Canadian Railroads > Wind tower unit train on CN

Every morning I drive to work on a route that parallels the CN main line in Lachine (Montreal) for a kilometre or so. This morning there was something very unusual stopped on one of the tracks: a unit train of wind turbine tower sections.

This kind of unit train has been originating on the Quebec Gatineau, who delivered it to CP. While others have posted pictures of those trains, I had never seen one. Recently, I think I heard that CP lost this traffic to CN, so maybe this is one of the new routings.

I parked near the Norman Street overpass to get the first 3 pictures. The train was just starting to move when I reached the bridge.

Deciding that work could wait, I drove to Beaconsfield to get a couple more shots (Pictures #4, 5).

Ray

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Pictures #4, 5...

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QG has been hauling the trains east to Allenby and handing them over to CN rather than routing them via CP.

KG

kgmontreal Wrote:
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> QG has been hauling the trains east to Allenby and
> handing them over to CN rather than routing them
> via CP.
>
> KG

Also, the train ID is X307. The windmill blades from the Gaspe are running as X311.

Michael

Mberry Wrote:
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> Also, the train ID is X307. The windmill blades
> from the Gaspe are running as X311.

These are not in my CTG (2016). Are the returns 308 and 312?

Ray

Ray_Murphy Wrote:
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> Mberry Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Also, the train ID is X307. The windmill blades
> > from the Gaspe are running as X311.
>
> These are not in my CTG (2016). Are the returns
> 308 and 312?
>
> Ray

I believe so, an X308 ran quite recently.

Michael

Great shots! Any idea where these are headed too?

I don't know about this specific train, but I read that an earlier X307 was handed off for ultimate delivery somewhere in Texas.

Ray

p.s. on the Western board, it looks like they were spotted on the move in Illinois.

Ray_Murphy Wrote:
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> I don't know about this specific train, but I read
> that an earlier X307 was handed off for ultimate
> delivery somewhere in Texas.
>
> Ray
>
> p.s. on the Western board, it looks like they were
> spotted on the move in Illinois.

Thanks, right through a place I could have seen them!

Fascinating! GREAT photos, sir!! Very well done!
So glad you got to see and photograph these very
impressive trains.

Why I never once wondered how the towers were
transported to their final destination, I do
not know. All the excitement around here in
California has been about the blades, and
no one ever mentioned tower sections. If
course those have to go by train.

inCHI -- So sorry ya missed seeing these.
Better luck next time.

For sure, these trains can't go around tight curves!
They must be "dimensional loads" with special routing.

Ray_Murphy --
Thanks for the info that these may be going to Texas.

Margaret_SP_fan Wrote:
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> Thanks for the info that these may be going to
> Texas.

The company that makes these towers is Marmen Energy. Their main plant is in Trois Rivieres (half-way between Montreal and Quebec), but they have another Quebec plant at Matane. They also have a plant in Brandon, South Dakota. Using Google Maps/satellite view, You can see many tower sections on the lot at the Brandon plant.

Ray