St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (SLR/SLQ)

Free ballast!

newpylong wrote:Free ballast!

Looks like the subcontractor on the ballast load emplacement missed by a few yards. Looks like you get what you pay for in subcontractors.

Still no activity from MB Bark in Auburn?

I took advantage of the summer-like weather today to chase SLR 394 from Lennoxville to close to Compton, QC. It had QGRY 3105 and SLR 3805, 3806 and 805, and about 78 mixed freight.

Photos (mostly roster/detail shots, a couple of scenic photos of the locomotives): http://trainiax.net/mephotosearchresult ... 2015,04,13

Recordings: http://trainiax.net/merecordings-result ... &year=2015

On Monday 4/13, 512 had the QGRY 1504 - QGRY 1502 and were working the interchange at Danville Jct. about noon time. 513 had the SLR 3047 and a good sized train coming back from South Paris in the late afternoon. SLR 3035 - SLR 3803 - SLR 803 were outside the shop, possibly 393's power. Also of interest was QGRY 2500, a GP35, visible from inside the engine house. I haven't seen that unit around LJ before.

SLR 3035 - SLR 3803 - SLR 803 were outside the shop, possibly 393's power.

That would appear to be right, since I caught those same units at the head of 394 this afternoon, and followed the train again from Sherbrooke to near Compton (I can't remember the last time I happened to catch 394 two days in a row). They had about 64 cars today, which brought the units down to a slow but respectable 15 mph or so on the Waterville, QC grade. The last car on 394 (an EEC boxcar) featured the most spectacular "artwork" I've ever seen on a freight car.

I also happened upon CEFX 2007 from the CMQ switching in the SLR yard in Sherbrooke earlier in the afternoon.

A few highlights:




The rest of today's photos are on my site. As with yesterday's freight, I also recorded it.

Hoping to be up in the Island Pond area next Monday. Any chance of daylight moves in that area? Also heading over to Newport Vt. Any interchange action in that area? Thanks
Steve

Steve,
Unfortunately, if current schedules hold, things will be pretty quiet in those areas next Monday. First trains I would expect to see are:

SLQ 394 eastbound into Island Pond in late afternoon or evening (normally they don't run into and out of Island Pond Sunday night/Monday morning)

WACR WJNP northbound into Newport in late afternoon or evening (they went south yesterday, should go north today, and then south again tomorrow, so will be originating out of White River Junction)

CMQ 710 into and out of Newport in the afternoon IF they run on Monday (usually go to Newport 2-3 times per week but not sure which days)

Of course, these are railroads and things could change but this is my best guess.
Best,
Fritz

Thanks Fritz. I may still take a ride through the area anyway...you never know Ah, all the hours we have all spent waiting to see a train...

Here is a video I got last Friday of an early 393 between LJ and South Paris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb3qcSl-sP4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Lately it seems 393 is getting a crew between 7 and 8pm, sometimes leaving LJ before complete darkness. Hopefully this will continue as the days get longer.

Also of interest; Monday of this week I could see a line of LPG tankers that looked like they were being stored on the Rangeley Branch. They were visible from Lewiston Junction Rd. where the intermodal terminal was and also from Hardscrabble Rd. Probably just loads/empties to/from Dead River but interesting to see as this is the first time I have seen them use that track since building it.

One more note is I have started seeing SLR 3047 (GP40-2) doing alot of local work around LJ as of this year. I hadn't recalled seeing that unit before. Does anyone know if this unit is the rebuild of SLR 3202 that somebody had mentioned last year?

Great video thanks for posting. Curious where the 10 loaded AIMX scrap cars came from? Grimmels?

fogg1703 wrote:Great video thanks for posting. Curious where the 10 loaded AIMX scrap cars came from? Grimmels?

Thanks! The AIMX cars I believe are loaded at One Steel in Oakland on Pan Am. However I have also seen them at Turner's Island in South Portland but I don't know if they load or unload there.

Great shots! About time that somebody was able to get solid HD footage (and full sound!) of these trains on the road. Nothing beats hearing that sound in the dead of night once they reach NH, though. My favorite horn by far.

Very nice video! I agree about the horn: that is one luscious sounding Leslie RS5T. They're becoming rarer and rarer.

drcrf93 wrote:

fogg1703 wrote:Great video thanks for posting. Curious where the 10 loaded AIMX scrap cars came from? Grimmels?

Thanks! The AIMX cars I believe are loaded at One Steel in Oakland on Pan Am. However I have also seen them at Turner's Island in South Portland but I don't know if they load or unload there.

There are also some that go up to Rumford on PORU and come back on RUPO. Never really paid attention to see if what loads going up, and empties coming back, but someone takes them up that way. I've also seen them at NMJ on the CMQ, so that's another possible source.