All tied up at Bedell

I recently had the chance to spend a little time trackside at Bedell, on the Canadian Pacific Winchester Subdivision. In recent years, I have had some luck visiting this right-of-way in the afternoon, as there is occasionally a freight making its way through the area between 12 noon and 2 p.m. I was trackside around this time.

The first thing I noticed was this.

Ties. Hundreds of them. All of them stacked next to the south track. I had heard a lot about CP's work to single track this line and replace the double track right-of-way with a single track governed by CTC. I've seen some chatter from local rail enthusiasts that this is an omen of smaller traffic levels.

I, for one, disagree. This seems to me, to be nothing more than a cost-saving measure. If a railway can maintain the same level of traffic on one line with CTC, why bother with two tracks? With today's obsession with operating ratios and efficiencies, it makes sense. A few long sidings are all that's needed. Or so it seems.

The only example of this that comes to mind is the CN Strathroy Subdivision between Sarnia and London. It was single tracked quite a while ago, but it seems to be busier than ever these days with one track being governed by CTC and the appropriate sidings.

The other reason I think the CP plan isn't a bad thing is because we need to remember that CP has also re-reestablished its presence east of Montreal. We all know about the acquisition of the Central Maine and Quebec, which itself was the latest entity to operate over what had once been CP tracks. It seems logical to me that CP management wouldn't take on such a massive capital expense east of Montreal if it didn't have plans to capitalize on having its own Canadian link to the East Coast. Possible more container traffic to Eastern Canada? More ethanol trains? Who knows? All I know is that, whatever CP has in store east of Montreal, it will definitely have an impact on the Winchester Sub.

Here's another reason why the single tracking on this track isn't a bad thing.

Now that new signalling is in place, it makes it that much easier to get an idea of what type of traffic you can expect when you get trackside. Of course, I realize most who read this rely on scanners. I, for one, do not. I rely on observations, reading about operations, learning from my peers and, obviously, reading the signals. This is something I have really focused on in recent years, which is why I am happy to have this signals near Bedell.

Sadly, I wasn't able to catch any trains the day I visited this spot. The only equipment I was able to see was this string of MoW equipment parked on a siding just west of the Bedell Road crossing.

The Bedell area has yet to see any removals of its tracks, although I'm sure that will happen soon enough. When I was there recently, I didn't notice anything different. All the old tracks were still in place, although there was a great deal of construction equipment behind fencing near the grounds of the old station. Something is about to happen here. Possibly it already has.

So, even though I didn't see any trains, I still thought I'd share this recent shot I grabbed last year when I caught an eastbound in this area.

I have noticed that some folks have the same ominous feeling about freight rail service in Ottawa now that CN is planning to pull up stakes in the capital again. I will share my thoughts about this in a future post.

Eastbound and down in Bedell

Last week, I shared a few observations about Bedell, Ontario, a great spot to see passing freight trains on the CP Winchester Sub. This might be my favourite spot, simply because it is so quiet and the views along the line are quite impressive (when you can find a spot clear of weeds).

Those who have been here know there is a small hill next to the tracks, close to where Bedell Road crosses the tracks. Sadly, the weeds on the hill are making photos tough. But, closer to the crossing, there is a clear section next to the bad order track that offers a fairly decent vantage point where you can capture an eastbound train.

I should mention that I had initially set up on the hill and was planning to try and get in front of the weeds on the edge of the hill, in order to capture a westbound freight. But, for the first time, I heard the sound of an engine horn coming from the east, which forced me to scramble to the clearing near the tracks. The only disadvantage to this spot is that is in not elevated.

Anyway, I set up and could hear the eastbound freight charging toward the crossing at quite a clip. I’m not sure what the speed limit would be on this stretch of the tracks, but I am assuming this train was travelling at about 70-80 km/h. Some experts tell me the limit is 65 mph which seems about right.

 

I was a little disappointed that the train was an intermodal, but there were a few points of interest. The head end was led by the usual two six-axle hulks.

But what I found interesting was that, while there was a double stack container behind the power, there was a short string of autoracks, which gave way to a long string of containers. I don’t pretend to know why trains are made up the way they are, but I did find these outliers interesting in an otherwise all-intermodal train.

In this shot, I think I might have caught a refrigerated container unit (UASC marks on the side). At least that was what it looked like. This was the only container on the train that had what seemed like an air conditioning unit. Someone who is more knowledgeable can correct me, if I'm off the mark.

I know most railfans don’t like shooting intermodal consists, but I always like getting a shot of a string of colourful containers in a long line. This train had no Canadian Tire containers to shoot, so I contented myself with a few of these multicoloured images.

Another thing I found interesting was that this train had barely a spot of graffiti on it. I know that well cars are usually not the canvass of choice, but they do often bear frequent tags of the “artists” who deface trains. This consist had almost none. I think it might have been because much of this train was made up of brand new well cars. Mostly, they were these shiny yellow TTX wells.

