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SHORTLINES, REGIONALS & INDUSTRIALS

WESTERN

The two latest (ex-Wabush Lake Railway Aranaud) RS18’s MDXX 908 and 909 were snapped be Charlie DeJean in transit after interchange to CP St-Luc Yard in Montreal December 5th. A little ratty perhaps but you got to love that MLW low nose job with the notches for the number lights! Note also snow

As we went to press, only MDXX RS18 910 had arrived at destination at Saturday Locomotive Servicing (SLSX) in Saskatchewan. The other three are still enroute. MDXX 909 was in Winnipeg, M B and the two others (MDXX 908 and 911) strangely ended up in Lethbridge, AB! This quartet will get fixed up, and prepared at the Saturday Locomotive Servicing shop for eventual leasing out to power short Prairie regional shortlines. All four will retain their MDXX reporting marks. Charlie De Jean photographed MDXX 908 and sibling in transit in December.

Richard Marchi snapped MDXX 911 and sibling at CN Taschereau Yard last month.

The Great Western Railway (GWR) has leased two (ex-SOO) CP GP38-2’s (4418 and 4407) to supplement their horse power shortage for at least one month. As well, CP has been running rebuilt SD60’s (CP 6200-series) into Assiniboia, SK Devon Generous photos taken in mid-December.

Mark Zulkoskey caught Cando Contracting (CEMR) 4003 switching at the Cheviot Cargill facility just outside of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on December 18th. The geep was built in 1958, and rebuilt into a GP9RM in 1982. It was sold in 1999 to Cando and operated on the Central Manitoba railway with three sister units until being sent out west to Saskatoon. It still retains its CEMR lettering. Often overlooked by railfans due to its location out of the city, the little switcher shoves both CN and CP cars almost daily.

ONTARIO

While the ice storm of December 21st certainly caused loads of problems, here are some views of how it affected the 34 mile Orangeville-Brampton Railway. On Dec 27th, we were called to make a light engine run over the entire line with three track maintenance employees accompanying us. Well equipped with chainsaws, it wasn't long before they were put to use. The worst area was between Mile 28 and Forks of the Credit, MP 24. Other bad areas existed along the entire line, and with pole lines also down, numerous crossing were out of service and had to be flagged. When we came across trees straddling the line, we would nose into them and that allowed the guys to cut them from the low hood. Two workers on the ground cleared the newly cut limbs and if they were too big, we backed away and more cutting took place. The method worked well, but it did cost us one headlight. (Steve Bradley photos).

The St. Thomas & Eastern Railway(STER) – owned by the Trillium Railway – ceased local operations Dec. 20th 2013, ending the only east west rail connection in St. Thomas, Elgin and other municipalities along the former Canada Air Line, Trillium Railway cannot afford repairs to the bridges in Tillsonburg and Delhi which require over two million in repairs. This closure will force a number of industries in west Norfolk, Tillsonburg and Aylmer to make alternative arrangements for their transportation. Trillium clients include Cargill AgHorizons and Norfolk FS in Courtland, the Growmark fertilizer plant in Delhi, and Integrated Grain Processors Co-operative (IGPC)’s ethanol plant in Aylmer. Tillsonburg businesses include Johnson Controls, Wellmaster Pipe & Supply, Kissner Group, International Beams, and Future Transfer Company. Goods carried on the rail line include fertilizer, grain, salt, ethanol, lubricating oil, forest products, pipes and chemicals. As we went to press, OSR will start switching Future Transfer in Tillsonburg and Courtland on Monday the 23rd. They also have running rights from the St Thomas sub along the Cayuga sub to the CN yards to lift Future Transfer cars for Tillsonburg. They will be hauled to Ingersoll and then down the Port Burwell to Tillsonburg.

The section of the Cayuga sub from St Thomas to Tillsonburg will be added to CN's discontinuance list but must be offered to others as well as the local municipalities. There will be no traffic to Aylmer until that continuance term is up which could last as long as 254 days. Once that is complete OSR plans to take over the section from St Thomas to Aylmer. CN still plans to lift the section from Aylmer to Tillsonburg if nobody steps up and buys it. This coul Walter Pfefferle snapped STER RS18u #1842 (ex- CP 1842) at Tillsonburg, ON October 9th, 2012.

Walter also took this great shot on December 18th, of CEFX 3143 at Woodstock, ON.

OSR has not established running rights from St Thomas to Aylmer and CN is not allowing any traffic on the part of the line from St Thomas to Tillsonburg. It will be added to CN's discontinuance list and must be offered to the local municipalities first. This could take up to a year. CN has also taken over the line and will now be doing any maintenance such as crossing gates etc.

