Great week for holidays!!

I started holidays this week and boy am I glad by this weather. I have been driving a run at work that leaves me little time for train chasing. So this week I had to make sure I got to see something on the rails. Yesterday we had probably the biggest storm we have had this winter. Dumping about 37cm on Saint John. After I finished shovelling I was sitting at the computer with the scanner on. I heard lots of chatter as the NBSR were trying to clean their yard. After about a half hour of listening I heard someone on the mainline channel mention "The "SPU" is on the train". The SPU is also known as an End Of Train device. That meant something was going on the mainline. But what I wasn't sure. I couldn't see them run a freight train up to McAdam in that storm. So to Carle Ave I went.. Thankfully there wasn't much traffic around. The streets were a mess to say the least.. On my way there I heard the spreader get mentioned. All I could think was "sweet".. lol It had been a year since I seen the spreader at work. I was definitely catching this one. At about 1:25pm units 9803 & 9802 were reversing towards the wye with jordan spreader #402896. It took just over 30 minutes for the crew to get the consist turned on the wye and left Saint John at 2pm. My first thoughts on chasing in weather like this is where can I go that I won't get stuck.. As I headed up through Acamac the Backland Rd had not been plowed so that was a no no. When I got to Ketepec Rd there was enough room to park in front of the mail boxes to catch the train coming around the curve. Well this is where I made a mistake. I thought I hit the record button but I guess I didn't.. lol So no shot there. Now back to chasing.. I then hit some traffic in Morna Heights. This set me back. I decided to get well ahead of it in Grand Bay. The crew had to make a stop at a crossing by Starkey's to let a crew member on to cut out a traction motor on 9802. The ground relay bells were going off.

I set up at the far end of Inglewood Dr. Finally I hit the button right and got my first shot. They were slowing down for crossings so getting ahead was no problem. I beat the train to Westfield Beach so I went to the overpass.

This is a great place to get close to the train but not get covered in snow. It made for a nice shot but with limited room I shot it hand held. When I got back in the car I had my tripod set up on the passenger seat to try a chase sequence. Just as I headed out I had an NBSR employee ask me if they could get my pictures emailed to them. I mentioned I was shooting video and I told who to look up on YouTube and I was off. Now the snow banks didn't help the shots at times but it turned out pretty decent for a first try with my Impala. I've shot like this in my Cavalier that I had but I was chasing an eastbound train... The tripod didn't seem to move to much as I drove. This is where the flip out screen on my camera comes in handy!! I would just peek over to see if the train was in the shot and I would adjust my driving, or the camera. I then headed for Welsford. I stopped at the Rte 7 crossing to see it cross there.

I think it was a decent choice for my next shot. I kept going as long as I could drive easily. I then did a wide shot of the second crossing in Welsford.

I was looking for some different angles to make this year snow plow video abit different from last years. After the train rolled through I decided I wanted to get a nice photo of the train so I went to Clarendon. I picked a spot where the tracks can bee seen from the road. But the snow was falling quite good and obscured the shot. So that's when I called it quits and headed for home. When i jumped back in my car at Clarendon I looked at the clock and it was 3:30pm. It took the train an hour and a half to get that far! Enjoy the video!!

Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VZNj3Y5wPQ

Long time no blog....

I took a trip to Carle Ave last night to see the first NBSR westbound since their break for the holidays. I was also thinking the train might be rather long considering there hasn't been any mainline action. So Saintjohnrailfan met me there around 5:30pm with the thought the train may leave early. Boy we were wrong on both! The train was being assembled when we arrived. Just over 4 hours later they finally left. 2317 entered the mainline at 10:07pm. We decided we would catch it at the Acamac Backland Rd. The one thing I tried different this time was I shot in Sepia tone. I was hoping it would help out with the darkness. It did abit. The train was led by 2317,2610,2318,9801 and they were hauling along train of 58 cars. Definitely not a big difference from any other regular train. Enjoy the video!

It has been six months since my last post. I didn't have the best access to the internet for awhile but I was still chasing. Feel free to take a look at my YouTube account to see some vids I've made during the past months.

3 More Videos..

I'm being a little slack keeping this blog updated. I'm going to be moving next weekend and things are busy! But I still have to get some time in for some train action. On June 12th I was out railfanning with Saintjohnrailfan and we caught the westbound at the Ketepec Rd.

NBSR was having more passenger trains on June 14th&15th. I made it out on Sunday the 15th. I arrived at Dever Rd. at 9:30am but there was no train. The 10am trip was cancelled due to low numbers booked for it. So there was just a 2pm and it was full! I chased it to Welsford but had to leave for a family BBQ.

And now the best part!! On June 19th I made it out to railfan with Saintjohnrailfan and KRG2645. We went to Carle Ave to see the NBSR westbound. We were standing around chatting about trains when the mainline crew brought their units down to the westend of the yard. As the brakeman came down off the units to throw a switch he yelled at us asking if we wanted to go up in the cab. We totally went for that!! GP38 #2317 was the engine we were in. There were 3 more #'s 2612,2318,9801. We rode along as the crew, we won't mention names, turned the units on the wye and finished their train for the trip to McAdam. We caught the train at the Gault Rd. It was shortly after 10pm and we used a street light to help with our shots.

