E&N

[missthealcos]

Just what kind of activity is left on the E&N on a regular basis, other than the Budd cars?

I Was on the island yesterday, and of course did the usual poking around to see whats up. Welcox is basically empty, and becoming very unkempt looking. Other than the propane, and the feed milll in Duncan, is anything running anymore? what points still see service on any regular basis? Is the Alberni line seeing any traffic at all again yet? The line is known for being overgrown, but it is worse that I have seen it now...what, if any progress is there with the plans to turn things around?

6133 and 6148 are both in the yards....6148 is having the accident repairs done under a tarp...why on earth are they not doing this in the roundhouse in Victoria? I have heard 6133 is being used for parts, which is a huge shame, as the passenger loadings are high, and the handwritten "sold out due to only one operable car for a month or more" note in the station in Victoria is not going to do any good for anything...why isn't 6133 being used?? Other than missing ditch lights, it looks to be intact(unlike back when 6134 was used for parts, and was very stripped for years before it vanished) They are going to mess up a good thing over there. 1 avail. car at the height of the season?

There seems to be an all around marked drop in the professionalism of things over there at the moment.

[ENR3870]

Just what kind of activity is left on the E&N on a regular basis, other than the Budd cars?

I Was on the island yesterday, and of course did the usual poking around to see whats up. Welcox is basically empty, and becoming very unkempt looking. Other than the propane, and the feed milll in Duncan, is anything running anymore? what points still see service on any regular basis? Is the Alberni line seeing any traffic at all again yet? The line is known for being overgrown, but it is worse that I have seen it now...what, if any progress is there with the plans to turn things around?

The E&N serves the Feed Mill in Duncan, Superior Propane in Nanaimo, and FMC Chemicals and National Silicates in Parksville. There are also some chemical tankers sitting in Courtenay that are being unloaded. I suspect they may get more than one barge a week now, otherwise the yard wouldn't look so empty as they would have the traffic for the entire week. There is no traffic on the Port Alberni Sub except the Alberni Pacific in Port Alberni.

6133 and 6148 are both in the yards....6148 is having the accident repairs done under a tarp...why on earth are they not doing this in the roundhouse in Victoria?

Canadian Pacific has locked VIA and Herzog out of the roundhouse. Servicing of the RDC's is being done in the Victoria yard while 6148 is being rebuilt at Wellcox.

I have heard 6133 is being used for parts, which is a huge shame, as the passenger loadings are high, and the handwritten "sold out due to only one operable car for a month or more" note in the station in Victoria is not going to do any good for anything...why isn't 6133 being used??

They can't run the 6133 with the 6135. The 6133 doesn't have the more powerfull Cummins engines and because of that, the 6135 or 6148 end up pulling the 6133 along, causing the transmissions on the rebuilt cars to overheat, causing the computer system on board the rebuilt cars to shut down the entire train.

BTW, were you the guy with the green Ford Focus??

[missthealcos]

Nope, white Miata....

I had heard the issue with the non re-engined 6133 being a problem with the rebuilt cars...Is it operable at all? are they still waiting to decide on rebuilding 6133? I hope someone is watching its future, being the only Dominion Atlantic car left, someone in the east in a preservation mood should be keeping tabs....even more so being it is not overly non-original.

Why has CP locked them out? Is the equipment in the roundhouse still there? I was in there prob 10 years ago(long enough ago that SW900 6713 was also in one of the stalls), and there was a fair amount of stuff in there.


So there is no freight traffic south of Nanaimo, and none on the Alberni sub. Is there any word on that being changed in the future? I recall being shocked to death to have a freight of about 7 cars appear out of nowhere at Shawnigan lake about 3-4 years ago...would be nice if they could pick up some new customers....

One other thing, back before Railamerica took over, there used to be the odd equipment on sidings in various places, usually old CP tank cars, and a few open hoppers etc., that appeared to have not been off the island in years...Is all of this gone, and the only equipment on the railway at Wellcox or customers spurs?

[ENR3870]

Nope, white Miata....

Oh ok, I was there around Noon in a white Chevy S10 truck.

I had heard the issue with the non re-engined 6133 being a problem with the rebuilt cars...Is it operable at all?

From what I could see externally, it looks operational. However there may be some safety equipment that has been removed and put on the other two cars. Transport Canada won't let them use 6133 until they're replaced.

I hope someone is watching its future, being the only Dominion Atlantic car left, someone in the east in a preservation mood should be keeping tabs....even more so being it is not overly non-original.

The E&N Division has their eye on it to add to their collection in Victoria.

Why has CP locked them out? Is the equipment in the roundhouse still there? I was in there prob 10 years ago(long enough ago that SW900 6713 was also in one of the stalls), and there was a fair amount of stuff in there.

The building has failed to meet safety regulations and the City of Victoria is currently taking CP to court to get the facilities up to code.

So there is no freight traffic south of Nanaimo

Twice weekly freight service to Duncan. Plus the odd carload to Victoria. The last freight moved to Victoria was a huge transformer that was moved last May. They also haul dead Budds back to Victoria on the back of the Duncan Turn.

and none on the Alberni sub.

There is some logging going on at the top of the Port Alberni Sub, those logs are hauled to Port Alberni and loaded onto trucks.

I recall being shocked to death to have a freight of about 7 cars appear out of nowhere at Shawnigan lake about 3-4 years ago...would be nice if they could pick up some new customers....

