CP Track Upgrades & Infrastructure of CMQ

The Searsport Branch has been 25 MPH since CMQ did a tie and surfacing job in the 2016/2017 timeframe. There had been a few 10 MPH restrictions towards the end of CMQ, but that was due to the crossing protection not working correctly. Currently from the south cautionary limits at NMJ to Dead River in Hampden there is a 10 MPH slow order due to the replacement of the I-95 overpasses as well as a few "rough" spots in the track where they have some drainage issues. CP also recently removed roughly half the yard tracks at the "farm" at NMJ which has made switching difficult.

Still getting used to seeing CP locos on the B&A... it's one thing to see them on the Moosehead but still strange to me.

CP started laying CWR down Van Horn and on towards the Village at Brownville in late 2021. We'll see if next year they keep going to NMJ (which I suspect they will), but I could see them when intermodal/auto/SJ traffic takes off further they add fully another train pair (142/143) St. Luc to Saint John and then change the current manifest back to 250/251 with making that new origin/destination NMJ.

Brownville Jct isn't going to get any bigger and will need fluidity to make it all work in the future... the ST traffic will someday go back to Keag, but for now it's going to be a mess as traffic grows. Also, F16 has had quite a few times big trains and left tonnage behind... a pair of GEs sadly would make it a much easier trip, and again just blocking at St Luc the ST(CSX)/NMJ/Searsport traffic would increase fluidity, even if it was a 5-day a week job.

CPF66 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 15, 2022 2:15 pm The Searsport Branch has been 25 MPH since CMQ did a tie and surfacing job in the 2016/2017 timeframe.

Thanks for the info. Now that you mention it, I realize the last time I visited the branch was either at the tail end of MMA ownership or the very beginning of CMQ ownership.

CN9634 wrote:Still getting used to seeing CP locos on the B&A... it's one thing to see them on the Moosehead but still strange to me.

CP started laying CWR down Van Horn and on towards the Village at Brownville in late 2021. We'll see if next year they keep going to NMJ (which I suspect they will), but I could see them when intermodal/auto/SJ traffic takes off further they add fully another train pair (142/143) St. Luc to Saint John and then change the current manifest back to 250/251 with making that new origin/destination NMJ.

Brownville Jct isn't going to get any bigger and will need fluidity to make it all work in the future... the ST traffic will someday go back to Keag, but for now it's going to be a mess as traffic grows. Also, F16 has had quite a few times big trains and left tonnage behind... a pair of GEs sadly would make it a much easier trip, and again just blocking at St Luc the ST(CSX)/NMJ/Searsport traffic would increase fluidity, even if it was a 5-day a week job.

I suspect they are dropping the rail on the Bangor Sub to prevent future slow orders in that area since the rail is pretty much shot. If they continue to use the Brownville wye it would make sense to do all welded rail on that as well.

Why would cp remove track at nmj? Seems bizarrely shortsighted and is apparently already causing problems

I have no idea. CMQ removed quite a bit, which frequently caused headaches when the yard filled up with LPG in the winter, so I can only imagine what it is like now. They are supposed to remove the van track at Brownville Junction as well as part of the wye up there. If I were to guess, someone at Saint Paul or Calgary who has never seen how the yard operates made the decision.

I live 10-15 miles from the former MEC Mountain Division, and the nearest CP line would be the Newport Sub a good 90 minutes north. For the second time, I saw a CP rig traveling west on NH Route 302 as I was headed home today from work. This time he was carrying what looked to be a sizable piece of MoW equipment very clearly carrying CP logos.

What on earth were they doing all the way down here in Bethlehem?

While I am not 100% certain, they could have been moving equipment around. I know they sent a regulator and pettibone down the Rockland branch a few weeks ago, so they might have decided to send some newer equipment up to Newport.

Rear 21 cars of today's 132 carrying new rail.

What trackwork is planned for the CM&Q this season in Maine and Eastern Quebec? Has the work already begun? How much of the line has welded rail?

Today, Jund 3rd, I saw two CP MOW hirail trucks North on I-95 in Bangor. Couldn't follow so don't know where they were headed.

Track crews working in the vicinity of Greenville Depot early this morning.