Canada Calling
January 1999
by Bryce Lee
Industry News
Saskatchewan municipalities are calling on Ottawa to stop grain companies
from tearing down prairie elevators. Hundreds of grain elevators in Saskatchewan are being
shut down, and companies like the Wheat Pool plan to tear them down. The associations
representing both rural and urban municipalities in the province called a meeting and
invited six major grain companies. The municipalities want the companies to consider
selling the elevators they don't want to short line railways. They're worried that having
the elevators torn down will mean higher taxes in small towns and more wear on rural
roads. None of the grain companies showed up for the early November meeting. Municipal
leaders have written letters to the federal ministers of agriculture and transport, and
say they will probably appeal to the prime minister.
Federal Transport Minister David Collenette reintroduced a tougher safety
regimen for railways in the House of Commons on Thursday November 6, 1998. The changes
proposed to the Railway Safety Act are aimed at cutting accidents at level crossings and
would give people some say in how trains are operated in their neighbourhoods. They would
also give Transport Canada more authority to enforce tougher safety standards. The
amendments were first introduced in 1996, but were delayed. Collenette said at the time of
the VIA accident in western Canada last year he wanted to make sure a revised legislative
framework would allow his department to implement safety systems for railways and then
audit for compliance. Those elements are in the amendments tabled along with increased
authority for inspectors. The changes would also minimize the disruption caused by train
noise; give unions more say in developing safety standards; clarify federal powers at
railway crossings; and streamline administrative processes. The changes are based on
recommendations from a committee that studied railway safety.
Later in the week, the transport minister was in Windsor, Ontario where he
suggested the federal government might be willing to assist railways in double-tracking
their currently single-track lines. Collenette says trains don't face the same border
congestion problems as trucks. And increased use of trains will stop the wear and tear of
highways by heavy tractor trailers. With the rapid recent increases of cross-border
traffic due in part to the North American free-trade pact, railways are having a difficult
time ensuring goods reach their US customers quickly.
About 300 residents were evacuated from their homes late Friday November
6, 1998 after a boxcar reported to be leaking hydrochloric acid began burning in a
railyard in Chapleau, Ontario. Firefighters and provincial police were on the scene, about
200 kilometres west of Timmins. Officials said the fire was believed to have started at
about 7 p.m. Experts from Canadian Pacific were said to be on their way to help deal with
the problem. There were no reports of injuries and the cause of the leak was not
immediately known. An emergency shelter was set up at a high school and residents were
being asked not to use water as everything available was being redirected to fighting the
fire.
Mississauga, Ontario was a sleepy suburb west of Metropolitan Toronto one
that few people in Toronto, paid much attention to until just before midnight on Nov. 10,
1979. The derailment of a CP Rail freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals
thrust the city into the international spotlight. Emergency personnel held their breath
for the next few days, fighting what they believed was a ticking time bomb while the
largest peace-time evacuation in Canadian history took place. Over the years, ground zero
- the railway level crossing on heavily travelled Mavis Road north of Dundas Street West
showed no sign of the events of that night 19 years ago this year. On November 8, 1998
Heritage Mississauga unveiled a plaque at the site, commemorating the event. "This
event brought world-wide attention to Mississauga, and Canada is safer, the whole country
is safer today because of what truly was the miracle of Mississauga,"
Mayor Hazel McCallion, who was mayor at the time of the derailment.
"Prior to the derailment, there were no safety measures in place for the
transportation of dangerous goods and hazardous chemicals but now our rails are safer and
our roads are safer because of this disaster. Many nearby residents, awakened from their
beds by pounding knocks on their doors, feared the worst. Eight months earlier, there had
been the near-meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. The fire
rising more than 1,500 metres into the air was fed by chemicals inside 23 of the twisted
and tangled tankers of a 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train that derailed on the
eastbound tracks at 11:53 p.m. It was a single chlorine tanker that triggered the
evacuation of nearly 220,000, turning the south end of the city into a ghost town. On
Sunday, November 11 "Remembrance Day" an eerie silence engulfed Mississauga. The
city's south end was completely closed. Businesses, schools, factories and stores were
shut down. Police patrolled deserted streets. Dozens of temporary shelters in labour
halls, churches and schools were set up outside the evacuation zone for people with no
place to go. The International Centre on Airport Road & Sherway Gardens shopping mall
in Etobicoke became home to thousands. Incredibly, nobody was seriously injured or burned.