Traffic for Future Transfer in Tillsonburg will be dropped in St Thomas by CN. OSR will then lift it as they now have joint running rights into the St Thomas yard. They will then haul those cars to Ingersoll and then to Tillsonburg. The expansion to the Ethanol plant in Aylmer will not take place until 2015 and by that time operating rights will have been completed on that part of the line. CN still plans on lifting Aylmer to St Thomas.

Here we see STER 3582 switching in St. Thomas in February 2009 (Walter Pferfferle photo)

The first Ottawa Valley Railway (OVR) Genesee & Wyoming family paint job was done at the Ontario Northland Railway (ONR) North Bay Diesel Shop in December 2113. OVR GP40-2LW 9426 (ex-CN) was moved to the ONR in late November for repainting into her new GWI paint scheme, and was completed in mid-December and was renumbered OVR 3029. The G&W had sent a representative up to sort out the correct paint specifications with the ONR employees the week before, which caused a short delay in getting started. The G&W acquired the RMPX 9426 off lease, not long after they acquired the OVR. The unit was supposed to get painted at Diesel Electric Services in Sudbury earlier in the year while getting some traction motor work but it, but was passed on due to power shortages at the time. We would like to thank Chris Wilson took these shots at the shop December 12th.

On December 19th, The shop moved OVR 3029 out of the paint shop in full lettering wher Chris Wilson snapped this photo. She still needs cab seats re-installed and the batteries. And will be back in service next week.

This photo shows the previous appearance of OVR 9426 and was taken by James Lalande as it departed Romford (Sudbury) in October 2011.

Doug Cameron got a chance to photograph the remains of ONR SD75I 2100 stored at the ONR North Bay Yard on December 4th, 2013.

Other Huron Central (HCRY) units visited the ONR contract shop over ten years ago for servicing off and on, and it is possible some were painted there but likely ONR did paint touch up paint jobs as required.. James Lalande snapped HCRY GP9 204 on one of its visits for servicing.

ONR CHRISTMAS TRAIN 2013 (Photos by Wayne D. Shaw).

With the cancellation of the Northlander passenger train service last year we don't ever get to see ONR 1809, one of our favorite locomotives any more, unless we decide to drive up to North Bay, which is what we did on December 2nd, to catch the appearance of the 2013 Christmas Train. The gentleman in the orange jacket and Santa hat is Chris Wilson (the CRO Contributor of the same name) and Supervisor of Motive Power for ONR.

With 30 loads of crushed rock carried in a combination of air dumps and ballast cars, Rob, Casey, Jason, and a Crew of Infrastructure Employees aboard Work 1802 thunder past Nellie Lake (Mile 4 on the Devonshire Subdivision) embarking on a solid day of rock dumping at designated spots throughout the Ramore and Kirkland Lake Subdivisions September 12th, 2011. (Mike Robin).

New CRO contributor Maxime Skorynin caught GATX (ex-SP) SD45T-2 9392 leading the daily eastbound GEXR train Through Georgetown, ON. NOTE: It remained as CEFX 939 2 until stencilled “GEXR” 9392 in 2011.

In December GEXR GP40-2LW 3030 failed on its first revenue trip and suffered crankcase explosion. She has been sidelined for repairs. In November, Lambton Diesel Specialists (LDS) released GEXR GP40-2LW 3030 in fresh G&W Family paint , Chad Smith photographed the unit on the property in mid-November. The unit is former RMPX 9431, nee CN 9431 and is new to the GEXR fleet.

GEXR 3821 is being sent to the GWI Diesel Shop in St. Albans, VT for rebuild during January and February 2014. The loco will receive a new generator, wiring, and full GWI paint with a brand new road number.

QUEBEC

In October, a pair of Progress Rail (ex-UP) SD40T-2’s PRLX 2833 and 2856 arrived at the (ex-Ultramar) Valero Oil Refinery near Levis, QC. We have confirmed the pair are still on lease and were working inside the plant in December.

Phase one of Lac Megantic to Montreal Montreal Maine and Atlantic (MM&A) train service returned on December 18th, in a limited capacity. Restrictions include short trains only, Dayight service only, a 10 MPH speed restriction for now, and only dry goods traffic (No transport of oil gas or chemicals allowed). The MMA serves several industries that have not had rail service since the derailment on July 6th, 2013. MMA 3000 photo by Francois Jolin.

Mikl Lussier posted his photo of the first MMA train arriving in Sherbriooke on December 19th with MMA 8541.

