Saintjohnrailfan's Ultimate Adventures

A Quick Update

2012-01-22T21:16:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've last done an update here. I'd like to blame it on the fact that I've been busy, but I'm going to lean towards the fact that I'm kind of a slacker.

I'm not going to go into great details. Here are my latest two videos uploaded. The first one is of CN 406 westbound through the usual location.

A day earlier, we were getting pummeled by a snow storm. This shot is of CN 406 westbound, from pretty much the exact location of the first shot.

Now that it's a new year, hopefully I can try and keep this blog updated a little more. Well, I can at least try.

-Matt

The Wrong Unit Leading

2011-12-11T21:06:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've just been busy lately.

Here's my latest video, shot last Thursday, December 9th.

That's my first daylight catch of the "somewhat" new 2100 series.

-Matt

Overnight Potash Train

2011-11-17T17:41:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday night, I decided to venture in to Saint John to catch the nightly potash train. I figured they'd be a little earlier than normal, since CN 406 was early that day. Sure enough, at around 22:00AST, I caught CN 594 crossing over Rothesay Ave in Saint John, NB, en route to Courtnay Bay to set off the full cars, and pick up empties for the return trip.

I don't catch this train very much, as it's mostly an overnight train, and it's times can vary.

-Matt

Some Updates - Train Show and Eastbound

2011-11-15T11:56:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I last did an update. It seems like that's the routine lately. Hopefully when things quieten down in the New Year, I can update the blog on a regular basis.

I won't go in to too much detail with this post. I've shot a few trains since my last post. On Saturday, November 5th, I was at the Saint John Model Train Show. It looked like a great turnout, with some great layouts as well. I only shot one video, of an N-Scale model.

A few days later, a friend of mine, Mike R, was driving the daily eastbound freight through Rothesay, NB.

Hopefully more updates to follow.

Quick Saturday Video

2011-10-18T08:02:00.000-03:00

I was up in Moncton Friday night with a few friends just hanging out, having a mini "railfan video night".

I got up early Saturday morning before heading back home, and decided to try and catch CN 120. To my discovery, they were on the move to Halifax by 3:30am. The entire trip would have been pretty much in the dark, so I would have to make due.

At around 5AM, they pass through Maccan, NS, about 7 miles south of Amherst.

After that, I decided to head home.

-Matt

New Web Poll...

2011-10-13T19:57:00.000-03:00

Just a heads up that on my YouTube page, I have a new poll set up with a question for people to answer and vote on.

You can find the poll, and my videos here: http://www.youtube.com/saintjohnrailfan

More of an update coming later.

-Matt

Google+

2011-10-05T09:18:00.002-03:00

I'm trying my hand with this whole G+ thing. If you want to add me to your circles, I think this is the link:

https://plus.google.com/106456175400126599539

It's obviously going to be a mostly train related themed page.

-Matt

Traingeek And An Unfortunate Deer

2011-10-02T17:31:00.001-03:00

Last Wednesday, I met up with Steve, aka "Traingeek", as he was in the area from Winnipeg for business. I met up with him at around 5:30pm, and we waited to catch CN 406 Eastbound.

We chatted for a bit, then, we heard 406 come around the corner into Rothesay.

Unfortunately, at around the one minute mark, a couple of deer decide to try and cross the tracks, with only one surviving. Oh well, better than hitting it with my car.

-Matt

A Weekend Of The Friendly Engineer

2011-09-21T12:22:00.002-03:00

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a buddy of mine, Luc D, "The Friendly Engineer" was at the helm of CN 406, so I decided to venture out to catch him every day, if possible.

Between the three days, I managed to get four videos.

Enjoy.

Good Week For Railfanning

2011-09-08T20:32:00.002-03:00

The start of this week was a good week for railfanning. On Labor Day Monday, I met up with Dave, as we decided to catch CN 406 Westbound. They had CN 9591 and CN 5751 for power.

Later on that evening, I decided to meet up with Dave again, and we caught a very late New Brunswick Southern Railway westbound. It had 3 HCLX (Ex Union Pacific) units, and a Maine Northern 9801 unit (Used to be NBSR 9801). We shot them outside of Saint John, NB at around 11:20PM.

On Tuesday, I found out that CN 406 westbound was another good size train. I decided to venture to Renforth, NB. I've been wanting to shoot there for a while, and finally had the chance to. Shortly after 2pm, CN 406 is westbound through Renforth, NB, a few miles outside of Saint John, with three units and 113 cars.

The two CN trains were shot using picture in picture, with two camera. Both shots turned out decent. A pretty good start to the week, train wise.

-Matt

YouTube Partnership Program

2011-09-01T20:05:00.001-03:00

I received an email last night from YouTube. My YouTube account was approved for the Partnership Program. I guess after applying 4 times, they were starting to get sick of me. Hopefully this will help me attract some new subscribers.

Here's my latest video, shot August 31, 2011.

Enjoy!

-Matt

Sunny CN 406 Eastbound

2011-08-19T16:10:00.000-03:00

Sorry it's been a few weeks since my last post. I've been getting into the Picture in Picture for my video a little bit more.

Here's my latest video. CN 406 is Eastbound through Rothesay, NB. Another attempt for Picture in Picture. I'm really starting to like the looks of it, and I'll probably start using it more frequently. Doing this will also allow me the time to take pictures as well.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend everybody.

-Matt

Last Sunday In Moncton

2011-08-08T09:03:00.000-03:00

Last weekend I was up in Moncton to pick up something that I bought from somebody on Kijiji. While up there, I decided to try and catch a few trains.

I caught two trains up in Moncton, and one back down closer to Saint John. I've also been working with Picture in Picture (PiP) a little more lately.

-Matt

Some More EX-UP units en route for NBSR

2011-07-30T11:03:00.000-03:00

This past Wednesday, I was told that the last two Ex-Union Pacific units for the New Brunswick Southern Railway were on route from Moncton to Saint John, NB on CN 406. I decided to venture out to get a shot of them while on break from work.

I set up and waited. At around 16:00AST, CN 406 heads by with CN 5723 & CN 2280 with the two units in tow.

When I arrived home from work, I discovered that the train had not departed Saint John yet to head back. I decided to go out and catch them leaving. At around 19:00AST, CN 406 is eastbound through the same spot (Rothesay, NB) with a decent size train.

Not bad for a regular Wednesday.

-Matt

Picture In Picture Video

2011-07-24T20:48:00.000-03:00

A few months ago, I bought a new HD digital camcorder. The main reason for buying a new one was because I wasn't impressed with the low light quality that my other HD camera was offering.

I do have my other one for sale, but for the time being, I've decided to try and do some picture in picture videos (ie PiP). It involves setting up both cameras and tripods, and recording the train with both, and having a smaller version of one of the shots on screen with the main shot. Of course, that's how I'm doing it.

Yesterday, Saturday, I decided to venture out on a muggy afternoon to try and catch CN 406 westbound. Due to the heat, they had a 25mph speed restriction, which added an hour on to the trip. At around 16:20AST, CN 406 is westbound through Rothesay, New Brunswick. This is mile 78.46 of the CN Sussex Subdivision, a few miles outside of Saint John, NB.

As you can see, I have a bit more of an improvement to do when it comes to the picture in picture. I should have angled the zoom in shot more to the center of the train, so it wouldn't have gotten cut off of the zoom in.

Oh well, just another thing to remember for next time.

-Matt

Update

2011-07-12T19:00:00.000-03:00

Well, it's been awhile since I've last posted anything. I've spent the last 3 weeks packing, as I was moving to another place. Although I was still able to get out and get some railway shots, my time spent online dropped down a bit, hence why I didn't have the blog at the top of the list.

I should be updating the blog over the next few days.

-Matt

Nice Day For A Few Trains

2011-06-13T17:00:00.000-03:00

Last Thursday, I was finished work early, so I decided to venture out to catch a few trains. I had actually caught the overnight potash train (CN 594), while on the way in to work.