Eight firefighters breathed some chlorine gas and were treated in hospital and their
health was monitored yearly for the next decade. On November 13, then provincial
solicitor-general Roy McMurtry allowed more than 144,000 people to return to their homes.
Two of Quebec's most powerful companies Bombardier Inc. and Power Corp.
have set up a joint venture to build rail cars in China and won a C$550-million contract
from that country's national railway. The Montreal companies announced November 20 they
will join Chinese partner Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works to build passenger
rail cars in China beginning in mid-1999. Bombardier and Power will own 50 per cent of the
joint venture and Sifang will control the rest. The joint venture follows a memorandum of
understanding signed by the parties a year ago. To support the new venture, China's
national railway company has agreed to buy 300 high-grade intercity rail cars with an
option for 200 additional cars. In total, the purchase is worth about C$550-million.
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) has placed orders for the
next Phase of the automated Skyway system in Jacksonville, Florida. This additional order
represents the exercise of the Completion Option and calls for the system design,
installation and integration of the M-III Monorail system components for the South Bank
Extension including the equipment installation and integration at the Operations and
Maintenance Center. The work is valued at US$14 million. The base contract awarded in
November 1994 to Bombardier by JTA was in the amount of US$54 million. It comprised the
design and supply of nine 2-car monorail vehicles; guidebeams and switches; supervisory
control and data acquisition (SCADA); automatic train control, power supply and
distribution and communication systems.
The owners of the former Canada Southern locomotive/car shop in St. Thomas
have been issued a demolition permit. The shop building is NOT the structure in which the
Elgin County Railway museum is housed. Rather this structure is east and south of the
still in use former Michigan Central Shop. Built in 1872, the yellow brick building served
as the Canada Southern/Michigan Central locomotive shops until 1913 when the larger shop
was built next door. The original building then became the car shops. Some of the building
was destroyed by fire about three years ago, and was demolished. The southern half of the
building was untouched. This building to be demolished sits on private property which is
not owned by Canadian National Railways.
Canadian National Railways
Canadian National opened its new Metals Distribution Centre north of
Toronto in Concord, Ontario, at an official ceremony November 5, 1998. The new facility is
located at CN's Macmillan Yard, Canada's largest rail marshalling yard and the hub of CN's
eastern operations, with daily dedicated rail service to major U.S. gateways. Adjacent to
Highways 400 and 407, the centre is also within 90 minutes of all major customers. The
65,000-square feet, temperature controlled facility offers customers transfer and storage
services for a variety of metal products used in the automotive industry, appliance
manufacturing and construction markets. The state-of-the-art Metals Distribution Centre,
open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, offers customers quick turnaround times in the
highly competitive steel market. The centre is climate controlled, which allows for the
transfer and storage of temperature-sensitive products such as high-grade steel coils
manufactured for the automotive industry. Southwestern Ontario is the largest
steel-producing and consuming region in Canada, with approximately 13 million tons of
steel produced in the region.
Canadian National Railway Co. has struck a deal with a major U.S.
railroad, removing a potential hurdle to its proposed US$2.4-billion merger with Illinois
Central Corp. CN noted it had reached agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway Co.,
settling concerns Norfolk had over how the CN merger with Illinois Central would affect
its operations. Canadian National president Paul Tellier said the deal resolves issues
that stood in the way of the merger, which still needs regulatory approval from the U.S.
Surface Transportation Board. Norfolk Southern was worried the proposed merger might
affect its partnership with Illinois Central, under which Norfolk trains move over
Illinois Central track in the state of Illinois, a major U.S. Midwest market. Under the
settlement, Norfolk Southern will not oppose the CN-Illinois Central merger and has agreed
to withdraw its request to the transportation board that conditions be imposed.
