ABOVE: A leased CEFX 1504 with 102 cars rolls through Francis, Saskatchewan, on Sep- tember 17, 2012. RIGHT: A Stewart Southern Railway conductor rides the engine to get the next switch at Lajord, Saskatchewan, on Sep- tember 17, 2012.


up for abandonment by 2010. The Ty- van Sub between Stoughton and Regi- na is a typical grain gathering line known chiefly for its 80.1 mile tangent. Saved from the scrappers, 82 miles of this branch have been operated by Stewart Southern Railway since 2010. Headquartered


at Fillmore,


Saskatchewan, the line was acquired to service an on-line seed company. How- ever, since 2010 the Tyvan Sub has been transformed by the building of the Crescent Point oil transload. In an impressive display of the in- ventiveness of many short lines, the Stewart Southern devised an operating scenario that maximized the use of ex- isting facilities while construction pro- ceeded on a larger, more permanent transload. Last September, loading oc- curred on the main line of the Tyvan Sub two miles north of Stoughton. Portable loaders moved from car-to-car transferring oil from trucks into tank cars. Cuts of 30 cars were serviced at one time, with an 80-car train taking about two-and-a-half days to load.


32 MAY 2013 • RAILFAN.COM


speed


The Tyvan Sub, with its 20 m.p.h. limit,


is paralleled by


Saskatchewan Highway 33, making chasing very convenient. We caught up with a loaded oil train at Fillmore (MP 22 from Stoughton) heading north to the CP interchange at Richardson (MP 79.9). Led by three CEFX GP15D’s (1503-05), the northbound train paused to add 13 grain hoppers to its 88 tank cars and one buffer (often an old boxcar


or hopper placed between the power and the tank cars). Immediately after it had departed two B23-9s (SSR 1010 and SSS 4255 still in Santa Fe colors) pulled out to follow the loads north to Kroneau (MP 71.3) where 24 empties had been staged. Having retrieved the 24 at Kroneau, on the way back the two GE’s picked up 64 more empties at La- jord (MP 63.5) and seven more at Creel- man (MP 15.8). At the end of the day,


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