I'm back!

After a two month hiatus, I'm back! On December 20th I caught NBEC 595 approching the Campbellton yard from the west, arriving from the Gaspe coast with seven loaded lumber cars. I was on my way to the mall while in Atholville, and my scanner picked up 595 calling in "One mile to Campbellton" So of course Jess and I parked by the old bakery which is trackside and waited no more than five minutes and there she was. The plan was for them to drop off the seven cars and head back to the Cascapedia Sub and head to Nouvelle as 594 east. However because of time constraints and the luck of timing (I was able to catch 595 west) I wasn't able to chase 594 back to Nouvelle. But that's ok! There is always other trains. So in the mean time I won't be able to catch any trains till sometime durring the first week of January. Jess is away on a much deserved vacation, I'm home with our Daughter and don't have a car at my disposal at this time.

Also as some of you may already know, I have a couple of new videos up on Youtube, I was lucky enough to catch the Ocean at Dalhousie Jct in the -18 sunny morning of December 20th! Yes very cold so that is why the camera was shaking pretty bad! I put in a request with Santa for a Tripod but I guess the QM was out of stock. So it looks like I'll have to invest in a good one my self. You see the issue with me and tripods is, I sometimes have to go with quanity rather quality. So I don't always get what I pay for...well in the sense of quality. I usally get crap for the small price I pay. Oh well next pay I guess. Also my camera decided to call it quits on me, I'm using my back up right now which isn't all that great when it comes to video but it is simply awesome with stills so I guess for now till I buy a new camera you'll be seeing a lot of stills from me. Yeh it's been a rough year for me you can tell hahaha. Anyhow so that's about it for me and the next post will be next year so have fun and keep chaseing those trains!

Merry Christmas!

To all those who have been following my blog over the past year and to everyone of course Thank you for reading and coming back. I hope the past year has brought everyone joy and happyness as much as it has for me.

From my family to yours Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! And always remember...Keep chaseing those trains and have fun!

Chris.

CN or NBEC 403?

First off, WOW it's been awhile since I last posted anything here, well it's been a rough month for me personally so I didn't really have the time or energy to post anything.

But I did go out now and then to catch a few trains, and have been reading a few blogs now and then from other Railfans. A couple of weeks ago I was planning on going to McGivney with Matt AKA Stjohnrailfan and Dave AKA nbsrfan(?) but my plans fell through and well I'd like to go sometime before Christmas so we'll see what happens from here.

As I had mentioned above I did manage to catch a few trains, I do have some new videos, however I haven't tagged them, some are still mixed up with my other videos that I had taken while I was in Ottawa and Montreal a couple of weeks ago, while in Montreal I did try and get some railfanning down however a flat tire and a couple janggled nerves later we decided it was best not to goto Beaconsfield. Which is where I wanted to go where Jess and I had gone with our group back in April.

So as we all know now it's offical and is now very much public, CN has bought the NBEC and CFMG and it's lines from QRC. Well I wasn't expecting to see any changes right away till at lease mid march or april. However CN locomotives are now here in Campbellton. However what I think is strange is I hear them calling RTC and are still calling them selfs, "NBEC 402" etc. Though they are now being hauled by CN locomotives.

I have a few pictures and a video that I took of a very short 403 tonight. I'll post them as soon as I upload them to my computer. Till then have fun and keep chasing those trains!

This past week

Well this past week Jess has been pretty patient with me and has been coming out with me to do some railfanning. On Tuesday we had a failed attempt at 403 and again on Wedsenday and Thursday. However on Thursday we did catch the 15 returning from Halifax, so the two hour wait at Dalhousie Jct wasn't all that wasted. Today however my scanner decided it was going to work! (It's been on the fritz for the past few weeks) so I was able to get a few conversations and what not. Last night Jess and I went out for Chinese, while we were eating I seen a fairly large truck pull into the parking lot. It was a track inspection truck. This is it here.

My guess is (And it is only a guess) as part of the sale of the line to CN there has to be a track inspection! I mean there are other reasons for this truck to be here. But that would be the most logical guess.

In my last post I said I had not ever seen NBEC 1819, 1821 and 1813 on the 403 or in Campbellton! Well tonight's 403 consisted of four locomotives and 69 cars. The lead on 403 was 6901 followed by 1819, 1813 and 1821!!! Ok so I guess this is NBEC's way of calling me a liar. ALSO on Wedsenday's 591 I seen none other than 1821 getting ready to leave the Campbellton yard with three tanker cars. Here it is. Crappy picture I know but it was a quick shot.

Here is tonight's 403, I really like how the sun makes everything bright against the lead locomotive. And it brings out the fall colours...well what's left of them anyhow.