North Dakota interests fear a proposed merger of Canadian National Railway
and Illinois Central Railroad will eliminate an existing rail route for millions of
bushels of North Dakota grain exports that now reach Gulf Coast ports via Illinois
Central. They believe CN will favour shipments of Canadian grain originating along its own
tracks in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta over North Dakota grain now moved to Chicago
by Soo Line Railroad. Soo, a subsidiary of CN rival Canadian Pacific Railway, currently
operates that route in conjunction with Illinois Central. Without the existing
relationship of Soo Line and IC, North Dakota would have only one carrier to reach those
ports; the North Dakota Public Service Commission wants the ability to have two carriers
that provide access to that market. If the Soo Line-Illinois Central routing is
eliminated, Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway would be the only direct Gulf Coast
outlet for North Dakota grain.
Canadian National has completed national 1998 labour negotiations with all
of its unions in Canada following ratification of a new labour contract by the 300-member
Rail Canada Traffic Controllers union. Rail traffic controllers play a key role in
dispatching trains across CN's Canadian rail network. With all labour contracts now
ratified in Canada, CN has renewed collective agreements with seven unions through the end
of the year 2000. The RCTC agreement, retroactive to January 1, 1998, includes wage
increases of two per cent annually and improvements to pension, benefit, dental and
extended health care plans. The Canadian Auto Workers union is asking the federal Labour
Minister to restore its right to negotiate; including the right to strike, in order to
counter CN's announced elimination of 3,000 jobs, of which 1,075 belong to CAW members.
"We're formally charging CN with bargaining in bad faith," said CAW president
Buzz Hargrove, in a press conference called to announce "Phase I" of the CAW's
action plan to challenge the layoffs. "CN knew the layoffs were coming, but
deliberately said nothing until after our members ratified a three-year agreement in
September 1998 so as not to have to negotiate the issue with us while we still had the
right to strike. And that's illegal." CN has refused the union's demand to open
formal negotiations. Canadian National Railway Co. is denying union allegations that it
promised an end to major layoffs during contract bargaining this summer and fall.
Chief executive Paul Tellier "never said there will be no more
layoffs," company spokesman Mark Hallman in a telephone interview. "CN is
constantly working on ways to make the railway more efficient. The company indicated to
unions that layoffs and downsizing were part of that plan." Tellier has told
shareholders, media and U.S. regulatory bodies that layoffs were effectively over, but
Hallman said those statements referred only to jobs in the United States, where CN is
planning to buy Illinois Central Corp. of Chicago. [An overheard quip: "The way CN is
going the only line it will have left in Canada will be an 800 one to Kansas City."]
CN's largest railway yard near Toronto was evacuated early Thursday
November 26, 1998 after three tank cars derailed, causing a hazardous chemical leak. One
car leaked anhydrous ammonia, an irritating and corrosive gas used to make fertilizer.
Police were on standby after the departing 120-car freight train derailed at 7:11 a.m at
the CN MacMillan Yard, north of Toronto. A CN spokesman, said two tanker cars ended up on
their sides, one remained partly on tracks and a small vapour leak was detected from the
dome of one car. Anhydrous ammonia is toxic and vapours can be dangerous to people if
released into the air. Police diverted traffic for an hour from surrounding roads
including a highway, as a precautionary measure. By 9 a.m. rail operations resumed in most
of the yard after when potential dangers was downgraded. A crew worked to secure the leak
or off-load the ammonia to another tank car.
Recently Train 367 out of Montreal handled retired M636 2338 to Toronto,
where it was to be stored in the VIA Toronto Maintenance Centre. At least the unit will be
safe and warm for the winter. The unit will be preserved. 2338 will join 33 GP40-2's
stored at VIA for winter protection. On November 22, 1998 at 0800 VIA ran special train
X63221-22 from Ottawa Ontario, with unit F40PH 6402, handling RDC's 6137, 6221, 6140,
6143, 6222, 6118, baggage car 618, and Park cars 15512, 15513, 15501. This is of course
the equipment that has been stored there for a long time. The special was restricted to 45
MPH and went to the VIA Montreal maintenance centre.
Canadian Pacific Railway
As part of its continuing recognition of the contribution of Chinese
workers to the original construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the CPR has become
the lead sponsor of a new one hour documentary film entitled Canadian Steel, Chinese Grit.
