Goderich 2014, Part I: GEXR Operations

A family trip to the Goderich area this August allowed me to get a better look at the Goderich-Exeter Railway operations in the lakeside town. The railway's operations appear to be fairly quiet in this town these days, due to the loss of local industry in recent years, notably the Volvo Manufacturing facility. However, the railway still services the town's salt mine on the lake and related salt processing facilities. Also, a government initiative to establish Goderich as a deepwater commercial port could bode well for the GEXR, whose rails run from Lake Huron through much of southern Ontario all the way to MacMillan Yard in the Toronto area, via running rights on CN.

The day I explored some of the railway's facilities, including its rail yard at the old CN Centre Street railway station, all was quiet. GEXR GP9 4001 (right) had been parked for the day while a string of eight hoppers looked ready for placement or shipment. You can see the TPI Enterprises facility behind the yard. The plant makes industrial parts and equipment for various industries, including the salt mine.

 

 

As you can see from this shot, the yard is somewhat overgrown. GEXR is now a Genesee and Wyoming railway, but traces of its Rail America past are still visible, including the former Rail America livery on the GP9.

 

The shot below shows you the railway's descent down toward the Sifto salt mine on Lake Huron. Despite some of the overgrowth, it appears that the right-of-way was recently topped up with new ballast, judging by the bleached stones beneath the rails. As a point of interest, I crossed the right-of-way at a level crossing with a hiking trail. You can see that the level crossing with the road is marked with crossbucks, but no signals. I suspect this is because this line is not terribly busy and most movements here are slow.

 



If you are a fan of the big machines, then Goderich is the place for you. My wife and I like hanging out at the beach in Goderich, right next to the salt mine, whose operations jut out into the lake on a very large pier. From the beach, you can usually see a string of covered hoppers at the ready. I haven't been lucky enough to see any switching operations, but I saw something equally fascinating in August. 

 



On the day we were at the beach, Great Lakes salt ship Algosteel was being loaded with salt. These hulking ships are amazing to see up close. You really don't realize just how big they are until you see them in person. Algosteel, it should be noted, still bears its Algoma Central Marine colours, which closely match the Algoma Central Railway colours. This harkens back to when the railway (now a CN property) was once linked to the shipping company as part of a larger Algoma Central transportation concern.

As an added bonus, the large ship was met by a tall ship, that just happened to be coming in to dock at Goderich when we were on the beach. Again, you have to see these vessels up close to appreciate them.

 

A closer look...

 



Getting back to the yard up the hill from the salt mine, here's a close shot of the battered old GP9 4001. I was not able to get shot from the sunny side, since that was on private property. This was about as close as I could get.

Here's a shot of old 4001 at the railway's servicing facility, taken from the old Centre Street station platform. I tried to get the signs in this shot, as well as the lone axle resting behind the geep. Here's a shot of 4001 with its former Rail America paint scheme.

 



I liked the look of this string of hoppers, due to the colours. It's a man-made rainbow.

 

 

As I mentioned in my first post about Goderich, the city has a number of  preserved railway artifacts, including its two railway stations. Just west of the old CN station, a maintenance shed appears to need a little attention. Good for a model railway prototype, for those so inclined.

 

 

While in Goderich, I also managed to hike on an old CPR trestle, took in a preserved CP steam locomotive and captured shots of the old CPR station, which is being redeveloped. I will share photos and information on these relics in a future post.



More relics on the rails

My travels to southern Ontario this summer resulted in some interesting sites trackside, including a few run-ins with railroading history. It's always a good day when you capture a piece of the past, especially when these relics are becoming rare. I managed to snag a few notable relics. You can read my first entry about relics in this post.

The first relic I shot was located at the end of the line on CSX's Sarnia Subdivision, along the shores of the St. Clair River. This antique maintenance-of-way crane car was quite far from the parking lot where I was standing. There was no way to legally get close to the car, so I had to rely on my camera's zoom to get what I could. But the lighting was good and the view was mostly clear, minus a hydro pole.

As you can see, the zoom was stretched to its limits, judging by the look of the tracks leading up to the old car. This old Burro crane is still clad in Chessie yellow. I have seen this car tucked away here a few times, but this was the first time I had a fairly clean view of the car. You can see the St. Clair River in the background and Michigan on the other side. This car is pretty close to where the old CSX rail ferry was located. This ferry service ended right around the same time the CN ferry stopped its operations. What's interesting about the old CSX ferry is that I didn't even know it existed until recent years.

Later on the same day (August 18th), I made my way to CN's Sarnia Yard and was able to catch the CN/CSX interchange as a string of cars was being delivered for pickup by two CSX GP38s in the yard. This train contained the second relic. Below is a long shot of the interchange making its way into the yard. Can you see the relic? It may not be obvious.

Here's a closer look. It's an old Family Lines System hopper car, still fully clad in its original livery. It may not be all that significant to some, but for someone like me interested in the convoluted history of CSX, it's an interesting holdover from the merger era. You can see a second hopper with the same paint, although it has been re-lettered for CSX.

You can see the Louisville & Nashville lettering on the hopper and the all-encompassing logo to the right. Here's a closer look at the logo, below.

