Canadian Railroads > CN's Class GP38-2

Somewhat surprisingly, I've never photographed CN's class GP38-2, 4700 (née 5500), at least not until this past Thursday. And unlike many of those remaining GP38-2s, this one has a respectable paint job!

I was in Newcastle, NB (now known as Miramichi) to follow the Budd Ocean back to Halifax, and this train of UltraTrain tankers was sitting on the main line near the VIA station, heading west. It wasn't immediately obvious whether it had just arrived from Moncton (loaded) or Chatham (the other side of the Miramichi River from Newcastle), but after a little while the crew started negotiating with a foreman to run the engine around the wye at Newcastle, so it appeared they were going somewhere.

The crew wound up getting a clearance to Pacific Jct. (start of OCS on the Springhill Sub), and we relocated to a spot between the two bridges over the north and south branches of the Miramichi. The combination of mild temperature and snow from the previous day's nor'easter had left snow clinging to all the trees, making this one of the better "snow shots" I've managed to get this winter. Just ahead of the train is the former location of Derby Jct. where the Doak Sub branched off to McGivney and eventually Fredericton. On the other side of the south branch of the river is Nelson Jct., where the Loggieville Spur still runs 8 miles or so to several industries, including an Ultramar bulk plant. This subdivision (the Newcastle) is part of the former New Brunswick East Coast shortline, back in CN's fold (same as the Ontario l'Orignal mentioned in KG's post below) since the failure of Quebec Rail Corp. in 2008.

GTD



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/18 10:51 by cn6218.

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Wow. Talk about a winter wonderland.

KG