CN's Denison Sub & Another NBSR Westbound

On Sunday May 8th I took a trip to check out the Denison Sub. I recently heard that it wasn't being used. It definitely wasn't. The rails were quite rusty. I saw a high rail truck markings on some of the rails so no doubt they were just checking things out to make sure no one is trespassing. I could only find a few crossings along the line. It crosses the Salt Springs Rd, Rte 860 and Rte 865 right at the potash mine. The main reason I decided to check this line out is my father has started a new motorcar group. Maritime Scenic Rail Tours. This group is going to be an affiliate of NARCOA. My father is looking into doing some mainline runs in New Brunswick. And I thought this could be a good start with CN. I tried to do some research on the line but I can't find to much. The line is named after the Denison Mining Co that used to own the mine. The only date I could find was that Denison Mining opened the mine in 1985. I'm sure it wasn't long after that the Sub was put in. Here are a few pics I took while I was exploring the line.

Now on to NB Southern.. My friend Matt aka Saintjohnrailfan and myself went out on June 4th to catch the westbound leaving Saint John. We both went to the Ketepec Rd. I wanted to try and get a shot with a rock cut near the crossing but the vegetation was too bad along the edge of the rock cut to climb it. So I picked a spot between the cut and the crossing that I could stand clear. The train consisted of 2612,2318,9801 and 40 cars. In the video you notice the train slow almost to a crawl. I heard on the scanner that they were having problems with 2612. It was blowing oil. When they chatted with the RTC they said they might have to set 2612 off at Welsford, but I never heard whether they did or not. Here is a link to Matt's shot of the same train. Enjoy!

Some westbound videos..

Well I've been out doing some railfanning with a new railfan friend Matt aka Saintjohnrailfan. I have made two videos of westbounds. First one was on May 29th. We decided to head for Grand Bay for some different scenery. We chose around the ferry landing road. Matt shot towards the river bank and towards the crossing. I was up around the corner from the crossing. The train consisted of GP38s #2612,2318,9801,2610 and 51 cars.

Then on June 2nd we both taped westbounds again. It was getting late and the shots are dark. I shot from a small rock cut at Janes Way Lane. And Matt shot at the Ketepec Rd. The consist for that train was GP38s #9801,2318,2612 and 53 cars.

NBSR Passenger Excursions of May 25

The weather couldn't have been better for a day of train chasing. NB Southern had two trips from Saint John to Welsford and back. The trains started from the old station on the Dever Rd. They used a freshly washed 2317. I chased both trips. I'm not going to go on about the whole chase because I got alot of clips for my video. I filmed at some old and new places. The complete video is over 9mins long. I mashed all the clips together in order of the mileage on the McAdam Sub. It was a good day! Also as a reminder there will be 4 more trips in June on the 14th and 15th. I'll no doubt be out chasing some of them too. Enjoy the video!!

NBSR Action on May 22

Well yesterday proved to be a busy day for railfanning for me. I left Saint John shortly after 1pm. I took my usual drive through the old roads following the tracks on my way to Vespra. I noticed in Grand Bay there was a work crew clearing trees and brush from the sides of the tracks. I arrived at Vespra at 2:30. I sat for abit but couldn't stand the heat in the car. And opening the windows wasn't an option because of the thousands of black flies that swarmed my car. So I took off through the dirt road. I made it to the far end and sat by the hot box detector. My scanner can pick up a strong signal sitting there. But I heard nothing. Finally after sitting for abit over an hour I turned my head to see headlights rounding the curve. So the chase began! I beat it to Rooth. This is along the dirt road. There is a nice curve and a dead end siding there. I have wanted to get some footage from this location and I finally got it. I then made my way to Fredericton Jct.

I decided on shooting the train passing the station. After not making the crossing at Blissville before the train, I just headed for Welsford. I shot at the gov't garage just so I wouldn't get stuck behind traffic. I wanted to get one good shot in Westfield and didn't want to get behind the train. I chose a nice curve around mile 17.

Then I was off for Acamac. As I was passing the Ketepec Rd I noticed Saintjohnrailfan sitting near the crossing so I called him and told him to get his camera ready. I shot on the straight stretch entering the yard limits in Acamac. Next I thought I would try catching the train on the east end of the yard from the overpass.

The train pulled into P2 track. The eastbound consisted of GP38s 2317,9801,2318 and 54 cars. But that wasn't the end for the day..

Shortly after 7pm I headed to the west end of the Dever Rd Yard. As I got to Carle Ave Saintjohnrailfan was there. We sat and chatted as the yard crew finished assembling the train, and the westbound road crew came and coupled to the train. Shortly after 8pm the train was ready to go. The westbound consisted of 2318,9801,2610 and 50 cars.

I headed to the Ketepec Rd to try a different angle of the curve. About 6 hours worth of train chasing. It was a very busy day. I hope you enjoy the vids!