After work, I decided to meet up with Dave, aka "NBSRFAN" (http://www.youtube.com/nbsrfan) to catch the daily freight train, CN 406. We met up at around 1:30PM, just outside of Saint John. We sat and talked, and waited. A few hours later, at around 3:45PM AST, CN 406 is westbound outside of Saint John, NB, hauling a smaller train. There's been better power on the train as of late.

As of today, Monday June 13, CN 8865 & CN 8871 are still the power on the train.

-Matt

Post Judgement Day In Moncton -- Part 2

2011-05-29T08:14:00.000-03:00

After arriving back in to Moncton, I found that CN 121 was still in Moncton, due to problems with their DPU. It worked out that they were stuck long enough for it be daylight for a decent shot. I set up at the usual location (Berry Mills), and waited, and around 7:30AM AST, CN 121 came through, almost two and a half hours after actually being ready to leave.

I went back to the yard in Moncton. While sitting there listening in, I saw the Indonesian export units being shunted around the yard.

At around 9AM, CN 305 was due on their train. After another quick stop at Tim Hortons, I went back out to Berry Mills and waited for about 20 minutes. Shortly after 10AM, CN 305 came through with a surprise at the tail end.

The "RM80-UHR Ballast Cleaner" was at the very tail end of the train. This car had been working near Halifax, for a week or so prior, but nobody really knew it's known whereabouts up until this point.

After 305 came and went, another fellow railfan joined me for a bit...

Part 3 to follow.

Post Judgement Day In Moncton - Part 1

2011-05-23T16:53:00.000-03:00

Seeing that I survived the so called "Judgement Day" on Saturday, I decided to celebrate by heading up to Moncton, NB on Sunday to do some railfanning.

I arrived around 4am. Both CN 120 and CN 121 were still in the Yard. CN 121 was ready to depart around 5am, but they were having problems with their DPU, which somewhat helped me in a way. Also around that time, CN 120 had called the RTC saying they were ready to leave heading eastward to Halifax. I decided to head out to Memramcook to set up shot.

At around 05:50AST, CN 120 cruised through, with a smaller than normal train.

After they went by, it was around 6am. CN 121 was still having problem and were talking to the Diesel Doc about the situation.

Part 2 to follow soon....

New Camera, Long Train

2011-05-08T20:37:00.001-03:00

Well, this week, I bought a new camera. I bought it at Future Shop and it worked out to be a good deal, as it was an upgrade to the one that I was looking at getting. As well, it was somewhere along the lines of 40% off the regular price, because they were using it as one of their sample cameras. It still has the one year warranty, as if it was brand new. So far, so good.

So now I have my Panasonic one that I'm looking to sell. It wasn't a bad camera, I just wanted something that would work better in low lighting areas.

Anyway, I decided on Saturday morning to test the camera out at McGivney, NB. I didn't stick around very long. I only caught one train, CN 121. I'm thrilled with the results with the camera, and I'm already finding it to be a better camera than my other one.

-Matt

CN 406 From New Location

2011-04-17T08:25:00.000-03:00

Been over a month since I last posted something. I'll keep it short and sweet.

Here's my latest video which I've shot. I decided to venture to a new location. It's a nice view, but I probably won't shoot very much at this spot, in another month or so, it'll probably be more difficult to get a decent sight line on the tracks.

Anyway, here's 406 from Yesterday, April 16, 2011.

-Matt

A Bit Of An Update

2011-03-14T18:46:00.000-03:00

It's been awhile since I've posted something. Anyway, here's an update of a few of the videos which I've shot recently.

Those are just a few of them. You can see others at http://www.youtube.com/saintjohnraifan

-Matt

Saturday On The Sussex Sub

2011-02-20T07:43:00.007-04:00

I heard it through the grapevine that ex-UP unit, newly CN unit 2112 was originally scheduled to be on CN 406 yesterday. I decided to venture out to get a shot. As the day went on, I found out that apparently there were other plans for that unit (as far as I know), so it never made it on the train. The power was still CN 2322 & CN 8926, both newer units. I figured that in itself was a good reason to go out and get a shot.

At around 16:30 AST, CN 406 heads west through mile 61 of the CN Sussex Subdivision, with 86 cars in tow.

Not a bad catch!

-Matt

Excellent Sunday In Moncton

2011-01-27T08:42:00.001-04:00

I was up to Moncton, NB with Dave (NBSRFAN) this past Sunday, and it turned out to be a very good day.

Here are the videos from our trip. We discovered that CN 121 was running about 5 hours behind schedule, which put it in to Moncton when we were already there. As well, CN 120 was running somewhat behind.

Next up, we shot 3 trains at Berry Mills, NB in the span of a few hours. The main train, the second one, CN 305 was well behind schedule due to and air problem, which was discovered to be at the end of the train. They ended up leaving roughly 3-4 hours behind schedule.

Next up, we decided to chase CN 406 from Moncton to Hampton, NB, on route to Saint John. We were lucky to have a friendly crew on the train, as we received a "Shave & A Haircut", as well some extra honks at other spots.

Overall, a very good Sunday.

-Matt

New Power On 406 On Saturday

2011-01-18T20:07:00.002-04:00

I was in Moncton for a portion of the day on Saturday. After getting a few shots in the area, I decided to follow 406 west from Moncton down to Saint John, as a brand new SD70M-2, CN 8941 would be leading the train, along with 3 other units.

I had informed Dave D about the train. He drove up to Sussex from Saint John, and I drove down from Moncton, and we waited for the train. At around 16:30AST, CN 406 westbound came through with 4 units, and 143 cars. This was one of the longest 406's that I've seen in over 2 years. Ever since it was decided to run a seperate potash train, the trains have been relatively smaller.

They were going so slow due to the fact that the second unit (4708) had run out of fuel, and they needed all the units running, due to the fact that they were over 10,000 tons on this train. They met a fuel truck at the next crossing a few miles up. Due to the complications, they couldn't fuel the unit, and a short time later, they continued on towards Saint John with only 3 units working.

A little over an hour later, at 17:55AST, CN 406 heads west through Hampton, NB, going a tad faster than they were in the first shot.

After that, the trip went downhill. I don't have all the facts, but from what I understood, the train could not make the big hill up into Quispamsis/Rothesay, mile 71-75. The reason why they needed that unit fueled up was to meet their HP/Ton ratio, and to get that train up that hill without quitting. They ended up having to break the train in to two pieces, and bring each piece separately in to Saint John. After the first trip, the crew had to book rest, and a new crew took over and finished the trip.

It was definitely a long day for the crew.

-Matt

Dashing Through The Snow

2011-01-09T11:26:00.000-04:00

I decided to venture out to try and catch the CN 406 westbound train on a snowy Saturday. NBSRFAN picked me up and we ventured a short distance from my house (roughly 4 miles). We set up shot, expecting the train shortly. About an hour later, CN 406 westbound came through.

Have a great weekend.

-Matt

A Few Trains With The Friendly Engineer

2011-01-01T07:59:00.000-04:00

A buddy of mine, Luc Doiron, was engineer of CN 406 a few times this week. I decided to go out and shoot his train.

The first shot is from Wednesday, December 29:

The second shot of his train on a different day, yesterday, New Years Eve. He was driving 2 new ES44DC's to boot.

Happy New Year everybody!

-Matt

Happy Holidays

2010-12-26T21:37:00.000-04:00

Just wishing all my followers a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays. Hope everybody had a great few days.

I was on my way home from PEI today (Boxing Day). As I was driving through Sussex, NB, I found out that CN 406 eastbound was passing through Rothesay, on it's journey east to Moncton. I decided to take the exit off the highway I take to get home. As I was on the off ramp, I heard the train pass through the hotbox in Hampton, so I knew they were only a few minutes away. I pulled over and grabbed a shot, as I didn't want to chance it and completely miss the train altogether.

Here's the result:

Happy Boxing Day everybody!

-Matt

New Domain Name

2010-12-19T16:40:00.003-04:00

I've registered a domain name for myself. The address is:

http://www.saintjohnrailfan.ca

So far, it only redirects to my Youtube page, but eventually I'll probably put a small website up.

