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Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in Canada. For specific railroad questions, see Fallen Flags and Active Railroads categories.

Moderator: Ken V

 #678461  by MikeCDN
 
I'll be heading to the Ottawa Valley near Mattawa this August.

I was wondering if anybody has good scanner frequencies and knows how often trains run on this line?

Thanks in advance,

M
 #678906  by stuart_iowa
 
trains from north bay southbound are not common much
CP has pulled their trains from OVR due to turn down in business.
might try and get a copy of trackside guide 2009 it will list the radio freqs
Ottawa Sun wrote: MATTAWA -- The environment ministry will look at why it took the Ottawa Valley Railway more than five hours to alert the province about a derailment near Mattawa that sent more than 20,000 litres of diesel fuel into the Ottawa River.
"This is part of what we will be discussing with the company," said ministry spokeswoman Kate Jordan.
The derailment happened at 3:10 a.m. yesterday. A 180-metre stretch of track washed out, about 15 km east of Mattawa.
http://www.ottawasun.com/news/canada/20 ... 66816.html
North Bay Nugget wrote: Beaver dam breaks blamed for derailment
NORTH BAY, Ontario (June 4, 2009) – An eastbound Ottawa Valley Railway (OVR) train derailed yesterday at 3:10 a.m. in a remote area about 11 miles east of Mattawa, when the train encountered an area of washed out track.

The washout is believed to have resulted from flooding that began when three up-river beaver dams were destroyed. Two locomotives and six cars derailed. Track speed in the area is 40 miles per hour.
http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1598246
North Bay Nugget wrote:
'We just held on' — Engineer
By the time Jim Fournier saw the missing train track it was too late.

There was nothing he could do but hold on and brace for impact.
The engineer with the Ottawa Valley Railway was on board a 29-car train when it derailed near Mattawa Wednesday morning spilling 20,000 litres of diesel fuel into the Ottawa River.
It's like we hit a wall. We stopped dead just like that," Fournier said Wednesday evening. It was more wild than any ride at Canada's Wonderland."
Fournier was heading west to North Bay from Petawawa when he saw that a section of track was missing.
I saw it at the last minute, this dead spot, a great big hole where there was no track," Fournier said.
"There was no time to react, we just held on. It happened so quickly. We were just holding on and hoping to not fly out of the window."
http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1597379

for pictures see the link
http://photos.nugget.ca/mycapture/enlar ... ryID=16615

Moderator's note: this post was edited to change entire articles to brief passages and add links to the original source.
 #678946  by Ken V
 
Also from the North Bay Nugget:
PEMBROKE — The trains don't seem to be running through the Ottawa Valley anymore and Renfrew County council members want to know why.

Petawawa Mayor Bob Sweet told council during its meeting Wednesday he is concerned about the sudden lack of rail traffic on the Ottawa Valley Railway tracks and wonders if the line has been abandoned.
http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1547374
 #679022  by MikeCDN
 
Thanks for the updates. I appreciate it.

Did Via run on these tracks or on the CN line?

M
 #679058  by stuart_iowa
 
VIA ran on these tracks years a go out of Ottawa, they torn up the connecting tracks at Carleton Place Ontario that went to Ottawa.
We had full CP Pass trains till VIA came along, then with one set of cut backs it was RDC service west to Sudbury or North Bay from Ottawa, Then they re instated full train service but cut backs came again and now no VIA trains.
Train service from Smiths Falls to North Bay and to Sudbury was taken over by Ottawa Valley Railroad ( Raillink ) as a cost saving measure, Now as a cost saving meausre the only trains running are as needed. Nothing thru Renfrew Ontario to Smiths Falls in at least a month now .
West of Renfrew, OVR services Cobden Ontario , some one has as required lumber car dropped there, Pembroke is an interchange point with CN former Ottawa Central ( Cn purchased the line back) as required. Not sure of trains west of Pembroke. with the latest derailment at or near Mattawa Ontario there was a lone locomotive move west from Smiths Falls 05 June 2009 to get or tow back cars from the derailment. It was loco 6030 from Smiths Falls
Not much traffic right now thru Chalkriver sub.
I am in Renfrew Ontario
Mile point 59.30 of the Chalkriver sub
 #727530  by clickclack
 
I sent an e-mail to CN public affairs asking them for the schedule and list of destinations for CN Ottawa in light of CP no longer using the OVR and no longer dropping off cars for CN in pembroke. The response was interesting: "...and are you interested in how routing has been affected by CN's purchase of the OVR?" When I inquired further, I did not receive a response. Has anyone heard that CN bought OVR?
 #727574  by Ken V
 
clickclack wrote:Has anyone heard that CN bought OVR?
If CN had purchased the OVR I'm sure there would have been press releases from both CN and CP about it. It's very unlikely that CN would be interested in the route since there's very little on-line business and CN abandoned their own Ottawa-North Bay-Capreol line through Algonquin Park many years ago. Most likely CN's email response was referring to the Ottawa Central which they recently reacquired.
 #727584  by clickclack
 
If CN bought the OVR, it certainly wouldn't be for business along that stretch of railroad but it would be an easy way to bypass Toronto for transcons to Montreal and Halifax, since CN is curently paying Ontario Northland good money to run thier trains through Northern Ontario and Northern Quebec, past montreal and finally back into Montreal. But it is entirely possible the CN rep meant to write OCR and not OVR.
 #761884  by stuart_iowa
 
CP and OVR have agreed to close the line from Smiths Falls to Petawawa, and it is up for sale. No trains west of Smiths Falls.
will add more when i get more info
 #773838  by clickclack
 
Is there a CN train still running to Pembroke from Ottawa? Also, where does CN Ottawa connect with CP now that CP is no longer running on the OVR?

OVR

 #794277  by MikeCDN
 
With Rail America not renewing it's lease on the OVR does anybody know what is to become of the OVR?

Does CP have any intrest in operating it again?

Mike
 #794349  by stuart_iowa
 
Cp group on yahoo and various newspapers in the valley are reporting there are talks with a company about taking it over and running it from Matawawa or Petawawa to Smiths Falls , so wait and see is the guessing game around here
Stuart warren
Renfrew Ontario
 #815375  by MikeCDN
 
Any reports, rumours or reports on the purchase of the OVR?