Here’s a question for the experts out there. I occasionally see these tanks in well cars. This train had a number of them. What do these tanks usually carry? I wonder why a liquid cargo would be carried in these tanks on well cars and not in a dedicated tank car. It might be because the liquid is from overseas, which would necessitate being handled in an international shipping container. Just a guess. Does any out there know?

This was a long train. I had to work around a lot of bushes to get a decent going away shot of the end of the train. Here it is. A great meet for me at my favourite spot.

Spring observations in Bedell

Last weekend, I had the chance to take a break from my hectic family life to have some “Daddy time” as my daughters called it. I decided to go to one of my favourite railway spots, Bedell, Ontario. I haven’t been out to this spot in several years and was surprised how much has changed.

For those not familiar with Bedell, check out some of my older posts about this spot, which once hosted a CP passenger station and active rail yard, right outside of Kemptville, Ontario, south of Ottawa.

The rolling pipeline in Bedell (2016)
Bedell, Ontario, Part I (2014)
Bedell Ontario, Part II (2014)
Bedell, Ontario, Part III (2014)

Getting back to my observations from this past weekend…

First, the vegetation on the north side of the CP Winchester Sub has clearly been allowed to grow a fair bit. That’s obviously not a big deal to the railway, but it’s a big deal to me, since it made my vantage points of the line much more difficult. Witness this shot, which essentially shows how high the bushes are in this spot, making the going away shot tough to get! (More shots from my meet with an eastbound freight next week)

Note the bush on the left. No going away shots were possible during this meet!

Second, the railway has stacked hundreds of old railway ties along the tracks in this area as well. Once again, a big visual hazard that forced me to reconsider where I might be able to set up for a shot of a passing freight train.

Third, the old remnants of the North Prescott Spur (formerly the Prescott Sub to Ottawa and Hull) have been groomed and fully converted into a multi-use recreational trail. I was impressed with how nice it was, although it didn’t seem all that busy.

Finally, I noticed this old facility, which hosted what was evidently that last customer to be served on the old spur, has been demolished. There was still a for sale sign up at the front of the property, which suggests there are no immediate plans for the land. My guess is the old building had to come down to make way for housing and something that is non-industrial in its focus. It makes me glad I took a few snapshots of the rails while they were still in place.

The old industrial building and rail line in this 2014 photo have all vanished.

I should mention that the remnants of the old Bedell rail yard are largely intact, including the stub-end spurs that are marked for bad order cars. The yard was empty when I arrived there on Sunday, which was no surprise as I have never seen anything parked in this area since I have begun visiting the spot periodically.

I should mention one last observation from this spot. I have read a few comments on the Eastern Ontario Rails Facebook group about the double track status of the Winchester Sub. Some have asked why CP maintains two tracks when the volume on the sub clearly doesn’t require two lines. I read some comments from railfans who suggested that removing the second track is too much trouble and too expensive, which seems like a reasonable theory.

That got me to think when I was there recently, what is the purpose of the two lines? I have been to this spot several times and each time, I have a caught a westbound train on the north track. Well, I’m guessing I might have received my answer. This time around, I finally caught an eastbound train on the south track. Does anyone know if the railway routes its trains westbound on the north track and eastbound on the south track?

My first eastbound meet at Bedell from June 16

Anyway, I’ll save most of my shots of the train for next week, as there are a few more points I wanted to bring up that didn’t fit the theme of this post. Stay tuned.

The rolling pipeline at Bedell

I was recently able to spend some time trackside on CP's Winchester Subdivision, as I mentioned last week. Although the sub isn't seeing the frequency of trains it once was, I was happy that I stuck around long enough to shoot something I have never shot before: a unit tank train. In this case, it was an eastbound empty ethanol train, which means it's either CP 667 or 643.

Before you laugh, remember that I live in Ottawa and I rarely see any big time railroading. I can honestly say this is the first time I have seen one of these trains in action, although you may recall that I did shoot a parked tank train in Smiths Falls last summer.

The fast moving westbound train was led by CP ES44AC 8752 and paired with fellow ES44AC 8780.

I was happy with how the shot below turned out, since the sky showed up beautifully, although that bush nearly ruined the shot. I can explain. I had set up trackside and had been waiting for some time before I was ready to pack it in and head home. I had begun to turn my car around to head home when I saw this train coming, fairly quickly it turns out. I had to rush back to my spot and set up quickly. Hence, I wasn't paying attention to the bush as I tried to frame this shot.

I snapped a few going away shots as the train made its way to the Bedell Road level crossing. The train had two buffer cars up front, a CP Rail multimark cylindrical hopper and a ribbed Soo Line hopper. Hey, when all you see is a line of tank cars, you have to make sure to get shots of anything out of the ordinary.

