The tricky business of capturing the hidden Nova railway operation

Like it or not, plastics are vital to the global economy. Until we figure out how to properly recycle them all and keep them out of landfills, they will always be part of our lives. And someone has to make that plastic. This year in St. Clair Township, Nova Chemicals is investing $2.2 billion in a new polyethylene plant next to its existing plant, just east of Corunna on the Petrolia Line. This plant is crucial in the production of polyethelyne, which is the most common form of plastic in the world.

For those who like to watch railways in action, it means that Nova’s switching operations are likely to remain quite busy and quite possibly expand.

I’ve always been fascinated by this operation, which is partly visible from Highway 40, although it is not a great place to get photographs, since the rails are largely hidden behind a grassy berm. Also, the highway can be quite busy and the only place to get photos is on the overpass over the tracks that connect Nova’s railway to the CN St. Clair River Industrial Spur. Needless to say, there is no place to stop here.

Hoping for the best! This is a no-look shot. I left some of the highway guardrail in the shot. I was going pretty slow at this point.

My approach to getting any shots of this operation has always been the same. I only attempt a shot when I am sure the highway is not busy and there are no cars around mine. Next, I roll down the passenger window and slow down while keeping my eyes on the road. Finally, I point my camera in the general direction of the railway and hope for the best.

This summer, while visiting family in the area, I was passing by this operation when the conditions were right for a shot. The highway was empty in the middle of the day so I fired away and hoped for the best. Fortunately, I managed to get some interesting shots of this switching operation, which has a half diamond, what appears to be a genset locomotive and occasionally an on SW unit, although that old warhorse was nowhere to be seen when I was driving by.

Here’s a good shot of the genset switcher.

I did, however, manage to spot the SW unit later in the week as I was passing by CN’s Sarnia Yard, where I saw the old Nova switcher near the old roundhouse, where it was likely undergoing maintenance at the Lambton Diesel Specialists shop. I’ll save the rest of that adventure for another post.

The Nova operation isn’t terribly flashy, as it’s exclusively the domain of the tank cars you see on trains anywhere in Canada and the United States. But the refinery in the background does make for some interesting shots you won’t just anywhere.

I’ve always been fascinated by this operation, ever since it used to host those old GATX Tank Train branded tank cars. In recent years, Nova Chemicals has been expanding a fair bit in the area, which bodes well for the CN industrial spur that connects Sarnia to the Terra Industries plant at the edge of the old Sombra Township.

August 2017 at the Rokeby Line

In the last few years, trackage has been added off the CN spur near Mooretown. These tracks are shielded from view by a large metal wall lining the Moore Line, but some of it can be seen as you travel west down the Moore Line near Highway 40. I don’t know enough about Nova’s expansion in the area to be able to say what the purpose is of these new tracks.

I think the beauty in shooting the industrial switching in this area doesn't necessarily have to do with the trains, which are pretty standard tank car and covered hopper consists. I think the interesting element is the background.

Nova Corunna's tiny railway

CN's St. Clair River Industrial Spur is a rail line with a strange name. It stretches from Sarnia south all the way to the Courtright area, a distance of 23 kilometres, or 14.2 miles. CN and CSX (via operating rights) move 450 cars a day in and out of a number of refineries in Lambton County. The line sees four CN trains and two CSX trains every day. Major customers include Nova Chemicals (Corunna and Moore sites), Imperial Oil and Terra International, among others. The railways carry plastics, ethylene, polyethylene, butane, ammonium nitrate, nitric acid, methanol as well as other raw materials.

The word "spur" seems out of place for such a long right-of-way with a fairly busy schedule. Over the Christmas holidays, I was able to get some photos of one the line's major customers, Nova Chemicals' Corunna site (formerly known as Petrosar). This refinery, pictured on Christmas Day, was built in 1977 and accounts for a large portion of CN's consists on a daily basis.

This shot below shows an overview of the refinery, as seen from an overpass on Highway 40. The highway was completely empty on Christmas morning, which allowed me to pull over and take these shots before I continued on to my sister's house for a visit. Getting these shots would be very tough at any other time since there is no place to pull over here and photograph this operation.

You will notice from the top photo and the one below that Nova performs its own switching duties, with the help of the old warhorse switcher you see below. Also, check out the ancient tank car on the wye (below).

The refinery is actually a fair way from the CN St. Clair spur, but is accessible via a long turnout that branches off east from the spur and leads to a large rail yard before proceeding below the highway onto the refinery's site. 

Here's a better shot (below) of the old switcher. I have not been able to determine what this is. (see comments below for answer) I would say it's a modified Electro-Motive (GM Diesel) SW model, but the unit doesn't have any numbers on it, so I'm not sure what it is. The refinery formerly used NCLX 2003 locomotive on its tiny railway, which I have shot before.

You will notice the sign beside the locomotive that advises all operators that the speed limit is 5 m/ph beyond the wye. The refinery produces 1.8 billion pounds of ethylene per year and another two billion pounds of related products, so the speed limit is probably a good idea. Ethylene has a number of uses in the chemical industry (think of the many uses of ethylene glycol) and is a key component in products used in agriculture to hasten the ripening of fruit.

This switching operation is pretty constant most days, given the number of cars that need to be delivered to the plant and shipped out to Nova's other area plants. The Corunna site feeds the Nova Moore and Nova St. Clair sites, which means this little railway is a busy one.

On the other side of the highway, you will find this rail yard, which leads to the CN St. Clair River Industrial Spur. Again on most days, this is a busy spot. However, given that I was passing by on Christmas Day, everything was quiet.

When watching trains in this area, it's common to find cars lettered for Nova. The company has a number of cars lettered NCIX and NCLX. You will recall from an earlier past post that Nova inherited these colourful cars when it purchased local DuPont operations, also in Corunna.

I was glad to get some shots of this operation, even if it was on a day when nothing was happening.