-Matt

Westbound Catch

2010-12-12T08:38:00.000-04:00

After work yesterday, I found out that CN 406 westbound would be coming in to Saint John shortly. I decided to head to the outskirts of the city, about 5 miles out, actually. I arrived with about 10 minutes to spare.

At around 14:40 AST, CN 406 west comes by, hauling 84 cars.

-Matt

Antennas

2010-12-08T10:17:00.002-04:00

For the time being, I'm going to scrap the idea of a brand new scanner altogether. Rather, I'm going to browse around for larger antennas which I can use on my current scanner, to help with the pick up range. It'll probably be worth more to me to do this rather than spend a lot more money a whole new unit.

-Matt

New Scanner Suggestions

2010-12-06T21:18:00.000-04:00

I have a Uniden BC72XLT scanner. I'm looking to upgrade it, so to speak, with purchasing a new car antenna for it. I'm curious as to if there's any models out there which have a greater range than just a regular Nascar Scanner?

I've posted a suggestion area on my Youtube page for people to give me their ideas.

http://www.youtube.com/saintjohnrailfan

Thanks,

-Matt

A Rainy Saturday In Moncton, NB

2010-12-05T22:24:00.000-04:00

Here's the happenings of my trip to Moncton on Saturday, December 4th.

I arrived in Moncton at around 5am. I knew that 120 was going to be after midnight departing Edmundston, and I knew that sometime after midnight, a CN 473 had departed Moncton with 5340 & 2644 for power. CN 121 was nowhere to be seen in the yard, so I'm guessing they were small enough to squeeze in a siding somewhere to meet 120. I was guessing on an arrival time for 120 to be between 5 and 6am. The later it got, the better chance for a day shot. Finally, at around 8:45 AST, 120 came flying by Berry Mills with CN 8866, BCOL 4647 and CN 8851 in DPU mode.

A waiting for another 90 minutes or so, CN 305 came through Berry Mills at around 10:20 AST (I think) with CN 8830, CN 5660, CN 5531 & DPU CN 2298, hauling around 9200 feet of train. Tim Dryden and Phil Ross stopped for a visit to watch the train roll by.

I decided to head out to Painsec to catch 120 roll by. At around 11:20 AST, 120 came through with around 5500 feet. Next up, CN 406 westbound. I was going to shoot them at the main crossing at Salisbury, but I ended up stopping at a friends place for a quick chat. He let me set up for a shot in his yard (Thanks Wendell). Shortly after 13:00AST, CN 406 came rolling by with CN 2446 & CN 5794, hauling a decent size train (still never got around to doing a car count). For the final shot of the day, I decided to catch them through Hampton, NB. They ended up passing through at around 15:15AST.

That was it for the day. I ended up missing CN 121, CN 569, CN 539, and VIA 14. Overall, it was a decent day, even with the rain.

Here's the results of the trip. It's all 5 shot in to 1 video:

-Matt

Little Quick Train Chase

2010-11-30T22:03:00.000-04:00

A few Sundays ago, myself and NBSRFAN ventured up to Sussex to wait for CN 406 west. We shot the train west of Sussex, then shot it a few other locations between Sussex & Saint John, NB.

-Matt

Snowy Saturday 406

2010-11-29T07:21:00.000-04:00

I decided that on Saturday before the staff Christmas Party, I'd venture out to catch 406 west. It was snowing somewhat heavily, and it would have made for a decent winter shot. Shortly after 15:00 AST, CN 406 passes mile 62, outside Hampton, NB, hauling 65 cars.

Unfortunately, the snow actually let up a bit before the train arrived. Oh well.

-Matt

CN 594 Running Light Power

2010-11-20T16:47:00.000-04:00

I was on my way in to work on Friday morning at around 4:30 AST when I saw headlights of an oncoming CN 594. Usually this train would be well past me when I leave for work, but for some reason, it was running behind. I raced back to the first lit area to grab a shot. I soon realized that they were light power.

Oh well, better than nothing.

New Layout

2010-11-17T13:33:00.002-04:00

I figured it was time for a change. I re-designed the page. Hopefully it's not too grotesque.

-Matt

Saturday In Moncton

2010-11-17T10:24:00.001-04:00

I was out this past weekend to Moncton with Dave ( youtube.com/nbsrfan ) to catch a few trains. I won't go into great details of the trip, but here is the results of our trip.

-Matt

Sunday CN 406

2010-11-01T10:22:00.001-03:00

Myself and Dave (NBSRFAN) were out to catch yesterday's CN 406 westbound. After a few hours of waiting, and a bit of snow, CN 406 finally comes into view with 5720 leading.

Quick Update

2010-10-31T09:34:00.001-03:00

I posted a little box on the right hand side of the page where you can click to subscribe to my video channel directly from my blog.

Use it! Oh, and happy Halloween too.

-Matt

Thanksgiving Sunday Railfanning

2010-10-11T08:56:00.000-03:00

Well, It's been awhile since I've posted anything. I was out with Dave (NBSRFAN) yesterday to catch a few trains on a beautiful Canadian Thanksgiving Sunday.

In the morning, we caught an NBSR Transfer train heading up the massive grade towards Dever Yard, on Saint John's west side.

Later in the afternoon, we caught CN 406 west heading through Rothesay, just outside of Saint John, with CN 2421 & BCOL 4645 for power, with 84 cars.

I also managed to catch CN 406 east with the BCOL unit in the lead, I'll post it once the video is uploaded.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers.

CN Train In Hampton

2010-09-13T06:53:00.001-03:00

Last Thursday, I caught CN 406 east blasting through Hampton, NB with 77 cars. Here's the video.

Enjoy.

-Matt

Labor Day Railfanning

2010-09-11T08:29:00.000-03:00

I was in Moncton last Monday (Labor Day Monday) to catch a few trains. It turned out pretty good, as I caught a total 9 trains.

Part 1:

Part 2:

-Matt

Labour Day Moncton Monday

2010-09-05T16:53:00.000-03:00

I'm venturing up to Moncton tomorrow morning to do a bit of Railfanning, before the long weekend is over. Hopefully I'll be able to catch a few trains to make the trip worth while.

-Matt

A Quick Update

2010-08-29T08:54:00.000-03:00

It's been awhile since I've posted something. I've been relatively busy over the last few weeks, so I haven't had much time to post anything. I'll just post some recent videos which I've managed to shoot over the last little bit.

I'll try to update the blog a little better.

-Matt

Older Power On Today's CN 406

2010-08-07T19:49:00.000-03:00

Sorry for the delay between postings. Here's a video I shot today of CN 406 East with some older power, CN 6005 & CN 9672, hauling 49 cars.

-Matt

Detouring Trains

2010-07-22T16:53:00.000-03:00

I'm going to be heading up to Moncton on Saturday and/or Sunday to catch the detouring CN 148/149 trains. There is a strike at the Port of Montreal, so ships are being diverted to Halifax, which means that these trains will be loading/unloading out of Halifax instead of Montreal.

I'm A Twit

2010-07-14T17:18:00.000-03:00

I finally decided to join the Twitter world.

http://twitter.com/sjrailfan

You can follow me there if you'd like. It's really only going to be train sightings in the area and such..nothing really fancy.

Don't forget to check out my Youtube page as well: http://www.youtube.com/saintjohnrailfan

-Matt

Grand Falls In The Heat - Part 2

2010-07-12T20:14:00.000-03:00

After catching 121, we decided to head towards Edmundston, to catch them after the crew change. In most circumstances, the crew change is pretty quick, but for some reason, they were taking awhile. About 90 minutes after arriving in Edmundston, they depart, and pass by mile 5.78 of CN's Pelletier Sub.