Great news for Quebec Gatineau (QGRY) and CP! The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) announced in december 2013 it will purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of Mission Terminal, Les Élévateurs des Trois-Rivières, and Services Maritimes Laviolette from Upper Lakes Group Inc. This strategic purchase provides CWB with the advantages of an eastern port and positions CWB as the largest east coast shipper of producer cars from Western Canada. These acquisitions provide the starting point for a network of strategic grain-handling assets for CWB-marketed grain and they are another critical step in CWB's strategy to transition towards an operating model independent of the government. "The agri-business landscape is evolving quickly - and the purchase of these companies is a first step in building and securing CWB a strong position in the grain marketing supply chain," said CWB president and CEO Ian White. "The flexible, efficient handling and transportation operations of Mission Terminal will let CWB source grain directly from farmers and move it right on to the ships docked at the East Coast."

Mission Terminal Inc.'s head office is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The company sources and markets grain such as wheat, durum, barley, canola, rye, flax, peas and oats, and industrial products, for customers around the globe. It operates handling facilities both in Western Canada and at Thunder Bay. Mission Terminal Thunder Bay, located at the mouth of the Mission River, has a licensed storage capacity of 136 500 MT and handles approximately 1.5MMT annually.

Les Élévateurs des Trois-Rivières (ETR) is located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, and is a receiving, storage and loading facility with a storage capacity of 110 000 tonnes of grain, 78 000 tonnes of alumina and 20 000 tonnes of coke. It can receive grain by ocean ship, laker, rail or truck and is one of the few facilities able to unload vessels of up to Panamax size. Services Maritimes Laviolette (SML) is also located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec and offers stevedoring and related services.

The CWB is one of the most experienced wheat and barley marketers in the world. The Winnipeg-based organization has sold grain to over 70 countries, based on a reputation for high-quality product, reliable service and trusted international relationships. It continues to offer a range of marketing programs to Canadian farmers, including its popular pool contracts, providing solid returns and significant risk-management benefits.

QNSX SD40-2CLC 312 was seen at the south end of Homewood Yard Dec.23rd. She is was photographed there by Mike Garza in transit to National Railway Equipment in Silvis, IL.

EASTERN

Paul Donavan submitted the following news photos: Power and van for New Brunswick Southern Railway's McAdam, NB to Baileyville, ME train lies at McAdam, NB Dec. 7, 2013. The van, sadly "tagged" with graffiti for some time, is equiped with headlights and horns for the backup moves required to move from the St. Stephen, NB ex-CPR line to the former Maine Central Calais Branch. This former Guildford/Pan Am remnant is now owned by the paper mill. The rest of the east end of the Calais Branch of Maine Central is rapidly disappearing as it is converted to a hike/bike trail.

Former CP Rail SD40 5522, now HLCX 6315, leads the eastbound Maine Northern Railway/Eastern Maine Railway/New Brunswick Southern Railway Oakfield, Maine to Saint John, New Brunswick daily freight at Forest Station, Maine 12/5/2013. This train is often described on the radio as the "Bypass Train", as it originates at Oakfield, Maine and uses the recently-built line that avoids Brownville Junction entirely, and connects Irving's Maine rail subsidiaries and NBSR end-to-end. Sadly, Brownville Junction, Maine is all but a railroad ghost town. Resumption of Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railroad service east of Lac Megantic, Quebec to Brownville Junction, Maine has not happened. The amount of pulp and wood chips off Maine Northern is growing by leaps and bounds, but missing is the more remunerative auto and crude oil traffic formerly handed off to EMRY at BJCT by MM&A. Despite this, the train often runs with as many as 100 cars east of Mattawamkeag, which would include picking up Pan Am Railway's drop. Speculation abounds as to who will ultimately acquire MM&A's assets in the U.S. I have heard NBSR mentioned as a likely bidder, CN Rail, and Pan Am Railways, among others. None of this seems to have any basis in fact at this point. The Bangor Daily News is reporting that the sale may occur as soon as mid-December, but does not know the identity of any likely bidders. However, the Globe and Mail is reporting that limited service only as far east of Lac Megantic on MM&A will resume very soon, and that no sale of assets will occur until mid-January 2014. Depending on who picks up what, the Pan Am line from Bangor to Mattawamkeag, Maine, or the MM&A line from Northern Maine Junction (just outside Bangor), Maine to Brownville Junction may become redundant.

New Brunswick Southern Railway's leased GATX GP38-3's 2666 and 2644 lead the three-times-a-week Oakfield, Maine to Houlton, Maine turn on subsidiary Maine Northern Railway December 6. The westbound train is just beginning the turn onto the Meduxnekeag River Bridge (one of two in Houlton) on what was once Bangor and Aroostook's main line.