And here's another quick shot of 403 while chasing it.Finally on the way home the Ocean was heading into Campbellton with "my" 6400 in the lead. I had noticed though a park car was on the tail end, when last night's 15 didn't have one. Oh well just thought I'd share that with you. I didn't get any pictures of tonight's 15. As per usual I'll post my 403 video on Youtube later. It's getting late and I'm pretty tired. Well have fun and keep chasing those trains!

the plan!

So it's a beautiful Sunny Saturday afternoon, I wanted to get out there and enjoy the sunshine and do whatever came to mind. Well going to Bathurst was one of those thoughts and chaseing the 403 to Campbellton was another. Well I went to Bathurst! But no 403. However on the way out of town I suggested to Jess that we take the old road to as far as Dalhousie Jct and get on the highway from there.

We were just about to hit McClouds when we heard the distinctive horn of NBEC 3000 on the tracks below the road. So we pulled into the first drive way and headed back towards Campbellton. We caught up with the train in Richardsville just before the Yard Limits. I pulled over at my usual spot on Arron Street (See my earlyer post) and took a few quick pictures and took some videos.

In Bathurst however it was a bit dissapointing. There were a string of cars in the yard which looked like 403's usual consist. And there were three locomotives further down. NBEC 1819, 1821 and 1813. I figured they were going to be the power for 403 then I thought about it, I never seen those numbers in Campbellton or hauling 403. So I put two and two together and figured they are the local power for Bathurst. So I got a few good pictures and headed into town. Around 1800 we went back to the yard to see if anything had changed. Well there were still the same consist in the yard and the same three locos were still sitting there idleing. So I figured 403 had already gone by and or I was way ahead of it. So I decided to go home from there. Ok well a quick stop at Tim Hortons and then home.

Well here are my pictures from Bathurst and in Campbellton. Enjoy and keep chaseing those trains and have fun!

Another great chase on another great day!

Yesterday Oct 17th was my oldest Daughter's birthday, and for her special day I took her out to chase 403 but this time she was holding the camera and she chose the spots where we would catch the train. It was her day so she called the shots....litterally!

She decided to get the best shots we would goto my favorite spot at the Arron street crossing and stand on the edge of the street which overlooks the tracks. As 403 went by my Daughter was waving to the engineer, and to give her a special "Happy Birthday" he gave her two short blasts of the horn. Her first "hello" she was really proud of that. She took some pretty good pictures which you will see some are mine but I'll point out which ones are her's.

403 had the usual consist woodchip cars, tankers and lumber from the Bathurst mill and a blue ore car. The head end was NBEC 3000 and CFMG 6902

This is her first picture.And this is her second.This one is mine, I didn't have the stabliser on.
And her third shot.Her fourth shot.My picture but this time I had the stabliser on.I fixed the picture up a little made it a bit brighter, same as the one above.Well that's it for me this week, I may go out again this week. We got some videos but she didn't get all of the train, She's a better photographer than a videographer. So enjoy, have fun and keep chasing those trains!

Double the header

Tonight I decided to go somewheres else, so I packed fresh batteries and headed to Matapedia station to catch the Ocean and Chaleur arriving. In Atholville got pulled over at an RCMP road block the usual licence and regestration and have a good night. That set me back a few minutes because when I drove by the station the Ocean had already left.

We were crossing the Restigouche River via the Matapedia bridge and to my left was the Ocean crossing the bridge as well. I thought "Great I'll make it" because I knew they had a slow order on the bridge." Well sure enough I got to the station before they did. I got the Ocean arriving but didn't get any good stills. Just a short twenty something second long video.

The Chaleur on the other hand arrived about ten minutes or so after the Ocean left that's when I found a great spot on the platform and got the "Perfect shots" Ok not that prefect but good enough to post on here. the lead on tonights Chaleur was 6420 followed by 6409. I didn't catch the numbers on the Ocean however it was Evenleign Park on the tail end. Well I'll post my videos on Youtube at a later date. Until then have fun and keep chasing those trains!

Two days worth!

On Monday night I went to Campbellton to catch the Ocean arriving and half an hour later I was on the Quebec side waiting for the Chelaur to scream by. Sure enough she did and I filmed her going by. My first Chelaur since the washout on Aug 4th. Pretty neat that I got both the Ocean and the Chelaur in one night. I caught it first in Cross point (Near Oak bay) and then beat it to Broadlands. Where I got a better night shot of the stainless steel cars with the high beams of the car. Great shot if you ask me! Earlyer that day I caught 403 arriving in Richardsville. (See my earlyer post on that chase.) And tonight I was going to catch 403 in Dalhousie Jct HOWEVER, the forces that be decided tonight wasn't the night. So I gave up my chase or wait to be more accurate. And went home. Around 2000hrs 403 arrived in Campbellton. Although in my past from last week where my oldest Daughter and I went to catch the 403 in that same area we had met "Winnie the pooh" Or a black bear. Tonight was the same thing, I am not sure if it was "Winnie" though I wouldn't be surprised if it were. Unlike the last time though he wasn't fifty yards or so away from me he was more like half a mile or more down the track. I got some "Ok" pictures though. Some are not the best but they are seeable.

