Canadian Railroads > First Day Back at Work

Today was the first full day back at work for CN's conductors and yard coordinators.  Although CN managed to run most of their intermodal traffic during the strike with Trainmasters subbing (Work as conductor on a yard job for 10 hours, and then slide into the yard master's chair for another 6.  Do it again the next day.), they let everything else slide.  I don't think anything moved on the Dartmouth Sub the whole time except for track foremen.  The gypsum mine had been filling two trains a day just before the strike, and were a priority to get back in operation.  Train 511 picked up gondolas in Kinsac, in addition to the 60 or so hoppers they started with at Wrights Cove, on the way to the East Milford mine this morning. 

At 12:45 they were ready to come back out on the main line at mile 36.6 of the Bedford Sub and take 60 loads to Dartmouth.  In the first picture, the conductor has thrown the self resetting switch, and is waiting for the engineer to get the 9000 ton train started again on the steep grade and sharp curve coming out of the mine.

Finally, after the generation of plenty of black smoke from Dash-9 2633, the conductor was on board and 511 started to pick up some speed as they rolled past me at Woodworth Rd.

With high cloud moving in from the south, I didn't chase them but headed in the other direction towards Truro.  About half an hour later I found 120 passing the defect detector at mile 44 of the Bedford Sub.  I hadn't escaped the cloud entirely, but at least the shot was salvageable.

GTD

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This may sound like an odd compliment, but your first photo may be the best use of telegraph poles I have ever seen! They are such a fabulous element in the photo, like trees without leaves. The track geometry is pretty wild, too.
Fred

feclark Wrote:
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> This may sound like an odd compliment, but your
> first photo may be the best use of telegraph poles
> I have ever seen! 

Yeah, the poles can be great, as long as they stay out of the way of the train!

That first photo was taken with the same lens and same vantage point as the second, but quite heavily cropped, so the vertical elements are quite exaggerated.  The poles may be disappearing.  I noticed the other day that all the remaining poles (except ones with osprey nests on top) between Birch Cove and Windsor Jct. have been removed in the last week or so.  It seems the signal department has been busy while there were minimal trains running on account of the strike.  Once I get some good weather here, there are a number of locations I need to visit to explore the new possibilities.

GTD

The strike was affecting spouses too!  

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