Canadian Railroads > More from the Gaspésie

Due to a number of factors, including the weather, I found myself in Campbellton, NB last weekend.  A hoped for chase of local 564 did not pan out, although I got the Ocean in the Matapédia Valley in pseudo-daylight as a consolation prize (see Plowing Snow in the Matapédia Valley ).

The only activity going on in Campbellton was a track crew plowing the yard and main line for VIA's arrival. There didn't seem to be much additional snow down, but the strong wind was causing drifting and packing the snow in around the switches.  Regulator 618-89 and a hi-rail pickup truck were working in the yard just before the Ocean got there.  In the background is the Interprovincial Bridge to Pointe-a-la-Croix, QC

Once 14 had left town, I turned my sights towards the Société du Chemin de Fer de la Gaspésie, or the much easier to type, SFG.  The once 100% MLW-powered shortline has recently leased some GP38-2s from Helm.  I saw a pair, 1054 and 1073, rebuilt from GP40s, in the morning gloom in Matapédia.  Their oldest customer is a large sawmill (Lebel) in Nouvelle, but they have been busy hauling cement from Port-Daniel to Matapédia for interchange with CN more recently.  Virtually all the former VIA stations along the line still exist, although they haven't seen a passenger train since 2013.  This one in Carleton-sur-Mer looks to be in good shape.  The track next to it was covered in ice.  It looks like they got heavy rain up there and then everything froze quickly.  It might be a while before this track can handle a train.

farther east is New Richmond, the SFG's base of operations.  I saw another GP38 and an RS-18 there by the former VIA station, which seemed to have been taken over by SFG when I was last there.  There is some MoW equipment around the small yard, and a cement silo for loading covered hoppers.  Former CN plow 55419, still sporting the defunct NBEC reporting marks, was coupled to some former GO Transit commuter cars.

GTD

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Also in New Richmond was the remaining equipment from L'Amiral, the short lived excursion train from 2013.  When the line east of New Richmond was deemed impassable in 2013, L'Amiral, including RS-18-3b 1849, was stranded at the end of the line in Gaspé town.  1849 was partially dismantled in 2017 and trucked out to be used in freight service, but the passenger cars and generating could still be seen at the station in Google Earth images from 2021.  It appears that at some point the track was passable enough to get the passenger cars to the shop.  I could only get a clear shot of SFG 1058, but other graffiti, it doesn't appear to be in bad shape.  There were a lot of cement hoppers in New Richmond awaiting loading, but also some second  hand UP ballast hoppers to augment the ancient CN ones with CFMG reporting marks that had been there.

At the division point of New Carlisle, it was "closed for the season".  No activity at all that I could see, although the alders that had almost totally obscured the yard tracks on my last visit in 2017 now appear to be gone, along with the two derelict ex-CN snowplows that seemed to be permanent residents.  This view looks towards the wye, which ends on the beach.  If the Chaleur needed to be turned here instead of going all the way to Gaspé, it was a laborious process, since the tail track could only handle the engine and 2 or 3 cars at a time.  Just east of New Carlisle is a major construction project to shore up the cliffs that the railway runs along.  There are 6 or 7 access points from the parallel Rt. 132 where trucks have been dumping fill, and I saw some completed retaining walls and railings, although the track still needs to be relaid.  This was the only section I saw that didn't look like it was ready for a train.  Sorry, it wasn't possible to get close enough to get pictures that would explain the work.  

22 miles east of New Carlisle is Port-Daniel and the location of a very large cement mine and kiln.  For now the cement is traveling on the road before being loaded at New Richmond, but the two major bridges and tunnel at Port-Daniel look to be completely rehabilitated and ready once the work at New Carlisle is complete.  The large bridge across the harbour shown here has had its deck girder spans completely replaced with new steel ones.  Other steel or timber bridges to the west have been replaced with new steel spans on concrete piers.  Even the tunnel, which was just natural rock and set back in a cut (only photograph-able mid summer), has a new concrete portal and a large retaining wall where the track nears it on the west side. 

I didn't venture any farther east than that.  I did notice that the old steel bridge spans which have been replaced were up on blocks in New Carlisle.  I would have though they would just cut up the 100-year old deck girder spans for scrap once they removed them.  But perhaps they are salvageable, and there are other bridges east of Port-Daniel that could re-use them.  They would likely be a standard Dominion Bridge design from the early 20th Century.

GTD

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Great photos! Thanks for capturing and posting the Work Equipment pics.
CN 618-89 is a Pyke Mfg. model M2-35 combination ballast regulator/snow fighter, serial number 9703, built in 1997 at the Pyke plant in Oshawa, ON. It was delivered new to CN at Turcot Yard Montreal, QC on January 27, 1997.
It appears the hinged cover for the impeller blade housing has gone missing. 

I've never given much though to this before, but how heavy are these ballast regulators? What I'm getting at is, how much snow can they tackle without derailing? I assume speed is really low, keeping pace with what the blade can chew up and spit out.
Fred

While doing some training classes for CN at Taschereau Yard in Montreal, QC on December 15, 2008 I captured CN 618-89 at the Work Equipment shop dressed for summer ballast operation.

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These combination ballast regulator/snow fighters weigh in around 50 to 54,000 lbs.
When equipped for winter the machines operate at a variety of speeds depending on the conditions and the operators familiarity with the territory. 
Around switches, bridge approaches, and other obstacles slower speeds are in order. Main line operation using the front snow plow and side snow wings extended is often at higher speeds to toss snow well clear of the track section.
Remember, track unit speed is 25 m.p.h. :-)
Here's some sales/technical literature for the Pyke M2 ballast regulator/snow clearing machine from the 1990's.

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Thanks, Paul.
Fred

Almost 23 years ago on December 3, 2002 I snagged NBEC 55419 (ex-CN 55419 built 1939) at Campbellton, NB.

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Great photos! Thanks! And great to see this line being restored (???). It's been a really long time coming. Is there any ETA for completion of the Gaspe line from Matapedia to Gaspe with the restoration of VIA service once again? Is VIA still committed to returning to the peninsula? I enjoyed the four trips I had on the Gaspe peninsula, travelling by train (The Chaleur). I was really surprised by the scenery - or at least I wasn't expecting it. Hope to see the line up and running again with any kind of train service.