Copies of the film will be widely distributed to schools, libraries and museums across the
country. On Tuesday, November 24, CP hosted the Calgary premiere of the film in the
Crystal Ballroom at the Palliser Hotel. Hosted by Rob Ritchie, CPR's President and CEO,
the invitation-only event drew many prominent members of Calgary's Chinese community, as
well as representatives of Alberta business and government. The one-hour video tells the
story of the more than 15,000 Chinese workers who, between 1880 and 1885, helped construct
the railway from Vancouver, through the dangerous Fraser Canyon, and then on to eastern
B.C. Through interviews with descendants of Chinese railway workers and Chinese Canadian
academics and historians, the documentary reconstructs an unforgettable picture of early
Chinese presence in Canada. Through archival photographs and documents, and land and
aerial views of the formidable mountain terrain over which railway workers toiled to lay
tracks, the documentary recreates the geographic, social and economic realities of the
1880s.
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and Consolidated Fastfrate Inc. (CFF)
announced November 23 that they've signed a strategic partnership agreement designed to
maximize efficiencies for LTL (less than truckload) customers. Frequently companies, from
Canada's largest to its smaller entrepreneurs, need to ship in volumes too small to fill a
container or trailer. In these cases, LTL freight consolidation offers an efficient,
cost-effective way to move their product. The CPR/CFF five-year deal, worth over C$200
million for CPR, involves the movement of LTL long-haul traffic across CPR's
transcontinental routes. CPR continues to work with CFF in its conversion from boxcars to
intermodal containers. Currently, 100 per cent of CFF's Montreal and 65 per cent of
Toronto originating traffic moves in containers. By the year 2000, CPR will have converted
all of its CFF traffic into domestic containers. The use of CPR's container fleet means
reduced handling of customers' goods, resulting in lower claims for damaged goods and
faster, more efficient service. Toronto-based Consolidated Fastfrate Inc. is Canada's
largest privately-owned freight forwarder.
The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) won honours at the sixth annual
Canadian Information Productivity Awards banquet the week of November 10, 1998. The
Calgary-based railway won the Best of Category award in Organizational Transformation for
its pioneering work on a data system which allows freight shippers to put highway trailers
on trains as easily as they make airline reservations for themselves. Developed by the
CPR, the system provides full automation of administrative procedures associated with the
movement of highway trailers on and off a continuous-platform train, which runs on a
high-priority schedule between Toronto and Montreal. CPR customers needed a simplified
pickup and delivery system in dedicated terminals where truck and rail service meet. Full
automation means that customers use an automated reservation system by Internet, phone or
fax to reserve a guaranteed slot on a train. Shipment data gathered by the reservation
system drives the efficiency of business and terminal procedures. Hand-held portable
computers are used by terminal staff to control all operations from the time a highway
trailer arrives at the terminal to train departure. The driver's time in the terminal yard
has been reduced to a fraction of the time spent in conventional railway freight
terminals. Known as Iron Highway, the trailer-on-train service is a safe and
environmentally friendly alternative to congested highways which allows the railway to
partner closely with the trucking industry for a greater market share of the short-haul
intermodal business (Iron Highway is a registered trademark of the CSX Corporation). It is
operated by the CPR's eastern subsidiary, the St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway.
Canadian Pacific Railway on November 10, 1998 opened a C$27.5-million,
40-hectare (100-acre) freight handling facility in southeast Calgary, Alberta. The
facility, located east of Deerfoot Trail and north of Highway 22X, will be among the
largest of 24 intermodal facilities operated by CPR, providing quick and efficient freight
transfer between rail line and trucks. CPR's new facility will serve as a major
distribution hub for train and truck traffic moving to and from southern Alberta and
eastern British Columbia, and will add new efficiencies to the railway's growing business
in the corridor between Calgary and Chicago. The facility currently has capacity for up to
105,000 containers and trailers a year, but has great capacity for growth, allowing CPR to
handle up to 200,000 containers and trailers to meet potential future demand. The Calgary
Intermodal Facility, which will employ more than 40 full-time employees, replaces CPR's
former intermodal operations at Alyth yard, just southeast of the city core. While Alyth
remains a key freight yard for bulk commodity trains, as well as a site for diesel
locomotive and rail car repairs, it no longer has the capacity to accommodate CPR's
growing intermodal business in Western Canada.
