Past
News Reports
(Yesterday's News is Tomorrow's
History)
CN
John Drake
March 2007:
Distributed Power Update … CN continues to work toward implementation of
distributed power (DP) in eastern Canada. Two separate DP test trains
operated in October and November. The first to operate was train M32121-18
(St. Antoine, Quebec to MacMillan yard-Toronto, Ontario) on October 18. This
train operated with DP between St. Lambert, Quebec, and MacMillan yard. Head
end power was provided by CN 2250 and 5655 with remote unit CN 2251 cut in
53 cars behind the head end. Overall the train handled 147 cars.
A second test train operated from Garneau, Quebec, to
MacMillan yard on November 23. Train M36321-22 operated with CN 2234 and
5430 on the head end and CN 2251 as a remote unit. Departing Montreal the
train handled 188 cars, with the remote unit 108 cars behind the head end.
The train measured just over 12,000 feet in length.
Crew training continues in terminals at Belleville, Ontario
and Montreal, Quebec in order to implement DP on the largest of the manifest
trains operating between Toronto, Montreal, and Garneau, Quebec. Training
also continues in western Canadian terminals.
Currently, DP operations are limited to the following trains:
Chambord, Quebec to Garneau portions of trains M36921 and M36321; The Teck
Mine to Prince George portion of Teck-Ridley, British Columbia coal train
C76151; The Trend Mine in British Columbia to Prince George portion of
Trend-Ridley coal train C76551; The Tumbler to Prince George portion of
Tumbler-Ridley coal train C75151; The Winniandy, Alberta to Jasper, Alberta
portion of Winniandy-Roberts Bank coal train C77951
Implementation of DP on the Tumber Ridge, British Columbia,
coal trains has eliminated the previous operation of doubling trains from
Tumbler to Table, British Columbia. A 100-car train set is handled with
three head end units and one rear end remote unit. Distributed power
eliminated the use of manned helpers out of Winniandy over the heavy grade
on the former Alberta Resources Railway. These trains also operate in a
three-by-one DP configuration.
New Pond Creek Mine Begins Coal Shipments … The newly opened
Pond Creek Mine near Marion, Illinois, has begun shipping coal. First empty
train to call at the mine was C73591-13 (Paducah-Dial), which arrived at the
mine on the morning of November 13, 2006. SD70s IC 1029 and 1038 brought 95
empty MKBX rotary gondolas into the mine for loading. The train left later
that same day as C73491-13 and was headed to Duke Energy at Calvert City,
Kentucky. Currently only symbols C73591 and C73491 are assigned to terminate
and originate at this new mine. A new control point named Dial was built to
accommodate the new customer. Since the first run, coal loads have operated
out of Dial approximately once per week.
New CTC Installation … As part of CNs effort to increase
capacity to the northern portion of British Columbia, CTC has been installed
on the Tete, Jaune, and Fraser Subdivisions. This portion of the "BC North"
main has seen traffic increase substantially since CNs takeover of BC Rail.
Until September 2006, this line was dark territory governed by Occupancy
Control System rules. This is the first long distance single track CTC
installation to be completed on CN in Canada since the Prince George-Prince
Rupert portion was cut in during the mid 1980s. It is also the last major
"green field" CTC project on CN lines in Canada, as the final cutover put
CN's entire core mainlines under CTC control in Canada. As of late November,
signal crews had cut in CTC from Prince George eastward to Poser siding. The
last 58 miles east from Poser to the junction with the Edmonton-Vancouver
mainline at Taverna, British Columbia was completed in early December. All
of the new installation is controlled by CN's new RTC II system from
Edmonton.
New Look for Old Switcher … Relco Locomotives, Inc., located
in Albia, Iowa, has released the first of several former IC SW14s to be
rebuilt for use at the reconfigured Memphis yard. CN 1200 was created from
IC 1438, and looks substantially different than the SW14 rebuilds. The unit
resembles the UP "Hammerhead" SW10 units with a raised radiator section at
the front of the unit complete with two 36" cooling fans. The unit is also
equipped with remote control and cab air conditioning. The unit is rated at
1500 HP. Pairs of the rebuilds will be employed to switch the Memphis yard
including the new mini-hump once work is complete in late 2007. The CN 1200
was seen in Markham Yard in Chicago on December 5.