We knew that CN 308 was ordered in Edmundston for about 2pm. As they were ready to leave, they were told they would be meeting CN 305 in the siding at Saint Leonard. The siding in Saint Leonard is the longest siding on the Napadogan Sub, at around 9200 feet. Unfortunately, it's only about 25 miles outside Edmundston, meaning that if trains are forced to meet there, then one train can't really leave Edmundston until the other train is close. Anyway, there's a private crossing at the siding. We set up shop, and a short time later, the meet took place.

We decided to venture further down the line to catch 308 one more time before heading home. We settled for a crossing just outside of Plaster Rock, NB, mile 161.75 on the Napadogan Sub. About an hour later, it finally showed up. Because of the extreme heat, it was forced to a speed restriction.

After that, we decided to venture home. It was quite a long day...12 hours in 43 degree celcuis heat was enough.

Northern New Brunswick With Alot Of Heat

2010-07-09T09:09:00.001-03:00

On Wednesday, myself and Dave Dineen (nbsrfan) ventured up to the Grand Falls/Edmundston, NB area to railfan. At the peak of the day, it was 43 degrees celcius with the humidex. With plenty of liquids and a car with an AC, we were ready.

We arrived in the area shortly before 6:30am to find red/red signals at the Ennishore siding. We ventured in to grab some fuel..ie, McDonalds. We went back and waited. At around 9am, the signals finally changed to green/red, indicating 121 was on it's way. We both decided to do something different. I went for a more scenic shot with my video, shoot back towards the train, on an uphill slope facing down. It turned out great, I think.

Dave had borrowed my other camera to do work with picture in picture. Here's his video:

He did a really great job with the picture in picture set up!

The day was just beginning, and so was the heat!

Part 2 later.

Happy Canada Day!

2010-07-01T10:00:00.001-03:00

To all my Canadian followers out there, have a happy Canada Day! Try not to be too hungover tomorrow morning!

CN Safety Day

2010-06-28T18:07:00.001-03:00

On Saturday, I was up in Moncton, NB attending the annual CN Safety day, at Gordon Yard. It was a great time, and I was able to talk to some great people while I was there.

Of course, while in Moncton, I managed to catch a few trains as well.

The first train was CN 120:

Next up, CN 305 leaving Moncton, with a DPU as well:

Finally, shorty after the safety day completed, a westbound CN 407 heads through Moncton's west side on it's way to Gordon Yard, with a rather long train.

It was a great day overall. I missed a few trains, but the quality of the ones that I caught made the trip worth it.

-Matt

Road Trippin' Last Sunday

2010-06-16T21:03:00.001-03:00

On Sunday, myself and a friend of mine, Dave Dineen decided to do a road trip to see if we could catch a few trains. We arrived at our first location, Chipman, NB, just in the nick of time. As we were arriving, we heard CN 120 calling the signal for Chipman. We had to back track, and manage only to get this shot.

Afterwords, we decided to venture back into Moncton, NB to get a few daylight shots. We arrived in Moncton just as CN 120 was pulling into the Yard. After a crew change and a bit of work, they were on their way to Halifax, NS. We decided to venture out to Painsec Jct, located on Moncton's East side. We managed to catch them with the same loco consist, with 161 cars.

About 2.5 hours later, CN 305 hooked on to their train, did their work, and departed for Toronto, Ont. We managed to get a shot of them at Berry Mills, NB, located on Moncton's west end. Here they are with 5 locomotives, with around 10,000 feet of train.

Afterwords, we heard about a couple of more trains. One was arriving in Moncton, and the other was soon ready to depart. CN 569 arrived in Moncton, and CN 535 departed Moncton towards the Napadogan Sub with centerbeam & a woodchip car. Both were shot on video, but I have yet to upload them to Youtube. I should over the next day or so.

We decided to chase CN 406 west to Saint John. Today's westbound only had 26 cars, so it was relatively easy. I won't go into great detail about the chase, as the video speaks for itself.

After the chase, it was time to call it a day. We were both home by around 2:30pm, but we had both already been awake for 12 hours. To me though, it was worth it.

Enjoy.

-Matt

406 With Some Advanced Editing

2010-06-10T21:40:00.000-03:00

After arriving home from work, I descovered that the eastbound (CN 406) hadn't left Saint John yet. I waited until they called the RTC to depart, and I decided to venture out.

CN 406 heads by with CN 2202 & CN 5718, hauling 92 cars.

I ran the video through some extra editing. It's relatively bright. The original raw file looked pretty dull, so I think this is somewhat of an improvement over the original quality.

-Matt

First Recording

2010-06-08T21:36:00.000-03:00

I was browsing through my saved movies that I've shot and put on Youtube. I found one that I forgot that I had actually recorded and not uploaded. I'm pretty sure it's the same train as my "first video", but shot a few hours earlier. It's amazing the difference two and a half years makes.

-Matt

Not Bad...Only 10 Hours Late

2010-06-06T16:34:00.002-03:00

A buddy of mine was conductor on CN 406 again on Saturday. He was not having much luck though. I decided to venture out to catch his train, and about 5 minutes before midnight AST, CN 406 West came through. Normally this train is usually here between 2 and 3pm at the latest.

They left Saint John about 2 hours later, but I didn't feel like heading out, as they were only around 3,000 feet.

-Matt

CN 406 East

2010-06-05T17:46:00.003-03:00

A buddy of mine was conductor on CN 406 yesterday, Friday. It was relatively warm and sunny outside, and I had just finished up my work week. I decided to venture out to catch him on the return trip from Saint John to Moncton, NB.

Here is my lame attempt to be "artsy" with the shot. Maybe if I had a better tripod. Yeah, yeah, I know, don't blame the tripod.

-Matt

Blog of Note

2010-06-05T11:15:00.003-03:00

Well, I'm flattered. Just like Steve's blog, I was chosen for the "Blog Of Note" for Friday, June 4.

Thanks blogger team, It's much appreciated!
http://blogsofnote.blogspot.com/2010/06/saintjohnrailfans-ultimate-adventures.html.

Seems like a motivating enough factor for me to keep updating this on a regular basis.

-Matt

A Bunch Of CN 406's

2010-05-30T11:50:00.001-03:00

Here are a few (5) shots of CN 406 that I have shot in 2010 so far. These ones were, for some reason, set on the backburner and forgotten about. I decided to put them all together into one video.

Have a great Sunday.

-Matt

Railfanning in Moncton, NB

2010-05-25T19:06:00.002-03:00

I decided to venture up to Moncton on Sunday to catch a few trains in the morning.

When I arrived in Moncton at around 3:00AM, CN 120 was sitting on the mainline at Lutesville west, waiting for CN 121 to hook on to their train and back up. Once completed, CN 120 entered the yard. A short time later, CN 121 departed Moncton, en route to Toronto, with IC 2703 at the head end.

After some work in the yard, and a crew change, CN 120 was on it's way again, towards it's final destination of Halifax, NS. I decided to venture out to a couple of locations to catch it.

First, at around 5:30AM, 120 heads through a private crossing in Dorchester, NB.

I got ahead of it and shot it at Maccan, NS.

Afterwards, I made a quick stop to fuel up. When I arrived back in Moncton, I discovered that CN 305 was hooked on to their train and was about to do a roll by inspection. I dashed out to Berry Mills, and shot 305 shortly after 8AM.

Not knowing what else there would be, or what the times would be, I decided to call it quits and ventured back home.

-Matt

Saturday In Grand Falls - Part 4 (Last Part)

2010-05-22T19:27:00.003-03:00

After catching 473, I knew that the next train would be 305, but it was a matter of trying to figure out when it would come by. Figuring I had some time, I ventured down to Longley, NB. This area is located just south of Plaster Rock. It's a nice location, because it's the west end of the siding, as well, it has a nice straight away shot.

Upon arriving, I discovered a green/red signal, indicating that 305 would soon be arriving. About an hour later, 305 came through.

That was it for the trip. I decided to pack it in and head home. Pretty successful trip, I think.