SHORTLINES
On November 4, 1998 RailTex announced the promotion of Joseph P. Jahnke to
the position of Vice President-Chief Financial Officer. Ronald A. Rittenmeyer, President
and Chief Executive Officer of RailTex, made the announcement, effective immediately.
Jahnke has been with RailTex for more than three years, and has served the Company in
various finance and treasury positions, most recently as Treasurer. In his new role,
Jahnke will be responsible for finance, treasury, investor relations and accounting.
Jahnke joined RailTex with substantial experience in treasury and finance in the
technology and transportation industries, including nearly nine years with Greyhound
Lines, Inc. He is a graduate of Creighton University. Greg Petersen has been named Vice
President Strategic Planning and Development. Petersen has been with RailTex since May,
1997, when he joined the Company from AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, where
he was Managing Director of Corporate Development. He is a graduate of Boston College and
received his M.B.A. from Duke University.
A quick update on the remaining BC Rail M420's. Four of the remaining 9
M420's have been sold to the Carleton Trail Railway. As of November 20, 1998 the four
units (M420W 643, M420B's 681, 683 and 685) were in North Vancouver for transfer to CN for
forwarding to the short line. The remaining five are going out in style. The 641, 644, 646
and 647 were back in service on the Takla subdivision as of the week of November 16, 1998.
The 642 was stored at Squamish.
Canada's newest shortline expects to begin operating between Richmond,
Quebec and Island Pond, Vermont on December 1, 1998. Last summer the U.S. holding company
Emons Transportation purchased the Sherbrooke subdivision of the Canadian National
Railway. The Pennsylvania-based Emons has created a new subsidiary, Le chemin de fer
St-Laurent et Atlantique (Quebec Inc.), to provide freight service to industrial customers
along the historic line, which is part of the original Grand Trunk Railway. SLR-Q has
bought the tracks from Island Pond Vermont to Ste-Rosalie Junction, near St-Hyacinthe
Quebec; CN crews will move trains between Montreal and Richmond. The 157 kilometre
(94-mile) line runs through Acton Vale, Richmond, Windsor, Sherbrooke, Lennoxville,
Waterville, Coaticook, Dixville and Stanhope, entering the U.S. at Norton, Vermont. A
decade ago Emons bought the 165-mile New England portion of the Grand Trunk between Island
Pond and Portland, Maine. The new owners revived its original name, St.Lawrence and
Atlantic Railroad. SLR-Q purchased ten second-hand M420 diesel locomotives from CN
numbered 3505, 3512, 3516, 3517, 3519, 3562, 3569, 3573, 3578, 3579.
Canadian American (CDAC) through trains 931-930 have been running since
mid-September 1998. Train 930 leaves Toronto's Obico Yard Monday to Friday 2100, due at
Montreal 0630-0830, Saint John, NB 0400. At Montreal, power is supposed to change at
Sortin CDAC intermodal yard. At Delson, 930 lifts intermodal traffic from CP 555. Train
931 leaves Saint John at 1830 Mon. to Fri., Farnham 1015-1115, Delson 1155-1230, Montreal
1300-1400, Lambton 2345-0045, Obico 0115. At Farnham, sets off Sortin intermodal; at
Delson, sets off intermodal cars to go down the D&H; at Montreal, change power. During
November the train has been operating with a leased CPR SD40-2 and a CDAC unit as a result
of major motive power failures on the CDAC.