Rerouted Trains on the Prairies … In late November, secondary
freight service across the so-called Prairie North line (comprised of the
former Canadian Northern mainline between Winnipeg, Manitoba and Edmonton,
Alberta) was substantially altered. Train A45341 (Winnipeg-Edmonton) was
rerouted to operate via the mainline between Winnipeg and Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan. At Saskatoon, the train operates via the Warman Subdivision
north to Warman Jct, where the train continues west to Edmonton via the
Prairie North line via North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Counterpart train
A45251 (Edmonton-Winnipeg) traces the reverse route. This move eliminated
through freight service between Portage la Prairie, Manitoba and Warman on
the Prairie North line. Traffic is now handled by G85241 and G85341 between
Humboldt, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg. Four day per week local service is
provided between Humboldt, Saskatchewan, and North Battleford to bridge the
gap between the two sides of the Prairie North line. The only other trains
operating on the Prairie North line are grain trains operating on an as
required basis. Train A45341-22 was the first westbound to follow the new
route, leaving Saskatoon on the afternoon of November 23, 2006. Initially,
both A452 and A453 had to pull into the Saskatoon yard and have the power
run around the trains account the turnout on the direct connection allowing
trains to/from Winnipeg to run onto the Warman Sub had been removed some
years ago. Within two weeks of startup of the new operation, the turnout was
back in service and the run around move eliminated.
Shorts … The following locomotives were retired from the
active roster on December 15: GMD1 - CN 1082, 1411, 1442; SW1200RS - CN
1363, 1396; GP9 - CN 4010, 4015, 4016, 4021, 4023, 4024, 4027, 4030; SD45 –
WC 7522, 7524, 7637.
Ray Weart, Art Schiller, Ken Lanovich
April 2007:
New Train … CN has commenced a new service to handle
increased auto parts business connected with start up of production of
Ford's new Edge vehicle at Oakville, Ontario. Trains A43031 (South Buffalo
RR-Oakville) and A43131 (Oakville-South Buffalo RR) started running on
December 13. These trains provide expedited service for auto parts and also
handle all of CN's interchange traffic destined to Buffalo, New York, area
short lines. Train A43131 leaves Oakville at 2:30PM daily and arrives at
South Buffalo's yard at 7:00PM. Train A43031 leaves South Buffalo at 10:00PM
daily and arrives back in Oakville at 2:30AM.
End of NS Trackage Rights train on CN … Norfolk Southern
ended a long-standing trackage rights operation across CN trackage in
southern Ontario on December 30, 2006. On that date, NS operated the last
train 327 (Buffalo, New York – St. Thomas, Ontario) and shut the door
completely with train 328 (St. Thomas – Buffalo). The primary role of these
trains was to move automotive components between Ford's stamping plant in
Lackawanna, New York, and Ford's auto assembly plant at Talbotville,
Ontario. Effective January 1, 2007, this business was awarded to CN, which
is handling the traffic on existing freight trains. For the record, the last
NS train 327 consisted of NS 9554-NS 8373 and 21 cars. The final NS train
328 was a light power move to return train 327's power back to Buffalo.
Train 328 crossed the Niagara River into Buffalo for the last time at 6:51PM
on December 30. It should be noted that the NS trackage rights between
Buffalo and St. Thomas are retained, with no trains currently operating on
them.
Line Closure … Shutdown of operations on the Granby Spur,
between Castle Gardens, Quebec, and Marieville, Quebec, began on December
29, 2006. On that date, operations were discontinued on the Marieville to
Chambly, Quebec, portion (a total of 4.8 miles). The remaining 8.8-mile
portion is to be formally shut down by the end of January. The last
remaining customer on the line is Agrico in Chambly. Most of the traffic has
been inbound potash to Agrico. Service on the Granby Spur has been sporadic
for the last year. Train service was provided by symbol L51221, an as
required schedule based in the St. Lambert, Quebec, yard. Train L51221-19
left the Granby Spur for the last time on January 19 at 4:15PM with CN 7018
and four empty cars from Agrico. The Granby Spur once was part of the
interurban Montreal and Southern Counties Railway.
Chilliwack Service Revision … Local service at Chilliwack,
British Columbia, was substantially revised on January 2, 2007. Previously,
customers along the CN mainline in Chilliwack were served by Edmonton,
Alberta – Vancouver, British Columbia train A41751. However the lack of a
long siding to clear A41751 on the busy route to Vancouver continually
hampered switching operations. That was revised on January 2 when CN began
setting off Chilliwack cars in the siding for the other railroad in town,
Southern Railway of British Columbia (SRY), to spot at local customers.
