Shortline/Regional Railnews MRL Caboose Move
Montana Rail Link caboose No. 1005 (built in 1967 by International Car Co. for Burlington subsidiary Ford Worth & Denver) brings up the rear of the Laurel- Missoula road freight at Avon, Mont., on the morning of April 18, 2015. The caboose was being moved to Missoula so that it can have the new MRL logo applied. A handful of cabooses are still in use on MRL in work train and local service, as well as remote control service.
PHOTO BY JUSTIN FRANZ
CANADIAN SHORTLINES GLENN COURTNEY
Southern Railway of British Columbia
Some 126 members of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 7000 were locked out by Southern Railway of Brit- ish Columbia on January 5 after they rejected the company’s contract offer. Since the employees were locked out, 34 management employees have been oper- ating some service on the railway. More recently, the British Columbia Labour Relations Board ruled on March 10 that the railway unlawfully used replacement workers when it used con- tractor A&B Rail to replace switch ties on Annacis Island. Southern Railway of British Columbia was ordered to cease and desist using private contractors to do union work, and was ordered to pay the labor organization C$5000 in dam- ages.
Gaspésie Railway
On March 2, the Minister of Transport for the province of Quebec announced that the provincial government had made a proposal in court to buy the bankrupt railway between Matapedia and Gaspe, Quebec. The amount of the province’s bid was not disclosed. Under its proposal, the provincial gov- ernment would buy the track structure and pay off the railway’s debt. Gaspesie Railway Company would continue to op- erate the line, at least initially. The gov- ernment plans to repair the segments of the line between Matapedia and Caplan and between Perce and Gaspe. There are several shippers on the Matapedia–Ca-
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RAILFAN.COM
plan segment, whereas the Perce–Gaspe segment hosts a tourist train. The seg- ment between Caplan and Perce will re- main dormant, meaning that there will be no return of Matapedia–Gaspe VIA Rail passenger service.
Northern Lights Rail
The Saskatchewan provincial govern- ment will lend $550,000 on an inter- est-free basis to Northern Lights Rail. The loan will allow the company to pur- chase a rail line from Canadian Nation- al and begin a grain-hauling shortline operation. The 37-mile rail line between Melfort and Birch Hills will be trans- ferred to the new shortline in the spring.
Cando Rail Services Cando has acquired
It has been in service on Ottawa Valley Railway since 2010.
Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway
CBNS SD40–2 7172 and 8151 (formerly HLCX 7172 and 8151) have been repainted into Genesee & Wyoming corporate colors and renumbered CBNS 3365 and 3366.
Quebec Central Railway former MPEX
GP38M-4 2001, once a demonstrator locomotive. The locomotive, which was built as Southern Pacific GP35 7448, is painted in Cando’s black with red and white accents paint scheme and is based in Winnipeg, Man.
Carlton Trail Railway
Carltin Trail Railway GP30 2508, which has been stored for several years, has been sold to J&L Consultants and then resold to Western Rail Inc.
Goderich-Exeter Ry.
GP38 3856 has been upgraded to Dash–2 specifications by CAD Railway Services and renumbered to RLK 2054.
With the shutdown of operations, a number of QCR locomotives have been sold. U23B JMG1 has been sold to Le Groupe TRAQ and moved to CLN Industries in Charny, Que. Transport Steeve Maheu has purchased U23B DG4, S-2 GS9, FP7s 1300 and 1302, and RDC-1 6140. They are stored in East Broughton, Que.
IOWA INTERSTATE ALLAN HUNT
Iowa Locals Changed On March 20, three jobs in central
Iowa were bulletined to take the place of two jobs serving customers and con- necting railroads from Newton to At- lantic. The Atlantic “Rover” (ATSW) was changed from a day job to Monday through Friday with a 10:00 p.m. start time. At Des Moines, a new 4:00 a.m. (DMSW) job was established to work the Norfolk Southern and Union Pacif- ic interchanges in Des Moines, as well as working the Grimes branch. This job comes on duty at Newton Sunday
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