Here's a shot with a little more of the consist in the frame as the locomotives cross Bedell Road. Most of the tank cars on the train wore the Renewable Products Marketing Group logo on the side meaning this train was an ethanol train.

Here's what 99 per cent of the train looked like: a long line of black tank cars. This did not make for very interesting photographs on the surface. But, as I have mentioned recently, I have tried to get as many different shots as possible lately to make up for the limited railfanning opportunities I have. In this case, I tried to think about some nonconventional shots that might work.

This shot below isn't terribly nonconventional, but it is a shot that I would not normally take, since it's basically just a long line of tank cars. However, I managed to get that old signal tower over the South Prescott Spur in the frame. I do like the symmetry of the lines in this image. Although, I was disappointed that the sky kept washing out in some frames.

One of these things is not like the other things. Can you spot the outlier in the consist? Amid a sea of black, one lonely white tank car stood out. You can see it just past the Bedell Road crossing. You can also see the remnants of the old yard in Bedell. That track that is broken up by the crossing is now used for bad orders, although I don't know how often it is used.

And this is the end of the train as it clears Bedell Road and makes its way westward toward Merrickville and beyond.

So there you have it. More than three years into blogging, I have captured my first rolling pipeline on the rails. I was pretty happy with this meet. When you're accustomed to chasing a once weekly three car freight train, something like this is pretty special.

Bedell Ontario, Part II: Prescott Sub passes into history

A return trip to Bedell, Ontario proved to be quite sobering this past weekend. I had read that the Canadian Pacific has contracted a company to scrap the remainder of their North Prescott Spur in Kemptville. I decided to visit to see if this was the case. It turns out that this stretch of the old Bytown & Prescott Railway (CP's old Prescott Sub) is indeed being scrapped. Considering this line was the first to reach in Ottawa in 1854, I thought it was worth my time to take some shots and dig into the history a little more. I felt fortunate to get a few final photos, but there's always the underlying sadness to see history being taken away.

My first trip was to an old feed mill and grain elevator on Van Buren Street in Kemptville, which appeared to be one of the last rail-served businesses on this old line. I walked down the line from the Van Buren crossing, to see if there was a better vantage point to shoot the grain elevator. The overgrowth to the left, as you can see below, ensured that this elevator would remain mostly hidden.

Interesting fact: Kemptville owes some of its early prosperity to the fact that it was chosen to be a railway town, set up by the old Bytown & Prescott as a station stop.

When I arrived at Bedell, along the CP Winchester Sub, I found the old signal tower that stood next to the turnout for the North Prescott Spur, had been removed (below). Given the condition of these towers, I doubt they will have much use to CP.

 

 

This was the scene just two weeks ago, when the remains of the old signal tower still stood sentry over the abandoned spur (below). 

 

I also saw a stack of old rail trackside, waiting to be carted away to other parts of the Canadian Pacific network that are busier than this lonely old rural Ontario spur. A little way from this pile, another pile sat in the weeds, which included the rubber seals used for level crossings.

This was a little disappointing to me. The old Bedell marker had been taken down and left in the weeds. I turned it over to grab a quick shot of the sign. I was a little perplexed why the sign would be taken down. I suppose it's because this area along the main line will not be used for anything moving forward, but I thought the sign was a nice touch and reminder of busier times.

You will recall that just a few weeks ago, the sign was still standing in an area with wildflowers.

 

I made sure to return to the old feed mill to get a shot of the elevator, but this was as close as I could get from the parking lot of the shuttered facility. You can also see the storage huts for road salt and sand behind the fences. I have read that CP once serviced this road maintenance facility as well another on the South Prescott Spur.



 

Closer to the main line, many of the rails that had been pulled from the North Prescott Spur were labelled and ready for shipment. I'm not sure whether CP is sending a local to load these onto cars. It would be nice to shoot that.

As I noted in my previous post about this spot, Bedell was once an important stopover on the CP main line, where steam locomotives were once serviced and where an interlocking tower, rail yard and station were located. The area had an interlocking crossing between the main line and the old CP Prescott Sub at one point, but this was replaced by a diamond. The spot fell into disuse in the 1960s onward, when CP began to direct its freight traffic from Smiths Falls. The old Prescott Sub was officially abandoned in 1997, with the majority of the line torn up in1999 between Leitrim Road in southern Ottawa and Kemptville. The remnants of the remaining line, the North Prescott Spur, was officially abandoned in 2012. Now, Bedell and the Prescott Sub are pretty much historic footnotes.

And, yes, I did get some time to shoot actual railroading in action along the main line. I struck out this past weekend, since there were no freights hustling by when I was there, but my previous visit two weeks earlier resulted in a great encounter with a westbound manifest freight, with a number of interesting pieces of rolling stock. I will end my initial series on Bedell Ontario with that meeting next week. Here's a small teaser below. Can you make out what type of cars are immediately behind the lead units?