Railtex has LEASED the Guelph Subdivision from Silver, mile 30.08 to
Highbury Avenue, London Ontario, mile 118.78, including the Fergus Spur, the Galt
Industrial Spur, the Guelph North Spur, the Bridgeport Spur, the Huron Park Spur, and the
Waterloo Spur. They have trackage rights on CN from Silver to Macmillan Yard and from
Highbury Ave. to London East. This took effect 0001 November 16, 1998. VIA passenger
service will continue on the line as before; operations incorporate the present RailTex
owned line Goderich-Exeter which operates from Stratford to Goderich on Lake Huron with a
branch to Exeter, Ontario. CN train schedules will exist for trains 431-432 between Silver
and Macmillan Yard to accommodate reporting of the Railtex train into and out of Macmillan
Yard in the afternoon. The autoframes from Budd Automotive in Kitchener are now lifted by
CN Train 277 at London, and will now operate via the Dundas Subdivision. The Goderich
Exeter operating schedule: Kitchener 1130 to Macmillan Yard 1330-1530 returns to Kitchener
1840, daily except Saturday; traffic connects with Goderich turn; Kitchener 2115;
Stratford 2215-2300; Goderich 0130; Stratford 0430-0500; Kitchener 0630, Daily except
Saturday; traffic connects with London turn at Stratford and Macmillan Yard turn at
Kitchener; Stratford 2230; London 0100-0200; Stratford 0430; operates daily except Sunday;
Kitchener yard 1630 and 0200 daily except Sunday.
Motive power for the Goderich Exeter's Guelph Sub: GP7 700 (exxxx-I&O
52, exxx-B&O 5268, exx-B&O 6696, ex-B&O 3403, nee-B&O 743); GP9 901
(exx-South Central Carolina 901, ex-B&O 6440, nee-B&O 690); GP38 9539 (to be
renumbered 3856, ex-NECR 9539, nee-IC 9539); GP40s 4019 (exx-Central Oregon & Pacific
1348, ex-NS 1348, nee-N&W 1348); 4022 (ex-GATX 3077, nee-B&O 3713); 4046
(exx-Virginia Southern 512, ex-UP 512, nee-MKT 206). In addition GEXR has leased EMDX
GP40s 204 & 205, ex GO Transit 722 & 723, nee Rock Island. Also leased are
Canadian National Railways GP9u 7020 and GP40-2 9650.
The following Canadian National lines have been sold to shortline
operators:
->The Montfort Spur has been sold to QGRY from MP 23.1, the diamond
crossing with the Quebec Gatineau Railway, to mile 39.4, end-of-track St.Jerome, including
Carbo, Rinfret, and St. Jerome industrial spurs. This sale took effect November 2, 1998.
->The Cayuga Spur which was the westernmost remaining portion of the
Cayuga Subdivision became the St. Thomas & Eastern. Mileage is from former mile 80.92
Cayuga Subdivision (roughly the west end of Delhi Ontario near a place called Fertilizer
Road) to mile 114.55, near Yarmouth Centre, which is the crossing of the out-of-service
CASO Subdivision with trackage rights on CN from mile 114.55 into St. Thomas's former
Wabash Yard. Took effect 0001 November 9, 1998 and is owned by Trillium Rail which also
has a hand in the Port Colborne Harbour Railway. M420W's 3568 and 3575 are now in service
on the St. Thomas & Eastern. Based out of Tillsonburg Ontario the operation runs to
St.Thomas to exchange cars then switches the line on the return trip. Present operation is
Monday, Wednesday and Friday. ST&E Yard\Mainline Frequency is 161.515. The remaining
east end of the Cayuga Subdivision, extends from Robbins, mile 12.0, junction with the
Stamford Subdivision, to end-of-track, mile 22.0, 1.1 miles west of Feeder West.
->To the Chemin de Fer du Quebec the Beachburg Subdivision from
Federal, mile 5.97 to end-of-track in Pembroke, mile 88.7 and also the Walkley Line
between Hawthorne, mile 0.0, and Wass, mile 5.83. Called the Ottawa Central it will have
trackage rights on CN on CN's and VIA's Alexandria Subdivision between Ottawa and Coteau,
and on CN's Smiths Falls Subdivision. from Federal to Richmond. As far as the Alexandria
Subdivision is concerned, VIA leases from Coteau Junction, mile 0.0 to Glen Robertson,
mile 15.0, and owns from Glen Robertson to Hawthorne, mile 72.4. Ottawa Central will have
rights only on VIA's Alexandria Subdivision, (both owned and leased portions) from
Hawthorne, mile 72.4 to Coteau Junction, mile 0.0. In addition, the shortline
"may" also operate the Renfrew Subdivision. However, this line is already owned
by the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carlton, and when train 537 operates to Renfrew and
return, the entire cost is billed to the Municipality. The line will be called the Ottawa
Central Railway and they have purchased the last six CP RS18us: 1815, 1824, 1828, 1838,
1842, 1865 and C424 4204. Takeover date is set for December 13, 1998.