This one is clearly the best one I took from the distance we were at.

And this one is also clearly (Or lack of) the worse one. So goes to show how crappy my camera can be if it's not held stable at long distance zoom. Hope he doesn't get hit by a train! I may not like bears too much but I don't hate them. Just a little nervous around them that's all.

Well that's about it for me so far this week with trains, so have fun and keep chaseing those trains! Oh and by the way It's Websenday October 1st and STILL no announcement from CN in regards to the take over of NBEC and CFMG. Although it's been widely rumored it would have been announced today!

NBEC 403

This evening I heard NBEC 403 call RTC to inform them they were in Charlo. So I figured I would try and catch them in Dalhousie Jct. Well no sooner was I in Richardsville did I hear the sqawk of the EOT. So picking the best spot I could in quick time I got my self set up and ready to go. 403 went by with twenty two cars. Not very long! From there I went to the Arron street crossing and that's where I met Justin Babcock chasing 403. I assume he started his chase in Dalhousie Jct. We took some pictures and chatted a bit. On my way on to carry on with my evening I noticed he stopped in Atholville next to the west end yard. So I got out and took some more pictures with him. Got some really good shots. So here they are.

Well thats it for me tonight, have fun and keep chaseing those trains!

My one hundredth and first post!

Wow it's been over a year now since I've been railfanning (Actively) and blogging about it and this is my 101st post! Awesome. Anyhow so last weekend I went to Halifax I boarded 614 eastbound and well, I have some new freq's for VIA and I wasn't dissapointed they worked! I caught three detectors along the way, I didn't get any past Moncton because I don't have CN freqs. I have a video of meeting 615 somewheres in Nova Scotia.

So funny thing is, everytime I take the train anywhere I go, I always look out the window as though on a mission. Friday morning as we pulled into Mirimachi station my self and the other smokers made our mass exidus for the platform to get that nicotine craving out of our systems when to my left just at the very end of the platform stood a man with his camera and tripod filming the Ocean as it came into the station. I couldn't help but snicker to my self as I know that would have been me in Campbellton or in Dalhousie Jct.

Soon it was time for the crew to hoard us back into the cattle car and resume our journey to Halifax and other points in between. As we went by I couldn't help but snicker again at the thought of what I must look like and thinking to my self, "So this is what it's like from the other point of view." Oh well. If anyone out there know who this person is, (If you can identify him) please let me know. I have a picture for him of him.

Anyhow I took a few pictures and some video of course I'll post the videos on Youtube at a later time, I'll post my pictures here. Well that's about it for me as far as trains go. Have fun and keep chaseing those trains.

New Videos on Youtube!

It appears I've been busy lately! Well no I haven't. I've been posting a few of my older videos, so here they are. Yes there are a couple of newer ones so enjoy and keep chaseing those trains!






Those are it for now, I'll be uploading more later. Enjoy!

So long and thanks for the memories!

After a few phone calls and several emails a couple of some reliable sources have told me it is infact true CN will be taking over NBEC/CFMG lines. CN is negotiating to take over 881 miles of track. There are a lot of worried people right now and I'm one of them. I am not working for the railroad however my fear is simply CN will buy the lines back and then dismantle them after a year or two to eliminate competetition. (OR however it's spelled!) Well that's not good. Also the current personel working for NBEC and CFMG have their union trying to secure their jobs accroding to the francaphone newspaper "Le Press" So far nothing yet on that. Throughout the railfan websites in New Brunswick everyone is suggesting to go out and take pictures while we still can. It won't be long now before CN locomotives are here again and NBEC/CFMG locos are gone for good.

So last night I did just that! I went to the Campbellton yard to catch NBEC 403 arriving, while waiting for 403 to arrive I seen several people walking along the tracks as though it was no bodys business! WOW!!!!!! There is a freight train coming it's clear to see but yet some idiots just don't understand. One of them had an MP3 player on walking in the middle of the tracks while the train was about 500 feet away! That's crazy. I believe one guy had flipped off the condutor as he rang the bell to get him out of the way. The arrogance.

Here's my pictures of NBEC 403 arriving in the Campbellton yard. As you can see not only did they put their lives in extreem danger but they also ruined some great shots too!

This would have been a great shot!

This is a pretty good one!

Nice close up!

403 approching the Campbellton yard limits.

The end of a short era.