St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (SLR/SLQ)

[NHV 669]

Supposedly a lease unit came east on 394 a few days ago, based on a sighting report on the SLR Facebook page, have yet to hear any other additional info about this unit. No confirmed number or reporting marks, but it was apparently "blue with lettering that started with a 'C'," but that's all I've got for info.

Anyone with a better idea? Extra power certainly would help until the snow makes an attempt at disappearing up here in the Grand Bois Du Nord.

[gokeefe]

Surprised that they are bringing leased power in ...

[Fritz]

Hello,
With the addition of the 393H/394H turn to Southwark Yard, I have heard that the SLR is very short of power. When I was tracking locomotives for a few weeks, it seemed that they only had one "spare" locomotive, including what needed inspections, repairs, etc. That's why the 393/394 is often running with only three locomotives lately. However, I am surprised that they aren't "borrowing" a locomotive from another GWRR railroad.

Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond in snow squalls at 0755 with the following:

GP40-3 3804
QG GP40-2W 3014
GP40-2 3047
9 centerbeam flats
2 bulkhead flats
1 hi-cube boxcar
4 boxcars
12 tank cars
16 propane cars

That's 44 cars total, including 5 loads and 39 empties.
Have a great day,
Fritz

[Fritz]

Hello,
Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0804 on this frigid morning (1o here) with the following:

GP40-3 3806
GP40-2 3008
14 centerbeam flats
1 bulkhead flat
15 propane cars
8 tank cars
3 hi-cube boxcars
2 covered hoppers

That's 43 cars total, including 2 loads and 41 empties.

Question of the Day: What is the difference between wood pulp, pulpboard, and ground paper? All three are shipped into New England by CN.
Thanks!
Fritz

[S1f3432]

Wood pulp is the digested wood fiber output of a pulp mill used to produce paper, fiber board and the like. Pulp board is likely
another name for fiber board which is wood pulp rolled and pressed into a thicker sheet than paper. Softer versions are used in
packaging and art-board type materials while stiffer, more rigid forms can be like the hardboard used as underlayment under
flooring. Thickness varies greatly depending on use- The mill that used to be in Lisbon Falls, ME made a material used for roofing,
some of it impregnated with asphalt, that could be 2 or 3 inches thick. Ground paper is just that- ground up paper. It can be
reprocessed into pulp. The mill in Rumford used to use one of it's old small paper machines to produce non-salable rolls of
paper which were placed into storage in the old mill building on the island and considered pulp. At times when the pulp mill
was down for maintenance the rolls of broke were chewed up in a pulper and used to feed the paper machines until the pulp
mill was up and running again. The Marcal Paper mill in Mechanic Falls didn't make any of it's own pulp instead using similar
rolls of paper- often damaged stock, scrap paper, popcorn pulp- even NJ Turnpike toll cards.

[Fritz]

Hello,
Thanks, S1f3432, for the explanation about woodpulp, pulpboard, and ground paper. So ground paper is basically recycled paper that has been prepared for re-pulping?

Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond on this cold morning at 0758 with the following:

GP40-2 3007
QG GP40-2W 3014
GP40-3 3804
8 centerbeam flats
1 covered hopper
2 tank cars
17 propane cars
5 hi-cube boxcars
1 boxcar

That's 34 cars total, all empties.
Have a great day,
Fritz

[gokeefe]

Worth noting that "groundwood" paper refers to a different process for paper making typical to newsprint grades. Not sure if there is some crossover in terminology between "ground paper" and "groundwood".

Paper recycling generally uses the kraft chemical process for pulping while "groundwood" as I understand it involves mechanical grinding of pulp logs and little to no chemical process for pulping.

[S1f3432]

In 1990 I worked on a project at Great Northern Paper in Millinocket rebuilding an off-machine coater and got a
tour of the wood room. GNP was a ground wood mill and I was surprised at how primitive the process was. The
grinders were hoppers with a drum-shaped stone grind wheel in the bottom, driven by a water wheel. Once the
hoppers were loaded a hydraulic ram pushed down on the wood ( 4 foot sticks ) to force it against the grind
wheel. The process results in shorter fibers and small chunks of wood in the pulp and a lower quality paper
than can be achieved by the kraft process.

[Fritz]

Hello,
Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond in driving snow at 0804 with the following:

RM-1 804
GP40-3 3805
QG GP40 3105
7 centerbeam flats
7 boxcars
8 hi-cube boxcars
3 scrap gondolas
9 tank cars
28 propane cars

That's 62 cars total, including 10 loads and 52 empties.
Have a great weekend,
Fritz

[Fritz]

Hello,
On this frigid morning, today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0924 with the following:

GP40-2 3035
RM-1 805
GP40-3 3804
6 centerbeam flats
1 bulkhead flat
1 flat car
8 hi-cube boxcars
2 boxcars
12 propane cars
3 tank cars

That's 33 cars total, including 6 loads and 27 empties.

The 3035 has spent the last month in Lewiston Junction (not sure whether it was working or being worked upon), so it was good to see it out on the road again.
Have a good day,
Fritz

[Fritz]

Hello,
On yet and even more frigid morning (+3oF this morning), the SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0805 with the following:

GP40-3 3806
GP40-2 3008
QG GP40-2W 3014
7 centerbeam flats
8 hi-cube boxcars
3 boxcars
12 propane tankcars

That's 30 cars total, including 6 loads and 24 empties. No cars from the Lewiston-Auburn Branch.
Have a good day,
Fritz

[Fritz]

Hello,
Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0803 with a longer train:

GP40-3 3803
GP40-3 3805
GP40-2 3035
4 centerbeam flats
1 bulkhead flat
25 propane cars
15 tank cars
1 covered hopper
17 hi-cube boxcars
5 boxcars

That's 68 cars total, including 5 loads and 63 empties. Many cars from the Lewiston-Auburn Branch today, and on the rear were 2 SLR and 7 LW boxcars, which I am guessing were just pulled from storage.
Have a great weekend,
Fritz

[Fritz]

Hello,
Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0810 with the following:

RM-1 805
GP40-3 3804
RM-1 804
GP40-3 3805
6 centerbeam flats
3 boxcars
7 hi-cube boxcars
10 propane cars
4 tank cars

That's 30 cars total, including 8 loads and 22 empties. First time I've seen them run four units together (including mother-calf slug sets) in almost a month.
Best,
Fritz

[S1f3432]

I've been wondering if the slugs are falling out of favor or if it is maintenance issues but 806 has been
sitting at the shop most of the time since it came back from Ontario and the 803 has joined it for the
past month or so. If there is a motive power shortage those two units out of service don't help much.
I've also wondered about the reasoning for 4 units on 30-40 car trains when 3 old GP9's used to handle
70 cars on a routine basis, altho they were slower going up the hills than they are now.

[Fritz]

Hello,
Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0755 with the following:

RM-1 805
GP40-3 3804
GP40-2 3008
11 centerbeam flats
1 flat car
6 hi-cube boxcars
2 boxcars
1 covered hopper
11 propane cars

That's 32 cars total, including 2 loads and 30 empties.

Short train but, apparently, they ran extra 393/394s Wednesday night.

Yes, I think the slugs were out of service for quite awhile this winter, as I saw the mother units running solo many times. Maybe SLR/SLQ should reinstate the Wednesday night 393/394. That would allow them to keep trains shorter and run them with only 2-3 units and keep the yards at Richmond and Lewiston Junction cleared out, but I am not sure there is enough traffic to warrant that.
Best,
Fritz