Essentially, what will be left in CN's hands, will be the Alexandria
Subdivision. from Hawthorne, mile 72.4 to Ottawa, mile 76.5, the Beachburg Subdivision.
from Ottawa, mile 0.0, to Federal, mile 5.97, and the Smiths Falls Subdivision. from
Federal, mile 0.0 to just past Richmond at mile 13.0.
Until October 23, 1998 a railway line between Barrie Ontario and
Collingwood Ontario, had been operated under contract by Cando Contracting, as the Barrie-
Collingwood Railway, with little to distinguish the operation from what CN had previously
provided, and absolutely no future security in the face of abandonment notices for their
connection with the outside world which was the disconnected to the north Canadian
National Railway Newmarket Subdivision. The people from Collingwood and Barrie, have
fought CN in the face of abandonment notices for their line and the connection to the
outside world and more so to establish their own shortline railway. Current motive power
is a GP9 numbered 1000. Convincing Canadian Pacific Railway executives to allow the
construction of an interchange track at a diamond crossing between their mainline and a
shortline railway was no small accomplishment. There are many who worked hard to establish
the opening of an interchange between CPR, and a fledgling but feisty shortline operation
forged by two determined communities. The presence of a Canadian Pacific vice-president
and one of their six-axle units in the new paint scheme, along with many dignitaries from
CN and federal, provincial and municipal politicians spoke to the magnitude of this
accomplishment. The event really marked the completion of the BCRY/CPR interchange. With
the probable dismantling of CN's Newmarket subdivision, BCRY needed the interchange with
CP. With this finally in place, BCRY can breathe easier knowing their future doesn't
depend on attempts to save the CN trackage. In the interim the remainder of the Newmarket
Subdivision to the south between Barrie, where it connects with the Barrie Collingwood
Railway and Bradford. It is likely to survive, owned by the Ontario government, ostensibly
to allow future GO Transit usage.
Ontario Southland-owned former TH&B 51 is now stored inside,
serviceable at the Magna frame plant in St. Thomas Ontario, leased to Cando Contracting in
case one of their two locomotives fails. Ontario Southland is due to take over operation
of the former CP Port Burwell Subdivision from Ingersoll to Tillsonburg, Ontario sometime
in December 1998. Motive power is expected to be RS23 500.
An American railroad has made an offer to purchase a 240-kilometre stretch
of track in southern Manitoba from CN. Steven Van Wagenen, of Tulare Valley Railroad
Company in Salt Lake City, Utah, says CN received the offer. If CN accepts the bid, the
company plans to operate the line between Elgin and Morris, providing weekly rail service,
to begin with, to grain companies and others along the line. Van Wagenen says the level of
service will depend on demand, adding a local supervisor and rail crew will be stationed
in Manitoba. If the offer is accepted, it will be the company's first foray into Canada.
CN said a decision on the offer will be made within a couple of weeks.
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and two other rural municipalities have joined
forces to perhaps purchase a railway. CN plans to abandon 26 miles of track from Prince
Albert to Birch Hills. Mayor Don Cody said "the rail line is important because it's
the last east-west rail link in Northern Saskatchewan. There are opportunities that we
want to protect. Not that we want to run a railroad very badly but the municipalities
believe protection of this line is so important to ensure we have east-west linking, not
just north-south." Without the line, Cody noted grain farmers would have to ship an
additional 350 miles to reach the port of Churchill. Cody mentioned the municipalities
would have to pay just six per cent of the cost, with the balance coming from Regina and
Ottawa.