Saturday In Grand Falls - Part 3

2010-05-16T21:13:00.003-03:00

After shooting 121 at Baker Brook, I ventured back towards Edmundston. About 2 minutes outside the yard, I heard the RTC mention something in French, and it was to train 473, about mile 215....WHAT? 473? This came as a complete shock to me. I arrived back in Edmundston just in time to catch it coming in to the yard for a crew change.

About 35 minutes later, wasting no time, they were on the road again, heading west.

Next up, CN 305.

-Matt

Saturday In Grand Falls - Part 2

2010-05-14T18:06:00.004-03:00

After CN 121 had passed Grand Falls, I decided to chase it back to Edmundston. I took the highway. Unfortunately, even at speeds of 120 km/h, it took over 20 miles to get ahead of it. I pulled off and managed to get one more video of it before it hit Edmundston.

About 45 minutes or so later, CN 121 had completed their crew change and were once again on the road west. I decided to try a different location. I ventured to Baker Brook, around mile 13 on CN's Pelletier Subdivision. I originally made a mistake and mentioned this spot as Lac Baker.

Part 3 to follow later.

-Matt

Saturday In Grand Falls - Part 1

2010-05-11T20:21:00.004-03:00

As mentioned, on Saturday, I ventured up to Grand Falls/Edmundston to do some railfanning. As I was informed that there would be a 474 in daylight through there. I took an odd route to get up to Grand Falls.

I headed to Fredericton, then ventured up highway 8 towards McGivney, then cut across highway 107. While looking at Google Maps, I found what I though was a shortcut from Juniper up to Longley (Plaster Rock). When I arrived, I discovered that it was just an access road, blocked off only to be used by trucks. Drats...I had to venture all the way to the end of 107, up 105, then over to 109/390 to Plaster Rock. I ventured up highway 108 from Plaster Rock. When I arrived at Hazeldean (Bluebell siding), I noticed the west facing signal showing green/red. This was around 6:45am, leading me to believe that 121 hadn't been through yet, and 474 was on it's way...somewhere. I ventured in towards Grand Falls, driving by the Salmon River trestle...a quick view over revealed no train. All of the sudden, I heard the EOT device on the scanner....twice! I turned around and ventured back towards the trestle...as I looked up through the trees...I spotted...AUTORACKS! The tail end JUST crossed over the trestle as I was looking over. I was able to beat the train across the 108 crossing, and set up back over at the Hazeldean crossing. I managed to get a few minutes ahead of it. Sure enough, around 7am, CN 474 came through. I wasn't expecting this train til mid morning..so I was a surprise.

Afterwards, I ventured to Edmundston. There was nothing in the yard, leading me to believe that in fact, 121 hadn't been through yet. I ventured back towards Grand Falls. Near Riviere Verte, I noticed the east facing signal turn green..which meant it was aligned up for 121. I had no idea where it was, so I tried my best to get to Grand Falls. JUST as I was getting into Grand Falls, I saw 121 heading under the highway...a quick turnaround, and I was on chase yet again. I knew that if I wanted to get a shot..I had to do it soon, as trains ROCKET through from Grand Falls to Edmundston, so keeping up with it would be very tough. I got lucky and got ahead of it. I ended up getting a shot of the train at Laforge RD, just before it went under the 144 highway.

Here's the video for the first 2 trains:

It was quite a early morning so far..and it was about to get better.

-Matt

Northern NB on National Train Day

2010-05-09T09:44:00.001-03:00

I completely forgot that it was National Train Day on Saturday. I went up to Grand Falls & Edmundston to catch a few trains. It turned out to be one of my better trips up there, and I didn't even get any trestle shots.

Videos and details will be posted later.

-Matt

The Friendly Engineer

2010-05-06T21:39:00.000-03:00

A buddy of mine & fellow railfan was doing his Engineers training on 406 the last couple of days. Here's a video of his train, CN 406 east, heading through Rothesay, mile 78.46 on the CN Sussex Subdivision.

Grand Falls

2010-04-03T20:51:00.000-03:00

Myself and nbsrfan will be heading up to Grand Falls & Edmundston, NB to do some railfanning on Easter Sunday. Results to follow. Hopefully they're good ones!

-Matt

New SD70M-2 sighting

2010-03-10T18:25:00.004-04:00

I guess my plans to keep up with posting here have fallen by the wayside.

Ok, here's my new years resolution...starting....now!

Last Wednesday, I found out that two SD70M-2's and a dash 9 will be on the Moncton-Saint John train 406. One of the SD70M-2's was brand new 8884. I decided after work to venture out and capture it at a few locations.

The first was at Rothesay, NB, and about 13 miles up the line at Hampton, NB.

-Matt

New Year, New Post

2010-01-03T17:35:00.004-04:00

Oh..

I suppose I should do a post. It's been a few months, plus it's a new year. This will be one of my new years resolutions, to post more in the good old blog.

After receiving some gift cards from Futureshop, I ventured out and bought a brand new camera.

http://www.panasonic.ca/english/audiovideo/camerascamcorders/camcorder/HDCSD20.asp

Mine is an SD10, but I can't see any difference between the 10 and the 20. Plus, due to the Boxing Day sale, it was pretty much half price. I just had to...I just had to.

Here is the second video that I shot with it. The first one didn't turn out the way I wanted to, so I won't post it.

What do you think? So far, I think it's worth the money, especially 50% off. There's still some browsing around and work which needs to be done, but I like it so far.

Happy New Year to my loyal ~~readers~~ reader.

A Couple Of Trains On A Rainy Sunday

2009-10-04T20:16:00.004-03:00

It's been awhile since I last made a post. I'll try to update this week about my adventures which happened over the last month or so. For today, I'll post about, well, what happened today.

As one of my rare "full" days off from work, I decided to venture out to catch CN 406 on it's last leg of the trip to Saint John. At around 2pm, I went to Tennis Court Road and waited. At around 2:35pm, CN 406 west came through with 56 cars, with 2527 & 2277 for power.

After that, I went home for a bit, knowing that I had some time before they left Saint John. At around 5pm, I heard them receive their clearance to depart Saint John, and I darted back out to Rothesay, this time, at a different location. At roughly 5:30pm, CN 406 east came by with 2277 and 2527 for power, hauling 40 cars.

That was all for today. Not bad for a day off.

Lack Of Updates - New Video

2009-09-02T20:23:00.002-03:00

Sorry, It's been awhile since I've last posted on here. I've just been pretty busy over the last month or so. As well, I'm sorry that I didn't finish the Grand Falls Adventure, but I'm hoping to get another one in really soon.

More updates to come. To keep you occupied, here's a video that I shot today, September 2nd, of CN 406 west through Rothesay, NB. A rare occurance, an SD70M-2 unit, 8805, having a Nathan P5 horn. It's a pretty unique catch.

Enjoy.

Matt & Dave's Northern Adventure - Part 2

2009-07-29T08:35:00.009-03:00

Well, once 121 passed, we knew that we had some time on our hands. We drove around the area and checked out some of the railway items in the area. We took a few more shots of the Salmon River Trestle.

We decided to head back west through Grand Falls, and head over to St Leonard, NB. We took highway 144, which follows the TCH. After passing through St Leonard, we came up to a set of tracks. All of the sudden, on our right, a train was coming out of the woods. It was the MMA train picking up cars from the sawmill in the area.

We took a side road, CNR road, I think it was called, which lead us down to the mainline tracks, where a siding was located. We were able to catch the train switching tracks, then enter back onto their own track to take them back across the border into the United States.

This was definately a nice surprise, as we weren't really expecting to see anything else, other than CN on our adventure today.

We went back to the Ennishore siding for a little bit to check out the track. We decided that we would walk the siding to help kill some time. On our way back to the car, we heard on the scanner that 305 was in Plaster Rock, and 308 was going to take the siding in St Leonard until 305 passed. We knew that we wanted a shot on the trestle, and we knew we had about 30 minutes to get there.

We went over to the Salmon River Trestle with plenty of time to spare. We set up shot, and waited. About 20 minutes after we arrived, we heard 305 call the signal before the bridge, and at around 1:05pm, CN 305 began it's trek across the bridge.

