AGAWA CANYON TOUR TRAIN
Further to the item in last month’s news, the CN acquisition of the former Denver Ski Train includes three F40PH-2 locomotives, eight coaches, two café lounge cars, three club cars and a presentation car from Ansco Investment Co. of Denver. CN will refurbish these cars, and CN will add two dome cars that it already owns to make the upgraded train capable of carrying as many as 900 people on its tour trips out of Sault Ste. Marie,, Ontario. (M.C.M.)
MOTIVE POWER NOTES
CN has now retired the last two former BC Rail SD40-2 units from its roster, those being 754 and 767. They and a number of other retired units are part of an ongoing auction sale (TJ)…...CN has renumbered the new Track Geometry test car (former Budd RDC) from 15016 to just 1501. Apparently the five digit number created problems in some of the computer operating systems where a maximum of four digits is the norm.(TJ)….Sightings in the local area (at Thornton unless noted otherwise) 17 March Illinois Central 1017 and 1024, 21 March SRY GMD-1 1201, 28 March Illinois Central 1017 again, 30 March Norfolk Southern 9129, 8 April Illinois Central 2459 in CN blue colours, 9 April IC 1010 and CN 7304 / 7309 stored serviceable, 15 April IC 1033, 17 April Wisconsin Central 2001, 23 April CSX 212 and IC 1004, 2 May IC 1015, 4 May WC 2003, 8 May IC 1008 and new Beltpak equipped unit / slug set 7259 / 236, 19 May CPR Olympic unit 8870, 24 May Neptune Terminals 806 on transfer to SRY, 25 May IC 1003, 31 May CN 7036 and business car Pacific Spirit. (R.C.)
UNUSUAL MOVES / LASH UPS
Motive power consist on train M 35451 29 eastbound at Hampton, BC was CN ES44DC 2224 / BCOL B39-8E’s 3906 / 3907 (unusual to have two of these together…...Train X 31251 29 eastbound from Edmonton had CN SD70M-2 8813 / BCOL Dash8-40CM 4617 / Athabasca Northern GP9RM 4010. (J.M.)
A business car train operated North Vancouver to Squamish and return on June 4, with SD70I #5604 for power and cars Fraser Spirit 1701 / American Spirit 99 / Pacific Spirit 100. The train departed North Vancouver at 1603 arriving Squamish 1751, and departed Squamish 1833 arriving back at North Vancouver 2018. (J.M.)
NORTH VANCOUVER NOTES
The former BC Rail yard tower at North Vancouver has been vacated by CN and closed, all operations now done from the yardmaster at Lynn Creek…..trains 571 and 570 once again terminate in Squamish and the Squamish yard crews are back, North Van now sees local service to / from Squamish and occasional extensions of Lillooet trains 568 / 569. (SDHSE)
UNUSUAL OPERATION
Canadian Pacific train 402 departed CN’s Thornton yard on June 9 with five units—CPR ES44AC 8834, CN Dash9-44CW 2529, and CP AC4400CW’s 9773 / 9754 / 9514. The train had 161 cars. At Ruby Creek, the train was split into two sections, with 9754 / 9514 taking the first 122 cars, and 8834 / 2529 / 9773 taking cars 113 to 161. (J.M.)
O YARD JOB ABOLISHED
The O Yard switcher job in South Vancouver (Kent Ave.) is history. Due declining traffic on the line from New Westminster to Marpole and Richmond, customers are now served directly by a road switcher transfer assignment out of Coquitlam and via New Westminster. (SDHSE)
WCRA STORES FRASER DISCOVERY TRAIN CONSIST
The operations of the Rocky Mountaineer Fraser Discovery route train have been scaled back for 2009 due the poor economy, and the train is laying off some trips this season. When it does, the train is travelling to Squamish with the Whistler Mountaineer and being stored by WCRA at our ship facilities. The train is then turned by a CN Squamish crew before leaving again on a northbound Whistler Mountaineer some five days after arriving. This operation will occur several times throughout the 2009 season.
COACH LOANED FOR DAY OUT WITH THOMAS
Thanks to Rocky Mountaineer for the loan of one coach enabling us to sell more seats on the Day Out With Thomas trains. Red Leaf coach 5717 was borrowed from the Fraser Discovery consist for use on our June 6 / 7 and June 13 / 14 event trains.
NEW LOGO
SRY's new logo features the red circle with the Washington “W”, and it is being progressively applied to the motive power fleet. One of the first units with it was GP9 #124, which ran with the Royal Hudson train on May 3, 2009. #124 was just back from Vancouver Island where it and sister 129 had relieved for SRVI’s usual 110 / 119 units (which had been vandalized at Nanaimo by copper thieves.) (SDHSE)
BNSF's BARGE JOB CHANGES HANDS
After almost a hundred years, BNSF has pulled out of Downtown Vancouver, and has seen the switching of the barge slip at the Port of Vancouver change hands. An agreement recently signed, saw Southern Railway of BC (SRY) take charge of this job.
Thursday, May 14, saw the last day of BNSF doing the worki, and Tuesday was the first day of SRYs operation. SW900RSm’s 911 and 910, in the new logo scheme were the inaugural power, having been transferred to Downtown Vancouver earlier in the day. (D.K.)
SRY has purchased the Vancouver docks from BNSF and established operations to serve the slip there, thus gaining access to Vancouver harbour. Primary traffic is tank cars destined for pulp mills and boxcars loaded with pulp and paper products from the mills, plus associated empty car moves. SRY sees the slip as important for future rail operations and may also use the access for service to Vancouver Island in the future.
The first SRY train ran with 911 / 910 and 11 cars on May 19—SRY plans to switch the barge slip Sundays through Thursdays, basing its units at the Vancouver house track (BNSF). It will operate transfer moves between Vancouver and New Westminster Mondays / Wednesdays and Fridays as needed. (SDHSE)
OTHER NEWS
BNSF end cab switchers are now history with the departure of the last units SW 1500 3450 (active) and 3469 (inactive) from the area—BNSF operations here are now served by pairs of GP type units from the Seattle Interbay –pool. (SDHSE)
TRANSLINK NEWS
Vancouver's SkyTrain handled its one billionth passenger in early March 2009, just 23 years after the system first opened in 1986. An average weekday sees SkyTrain operate 480 trips with trains running 33,000 km and carrying around 240,000 passengers.
West Coast Express will get 7 additional coaches, to be delivered by September 2010, bringing the fleet to 44 cars.
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