Trains on CSX St. Lawrence Sub (CR's Montreal Secondary)

Interesting day on the sub. The Q621 come down with UP 8322 trailing unit and the Q620 heading up with CN 9482 also trailing unit. I think the 9482 is a GP40-2w, not sure but did look odd to see this unit.

nickstowell wrote:Interesting day on the sub. The Q621 come down with UP 8322 trailing unit and the Q620 heading up with CN 9482 also trailing unit. I think the 9482 is a GP40-2w, not sure but did look odd to see this unit.

How are the train sizes holding up? Still stacks on them?

The last 621 I saw was pretty big (three or four units leading), and there were a half dozen or so wells on the tail end.

It appears the IM traffic CSX was hoping for hasn't materialized, but there still seems to be some there. Maybe it'll take a little longer to catch on than planned.

Usually seems to be quite a few well cars on those that I see, usually with four modern GE's at the front.

What's with the blue light high up on a utility pole at the intersection of Pine Street, Sandstone Drive (The "bypass" to most locals), Clarkson Avenue, and Maple Steet in Potsdam? It's tied into the grade crossing signals for the crossing a few feet away on Pine Street.

It's only ever lit a few seconds before the crossing signals activate, with it deactivating sometimes afterwards (Not sure how long it stays lit since I'm watching the train, but it's again dark by the time the train has passed). It's of no possible use as a warning signal to motorists and pedestrians, except to me since I know a train is imminent if I notice it.

What purpose is it supposed to serve?

A couple UP units went up as a pair, came down separate with one leading two CSX and an old CN GP40-2W. Those you rarely see anymore.

Leo_Ames wrote:What purpose is it supposed to serve?

Usually the blue lights have to do with a snow emergency route or something like that. Sounds like a question for a signal guy who's familiar with that area. Unfortunately, I don't know any. My daughter did, through her church, but I'm sure they've lost contact as the daughter has moved to another congregation.

Leo, the blue light might be used to cycle the traffic lights at that absolutely screwed-up intersection. I have seen them
used in other locations (as well as white strobe type lights) to cycle the lights to some type of pre-set configuration in the
event of emergency traffic, namely, fire trucks and ambulances. The light(s) go to all stop, or, clear one direction, or, two
directions, etc. Some fire departments (Canton for example) have devices in their trucks where they can activate the strobes
that cycle the traffic lights in their village. In the location you speak of, this might be connected somehow with the crossing
signal detection set-up. I'm thinking in this case, it might be used in this manner in order to change the lights and get traffic
off Pine Street in order to "clear the crossing". Regardless of signs, motorists STILL do stop on the crossing while waiting in line
at the light!

Anyone know where I can get a good timetable or track chart for this line?

Ironhorse27 wrote:Anyone know where I can get a good timetable or track chart for this line?

As always, there is no timetable. Trains will often run at about the same time each day, but there is no guarantee of that.

Q620 comes out of Selkirk - when it was Q621, it got called at about midnight, but that was no guarantee it would leave at a certain time. I used to see it in Utica anywhere from 4AM to 8AM.

The locals may get called at the same time each day, but in the case of the Watertown local (B778), it might go north, it might go south, or it might do both.

There is an out-of-date timetable here: http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/rail ... 1-2004.pdf

The St Lawrence Sub is now dispatched by the Selkirk NB dispatcher, although that may not be the case soon, as I know at least one Selkirk dispatcher who is headed for JAX.

I would hit eBay or try and find a show in the Syracuse area for a timetable, there's one guy who sells those sorts of things. if it's out of date a few years that shouldn't matter too much. Even the last Conrail ones had a rudimentary track diagram in them.

For some reason, when I see "timetable" I think "schedule," and we all know that schedules are only suggestions any more...

Hence my slightly confused post...

If all you want is the track chart, it's pages 110-114 of the document I linked.

Some time back someone put together an excellent, two-page, color map of the sub. It had all the crossings, sidings, block stations, etc. It's probably buried somewhere on my computer, but I don't remember where it originally came from, so I can't provide a link.

Should be noted that there have been some extra block stations and defect detectors added since those charts were created.

joha107 wrote:Should be noted that there have been some extra block stations and defect detectors added since those charts were created.

Indeed, there have.

Had to ask a CSX engineer where "Brill" is...

https://www.csx.com/index.cfm/investors ... le=2353574

Looks like it is official, CSX is soliciting bids for several properties that include the St. Lawrence/Montreal Subdivisions

Looks like BR&P has another job opening.