F is for Freight
On September 18, 2015, the Maine Eastern Railroad assigned its two EMD FL9s, Nos. 488 and 489, to bring an unusually long 17-car train from its Pan Am Railways interchange in Brunswick, Maine, east up the Rockland Branch. Views like this along Muscongus Bay in Nobleboro are far from common; in the ten years since the F-units first arrived on the railroad, they have been used almost exclusively for passenger excursion service. The Maine Eastern’s freight and passenger operations will end here on December 31, 2015, following the state’s announcement of the Central Maine & Quebec Railway as the winning bidder for a ten-year lease on the line from Brunswick to Rockland.
PHOTO BY DAN NELSON
CANADIAN SHORTLINES GLENN COURTNEY
Ontario Southland Railway
Late in August, FP9A 6508 emerged from Ontario Southland’s Salford, Ont., shop wearing maroon and cream paint inspired by the old Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo. It is the first of the railroad’s F-units to be painted in full OSL colors.
Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia
GP15-1 1504 and SD40-2 3366 left Syd- ney on August 14, effectively ending Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia ser- vice to Sydney, N.S.
CBNS has applied to abandon the line between St. Peters Junction and Sydney. The Scotia Rail Development Society has formed in an attempt to preserve the line for future operations. The group has commissioned three studies examining the viability of rail service on the Syd- ney Subdivision. The reports, which are expected to be completed by September 30, will examine shipping by rail versus truck, the investment required to up- grade the subdivision, and the econom- ic opportunities associated with having rail service available.
Orangeville-Brampton Railway
Due to damaged power assemblies on Cando Contracting GP9 4009, Oran- geville-Brampton Railway was forced to lease GP38-2 3072 from Canadian Pacif- ic for about a week in early August.
12 NOVEMBER 2015 •
RAILFAN.COM
IOWA INTERSTATE DAVE SCHAUER
Passenger and Circus Special Trains
In early September, two passenger specials used IAIS rails. The Ringling Brothers “Blue Unit” circus train came to the Quad Cities to play shows at the iWireless Center in Moline, while the Iowa Northern’s Hawkeye Express was en route to Cedar Rapids and bound for Iowa City to run on home University of Iowa football game days. The circus train arrived on BNSF rails from Galesburg, Ill., and was in the Barstow area by 11:25 a.m. Train J SXRMLN1 01A had two BNSF freight motors but promptly encountered a logjam of IAIS and CP trains on the Industrial Track. CP’s B-73 local was running west from the Nitrin Sub with work to do in IAIS’s Rock Island yard. IAIS’s westbound PESI 01 (Peoria, Illi- nois–Silvis) was at Carbon Cliff, chang- ing out its two NS motors for IAIS ES44ACs 510 and 508, and that train would run ahead of the circus train to Rock Island. IAIS’s eastbound CBBI 30 (Council Bluffs, Iowa–Blue Island, Ill.) came into the Quad Cities while the cir- cus train cut off its rear-end equipment flatcars on the Industrial Track between the switches at Moline siding. CBBI slid through the siding, and the head end of the circus train then moved up to Rock Island, passing by East Moline at 12:29 p.m. The train parked its coaches on the BN side of the yard, meeting eastbound IAIS SASI 01(South Amana–Silvis) in the process.
The other “circus” train, the Hawkeye Express, was handled by an extra crew called for 1:00 p.m. at South Amana.
The train was late coming from Water- loo on Iowa Northern, so the crew was sent west with IAIS ES44ACs 516 and 507 to pick up grain loads at Kellogg and Malcom. The crew departed Kellogg at 4:32 p.m. with 15 loads, and Malcom at 6:34 p.m. with 35 more. Arrival at South Amana was at 7:45 p.m., and the crew was cabbed to Cedar Rapids. The SASW (South Amana-based switcher) crew departed Cedar Rapids at 10:30 p.m. with IANR F40PHR 461 and IANR F40PH 678 and the rest of the Hawkeye Express, and ran it to Vernon, arriving there at 11:55 p.m. As in previous years, the Hawkeye Express will run several hours before and after each home foot- ball game at Iowa City.
IRON ORE ROADS DAVE SCHAUER
Canadian National
With United Taconite’s mine and pro- cessing plant in Minnesota shut down (likely through the end of 2015), Cana- dian National is routing taconite pellets produced at U.S. Steel’s Minntac plant through Duluth. Traditionally, Two Harbors has been the primary port for Minn-tac pellets but with production ceased at United Taconite ground stor- age space has opened up in Duluth. This additional space will also be used to store limestone for both Minntac and Mi- norca taconite plants. In the past there has only been enough room for Minorca limestone, so all of Minntac’s needs were handled by the adjacent private Hallett Dock Company. Another change involves CN using a three-unit set of former Chicago & North Western C40-8 models to handle
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76