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!

Not much going on..

I went out for a drive looking at some homes for sale. Nothing around any rails of course.. lol So on the way home I checked out some NBSR spots. There were no crews working the Dever Rd Yard. I took at trip down to Bay Shore. There was a track mobile shunting some tank cars in the old yard by the transfer station.

There will be some passenger trains put on by NBSR coming up in May and June. Proceeds of these trains are in support of the Rally Of Hope. There will be 2 trips made from Saint John to Welsford and return on each date. The dates are May 24th & 25th and June 14th & 15th. The departure times from Harbour Station in Saint John are 10am & 2pm. If you are interested in purchasing some tickets you can get some buy calling 632-5823. I will be trying my best too chase the trains on the 25th & 15th. Here is also a video I made showing one passenger train in October of last year. I blogged about the chase.

A day trip to Miramichi..

Yesterday I went on a day trip with my father and his friend Bob to Miramichi. We decided to check out some of the train sights. First we went to the old train station in Chatham. An NB East Coast locomotive was parked idling next to the station. But no employees were around. We then headed for the VIA station in Newcastle. There was just some empty cars in the yard. No trains working at all. The effects of the shut down mills. As we checked out the crew shack in the yard a steady rain started. There were a few employees around. Bob knew one fellow. He worked with him at CN. We all chatted for about 10 mins. The NBEC employee told us that quite abit of crew had been layed off. Also he said they were to find out within a week or two if CN will be aquiring the exCN line back. Bob asked about the idling locomotive. It was SD40 6904. It brought cars into the Ultramar Distribution Center. 6904 is then put near the station and locked up. The train crew is then driven back to the crew shack. They will return when the fuel cars are unloaded. As we were leaving we noticed a train crew getting into a truck. So we figured it was the crew 6904. So we followed and were right. So I shot some video of the locomotive heading to the fuel cars, coupling and at a crossing. Enjoy the video!

First Eastbound For May..

I caught another eastbound making it's way to Saint John. I only made it to the Airport Rd in Blissville when I saw the eastbound roll by. After making a U turn I beat it for Clarendon. The train consisted of 9801,2610,2612 and 15 cars. I wanted to get a shot panning as the train passes through a valley. I left for Westfield after Clarendon. As I drove through Westfield I wanted a new shot. I went to a small park at Sagwa. I shot the train rolling by. I drove to Westfield Beach. 9801 had to get some orders to proceed into Saint John. So I grabbed a shot as they slowly went through.

I then headed for Saint John. I wanted to catch the train in Acamac. I didn't have much time to get out of the car and shot the train on the back lit side. It looked ok from a distance but once the train got close it turned out a little worse. I then left for Gifford Rd at the east end of the Dever Rd Yard. I wanted to get a photo of the train hauling into the yard.

They brought the train up the main line through the yard because a work crew was working to clean up the derail at the west end. I grabbed a long distance shot of the work crew.

Enjoy the vid!!