Now, we had to come up with a plan for CN 308.

Matt & Dave's Northern Adventure - Part 1

2009-07-24T11:43:00.006-03:00

Well, on Monday, July 20, myself and Dave (nbsrfan) decided to make a trip up to Grand Falls for the day to do some railfanning. We left Saint John at around 4am, and arrived in Grand Falls by 7. After a 20 minute refuelling at McDonalds, we hit the road again and ventured towards the Salmon River Trestle.

We decided to venture towards the Foley Brook Trestle first, then venture back towards Grand Falls.

(Here's a picture of the Foley Brook trestle, facing southeast.)

Just as we were arriving at the crossing, we could see CN 121's intermodal cars heading through...Drats! CN 121, most times, shouldn't be up in this area until at least 10am...it was shocking to find it up here 2 hours early. But nontheless, we had to decide on a plan, which was to drive back towards Grand Falls to try to catch it. The train gods were on our side. Due to the fact that the train had to slow down to cross the Salmon River Trestle, we were able to beat it to the Violette Station road crossing, with 5 minutes to spare. The crossing is also where the west end of the Ennishore siding is located.

At around 7:50am, CN 121 crept through with a nice new 8872 at the head end, followed by 3 more units and 150 cars. Once the tail end was off the bridge, they began to pick up speed.

You could hear the engines pounding and the horn blowing for the next 20 minutes as they made their way west towards Edmunston. A good way to start the day. Took us by suprise, but still a nice way. It was 8am, and the day was just beginning.

Part 2 later.

Early Morning In Chipman

2009-07-17T11:59:00.002-03:00

On Wednesday, I decided to make a trip up to Chipman early in the morning to see if I could catch any trains. I drove by Chipman, and arrived in Hardwood Ridge around 4:45am. I noticed a green over red signal, which meant that CN 121 was due to arrive shortly. At around 5am, CN 121 came barreling through with 2560 as it's leader hauling 174 cars.

I waited around there for another 45 minutes. After a quick trip into Minto to Tim Hortons, I decided that the best plan would be to head in to Moncton, as it was only about an hour away and it would probably be another 4 hours before a train passed through. I arrived in Moncton at around 7am. I saw 305's and 406's power sitting at the shops. Once 305 came on duty and hooked on to their train, I ventured over to Berry Mills. Nothing was being said on the scanner, which was kind of weird. My scanner was acting up for some reason..as it couldn't even pick up the hotbox detector at Odlum (about 1.5 miles away). Fortunately, I could hear the engines rumbling undearneath the highway, so I knew it was coming. At around 8:45am, CN 305 came by with IC 2720 leading and a whopping 163 cars in tow.

My next, and final plan, was to chase CN 406 back to Saint John. At around 10am, it departed Gordon Yard. I first caught it at Scott Road, located west of Salisbury, NB. CN 2232 was the leader, hauling a small 39 cars.

I didn't do too much video'ing of the train, I snapped a few photos of it instead (which are still on my camera). I decided for the final shot that I would catch it going over the Hammonds River Bridge, located outside Hampton, New Brunswick.

Not a bad trip, and I was even home by lunch time!

Moncton Part 2 (Kind Of)

2009-06-24T10:24:00.002-03:00

It's funny, I don't even feel like posting the second part of the day in Moncton. Yeah, I know, that's what a blog is for. I think if you've seen the videos already, you know how it went.

But to newer news. I had to go in to Saint John on Tuesday to work for the day. I noticed that sitting in Island Yard was an old friend to CN 405/406, an SD70M-2 8000 series unit, 8020, to be more precise. I had a quick coffee break around 2:45pm and noticed they were coupled up to their train. I waited around in town, but they never departed (I didn't have my scanner with me). So I went back to work until around 3:30, then I went home. I had no idea if they had left yet or not. After about 15 minutes at home, I heard the blow of the loud horn in Quispamsis (I somehow missed it blowing for the 3 crossings in Rothesay). I quick jump in the car, I raced to Hampton, barely making it on time for this shot:

I had no time to set up the tripod. It was nice to see that K5LLA horn in person again. Hope it sticks around for a little longer.

Moncton on Saturday - Part 1

2009-06-15T15:23:00.004-03:00

The CN Safety Day was going on this past Saturday, so I decided to venture up to check out the activities. Although I didn't go up to Moncton as early as I normally would have. I was awake at 4:00am, showered and was ready to hit the road by 4:30. A quick glance at my email, I discovered that CN 406 passed by Petitcodiac at around 2:30am. I know that it takes about 2 hours for the train to get to Rothesay from there, so that was good timing in my part to be ready to leave 2 hours later. Thanks Jeremy for the info. As I walked outside, I could hear the GE and GP38's climbing the hill into Quispamsis. Definately a nice sound only I could love. I decided to make a detour into Saint John...well, not into Saint John, but just outside, at the entrance to the Kenebecasis Park road. I arrived about 3 minutes before 406 did, and here is the result:

Not a bad way to start the trip. A quick stop for gas and coffee, and I was ready to hit the road. I arrived in Moncton at around 6am. All was quiet until around 8:30am, when CN 305's crew were ready to move and collect their train. While I was waiting, I saw CN 8853 over near the intermodal pad. I assumed they were using that unit for the Safety Day, and I was right.

(Here it is heading over to the shops)

At around 8:30am, Kevin, aka KRG2645 showed, and we talked for a few minutes, then decided to venture over to Berry Mills to catch CN 305 depart. When we arrived, we both set up for our shots. I decided to try a different angle. Hopefully it turned out alright. I decided to save this video in HQ, as Youtube has been uploading my videos slower lately, and this video was a large file.

It really got interesting after that.

Part 2 later...

A Few Older Videos

2009-06-11T20:32:00.004-03:00

Here are a few older videos from this past winter that I forgot to upload:

December 8, 2008:

January 22, 2009:

Youtube Beta

2009-06-07T17:23:00.004-03:00

Well, I'm still on the fence about what I'm going to do with the new "Beta" look for my Youtube page. I do like the new look of it, it seems more organized and such. My only downfall with it, unless it's been fixed already, is that when you look and click on one of my videos on the right of the page, if it's in HQ, you can't actually watch it in HQ. However, if it's in HD, that option will show up.

I'm pretty sure it's just a bug somewhere. Maybe I'll switch back to the new "beta" look, of course, just for now.

http://www.youtube.com/saintjohnrailfan

Rock on,

-Matt

Victoria Day Weekend

2009-05-27T14:12:00.003-03:00

I made a trip over to Halifax for the long Victoria Day weekend. Rather than just post about it, because it's a couple of days worth, I'll post the playlist of videos here.

Enjoy.

Here are a few pictures taken along the trip as well.

-Matt

NBSR In Daylight

2009-05-08T17:06:00.003-03:00

On Monday night, I ventured into Saint John to try to catch the departure of the westbound NBSR train, in daylight, the first time this year.

I met up with Dave Dineen and we chatted for a few hours. At around 8:00pm, NBSR received the roll by, so we knew that departure was imminent. Dave and I ventured out to Ketepec Rd, and at around 8:15pm, NBSR 9801 rolled by, hauling 49 cars.

Enjoy.

Short McGivney Trip

2009-04-29T21:39:00.002-03:00

The next month is going to be busy for, so I decided on my day off from work to make a quick little jaunt up to McGivney, NB, to try to catch a few trains. I arrived at around 5am to find a green/red signal, which meant CN 121 was due. About 90 minutes later, at around 6:30am, CN 121 came barelling through with 157 cars.

I decided to hang around for a bit. After discussions with one of the foreman which works at that location, I decided it's probably best to head back to Saint John. As of 11am, there was no sign of CN 305, and both signals showed red.

Just as I was arriving home, I heard CN 405 receive it's clearance from the RTC. As Wednesday's train is usually larger, I decided to head out to film it. I guess since I couldn't catch 305, I might as well catch 405. I parked at Hampton, in the usual spot. At around 3:20pm, CN 405 came through with 107 cars.

