I've had some decent luck while out watching trains this long weekend. On Saturday I went to Carle Ave to see what was up in the Dever Rd Yard. I wasn't there very long when I heard someone dial the NBSR mainline channel. I couldn't hear the train speak, but it was a work train getting a clearance to come to Saint John from around mile 41.0 of the McAdam Sub. So I hit the highway for Welsford. I arrived in plenty of time so I went to the Rte 101 crossing close to the hotbox detector to wait.I decided I was gonna do a chase of the work train. Usually the work train is just some ballast cars and a caboose, so I wanted to make sure I got more than one quick shot. So I set up my tripod on the passenger side of my car for some through the window chasing. I don't do this type of thing very often so it's fun when I do.
At approx 1:45pm the train rolled into Welsford. 9803 leading CN caboose 75624, 10 ballast cars and a log car. After they rolled through I mounted my camera on the tripod and set out. I didn't really expect to see them cross Highway 7 but I lucked out and they were going slow so I managed to catch them crossing the highway as I approached the activated crossing lights. After that I went to Westfield. This is where the line runs close to the track. I began my chase at the Britain Rd. I basically just pressed record and drove. I would check the flip out screen on my camera to make sure the shots were ok, but my driving was most important. I didn't want to get in anyone's way so I made sure I pulled off the road when any traffic was around. I followed them down into Grand Bay with my last shot being of them approaching a crossing on a nice curve.
This is where I made my U turn.. As I was recording the chase through Westfield the RTC was dialed again. This time it wasn't the work train. It was the regular eastbound looking to get clearance to proceed to Saint John. So that meant another eastbound! Back to Welsford I went. This time I started from the Gov't garage located next to the crossing. After another short wait I heard the hotbox detector go off and then along came the train. It was three units. 2319,9801,2612 and they were hauling 57 cars. So I set up the camera again for another chase. I followed the train through basically the same area as the work train. Only this time I chose a shot closer to Saint John for a final shot. Here's the final product.
On Sunday I got together with my friend Matt to catch some trains. We managed to catch two. First being a NBSR transfer climbing the Mill Street Grade. And the second being CN 406 rolling through Rothesay.
5 comments:
Hello, do you know NBSR's schedule from Saint John to McAdam? I would be interested in seeing a few trains but never seem to be able to catch them!
Fred, I'm not 100% on what they are running right now. I haven't had my radio in my car for a couple weeks now. But I do know they are running mostly at night. The westbounds most of the time were leaving 12am or later from SJ. I was in McAdam for a meeting on Nov 20th and an eastbound left for SJ at around 8:45pm. Saturday would probably be the best day to catch them. My last sighting the eastbound was into SJ by supper time. Hope this helps some..
Fred, Sorry Oct 20th. Getting ahead of myself
Good info. So I can tune in on my scanner to see where they are? How can I do this? Do I need to be close to the train? Thanks!
Fred, Tune your scanner to the frequency 161.475. This is the NBSR mainline channel. The trains use this channel to talk on for their clearances etc. And as you are out on the line this frequency will also pick up the hot box detectors on it if you are within a few miles of one. Sad thing is that you do need to be within a few miles of a train to pick stuff up from the train.
Post a Comment