Monday, May 31, 2010

Finally an Eastbound..

It's been awhile since I've caught an NBSR eastbound. On may 29th I was out checking the Dever Rd Yard out when I heard the RTC mention to a shunt crew that the eastbound was due into Saint John at 5:30pm. It was 3pm at the time so I was off... I tried to make it to Fredericton Junction but as I reached the straight stretch in Blissville the train was already occupying the crossing. So after a U turn I went back to Welsford. I began my video by shooting at Rte 7. I also caught the train at two curves in Grand Bay-Westfield. I beat the train into the Ketepec Rd for my last shot but I got texting when I parked the car. Big Mistake!! The lights came on sooner than I expected and I was still in my car.. So I made it a little farther down the road and set up a "through the window" shot in the car to at least catch the full train. Also if you notice in the video a haze in the shot.. that was a nice finger print on the lense that I didn't notice.. lol. Anyhoo enjoy the vid!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

More NBSR Track Gang Shots

I have been taking some random drives up to Grand Bay to see how the rail gang has been making out. I try not to get to close to the crew as I don't want to bother any of them. The first shot I have to share is of the ferry crossing. This shot was taken on the 20th of May. On this day the crew laid track west of the crossing towards Westfield Beach.
All was quiet at Westfield Beach on Victoria Day! There was a small work train out spreading out tie plates etc on the line east of WB. But the main gang was on a day off so I grabbed the chance to get a nice shot of the equipment in the siding. Also note the 115lb rail mainline running through the shot.

CN 406 Twice in May

Here's a vid I made of two 406s in May. First train in the video is from the 19th with engines 5749,5722 hauling 41 cars through Tennis Crt Rd in Rothesay. The second train is shot from Park Dr on the 24th with engines 2651,5689 hauling 76 cars.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Now for some NBSR news...

Back on March 13th I managed to catch an eastbound NBSR train coming to Saint John. The power was 2319, slug 008, 2318. I caught it at Hwy 7 Welsford and then the Britain Rd in Westfield, then gave it abit of a chase. The train had to stop to wait for the track crew to finish some work and clear the line so I gave up and headed home. Here's that video..


On May 6th I ventured out with my son Joe to see some NBSR action. But this time I thought I would head to Grand Bay to see the "Project 286" track gang working. NBSR has been working hard at replacing the 100lb rail of the McAdam Sub with 115lb rail. Of course they have been replacing ties along the way too. The crew has been replacing the easier parts first, working between crossings. The photo of rail above shows one spot where the rail jumps sizes. When I got to Westfield Beach the crew was just around the overpass. this made for some great shots of the crew working. Here are some of those shots...

Engineer in training...

On May 5th I ventured out to Rothesay with Saintjohnrailfan to catch a special 406 westbound coming into Saint John. It had a trainee, that most railfans in NB all know, named Luc at the controls. He gave us a good show with lots of horn action as he passed the old Rothesay station and past us at Tennis Court Rd. 2510 was the leading unit on the 79 car train.

Abit of CN...

Back on April 4th I ventured back up north with Saintjohnrailfan to get some more Napadogan Sub action. We caught 3 different trains while were up there. We caught 121 crossing the Salmon River Trestle and then booted it for Edmundston to catch it again. We filmed it entering the Edmundston Yard and then on the other side of town on the Pelletier Sub. Here's the video of 121 crossing the trestle. We tried a different angle in the early morning. 

We also caught 305 passing the old Grand Falls station. This shot was kinda spoiled because the train was going slow but at least we saw it..


Our last train of the day was 308. We caught it just west of Grand Falls. Watch for the cranky dog in the video that could've got hurt.