video.
NBEC 1868 on the Nepisiguit Subdivision, September 13, 2007.
Nicolas Kiss reports that CFMG 6910, NBEC 4235 and NBEC 1868 all left Campbellton this morning on CN 562. The first two are bound for the CN/IC shops in Woodcrest, Illinois and RS-18 1868 was purchased by the Chemin de fer de Charlevoix near Quebec City.
All the former NBEC/CFMG SD40s have now left. I don't think there are any C424s left other than the well-stripped hulks in Miramichi. There might be one or two RS-18s still around...
I went to Moncton on Saturday to visit the Moncton Model Railroad Show. On my way there, I stopped by Gordon Yard around 11 AM. It was pretty quiet, but I saw a few GP38s in the yard... namely CN 4732, 4706, 4725, 4762 and 4724.
The show was great. I was glad to talk with a bunch of old friends. Hi Wendell, Bill, Art, Steve, Mike, Ed, Allan, Sharon, Gary, Luc...
After the show, I dropped back in around 2 PM and not much had changed. 4732 and 4706 were doing some shunting in front of IRSI's RDC line.
There was a problem with VIA 14 and they had to leave most of the Renaissance cars in Charny, Quebec. VIA 6449 took the 9 cars back to Montreal early yesterday. VIA 14 proceeded with the Chaleur consist and 4 Renaissance cars. It went through Tide Head (just on the NB side of the border) at 15:30 Thursday, and left Bathurst at 18:35. Michel Boudreau caught it there with VIA 6416 and 6412 leading.
Doug Lawrence saw them leave Halifax today at 12:49 with the following consist. One has to assume these are the same cars that were on VIA 14 yesterday. Engines 6416, 6412 Baggage 8618 Coach 8124 Skyline 8507 Chateau Brûlé, Roberval, Latour Baggage 7011 Coaches 7228, 7230, 7231 Service car 7309
CN recently retrofitted an RDC (Rail Diesel Car) as a track inspection car. It can do inspections at up to 60 mph and detect cracks in rail joint bars as small as 1 mm. It is CN 15016 (RailPictures photo by Michael Quagliano).
Wendell Lemon reported it is visiting the Maritimes as train 482. It should be on the Newcastle (ex-NBEC) subdivision today and Thursday.
EDIT: The RDC arrived in Campbellton at 8 PM Wednesday.
It has been reported that a work extra was dispatched last night from Campbellton with ballast-laden cars for the railway bridge at Matapedia. This was done last year as well, but a lot later in the month of April.
A locomotive will be in place at Matapedia to move the cars off and on the bridge to allow other trains to pass.
Here's a shot of ex-NBEC 4214 (and ex-OCRR 1846) in storage at East Hazel Crest, Illinois. Photo by Steven McKay. Browse through his collection for photos of NBEC 1866, OCRR 1838, NBEC 6901, and NBEC 1818, as well as other CN, BC Rail, and other units.
I guess Saturday was the last revenue run for CFMG 6909. It and NBEC 1857 left Campbellton this afternoon on their way to CN's shops in Woodcrest, Illinois.
CFMG 6910 is the last ex-QRC SD40 left in New Brunswick. I'm sure it will be gone in a day or two as well.
CN 5288 leads CN 564 at Bathurst on April 4, 2008. Photo by Michel Boudreau.
Michel Boudreau noted CN 564 left Bathurst today around 5 PM, with CN 5288 and CFMG 6910 and 4 cars of lumber from Chaleur Lumber in Belledune. No sign of CFMG 6909.
In other news, NBEC 1851 left the area Thursday morning on CN 562 for Woodcrest, Illinois. The next RS18 to leave should be 1857. NBEC 1851 leaving Bathurst, May 5, 2008
Those two old warhorses are still running... Michel Boudreau shot them leaving Bathurst Friday afternoon. Very nice video. There was a string of empty container flats on the end of CN 564. I saw the same flats coming into Miramichi on Thursday. They must be going for storage somewhere... unless the long-rumoured "containers into Belledune" is coming true!
Michel was in Bathurst shooting at the same time I was, on Thursday. Here are two shots of the SD40s. Here's CFMG 6910 at the east end of the yard.
Then CFMG 6909 leading on the return trip. They are waiting for CN 567 (ore train) to clear the track.
In Bathurst, CN 5260 and 5251 were at the head of a longish ore train in front of the VIA station at 17:20. I didn't stick around to see them leave.
I went to Miramichi with the intention of seeing VIA 15 before heading home. They are due in Miramichi at 18:53. I thought of going to the south end of one of the bridges to reprise this shot, but the access road was full of snow. I decided to shoot them on the bridge by the former UPM facility.
To my surprise, I heard chatter on the scanner between a CN freight and the VIA train. It turns out that the CN Moncton-Miramichi freight (CN 569) was running ahead of the Ocean. The RTC was giving VIA short sections of track to occupy, to keep them moving but not run into the back of CN 569.
