CP 1831

Following on to my post about CP 8800, Brian Barchard supplied a shot of CP 1831 (the rebuilt CP 8800) leading a freight past the Beaverbrook Rink in Fredericton, NB in the morning of May 23, 1987.

The train is coming off the "main" line from Fredericton Junction and going on to the line that crossed the train bridge to Devon. To the right is the track to the York Street station. This location was known as Una Junction.

CN Detours

CN is running some trains over the former NBEC / CFMG properties, rather than the normal Edmundston-Moncton (NTR) route. They are doing this because the engineers are not on strike on the northern route, since they are in a different union that is not on strike.

As of 5 PM Atlantic on Sunday, this appears to be what was happening in the Maritimes:

CN 308 (very long) in Campbellton, departing 21:00 or 22:00
CN 121 departed Campbellton 16:00
CN 305 arriving in Campbellton in the evening
CN 120 used the NTR route this morning
CN 308 (another one) should be next eastbound through Campbellton
CN 408 arrived Dartmouth just after noon
CN 407 departing Dartmouth for Moncton 16:50

The challenge with using the northern (ICR) route is that speeds are slower and there are no long passing sidings. Meets between long freights have to take place in yards. On the plus side (for CN) they use actual engineers rather than CN managers to drive the trains.

VIA is running on time in the Maritimes at present.

CP 8800

Today's slide is a well-lit shot of MLW RS-18 CP 8800 in Fredericton, New Brunswick on August 29, 1981.

CP 8800 was built in July 1958 as the last number in the MLW RS-18 series for CP. As part of CP's RS18 rebuild program in the 1980s, it was rebuilt in 1985 and became CP 1831. Apparently something happened to it in the mid 1990s, as it was shown stored unserviceable in the 1997 Trackside Guide and it was retired on March 20, 1997 and scrapped.

There's a nice photo of CP 1831 on Railpictures, leading a train through Quebec in 1993.

CN Strike is On

The CBC is reporting that the CN Engineer's strike is underway. I assume trains are being run by management personnel. Keep in mind the conductors are not on strike. Also, the former NBEC / CFMG / etc. properties are not on strike as they belong to a different union.

Let's hope the strike is settled quickly.

Ready For This?

CP 9700 in Portage la Prairie, MB, December 27 2007

Snow is forecast for Tuesday. And so it begins.

Three Railways Out Of Four

Here are videos of three of the four railways I saw on Tuesday.

First, the Hudson Bay.


Next, the CN local with slug 266 leading.


Finally, CP 1128 and 3028 going north on the La Riviere subdivision.

CN Engineers' Strike?

CN 5519 leads train 308 at Deersdale, NB, August 3, 2007

The CBC is reporting that CN's 1700 engineers may go on strike as early as ths coming Saturday. They have not had a contract in a year and apparently are nowhere close to coming to an agreement. Hopefully the issues can be resolved in the next few days and the strike can be avoided.

EDIT: This article mentions a meeting with federal mediators to be held on Friday. Also, this article talks about up to 140 Winnipeg engineers "bracing" for the strike.

Four Railways, Fifteen Minutes

I went up to Wilkes at noon today to see the Hudson Bay. I decided to shoot from next to the Kenaston overpass. While waiting for VIA to roll along, I noted a CN local switching the former intermodal yard on the west side of Kenaston. They were pulling about a dozen cars out of there onto the south track.

Soon enough the Hudson Bay came into view and rolled along in the lovely sunlight at 12:15.


The train had two engines (6458 and 6456), baggage 8600, coaches 8110 and 8120, diner York and sleeper Chateau Levis.

Here's the Hudson Bay passing the CN local, which was running slug forward.


The CN local rolled by right after that, with slug 266 leading and mother 7269 trailing at 12:17. Note the crewman on the slug. The mother-calf units are equipped for remote operation.


During this maneuver, I had been hearing horns from the south, meaning CP was on the La Riviere subdivision. I drove down Wilkes to the CP crossing and there was CP 1128 coming north to cross the diamond at 12:24.

As you can see, the problem with shooting CP here is that you are shooting toward the sun. CP 3028 was trailing with 48 freight cars.

Finally, BNSF decided it was time to head over to Fort Rouge, so I shot BNSF 2001 from a distance at 12:30 before leaving the area.


Four railways in 15 minutes. This is why Winnipeg, and especially the St. James Junction area, is a great railway hotspot.