Chilliwack is the eastern extremity of the SRY and has long maintained an
interchange with CN at that location. The regular SRY road switcher based in
Abbotsford, British Columbia, will now pick up the CN interchange and handle
switching of all local customers along the SRY and CN in Chilliwack.
Derailment Corner … The first weeks of 2007 saw a number of
serious derailments occur on CN. On January 4, eastbound train C75050-03
(Ridley Island, British Columbia – Tumbler, British Columbia) ran into an
avalanche on the Tumbler Subdivision. Three of the four ES44DC units (CN
2249, 2240, 2244) leading the train derailed and were engulfed in snow. The
fourth unit, CN 2248, remained on the rails.
January 5, westbound train M35551-02 (Prince George, British
Columbia – Vancouver Thornton yard, British Columbia) hit a rockslide on the
Ashcroft Subdivision near Lasha, British Columbia. Lead unit CN 2687 left
the rails and slid down the bank stopping short of the water in the Thompson
River. Trailing unit 5693 was left derailed hanging over the edge of the
bank.
January 7, eastbound train M30831-06 (Toronto MacMillan yard,
Ontario – Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) derailed 24 cars in the town on Montmagny,
Quebec. Incredibly, despite derailing in the proximity of the Montmagny
station built in the late 1800's by the Intercolonial Railway, the building
survived the incident.
January 14, westbound train Q10131-14 (Brampton intermodal
terminal, Ontario – Roberts Bank, British Columbia) derailed approximately
20 cars near Gogama, Ontario. The mainline was closed until the evening of
January 16. On January 15, VIA train Number 2 was detoured from Oba,
Ontario, to Franz, Ontario, via the former Algoma Central, then over CPR
from Franz to St. Cloud, Ontario, where it returned to CN. Two manifest
trains between Toronto, Ontario, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, (westbound
X30331-15 and eastbound X30241-15) were detoured via Chicago.
Distributed Power Update … Effective January 11, regular
operation of distributed power in eastern Canada was expanded beyond the
existing service in the Lac St. Jean, Quebec, area. On that date, trains
M36321 (Chambord, Quebec – Toronto MacMillan yard, Ontario), M36231 (Toronto
MacMillan yard – Chambord), M32031 (Toronto MacMillan yard – St. Lambert,
Quebec) and M32121 (St. Lambert – Toronto MacMillan yard) were planned to
regularly utilize distributed power consists. Westbound trains M32121-11 and
M36321-10 were the first trains with distributed power. Since that date,
several westbounds and one eastbound have operated with either two units
head end, one unit mid-train or one unit head end, one unit midtrain. The
"one by one" power configuration was banned after several of the trains
powered this way suffered serious delays due to broken knuckles thought to
have been caused by in train forces. Supply of Locotrol equipped motive
power has been an issue which has meant conventional power is still the norm
on these trains.
In addition to the trains listed this month and last, a small
remnant of the formerly extensive BC Rail distributed power operations
continues to operate using former BC Rail power exclusively. Train A47251 (Chetwynd,
British Columbia – Prince George, British Columbia) and L57151 (Squamish,
British Columbia – Prince George) will utilize mid train power when length
and tonnage dictate.
Long trains across northern Ontario … In late December, a
dramatic change in operating philosophy on the CN mainline between Toronto,
Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba was implemented. In order to reduce crew
starts, two trains in each direction were cancelled and select westbound
trains were authorized to operate in excess of the typical siding length of
6100 feet. Previously all eastbound trains were authorized to operate in
excess of 6100 feet. Meets between long trains were to be executed with one
train splitting its train into two sidings or else doubling over the excess
into a back track off the siding (where such tracks exist and are of
sufficient length). The first long westbound train incurred 12 hours worth
of delay as it made its way from Toronto to Winnipeg while executing these
maneuvers. By mid January the long train operation had been suspended due to
cold weather conditions but the annulled trains were not returned to the
route. Any excess traffic was routed on X30331 trains (Toronto – Winnipeg)
via Chicago. Trains annulled on the Toronto – Winnipeg route include E20131
(Toronto – Vancouver), Q10331 (Toronto – Vancouver), Q11451 (Winnipeg –
Toronto portion of the Calgary, Alberta – Toronto schedule), and E20251
(Winnipeg – Toronto portion of the Vancouver – Toronto schedule).