To make a long story short, CN Work 5343 crossed the bridge at 19:03 with 5241 trailing. They had an interesting train behind them. There were a lot of gondolas, empty gypsum cars, and a long string of empty container platforms. 49 cars in total.
Hot on the heels of CN 569 came VIA 15 at 19:12 with 6434 and 6440 leading another Renaissance train. I elected to shoot stills because I was standing on the highway bridge, and the noise and vibration from passing cars and trucks would have ruined the video. The lighting was great there, as you can see.
That was enough for me, and I headed home, satisfied.
I had a quick trip up north yesterday, my first in a long time. I was very fortunate this trip and my timing was good.
I left Fredericton later than I had hoped, so I figured I would have no chance of seeing VIA 14, the Ocean, in Miramichi. As I passed the VIA station after 11 AM, I was surprised to see a lot of cars there. I stopped and asked the agent, and he said the Ocean was due in a few minutes. I went down the line a bit and they rolled past at 11:27 under an overcast sky, with 6449 and 6416 pulling a Renaissance set.
There was no talk of the southbound mainline freight on the scanner around Bathurst, so I continued on. As I approached Belledune, I heard some local switching chatter so I looked for them at Chaleur Lumber. Sure enough, there were CFMG 6910 and 6909 pulling out of the spur.
They coupled on to the rest of the train, then spent some time trying to contact the RTC. They finally got through and went on their way at 13:21. They had those two old warhorses wide open when they went past.
I saw two CN SD40s switching a train in Belledune but I was too far away to get any numbers.
Later, I managed to find the northbound CN mainline freight at Beresford at 17:00 with 6909 leading this time. I would guess from the time spread that they did not go to Miramichi.
I understand this may have been the last run of the last NBEC / CFMG SD40s on the line. I'm glad I was fortunate enough to see them.
A Great Western Railway snowplow and engine derailed while plowing the Assiniboia subdivision in Saskatchewan. The plow ended up pointing almost 180 degrees from the original direction, and both the engine and the plow are leaning quite heavily. The photos (courtesy Ken McCutcheon) are quite good.
I'm told that CFMG 6907 is in Walkley Yard in Ottawa having her fluids rained. Walkley Yard is the former Ottawa Central Railway (OCR) yard, now owned by CN.
That leaves CFMG 6909 and CFMG 6910 as the only two non-CN SD40s left on the former Quebec Railway Corporation system. Expect them to be gone very soon, together with the few MLW units still present.
There is a scanned copy of the June 21, 1931 Dominion Atlantic Railway employee timetable online at the DAR DPI. I love employee timetables.
In later years the DAR's timetable was combined with CPR's timetable. It looks like it happened between 1968 and 1972, because the April 28, 1968 timetable does not have the DAR lines in it, but the April 18, 1972 employee timetable does.
The Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative (DAR DPI) is a project to make available materials on Canadian Pacific Railway's Dominion Atlantic Railway, which ran from Yarmouth to Windsor Junction in Nova Scotia. Have a look at their site!
Michel Boudreau told me the power for Saturday's ore train was CN 5343 and 5241. The same units are being used for the Bathurst switcher, as it is only shunting twice a week. The rest of the time, shunting is done by the mainline train.
He says trains 402 and 403 are no more, replaced by 568 and 569. Train 569 had CN 5373, CFMG 6909 and CFMG 6910 with no cars. They did a pickup in Bathurst and Michel heard on the scanner that they were going to work Beresford and Petit Rocher before going to Campbellton.
Here's Michel's video of 569 arriving and leaving.
I have a collection of train magazines that I am selling, here. There are many Model Railroader magazines, some Trains, some Railroad Model Craftsman, and a few others. Many of the magazines were my dad's, from the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Prices? Any magazine before 1980 sells for 50 cents, anything after costs a dollar. I can do a really good deal for multiple magazines if you are interested. I just want to get rid of these. :)
Currently there are 49 Model Railroader, 56 Railroad Magazine*, 8 Trains, 5 Railroad Model Craftsman, and 5 others.
Follow the link and look at the spreadsheet. There are tabs along the bottom to switch between magazines. Send me an email (stevetraingeek@gmail.com) with what you would like, and I will get back to you.
First come, first served.
* Railroad Magazine was the precursor to Railfan & Railroad.
Michael Da Costa (aka trainmaster_1) spotted two former CFMG units on CN 363 at Beare in Ontario. Train 363 had CN 2254 and 2613 doing the work, with the two SD40s dead-in-tow.
Matt posted a night video of the NB Southern westbound leaving Saint John. It had NBSR 9803 and 3 other units, with 33 cars. The engineer was really laying on the horn!
Michel Boudreau noted that 6905 and 6910 were on mainline freight train 402/403 through Bathurst, and CN 566/567 (Bathurst local) had CN 5343 and NBEC 6900. Presumably 6907 and 6909 are on the Quebec side.
cfmgd aka Jean-Rafael Parent shot the Chaleur in Gaspe yesterday (Saturday). This video shows the train arriving at the station, then backing out. After turning on the wye, the train backs to the station. Finally, he shot it just outside Gaspe on its way back to Matapedia. Nice job!