A Typical Monday

I ventured out at noon to shoot the Canadian today. It was making good time. I shot it at Waverley Street from a distance. I wasn't expecting it for another couple of minutes!

The consist was 6408, 6419, 8605, 8137, 8516, Palliser, Chateau Marquette, Monck Manor, Blair Manor, Mackenzie Manor, Prince Albert Park

About 10 minutes after VIA 1 passed, BNSF 2001 rolled out of Fort Rouge with their transfer train and headed back to their yard off Taylor Street with about 25 cars, mostly ADM tank cars.

Randy Marseles Steam Photos

"Brian" has put a bunch of Randy Marseles steam engine photos up on the web, specifically Canadian Pacific steam engines in Ontario. Check them out if you're into steam!

He also has a bunch of Randy's photos of other roads' steam at the main site.

A CN Meet

On Tuesday I went up to Wilkes Avenue to see if I could catch the Hudson Bay. I was a little late, and VIA was not, so I missed it. However, I did see a CN freight slowly approaching from the east. Apparently there was a signal problem just east of St. James Junction, and the train was required to proceed at cautionary speed. CN 5705 and old warhorse CN 2418 eventually rolled by with a long stack train.

I'm not sure why I call CN 2418 an old warhorse. It was built in 1990, for Pete's sake.

After about half of the train was past, I noticed headlights to the west. CN 198 was approaching on the south track with another stack train. Train 198 is a hotshot train from Prince Rupert, BC. CN 5748 and CN 2580 were the power. You can see it banging over the CN-CP diamond.

The head end of 198 passed the last container in the westbound freight just west of the diamond. If only 198 had been 15 seconds earlier... oh well.

CEMR You Later

I had some errands to run on Monday (Nov 16) in Winnipeg, so I arranged things to be able to see the Canadian leave. It's getting a little sad now that the once-proud summer Canadian, usually 20+ cars in length, has been reduced to a train shorter than the Ocean.

Anyway, I went to shoot it on Wilkes Avenue. I saw the tail end of the CEMR freight leaving CN's Rivers subdivision and heading south on the CEMR Carman subdivision. I decided to wait for the Canadian and hopefully I would see CEMR before I had to go. The Canadian was a bit late.

The consist: 6440, 6425,8604, 8116, 8509, Frontenac, Chateau Iberville, Bliss Manor, Laird Manor, Hearne Manor, Banff Park.

A quick drive south on the Perimeter found ANY 5232 and CEMR 4000 just about to cross the highway to switch the industries at Oak Bluff. I didn't get to the crossing before the lights came on, so I had to shoot them from the non-sun side. Never race a train!

I went on my way after that and did my errands. On my way back to the office, I looked and saw that the CEMR freight had just finished its switching and was continuing south on the Carman subdivision. I went a couple of minutes out of my way to shoot them across a field. True Prairie branchline railroading!


Off they went, and so did I.

Union Pacific Videos

Here are the videos from last week's visit (part 1, part 2) to the Union Pacific in Maricopa, Arizona.

First, UP 8045 West... a general merchandise train.


UP 7380 West followed it.


Next, a UP stack train overtaking a ballast train.


Finally, another UP stack train.


I shot the ballast train too, but it was against the sun so it's not so great.

NB Southern Units at Hudson Bay Railway

NBSR 3744 and 3788 with test unit 2001 in Saint John">

Geoff Sockett alerted me that there are still a few ex-NB Southern GP9s kicking around. The Hudson Bay Railway bought a few when they were retired by NBSR. Ex-NBSR 3764, 3787 and 3788 are dead and being used for parts. Surprisingly, ex-NBSR 3757 is alive and pulling, painted in Omnitrax colours. This is a photo of OSSX 3757.

NB Southern had eight ex-Southern Pacific GP9 units: 3735, 3744, 3757, 3760, 3764, 3787, 3788, and 3795. All of them were disposed of in 2001.

Earlier this fall I posted about NBSR 3735 being scrapped in 2003.

BNSF in Phoenix 2009/11/11

I saw these units shortly after noon in the BNSF Mobest yard in Phoenix, Arizona. In the photo: BNSF 7397, BNSF 2945, BNSF 2958, BNSF 2853, and BNSF 2836.

Also in the yard: BNSF 4541, BNSF 656 (ex Santa Fe), and BNSF 7419.

Down to UP, Part 2

In my last post, I said I was waiting for UP 5003 East to get moving and roll through Maricopa, Arizona. I was scouting for new locations on the east side of Maricopa when I stumbled across a ballast train stopped in the Arizona Grain siding. UP 4898 and 9735 were at the head of about 15 or so green UP cars. It seemed they were waiting to go east too, but obviously the stack train had priority.

