Canadian Railroads > 20 Years Ago on the CBNS

I missed this one by a day, but on March 4, 2003, I spent the day driving from one end (Truro) of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia to the other (Sydney) and back again.  I did manage to see all four of the road's SD45-2s in action, starting with HATX 910 and train 301 at Coxheath, mile 110 of the Sydney Sub, at 14:00.  The prospect of following a long hood forward SD45-2 all the way to Port Hawkesbury didn't have much appeal, so with the knowledge that 305 would be leaving Havre Boucher (less than two hours away) later that afternoon, I left these guys and headed for the mainland.  Track speed on the Island was still pretty good in 2003 (the Bras d'Or would run another two seasons), but the lack of ditch lights on the leading end of 910 would probably make for a long, slow trip.

305 had been switching at the "Bush" for a while when I got there, and by 16:20 they were headed west with coal, paper and propane from the Strait of Canso area.  The last shot of the day was at Afton, mile 100 of the Hopewell Sub) as the 3 SDs, HATX 907, 912 and 914 dragged the train through the dip next to the siding at 17:20.

* My memory has failed a bit in the 20 years since this picture was taken.  910 wasn't heading to the Strait, but back to Sydney.  The train numbers were somewhat fluid up there, and although 301 could have been the train from Sydney to Port Hawkesbury, on this day it was just the local switcher.  Here's the same location in July 2019, from Google Street View, https://www.google.ca/maps/@46.1135733,-60.238029,3a,44.2y,3.58h,93.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAZHAosh2IcMmyxf_qjXbsQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en-GB.  The train is eastbound and about to cross Coxheath Rd., mile 110.07.

GTD



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/24 12:26 by cn6218.

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Good on you for hitting the shutter release on the 910. I would have pitched a fit when I saw that show up.
Fred

I like Pic 2!!