Canadian Railroads > Some Action at Kinsac

Kinsac is a siding 20 miles west of the Halifax VIA station, on CN's Bedford Sub in Nova Scotia.  It's only 3765 feet long, but since it is west of the Dartmouth Sub, it frequently gets used to meet opposing trains coming to or from Dartmouth, and in the past has been used to set off Dartmouth cars from Halifax bound trains.  The signal system was recently modernized there with new LED signals, bungalows and switch heaters.  Last Tuesday, the 10th, three trains went through in about half an hour.

Knowing that Z120 was due, I was in Windsor Jct. (mile 16) to wait for it.  But on the radio I heard the RTC tell the gypsum train they could come out of the mine as soon as 120 had passed them, so that let me know that 120 was still 15 or 20 minutes away.  That would be enough time to drive to Kinsac and photograph both trains passing the new equipment.  Kinsac is only 4 miles away by rail, but I had to drive about three times that far because the roads don't follow the track.  I wasn't sure which side of the track the sun would be on at that time of day, but it didn't matter because it was cloudy.

I arrived in enough time to find a suitable vantage point, and Z120 blew past the west end of the siding at 11:26, led by ET44ACs 3148 and 3160.  The train 614 axles, and 24 of them were under these 3 flatcars carrying dimensional loads.  A few days later they were being unloaded at Pier 9 in the North End of Halifax.  3 minutes later Tier 4 DPU 3034 went past, splitting the westward signals at the end of the siding.  The dwarf signal which had been at the end of the siding has been replaced with this tall, 3-head mast, although the two upper lights are always red, so it can't display any aspect the old dwarf couldn't.

GTD

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Meanwhile, 511 had left the mine at mile 36.6 and was heading east towards the Dartmouth Sub.  But L507 had also left Dartmouth and was heading west.  With no  sidings on the Dartmouth Sub, Kinsac was going to be the meet.

507 arrived at Windsor Jct. just after Z120 cleared, and got a slow-to-clear signal to enter the Bedford Sub at just about the same time 511 got a clear-to stop approaching Kinsac from the west.  511 came into view at 11:53 with SD70M-2 8849 and ES44AC 2994, and got a restricting signal to head into the siding, just as 507 got an advance clear-to-stop approaching Kinsac from the east.  By 11:58, 511 had come to a stop in the siding, and 507, powered by 3232 and 2267, started to pick up speed once they saw the high green at the west end.  Once the tail end of the 5000 ft. 507 cleared the east end, 511 began to move and copied an OCS clearance for the Dartmouth Sub.  By noon all was quiet again, and would stay that way until Z121, more than 8 hours later.

GTD

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Well you were there at the right time.  Nice group of CN power, the dimensional loads, and interesting location!

Andy

Nice series !

Nice tight story, and the meet shots are very good. Does anyone out there model a winter season on a layout? The snow plastered to the trailing faces of the containers is a nice touch, and the drooping moustache on the DPU.
Fred

Great timing and photos of all three trains!

Rich