WASJ and SJWA

I am new to this forum but have been a fan of the railway since the 1970s. Today in McAdam NB two pan am units were spotted. I was told it is a new service between Waterville and Saint John with the NB Southern Railway. Can anyone give some insight into this?

That's correct. Runthrough power, MEC crews in the US, NBSR crews in Canada.

Thanks, any idea how often this service will be running? What is the purpose of it anyway? Is it just for better connections at the keag instead of waiting for the east and westbound NBSR trains?

The intended days of service are for SJWAs to run TUE-THUR-SAT type patterns
while WASJs are supposed to go up MON-WED-FRI. The departure of SJWA has put them through the Northern Maine Junction area in the 11a-1p time frame. Yes, they've actually been highballing NMJ and canning elsewhere if needed. Nice to see and hear trains IDing each other on the fly along PAR!

Does this train do any other work besides forwarding cars to Saint John? And is this job in addition to the NBSR train that runs Saint John to Brownville Jct? And lastly, has this symbol been running with a good sized train? Thanks!

From the PAR side, the SJWAs go on duty around 5:00a out of Mattawamkeag. Not sure when the Waterville WASJs start, but they have been mentioned over the scanner in daylight. The trains have been shorthish, too. The handful I've seen, particularly SJWAs, haven't been any more than 30 cars. As for Brownville jobs of NBSR, I can't say I've seen one since the Summer. However, they must be somewhat the same because of the MMA interchange. Perhaps, basic freight numbers have changed a bit, but racks and stacks still have to go that way.

Sorry to dig up an old topic but...
Just wondering if the SJWA/WASJ set is still using runthru power and if any NBSR power ever makes it to Waterville?

I don't believe NBSR power is used at all.

Yes, Thanks, I got confirmation saying that as well.

Mcoov wrote:I don't believe NBSR power is used at all.

I was at "THE KEAG" last july on a thursday. The PAR train WASJ was brought up a day earlier and left. On thursday there was NO PAR Engines but the NBSR train from Brownville Junction picked up the 90 cars on the MEC side, rehooked to its train from the MM&A and highballed east on the NBSR's " Mattawaumkeag Sub" per RTC ST.John.I got some great photos.