Canadian Pacific Railway announced on November 10, 1998 it has finalized
an agreement to transfer its rail operations in the Okanagan region of British Columbia to
OmniTRAX Canada. Under a long-term lease agreement with CPR, OmniTRAX Canada has
established a new shortline company; the Okanagan Valley Railway (OKAN) to provide rail
service on the Okanagan Subdivision, a 151-km (94-mile) stretch of track from Sicamous
south to Armstrong, Vernon, Lumby and Kelowna, BC. The new railway took over operations of
the Okanagan line at 11:59 p.m., November 21, 1998. The Okanagan Valley Railway will
provide rail service to and from CPR's east-west main line at Sicamous, with running
rights over the 77-km (48-mile) CN-owned southern section of the line, between Vernon,
Lumby and Kelowna. CN will continue to operate via long-established running rights with
CPR between Armstrong and Vernon. With a direct connection to CPR's main line at Sicamous,
the Okanagan Valley Railway will provide shippers and receivers on the Okanagan line with
continued rail access to Canadian, U.S., and international markets. Among the freight
currently carried on the Okanagan Subdivision are aggregates, forest and resource
products, chemicals and some grain. There is no passenger service on the line. OmniTRAX
Canada is affiliated with OmniTRAX Inc. of Denver, Colorado, which has 10 railways in the
United States. OmniTRAX is the largest privately-held North American shortline railroad
holding company. Its other Canadian companies are TransCanada Switching in Vancouver
(Deltaport); Hudson Bay Port Company in Churchill, Manitoba; Hudson Bay Railway in The
Pas, Manitoba; and Carlton Trail Railway in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
CN MOTIVE POWER
Retirements: SD40 5207 November 3, Nov.4 5203, GP40-2L 9483, the unit was
damaged in the washout at Island Pond Vermont last spring. Nov. 9 GMD1m 1151, GP9u 4002,
4004, 4005, 4007, 4020, 4105, SD40 5017, 5046, 5061. The reconfigured KCS units are former
CN units. Their new and old numbers so far: 6600/5088, 6601/5214, 6602/5095, 6603/5089,
6604/5090, 6605/5085, 6606/5147, 6607/5091, 6608/5106, 6609/5157, 6610/5094, 6611/5164,
6612/5108. At the end of November there were three SD40's still leased to the New
Brunswick East Coast 5070, 5230, and 5392.
CP MOTIVE POWER
CP Rail AC4400CWs 8543, 8553-8571 assigned to the Soo Line are to be
delivered in Snow Blaster configuration. Units are equipped with high pressure air hoses
in front of the lead truck wheels which will blow high pressure air onto the track to
clear of snow to aid adhesion.
The Morristown & Erie has purchased C424s 4216-31-40. These are
expected to be numbered 21, 22, and 23 once they reach the M&E at the end of November
1998. The 4216 was the last operational C424 on CPR. Some of the new CP built as well as
GMDD built SD90MACs are being painted at VMV in Paducah Kentucky. The units continue to
trickle out of the two construction sites. The order for 60 General Electric AC4400CWs in
the 8500 number series should be concluded by the end of December 1998. Training in
operation of AC units has been concluded across Canada. The 8500s will be assigned to St.
Paul Minnesota for the Soo Line, although they may well be seen system-wide.
CP GP30 5000 has been sold to the Canadian Rockies Museum Foundation and
will spend the winter here in Edmonton at the Alberta Railway Museum. The 5001 has been
sold to Broadway Motors whoever they are. The balance of the GP35s have been sold either
to Helm Leasing or to RaiLink.
Helm has purchased from CP GP35s 5004, 5007, 5010, 5016, 5017, 5020, 5022,
5023, 5024, 5025, all are now at VMV. At Metro-East in East St. Louis, are CP SW1200 1202,
1206, GP35s 5008 and 5019. CP will only be getting eight of the former B&M GP40-2's,
to be CP 4650-4657, with Canadian leader equipment now being installed in Thief River
Falls. Three SW1200RS's sold to Louis Dreyfus, Winnipeg Manitoba; 1242, 1243, 8109 have
been renumbered LDCX 2001, 2002, and 2003, not necessarily in that order. The three units
will each work at a different grain elevator. 2001 will be moving to Rathwell, Manitoba.
Please continue to send contributions by snailmail to
Bryce Lee, 1377 Eden Place, Burlington, Ontario L7S 1J9 Canada or by e-mail to brycelee@globalserve.net. Alternate e-mail shpbur@passport.ca
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