That was all for the day. Not bad for a day off.

New Layout

2009-04-24T21:48:00.002-03:00

Well, I decided to change the layout a little bit. A change was needed. I just need to work with tweaking the background stuff now, and I'll be all set.

CN 120 In The Dark

2009-04-24T21:15:00.003-03:00

I had to make a quick trip to PEI this morning. I managed to catch CN 120 in a couple of locations

Memramcook, NB, at around 5AM

Nappan, NS, at around 6AM

Enjoy.

-Matt

Train In The Fog

2009-04-06T08:29:00.002-03:00

Here's a video that I shot on Saturday, April 4 of CN 405 through Rothesay, NB in the fog. There actually wasn't any fog at all when I arrived, but it slowly came in from the water.

Moncton Adventure

2009-04-01T11:05:00.004-03:00

Last week, I had made a stop in Moncton, on my way back home from PEI. Here's the posting that I did to the Yahoo Group that I'm a member of:

------------------------------------------
Well, I decided to hit the road from PEI nice and early, and I arrived in Moncton around 3:30am. When I arrived at Gort, I discovered CN 121 in the yard, but no sign of 120. After some scanner discussion, I found out that 121 was waiting for 120 to arrive. 121 had some cars on the mainline, and they had to enter onto the mainline, then back up to attach to their train.

CN 121 departed with 2587, 5519 & 8874 (I could be wrong with the first two units) at around 5:30am, as I caught them going through Berry Mills. I didn't get the car count, but from scanner talk, it sounded like they said 180 cars, but I could be wrong.

At around 6:30am, CN 120 passed through Marsh Junction with 5772, 5757 & 2229, hauling 7500+ feet of train (109 cars, I think).

Shortly there after, CN 305 departed the yard at around 7:30am, with 2534, 5249(I think), 9462(I think) & what looked like 4716. I managed to catch this at Berry Mills.

It was pretty quiet for most of the morning. After hanging out with Tim Dryden for most of the morning, we went our separate ways. At around 12:30pm, I overheard on the scanner that CN 407 was roughly around mile 69 on the Springhill Sub, so I decided to venture out to Memramcook to catch it. At around 1:15pm, CN 407 rolled by with 5629 & 2670.

After this, I decided to venture back to Saint John. As I was making my way near Sussex, I overheard on the scanner what sounded like CN 405. Sure enough, I back tracked down to McCully's, and I found CN 405 coming out of the siding at McCullys. It looked as if it dropped a fair share of potash cars off. Shortly after, CN 405 rolled by with 5560 & 2674.

I knew that there wouldn't be anything after that, so I decided to finish the journey home. I think it turned out rather well.

Testing New Looks

2009-03-13T10:35:00.001-03:00

I'm trying out some new things with the blog, so don't be alarmed if this blog looks different over the next few hours. I'm just trying things out.

Some New Videos

2009-03-09T11:00:00.003-03:00

Here are a few videos which I've shot over the last week or so.

On March 4, I did a mini chase of CN 405 through Rothesay & Hampton, NB.

On March 5, shortly before I had to work, I caught 405 departing Saint John, at Gerry Drive.

On March 6, I caught a small 24 car CN 405 at Rothesay during a small snow storm.

That's about it for now. Enjoy.

Moncton On My Birthday.

2009-03-03T08:27:00.003-04:00

It's been awhile since I've jotted something down here.

On Friday the 27th, as it was my birthday, Dave Dineen (nbsrfan) and myself ventured up to Moncton to see if we could catch the export train which was passing through. We could only stay until about 12:30pm, as we both had things going on back in Saint John. We arrived in Moncton at around 5am, and caught the export train already sitting in the yard, waiting for a new crew. It was too dark for pictures, so I decided not to take any.

After a few hours of waiting, CN 305's crew came in and began assembling their train. A short time later, they were ready to head west. Here there are just outside the yard on the Springhill Sub:

At around 8:30am, we had gotten word that CN 121 departed Halifax and was going through Windsor Junction, NS at around 8am. I figured there was a good chance to see them, as we were still able to stay in Moncton for a little while. We kept picking up on the scanner 121's locations along the way. Finally, shortly after noon, CN 121 went through Mill St, which is located around the east side of the city:

After that train, it was time to leave. Here's a quick little video that I shot in the morning of the CN engine 6027 grabbing the engines which were in Moncton to add on to it's export train before taking off. It was going around a sharp U-turn. I didn't bother setting up a tripod, as it wasn't really worth it.

That was all for the day. The export train was having problems, and did not leave until about 4 hours after we left. Even though that I was the train that I wanted to see on the move, I'm still happy with the outcome of the trip.

A Nice Sunday Surprise

2009-02-15T21:22:00.002-04:00

I was going to head into Saint John first thing on Sunday morning, because I had to give Dave (nbsrfan) back a Microsoft Train Simulator CD which I borrowed from him. I woke up at around 8:15am, and went to check my email. I discovered that a late CN 406 was ordered out of Moncton for 6:00am. I thought that was great. I figured that it would take roughly an hour before it departed, which meant that I figured I had about 90 minutes before the train rolled by. I decided to head out to the entrance to the Kennebacasis Park, which is roughly milepost 81.3 on the Sussex Sub. I gave Dave a call to let him know of the late train, and he decided he would join me out in "K-Park" to catch the train.

About 10 minutes before he arrived, there was chatter from the Island Yard on the scanner, indicating the train just departed Moncton at around 9AM. A later email proved this to be true. After talking for a bit, we decided that we could do a mini chase of 406. We both got into Dave's car, and decided to try our luck in Hampton. We arrived in Hampton around 10am, and discovered that 406 was just heading through milepost 37, around McCully's, outside of Sussex. We decided to stay put in Hampton, as trying to proceed further up the line might end up costing us. At around 10:45am, we could hear the pounding of the engines about 4 miles away. About 5 minutes later, CN 406 came barreling through Hampton, hitting the hotbox detector at 39MPH.

Once 406 departed, we decided to head back to Kennebacasis park to catch it again, just before it entered yard limits in Saint John. A quick little drive back, we arrived about 5 minutes before the train came through. Not sure the exact time, but CN 406 came through "K-Park" with two SD75i units, 5746 & 5774, hauling 86 cars. It turned out to be a decent morning. We caught some train action, then I was able to make it home before lunch.

Here's the video. It's from both locations, combined into one video. Enjoy.

Remember, once the video loads, clicking the "HD" icon at the bottom right will allow you to watch the video in High Definition.

Back With Some Videos

2009-02-14T16:14:00.002-04:00

Sorry, I've kind of been AWOL from this blog for the last 2 weeks. Here are a few videos which I've shot in the last little bit. I'll pick the best ones that I think I've done over this time period.

Plus, there's about 4 others for you to watch. http://www.youtube.com/saintjohnrailfan.

As well, if you click the up arrow at the bottom right of the video player, the option to watch my videos in "HD" is there. Clicking on it will bring my videos up in much better quality!

Enjoy!

Twice In A Day

2009-02-01T13:33:00.002-04:00

Here's a couple of videos which I shot the other day:

CN 406 passes by mile 78.46 on the Sussex Sub at around 11:30am with 2251, 8867 and 4138, hauling a fair size train.

Next up, A very LATE CN 405 passes through Rothesay, NB at around 1:45am with 8867 & 2251, hauling 38 cars. Yes, I know, I'm crazy for being out that late, but that's just who I am, dammit!

Pictures

2009-01-31T11:44:00.002-04:00

I don't take too many pictures. However, I've created a Picasa album for you to check out my shots. I'm not an expert photographer, so some of the pictures aren't really the best, but oh well.

http://picasaweb.google.ca/saintjohnrailfan/TrainPictures#

-Matt

Nice & Shiny SD70M-2

2009-01-27T20:31:00.002-04:00

To my surprise on Monday, one of the engines on CN 405's consist was a shiny new SD70M-2, "8867". Today, after venturing in to Saint John, I noticed that 8867 would be the lead loco on today's 405 run.