Toronto-Montreal Service Revision … In mid January, train
E27121 commenced operation between Montreal, Quebec, and the UP interchange
at Salem, Illinois. This train replaced E27131, which had operated from
Toronto MacMillan yard, Ontario, to Oshawa, Ontario, thence onto Salem. The
E27121 train handles all empty autorack cars from Montreal to Oshawa plus
container traffic for Roberts Bank (Deltaport), British Columbia. The
container traffic is setoff outside MacMillan yard for pickup by new train
Q10531 (Brampton intermodal terminal, Ontario to Roberts Bank). At Oshawa,
the empty autoracks are exchanged for loads headed to Salem and other US
destinations. This change saw the abolishment of train Q10521 (Montreal –
Roberts Bank), with the Roberts Bank traffic going to E27121 and the
remainder handled by Q10721 (Montreal – Vancouver, British Columbia). Train
E27121 operates from Montreal at 22:30 Monday through Friday and operates on
essentially the same schedule as E27131 had west of Toronto. On Saturday and
Sunday, train M37121 (Montreal – Toronto MacMillan yard) operates on the
same time but only as far as Toronto, skipping the lift at Oshawa.
May 2007: United Transportation Union Strike
in Canada … CN's operations in Canada were hit by a strike by the United
Transportation Union (UTU) at 00:01 Eastern Standard Time on February 10. At
that time, employees represented by the UTU commenced job action and picket
lines went up at all home terminals across Canada. In the meantime,
operations continued with the use of management employees taking the place
of the striking workers. However with a pool of less than half the normal
number of UTU employees available, operations were reduced from what would
have been expected under normal circumstances. Coupled with severe cold and
snow conditions across much of the prairie provinces and at the critical
Symington yard in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a bad situation was made much worse.
Initial attempts to try to combine certain types of trains in
order to accommodate the reduced number of conductors did not work out as
expected and within a week that practice had diminished. For example,
instances of 210-car combination empty unit grain and coal sets were seen
operating between Prince Rupert, British Columbia, and Prince George,
British Columbia. An attempt to operate a 20,000 ton, 145 car, unit grain
train west from Prince George did not fare well when power problems forced
the train to reduce its consist on line. Intermodal operations out of
Vancouver, British Columbia, were modified to minimize the amount of
switching required in that terminal. The former practice of hauling all
container traffic to Kamloops, British Columbia, for sorting and placement
on appropriate trains resumed soon after the strike started. Train Q10651
(Canadian Pacific (CPR) Coquitlam, British Columbia – Montreal, Quebec)
began originating at Kamloops once this practice started. Traffic from CPR
Coquitlam was moved on train L10851 (CPR Coquitlam – Kamloops) and the
automotive traffic Q10651 normally lifted at Vancouver Thornton yard was
shifted to manifest service. Near the end of February, a container ship
destined to Roberts Bank, British Columbia, was diverted to Tacoma,
Washington, for unloading account a serious backlog of traffic at Roberts
Bank. As a result, BNSF operated two trains from Tacoma to Chicago for
interchange to CN. The first extra on BNSF, S-TCPCNI1-03, arrived Cicero,
Illinois at 10:30 March 7 and was headed east past Thornton Jct., Illinois,
on the former GTW as CN symbol Q15091-07 at 17:40 March 7. The first train
was powered by BNSF 1035-BNSF 7809-BNSF 8606 and consisted of 125 platforms.
The second detour was symbolled by BNSF as S-TCPCNI1-04 and was by Staples,
Minnesota, at 13:00 March 7.
On February 24 a tentative agreement was reached between CN
and the UTU, which led to the UTU directing its membership to return to work
pending ratification of the agreement. Results of the ratification were to
be released on March 26, meaning the UTU was technically still on strike
until that date. By March 2, most terminals had seen the return of most of
their UTU staff and the long process to restore normal operations was
underway, for the time being. Further details on operations during the
strike will follow next month.
Plow train in Iowa … In order to clear the Cherokee
Subdivision of snowdrifts accumulated from recent snowstorms, CN operated a
plow train between Fort Dodge, Iowa, and Sioux City, Iowa. Despite being a
work service train, the move was symbolled as G82391-02 and it left Fort
Dodge at 11:36 on March 2. Plow CC 108056 was pushed by units BNSF
5440-8286-629.
Locomotive "Unretirements" … Due to a combination of factors
including the backlog of traffic due to the UTU strike in Canada and large
horsepower hour debt owed to foreign carriers, CN reinstated the following
former Wisconsin Central SD45s on February 27, 2007: WC 6529, WC 7495, WC
7501, WC 7504, WC 7507, WC 7514, WC 7515, WC 7519, WC 7525, WC 7527, WC
7531, WC 7554. -Ken Lanovich, Brian Holmes
