Canadian Railroads > On The Way To (and From) Maine

There are several places where a traveler can cross from New Brunswick into Maine, and although Woodstock and St. Stephen are no doubt busier, the St. Croix/Vanceboro  crossing, just west of McAdam, NB has an enduring appeal for railfans.  The once busy Canadaian Pacific hub and shop is still an important divisional point for current owner New Brunswick Southern, and the three Subs that still meet there (McAdam, Mattawamkeag and St. Stephen) are seeing more trains these days than they have in the last 25 years.

On the way to Maine last week, we hung around the yard long enough to see train 506, the daily turn to St. Stephen, arriving back in the yard, powered by GP38-2s NBSR 911 and GMTX 2645.  It was 15:42 EST on February 1st, and we were really hoping for a westbound train, but 121 had only just left Saint John, and would arrive well after dark.

On our return on the 4th (a day that because of the extreme cold and high winds was technically a blizzard, even if there was no snow falling), we found another 121 tied down in the yard, and the power, SD70M-2s 6405, 6402, 6401 and SD40-2 8145, idling nearer to the old stone station.  New Brunswick-Maine Railways (the umbrella name for Irving's railways in New Brunswick and Maine) had curtailed operations because of the extreme cold, and was waiting for things to warm up a bit and fresh crews to come off rest.  They had also had serious problems with the radio system that links the trains to the dispatcher in Rutland, VT, so the slowdown gave them a chance to get that fixed.  506's power was over at the yard office, running at a fast idle to try and stay warm.

NBM took delivery of 4 "new" SD70M-2s last week (6407,08, 09 and 11) from Progress Rail.  6410 will be delivered once multiple flat spots are fixed on its wheelsets.  The big green machines are former NS units.

GTD

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Wow those SD70M-2's look good.  

Definitely super like each and every photo.
Thanks for your excellent posting.
ALLEN

srman Wrote:
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> Wow those SD70M-2's look good.  

They sure do...on my bucket list.

...John Reay
Springhill NS

Thanks for sharing. I note that the location is situated with a big wye. Are all of the legs of wye active?

Victor Baird



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/23 13:40 by wabash2800.

Yes, all legs are active, if they don't park something on it.

I've posted some more pictures of the new power over on the Eastern Board, since they were shot in Maine rather than New Brunswick.

GTD