Loconotes is reporting that ex-NBEC 6901 arrived at the CN-IC shops in Woodcrest, Illinois and was placed in the storage line. Thanks to Ken Lanovich for the report, and to Stephen Reeves for passing it along.
It's the first sign of spring on the rails! Rumour has it that the "last" stainless steel set of cars on VIA's Ocean will depart Halifax on Saturday March 21. Looking at VIA's web site, you can book a triple bedroom up to then. Triple bedrooms only exist on the stainless steel cars. You can't book a triple again until late November 2009.
VIA takes one set of Renaissance equipment out at a time for upgrades and renovations each winter, and replaces it with a stainless steel set. Many of us prefer the look of the stainless equipment... I know my video camera has trouble focusing on the green Renaissance cars for some reason.
The first has a Jordan spreader pushed by Dash 8 CN 2445 on March 4 2009 through Sacré Coeur, Quebec. It goes through the crossing all folded up, then unfolds one wing and plows the siding.
The day before, he caught a self-propelled snowplow (a "broom") plowing the same area.
I see NBEC / CFMG SD40s are still on train 402 / 403. Chris M posted this video of NBEC / CN 402 on its way to Bathurst last Wednesday. It had CFMG 6903 and 6910 pulling a mere 8 cars.
cfmgd noted CFMG 6908 in Mont Joli last Sunday, together with a few QNS&L locomotives. He also saw a train with CFMG 6906, CN 5241 and CN 5245 in Sacré Coeur, Quebec recently.
I've been thinking about what I'd like to do for railfanning this summer, and this is what I've come up with so far.
Chase the Chaleur: I did that back in August 2007, and it was so much fun that I'd like to do it again. It makes for a very long day but the photos, video, and experience is worth it.
Chase the Oceans: I've done that a few times with the Fredericton Gang, and I'd like to do it this summer... preferably while the one stainless steel set is still around.
Have a Cab Ride: Somewhere, anywhere, preferably outside a yard.
Shoot a Train on the Salmon River Trestle: I've had that privilege twice now.
I've been editing the footage I shot of the Chaleur in August 2007. I intend to produce another DVD, sort of a companion to VIA In The Maritimes, as a fundraiser for the New Brunswick Railway Museum. I have well over an hour of video that I intend to edit down to 30-40 minutes. On the same DVD, I will include the War Brides Train as well as some general VIA video I took after the first DVD.
Here are two scenes that will definitely be on the DVD. The first is the Chaleur leaving Matapedia.
Also, the Chaleur near Caplan.
While searching for my Chaleur videos, I found this one by Bernard Babin at the exact same spot near Caplan, from a slightly different vantage point.
Here's another photo I won off eBay. This one features CN's Charlottetown yard, especially the turntable. Note the roundhouse to the right and the caboose in the background. The photo was taken in July 1986.
CEMR 4012 (in Central Manitoba Railway black and grey) and CEMR 4013 (in CN stripes) are leaving Nova Scotia today. They were brought up to Windsor Junction on Thursday, to Dartmouth on Friday, and are on CN train 407 this morning on their way to Moncton. 4012 and 4013 have been non-operable for some time. 4012 and 4013 are both remanufactured GP9s.
Thanks to David Othen for the excellent commentary.
I was in Saint John very briefly at 15:30 on Thursday afternoon (March 5) and caught NBSR 3702 (SW1200) and 9802 (GP38-3) switching the west end of the Dever Road yard.
On my way back to Fredericton, I called to find out when the eastbound train was coming through and lo! there was no eastbound on Thursday. Apparently there was no westbound freight train on Wednesday night, so no return train.
I'm told this has been happening fairly frequently. I understand traffic is way down on the MM&A so that may have a lot to do with it. Kevin Burkholder reported a large NBSR eastbound freight on Tuesday March 4 with 4 units and a 45 car pickup leaving Mattawamkeag, Maine at 11:50. Perhaps the cars are being sent every other day instead of daily.
Here's a roster shot from a slide I purchased from eBay. This shows CN 3104 in Toronto - not sure where in Toronto but the VIA equipment around it might indicate Spadina.
CN 3104 was purchased as part of a lot of 30 units (3100-3129) in 1959. This series was equipped with a steam line pipe (but not a steam generator) so they could be used in passenger service. (source)
Railpictures.net has one photo of CN 3104, at Windsor Ontario on May 21, 1981.
Matt aka saintjohnrailfan posted a nice video of CN 121 leaving Moncton with CN 2405, 5530,and 5632. The train had a fair amount of non-container traffic on the head end. Nice to see a Dash-8 leading!
Dave aka nbsrfan was there and taped the same train. Here's Dave's video of CN 305 and 121. I'm not sure I like the 30 second intro but you can skip past that. ;)
There's a new feature on VIA's web site. You can see arrival and departure times now. Punch in a train number and it will tell you the current expected arrival and departure times. It supposedly is for corridor trains only but trains 14 and 15 (the Ocean) work, as do 16 and 17 (the Chaleur).
