Canadian Railroads > It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

I've posted pictures from this chase on July 21, 2001 before, but these should all be new scans.  The day started in Trenton, NS at 08:30 and 12 hours later, I'd gone through almost three rolls of Provia slide film, and put a few hundred km on the van as two of us chased CBNS train 306 east to River Denys in Cape Breton, and then back again to Marshy Hope where we ran out of light.

In the first image, all three of the road's purple painted Helm SD45-2s were on the train as it pulled past the old station location in New Glasgow with the new crew on board at 09:25.  306 met 305 at River Denys where the crews swapped trains, but kept their own power.  305 had the GP-18 and Seaboard painted SD45-2, but fortunately for us, they went back to Sydney, and the three SD45-2s returned to the Strait with 305.

While 305 switched in the small yard at Tupper, we stayed in the town of Port Hawkesbury, and got this shot at 16:05 of GP50 5004 coming back from Havre Boucher with some tanks for the gas fractionation plant at Point Tupper  With the SD45-2s now holding down the road trains, it wouldn't be long before the GP50s would be sent back to Railtex (or Rail America?) properties in the US.

With the switching at Tupper completed, 305 was on the move again at 17:05, and heading for the causeway in Port Hastings.

GTD

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Nice shots Geoff. By this point it would have been Rail America. The merger with RA occured in early 2000.