Family Lines System was one of the precursors to CSX. It is important to note that the system was itself not an actual railroad, but a common marketing scheme adopted by a number of allied railways, including the Seaboard Coast Line, Louisville & Nashville, the Clinchfield Railroad, the Georgia Railroad, the Atlanta & West Point Railroad and the Western Railway of Alabama (these lines were known as the West Point Route). You can see that all the railroads are represented in the logo. This entity was created in 1972 and lasted until 1982, when the Seaboard System was created. The Seaboard System itself lasted until 1986, when Seaboard and Chessie System were combined to form CSX. That's the simplest explanation. Technically, Chessie was brought into the CSX umbrella in 1987. I'm not sure I understand the specifics of how CSX, as we know it, came to be in 1986-87.

This next shot below isn't necessarily a relic, but more of an rarity or oddity. This is a manifest freight heading west toward the St. Clair River rail tunnel (I will have more to share about this train in another post). The middle unit pulling this train is CN 5550, an SD60F cowl unit. I only ever snagged one other cowl unit in my exploits around this yard. You can read about the other cowl unit I saw, a Bombardier HR616, here. This unit looks massive, with six axles and six safety stripes.

The final relic I found along the CN Strathroy Subdivision in Wyoming. Whenever I visit this area, I visit the tiny Via Rail station and wait for a passing freight train. I didn't end up catching a train but I did find this old loading ramp in the weeds. It appears that this ramp has not been used in some time. Still, it's interesting that pieces of the old track leading to this ramp still remain. You can see the main line to the left of the photo.

I was quite happy with some of these catches over the summer. As I mentioned already, anytime you can shoot some history, it's a good day.

Thanks for reaching out

I posted my email in a previous post and was happy with the messages I received from readers. I was happy to know that I have a good following from various points in Ontario and around Canada. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you may have at hammond.michael77 AT gmail.com. One reader has reached out and will be featured as a guest blogger in the near future. He has already showed me some of his material and I am excited about sharing his photos and experiences. Stay tuned!

CN 589 at Twin Elm

I headed out this past Sunday morning to see if I could catch CN Local 589. It was a beautiful sunny morning when I ventured out on Moodie Drive to see if the local had picked up the empty lumber car from Kott Lumber. Through the thick foliage, I could just make out the car, which meant I was in luck. This local sometimes does its rounds early Sunday. But sometimes, it waits for Via's Toronto-bound Train 643. That corridor train was due in a few minutes when I arrived, which meant CN 589 would closely follow.

As I mentioned in my post Your Guide to Rainfanning in Ottawa, Sunday morning around 9:30 a.m. is your best bet to catch what little freight action there is in Ottawa. I made my way to the McKenna Casey Drive crossing to catch the Via corridor train, which came by around 9:30 a.m. I would suggest camping out at about 9:20 at this crossing, as the time for this train varies by about five minutes on either side of 9:30. There is also a gravel road near this crossing where you can safely park and see the train make its way down the track. The corridor train rushed by and I did get some shots (see final shot). But my mission these days is to catch freight trains. Even if the consist is tiny.

As a refresher, here are the chronicles of my two other encounters with Local 589:
One is the loneliest number (June)
Capturing a Ghost: CN 589 (April)

Above: CN 589, with one car in tow, approaches the Moodie Drive crossing on Sunday, Sept. 28.

In April, I was lucky enough to catch 589 led by a GP9 and pulling three covered hoppers. In June, the local was flying solo, with just a GP38-2 flying down the tracks to pick up a empty car at the Kott Lumber facility on Moodie Drive. On Sunday, I was able to catch an actual train, albeit a short one. CN GP38-2W 4807 was making its way toward Moodie Drive (above) with a single covered hopper. The early morning sun was tough to work with, but I was happy with my shots at Moodie. Someone close the front door!

I didn't stay at the Moodie crossing long, but I did manage to get a few shots through the Jock River trestle (above), since the area is incredibly scenic in the fall. I was happy with this shot but I hustled further south to rural Cambrian Road, which leads to a rural four-corners called Twin Elm. This is a jewel in Ottawa's southwest, site of an old school house and the SynAgri mill. I got there while 589 retrieved the centre beam lumber car from Kott. All this action at Kott is hidden from view in the summer due to the thick foliage around the right-of-way.

I set up a fair way back from the Cambrian Road crossing, since I was hoping to get a full train shot amid the rural landscape. The crossing signals were activated before I saw 589 come into view. The crew had the engine hustling, since there were no cars to switch at SynAgri. I was really happy with the shot above, since it captures the essence of rural Twin Elm.

This shot, above, betters captures the actual Twin Elm hamlet. You can see the SynAgri feed mill on the right. On the left is a garage for a paving company. Not seen behind the garage on the left is a rural school house. And with that, my morning was over.

 

As a bonus, I thought I'd throw in a shot of Via 643 approaching the McKenna Casey crossing on the edge of Barrhaven. You can see the shadow of a nearby tree crossing over F40PH-2 6434 and the first class car. The engineer was nice enough to wave. I don't think the crews get too many fans in Ottawa.

 

 

Beachburg Subdivision Update

 

It looks like the end is finally near for the remnants of the Beachburg Sub north of Nepean Junction. A Beachburg Sub reader Alex pointed out that the CN continuous welded rail train was in Walkley Yard in Ottawa earlier this week. A friend of this blog, local rail historian and author Ray Farand told me that there is a little stretch of welded rail left on this line in the Pontiac Region in Quebec. He suspected that the train will collect the last bits of the welded rail. The remainder of the line is bolted rail, which he guessed would be removed and laid out along the right of way to be collected later by truck. Either way, I am going to find time later this week to try and catch this work being done while the tracks are still in place. I would encourage any local readers to get out there and do the same. I would love to share some photos of this work if I can. Anyone who catches anything and would like to share it can reach me at hammond.michael77 AT gmail.com.