Bedell Ontario Part I: The Ottawa Connection

Just south of Kemptville, Ont., you will find milepost 103.4 on Canadian Pacific's Winchester Subdivision. The area is better known as Bedell, a rural spot with a few homes along CP's mainline between Smiths Falls and Montreal. The area was once a busy spot along the CP main line, with an interlocking tower, station and other facilities. I visited this area recently to shoot some mainline railway action. I am going to make this a regular stop in my travels, since my collection of CP images is sadly lacking. The first trip yielded far more than expected, including a reminder of Ottawa's railway past.

When I arrived, I quickly found a gravel parking lot, which appeared to be the site of former railway structures. There were an array of rolling stock debris, tie plates and other railway material in the weeds. I found the railway's marker in some overgrowth, including a surprising number of wildflowers, including these black eyed susans above.

I sat trackside on a brilliantly sunny Sunday afternoon, enjoying the gentle sounds of the summer, including the buzzing and clicking of insects and the chirping of birds. It is a very peaceful spot to shoot, tucked away from Kemptville along a sparsely used rural road.

When I arrived, I made sure to take shots of the mainline, which is double tracked, although as you can see from this shot looking east, there are remnants of old tracks on either side of the main line. These lines were once part of a larger rail yard. One line appears to be in the process of being dismantled (left) while the other line ends in a pile of gravel, but appears to be in some sort of operating condition.

 

As I walked around the site, I came across this separated turnout, which I knew from research was the old CP Prescott Sub, the line that once linked Ottawa to the CP main line here. This line ran north along the same path as Highway 416. Of course, most of the Prescott Sub is long gone. The remnants of the south end of the sub have been reduced to about two miles of trackage that still extends into Kemptville. You can see below the sign that reads "circuit end." This stretch of track was renamed the North Prescott Spur and served industry in Kemptville until the line was formally abandoned in July of 2012. The other remnant of the Prescott Subdivision, known as the South Prescott Spur, is still operational since CP serves industry a few kilometres south of Bedell in the town of Oxford Station.

 

The North Prescott Spur turnout was a familiar scene to me, since it reminded me of the out-of-service Beachburg Sub north of Nepean Junction in Ottawa.

 

 

Doing a little research on this sub, I discovered that its roots date back to the 1850s, when the Bytown & Prescott Railway was created to shuttle logs from the Ottawa River down to Prescott on the St. Lawrence River. This line was the first to reach Ottawa in 1854 and, after undergoing name changes and a bankruptcy, was purchased by the Canadian Pacific in the 1880s. At that point, it became the Prescott Sub. In the image below, you can see the plows up sign and a crossing sign to the left, where the old spur crosses Bedell Road.

 

 

After shooting some mainline action at Bedell (stay tuned for this in the coming weeks), I followed the remnants of the North Prescott Spur into Kemptville, where I found much of the line still in place, although covered in weeds (shot below). The spur in this image leads to what was likely the last industry served by CP in the town. I saw a grain elevator (left) and a building for sale at the end of the turnout. I wasn't able to get close enough for a good photo, but have made a mental note to return here for more photos. You can also see the whistle sign to the left, since this industrial spur is very close to a level crossing.

 

 

I'm not sure why CP has left the rails in place in Kemptville, since the line has been abandoned for two years. I'm guessing the rail isn't terribly valuable, otherwise it would have been snapped up quickly, like CN did when it started dismantling the Beachburg Sub in Renfrew County.

 

I read that CP stopped assigning its Ottawa trains via Bedell in 1967, right around the time when the National Capital Commission began tearing up most rails in central Ottawa. CP monitored and assigned much of its traffic to and from Ottawa through Smiths Falls. The Prescott Sub continued to operate via the St. Lawrence and Hudson railway, until 1997. At that point, the last customers in Ottawa dried up, which forced CP's subsidiary to pull up stakes in the capital. The rail between Kemptville and Ottawa was pulled up in 1999. 

 

It should be noted that the northernmost stretch of the Prescott Sub is still in place in Ottawa, as part of it is still used for the O-Train service. A stretch south of the O-Train Greenboro Station terminus is still occasionally used by CN to send cars to the National Research Council facilities on Lester Road, near the Ottawa airport. There is another stretch of the old Prescott Sub that is not in use, which ends at Leitrim Road, on the periphery of the airport lands, right next to a golf course.

 

This stretch of the old sub is now being seriously considered as the route of a possible southern extension of the O-Train into Ottawa's growing southern subdivisions including Riverside South and Barrhaven. The route beyond Leitrim Road is still in place and is used as a 20-kilometre recreational trail extending to Osgoode.