Here it is passing by the Rothesay train station. It's nice to see and hear some different stuff on this run. Hope they keep it on for a little while longer.

Rail-Videos debate

2009-01-25T23:21:00.003-04:00

I think I sparked some sort of debate over at Rail-Videos.net.

I uploaded a video over there that I haven't put on Youtube yet. I'm not really sure if I will or not. It ended up being the second most viewed video last week, even though it was only there for half the week. It's already gotten close to 1800 views in less than 7 days.

http://www.rail-videos.net/video/view.php?id=4728

All the logic there seems somewhat sound, but I'm still sticking with my view.

Saturday In Hampton

2009-01-25T14:48:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, I decided that I wanted to catch 405 going by Hampton, NB. After hearing their clearance, I putted around the house for about 15 or 20 minutes, then ventured out for gas, then out to Hampton. I knew that based on past experiences, it's close to an hour before the train goes through. Sure enough, after arrival, I waited approximately 20 minutes before the train came around the corner.

Two things I noticed. First off, 405 had 5 units on the train, as the last unit 7060, is a local engine which works in Saint John. Upon further investigation, it's most likely the engine had to go up to Montreal for servicing. The second thing was that 405 had tripped the hotbox detector. After the reading, you can somewhat see the train begin to slow down.

New Poll & Links

2009-01-24T11:58:00.001-04:00

I've added a new poll to the blog, as well as some of my favorite links. Just to make it feel more interactive.

Happy Saturday!

CN 406

2009-01-21T08:11:00.004-04:00

I woke up yesterday morning to find out that a late CN 406 was idling just short of mile 78 on the Sussex sub. I decided to venture out to get a shot of it.

Not quite sure why they were stopped, my best guess is that the crew ran out of hours, so they parked the train. After a job interview in town, I drove back out to discover they were still there. At around noon, the crew came back to the location via taxi, and at around 12:30pm, they continued on the remaining 5 miles to Saint John.

It's been awhile since I've caught a 406, so it was a nice change.

The Great White North

2009-01-19T11:30:00.008-04:00

On Saturday, my girlfriend had to go to Fredericton for a few hours, so I decided to go with her, drop her off, and head up to McGivney. -25C weather isn't going to hold me back! When I arrived, this is what I saw:

Just for the record, the train wasn't moving in this photo. From what I could make out of the talk on the Scanner, the BC Rail unit stopped working, and the train didn't have enough power to haul the entire train. The 305 crew had to cut 40 cars off the train and leave it in the McGivney siding. The story is explained in the video:

Once 305 left, that was pretty much it for the time being. Of course, ala traingeek, I shot a hi-rail truck with Tim at the wheel.

I was informed that 120 would be along shortly, as it was only 45 minutes west of McGinvey. However, my time ran out, so I most likely missed it by about 10 or 15 minutes. A pretty good day though.

The Mini Chase

2009-01-15T07:49:00.004-04:00

On Wednesday, I ventured in to Saint John for a job interview in the morning. On the way back through, I decided to stop in at Island Yard, and discovered that the 405 consist today will have 4 engines, CN/IC 2723, 5647, 4721, and one that I couldn't see, because it was behind some tanker cars. I discovered that it was 5709. My plan was to try to catch it on video somewhere, since 4 units on this run is rare.

I ventured home for the day, did some things around the house, and waited for the clearance call on the scanner. At around 4:10pm, just as I opened the door to go outside, I heard what I thought was a train horn. About 30 seconds later, the rumbling started, and the ground felt like it was shaking. Then, through the trees, I could see it going WAY in the distance. I guess I can see the train from around 2km through the trees from my deck. Of course, this only works in the winter time.

So, my plan to hear the clearance, then just catch them out in Rothesay was pretty much wasted. I had to rush and grab my camera and headed out somewhere. Of course, with it being 4:15pm, all the "coming home from work" traffic made it extremely difficult. My plan was to catch it in Hampton, NB, but at the last second, changed course and ventured out to Bloomfield Station Road. I guess luck was on my side, as I arrived about 10 minutes before the train did. All this considering he was ahead of me a short time earlier.

Here's the end result of the chase, CN 405 passing through Bloomfield Station Road, with 154 cars, including 43 potash cars for McCully's in Sussex, NB.

My next plan is to try to get a long distance shot of the train through the trees. Should be interesting.

Matt & Dave's Excellent Moncton Adventure

2009-01-13T12:52:00.007-04:00

Well, Dave (nbsrfan) and myself ventured up to Moncton on Saturday morning to see what we could see by the way of trains. We had decided to head up and be there for about 4:45am, so that we could see CN 121 depart Moncton. When we arrived to the yard, all that was there was a shunt crew working away, as well as 3 engines sitting near the shops, which would be used later on 305.

After sitting around for a few hours, we ventured in to Moncton to head to Tim Hortons. We figured that we wouldn't miss a great deal, since it was still relatively early in the morning. Again, we ventured back to the yard. At around 7:30am, we met up with Luc Doiron. We chatted for a few. He made a quick call and informed us that as of 8:30am, a VERY late CN 120 was just making it's way through Chipman, NB, and should arrive in about an hour. Dave and I decided to venture over to Berry Mills for the shot. Unlike the other videos that I've shot there, we decided it was best to move to the other side of the tracks, so the sun wouldn't get in the shot. After driving around for a little bit, we set up shop, and at around 9:30am, CN 120 rolled through.

CN 120 stopped because 305 was on the main track into the yard getting their train ready. 120 sat for about an hour. Once 305 was ready, it came onto the mainline, the backed up, so that CN 120 could get into the yard. Finally, about 15 minutes after 120 departed, CN 305 came through.

After CN 305 went on it's way, Dave and I headed back in to Gort to see if there was any other action there. We caught CN 120 unhooking it's cars as well as one of their engines, 5647, which is currently being used on the Moncton/Saint John (405/406) run.

We heard VIA 14 get clearance from Pacific Junction to the Moncton station. We decided to make the trip out to Sackville, NB. It was only about a 20 minute drive from Moncton, but it was worth the trip out. Our plan was to catch VIA 14, CN 407 and 120 out here. We initially were expecting VIA to come through first, then 407. However, once we arrived in Sackville, we discovered the Amherst facing signal was showing green over red, indicating that 407 would actually be along first. We set up at the crossing at the Sackville VIA station. About 20 minutes later, CN 407 made it's way through.

VIA 14 was sitting at the siding in Evans, which is located just up the line towards Moncton. The scanner picked up VIA 14 leaving the siding, and calling signals all the way to Sackville. We decided to pick the very last crossing, and caught VIA 14 making it's way through. It ran right through the station, as it did not have any passengers to drop off or pick up.

We were told that CN 120 departed, but there was no indication of it what so ever on the scanner. Later on, we discovered that 120 most likely pulled into the siding at Painsec Junction to let CN 407 go by. About an hour after VIA went by, CN 120 came barreling through. We decided to head to the middle of the three crossings in the area, as it had a nice curve before the crossing. CN 120 rolled through with 1 less engine, and only half the cars it came into Moncton with.

After this last train came by, we ventured back into Moncton to return to Gort yard. We sat for about an hour. There was very little going on, other than yard crew shunting cars around and preparing for trains 406 and 408 in the evening. Apparently, CN 308 arrived at around 5pm, but it would have been difficult to get a good shot of it on the bridge, so we decided not to, and ventured back to Saint John, taking the old road, which follows the Sussex Sub to Petitcodiac.

Our scanners picked up CN 405 at McCully's, which is located in Penobsquis, just outside of Sussex. They were there to drop off their cut of potash cars from Saint John. We arrived there just in time to see 405's engines in the siding dropping the cars. About 20 minutes after we arrived, CN 405 continued on it's way to Moncton with it's remaining 100 cars.

Once they departed, so did we. That was it for the day. After a disappointing start to the day (missing 121), we managed to turn thing around. Overall, definately worth the trip. It's worth doing again, soon.