UP 5003 finally did get to go at 13:59.

Unfortunately for the ballast train, another stack train came rolling along at 14:22 before they could get out of the siding. UP 8665, 4594 were on the head end and UP 8418, 7432 were trailing.

I chased the train a bit, but they were too fast to catch up to. They were doing around 50 MPH and soon enough the speed limit on the highway went to 30. I did get a tail end shot.

The ballast train finally got out at 14:43 and that was the last train for quite a while. The maintenance of way forces moved in and started doing track work, so I knew it was time for lunch. I waited around a while afterward but nothing showed up, so once the sun was down, I headed north back to Phoenix.

I have video for all of these trains, but I have no way to process it here, so it will have to wait until at least the weekend. Link to videos

Down to UP, Part 1

I had some time Thursday afternoon, so I decided to head south to Maricopa, Arizona to see the Union Pacific mainline. I figured there might be a few trains there... and I was not disappointed.

When I arrived at the Amtrak depot, I saw the Silver Horizon, a former California Zephyr passenger car. It is looking a little worse for wear but it is still an attractive car.


I could see that Union Pacific was putting in a second track in Maricopa. The two tracks end just west of Maricopa and UP is double-tracking their entire 760-mile "Sunset Route" between Los Angeles and El Paso. Incidentally, UP has a neat factsheet about their presence in Arizona.

Anyway, back to the trains. I saw an eastbound stack train pull up to the end of the double track and stop. I drove over and saw that UP 5003, 4357, and 9810 were the power on the head end. They had their headlights dimmed, so I figured there must be a westbound coming soon. I went a little west of Maricopa to try to catch it. It was hot waiting for the train!

At 13:17 it came, with UP 8045, 4186, and 7838 on the head end of a manifest train, and dirty UP 4449 and UP 7877 pushing on the end.


The eastbound still didn't move, meaning another westbound train was coming. I picked another location, and at 13:35 I shot UP 7380, 4263, 8606 leading another manifest train.

UP 5490 was pushing on the end.

After that train passed, I repositioned again to get the eastbound... but I found another train first. To be continued...

Dartmouth Model Train Show This Weekend

I received this note about the Dartmouth Model Train Show (in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia) and I thought I would pass it along. It's always a good show and I encourage you to attend if you are in the area. I missed it by a week so I won't be there... I hope to be relaxing at home. :)

"The annual Sportsplex Model Train Show is on this weekend, Saturday Nov 14 from 9am to 4:30pm and Sunday Nov 15 from 10am to 3pm.

On display will be the Dartmouth Club and U.M.G. HO scale layouts, Mike's G scale layout, Errol's Z scale layout , A small G-Scale layout by Joz., Marc's O-27 Lionel U-drive layout and the very popular LEGO layout and a robotics display. Of course, a wide selection of vendors will offer new and used items.

Door prize this year is a nice Athearn train set courtesy Maritime Hobbies and Crafts.

Admittance: Adults $5, Kids 5-12 $2, Family $10, kids under 5 free. Hope to see you there!"

We Remember

"We must remember. If we do not, the sacrifice of those one hundred thousand Canadian lives will be meaningless. They died for us, for their homes and families and friends, for a collection of
traditions they cherished and a future they believed in; they died for Canada. The meaning of their sacrifice rests with our collective national consciousness; our future is their monument."
- Heather Robertson, A Terrible Beauty, The Art of Canada at War.

My hearts and thoughts go out to those who served, and those who serve today, especially those putting their lives in peril in Afghanistan.

Local Switcher

I went for a drive up the BNSF Phoenix subdivision Monday evening, for something to do. Grand Avenue parallels the tracks for quite some distance. I came to Surprise, AZ and noted the Ennis subdivision crossing Grand Avenue, as well as a large autorack facility with a local switcher!

I pulled off Grand Avenue just after that, and noted a headlight approaching from the northwest at 18:40. I slapped the video camera on the tripod and took some video in the dark. As usual it is blurry. The manifest train had BNSF 746 and two other engines on the head end, and BNSF 7212 pushing on the rear.

I went back to shoot the local switcher from across the highway. The above is the best one I took. Apparently this is a GP7.

"Aeromoe" has an excellent web page on the BNSF Phoenix subdivision with an astonishing amount of detail. I wish I had found this sooner!