Freight service to Victoria ran twice weekly until November 29, 2001 when the Superior Propane outlet in Esquimalt closed, that was their last customer in Victoria, so freight trains to Victoria are now few and far between.

There are several industrial parks in Victoria that offer tenants rail connection, however no one has started shipping by rail. There was talk a while ago about 25 cars of contaminated soil being moved out of downtown Victoria. Also the gravel supply in Victoria is fading fast, in a few years they will need to bring gravel in from other places on Vancouver Island, and the E&N is the best way to do that.

The E&N runs regular freight service to Duncan, Nanaimo and Parksville. They also have seasonal service to Courtenay, and the odd movement to Victoria.

One other thing, back before Railamerica took over, there used to be the odd equipment on sidings in various places, usually old CP tank cars, and a few open hoppers etc., that appeared to have not been off the island in years...Is all of this gone, and the only equipment on the railway at Wellcox or customers spurs?

The E&N likes to have fire cars sitting in many of the sidings during the hot and dry months. MOW equipment is also stored in sidings. The only siding you will never see equipment stored in is the Wellington siding, as the Nanaimo Uptown Switch Job uses that siding to run around their train before heading back to Wellcox. The ballast hoppers, which are used as idlers when they aren't in work train service, are currently sitting in Wellcox, they use them on the Parksville Turn when they switch FMC Chemicals and National Silicates.

Thought I'd throw in a photo or two. The first one shows the freight crew picking up the flatcar from the Langford siding in May, and the second one shows the Parksville Turn heading north after switching Superior Propane in Nanaimo.

[missthealcos]

Well, at least things are still running somewhat, there really isn't anything like the E&N anywhere else....What kind of MOW equipment is over there, I see even the plow is gone.

What are they using for equipment on the Port Alberni logging operation?
I guess there is currently little hope of the mill in PA shipping by rail again...what happened to the talks of rebuilding the spur in Crofton?

Victoria is more likely to wind up with the roundhouse demolished than have CP spend any money on it...

[ENR3870]

Well, at least things are still running somewhat, there really isn't anything like the E&N anywhere else....What kind of MOW equipment is over there, I see even the plow is gone.

What are they using for equipment on the Port Alberni logging operation?

Victoria is more likely to wind up with the roundhouse demolished than have CP spend any money on it...

Mostly track repair equipment. The Burro Crane was sitting in Parksville a few months ago, before that it sat in Victoria for a month, it was sitting in Wellcox on Monday.

CP originally wanted to use 5404(track mobile not SD40-2) but the track mobile couldn't handle the loads on the 2.2% grade. They are leasing ex-CP RS3 8427 from the Alberni Pacific. CP has four 100 ton log flats and two SOO Line flatcars used for idlers. CP is using two of the log cars right now, the other two are stored at Parksville on the Port Alberni Sub. It was interesting to see the E&N freight crew shoving the cars through the weeds on the Port Alberni Sub when they dropped off the equipment.

I guess there is currently little hope of the mill in PA shipping by rail again...what happened to the talks of rebuilding the spur in Crofton?

I can't say anything about that. Gag order.

[missthealcos]

CP is operating the log trains?? with the RS-3? that's very interesting....

[ENR3870]

When CP sold the E&N, they retained tree harvest rights. The RS3 was the only locomotive available, other than the E&N's GP20 sitting in Nanaimo. They went for the RS3 because its operational and closer than the 2099.

[missthealcos]

Hmm, interesting...so exactly whereabouts are they logging? How long is this supposed to continue?

I guess I'm gonna have to get back over there and look around some more..

Alberni sub sure looks grown over.....

Another thought, I wonder why Via is not using 6130 on short term lease until 6148 is fixed...It's still stored in Vancouver. It does have the Cummins/Voith setup in it, so it should be less of a problem than 6133 with it's 6-110's.
The list of sold-out dates on the wall at the Victoria station seems to show a dire need for 2 cars, not to mention, they would be completely hooped if anything happens to 6135....

I also noticed 6135 recieved Phase 1 RDC trucks in it's rebuild......

[ENR3870]

Hmm, interesting...so exactly whereabouts are they logging? How long is this supposed to continue?

They are logging up near the Arrowsmith siding, inaccessable by road.

Alberni sub sure looks grown over.....

The vegitation in that photo isn't that bad compared to what's at Cameron Lake, weeds are about 4 feet high.

Another thought, I wonder why Via is not using 6130 on short term lease

VIA originally wanted to use the 6130, but were informed by FarmRail that it was no longer available

I also noticed 6135 recieved Phase 1 RDC trucks in it's rebuild......

6135 had the phase 1 trucks since it showed up on the E&N in the early 1990's. I suspect that at some point from the time VIA got it to it coming to the E&N that its trucks were swapped with an older RDC.

[ENR3870]

I just got a heads-up that 6130 is in fact being sent back to the E&N while 6148 is OOS.

[missthealcos]

good news

[ENR3870]

The Wellcox yard job will pull the 6130 off the barge tomorrow if the tides are right.

[missthealcos]

Is 6130 running yet?

[ENR3870]

Nope, it's not in service yet. The shop crew in Victoria discovered an electrical problem. The Vancouver shop crew, who know nothing about starting and servicing RDC's fried the electrics when they tried to start 6130 up before sending it over.