88 loads for the Port of Albany had been delivered to Richardson and 95 empties had been brought back to Stoughton for loading. The enlarged terminal, due to open in early January, will allow a 100- cars to be loaded daily, with a projected target of 3000 cars a month. There are also three transloads in southeastern Saskatchewan on the CN. Served out of Brandon, the first is on the Cromer Sub at Woodnorth, Manito- ba. About 20 miles to the west at Mary- field, Saskatchewan, the 93-mile Lampman Sub heads for Estevan. This line was always as much about coal as it was grain. Today it has no active grain loading facilities but it does have crude oil transloads at Willmar and Bi- enfait. More are reportedly planned.
Finding the Oil Trains
Solid trains of tank cars snake across the undulating country of North Dako- ta in a way that offers many opportuni- ties for interesting shots. The CP main between Drake (MP 419.5) and Fes- senden (MP 379.8) is but one example. With two major transloads on the New Town Sub, which runs west from Drake, there are more oil trains than in the past. They are often staged at the terminal town of Harvey (MP 396.5). Parallel to U.S. 52, this line crosses the Continental Divide at about MP 392. (The Sheyenne at Harvey is in the Hud- son Bay basin, while the James at Man- fred [MP 386.2] is a tributary of the Missouri River). Reasonably priced mo- tels make Harvey a good place to set up
to cover this interesting part of the CP main. However, plan ahead because there is still a shortage of motel space at Harvey. There are even more oil trains on the BNSF. Unfortunately, work blocks and the fact that highways do not closely parallel the ex-GN and ex-Northern Pacific mains meant we had serious dif- ficulty finding oil trains on these lines. Even so, with larger transloads the BNSF handles more oil than the CP. While not particularly scenic, one of the best “sit and wait” locations in North Dakota is KO Junction, about three miles west of Casselton. At the junction of the ex-GN and ex-NP lines, there was plenty of action that included oil trains operating via both lines. In Canada the CP main east of Moose Jaw is also drawing more oil traffic. However, new CEO Hunter Harrison has been quoted as saying that it is more profitable to run the oil through the United States than north across Canada. That may be the exception to our prediction of more oil action in the future. We also got lucky at Maryfield, Saskatchewan, where we caught an oil train heading down the Lampman Sub to Estevan that had everything needed in the Bakken Oil Field: fracking sand, drilling pipe and empty tank cars. By the time this sees print much will have changed in the Bakken region. However, the change will come because of expansion and the transformation of yet more prairie and plains railroads by the increase in the crude oil traffic. We feel fortunate to have seen it in its early stages and look forward to going back to see more.
TOP LEFT: A westbound oil train led by Cana- dian National 5347 rolls through Maryfield, Saskatchewan, and onto the Lampman Sub on September 19, 2012. LEFT: Near Stoughton, Saskatchewan,
Stewart Southern Railway
4255 approaches the loading platforms with 32 empties. BELOW: SSR 1010 passes the transfer pumps at Stoughton on September 17, 2012.
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