Better brakes and a bit more push…

From ‘our man in New Brunswick’, Chris (actually based out of Nova Scotia) recently sent an update about a new arrival at Beaverbrook…

Clearly this is the new CF7 that Terra Transport bought as an experiment in evaluating their own GMDD rebuild series. That 1502 shoved the new engine into place up by the Co-op. I thought I heard the plan was to rent it out to Holcim to move cement hoppers around. Basically TT will start dropping hoppers on the siding and Holcim will move them, hoping the CF7 gives them a better experience than the Trackmobile they currently use. They brought 56 over from Gordon Yard, still shut down from its trip from Florida. Time to fire it up again.

Holcim boss JF Boudreault wandered over in the truck - sure it’s just a block but that rain isn’t going to wait until we’re ready and by now Clarence has got the new machine warmed up. There’s really nothing left to do but move the reverser into place and grab a notch or two on the throttle. Running up and down from Holcim is always a battle. You’d never know it because Moncton is flat right? Nope. Right after Beaverbrook the spur doesn’t just drop but it’s curved too. Once the train’s moving we’re all just along for the ride. Better brakes and a little more push is what 56 should give us. Michel is on the footboard. Such a great friend. They’ll sort the train up here before heading down the spur. “Little bit back and forth. You got time.” he jokes.

Sketch of layout - Chris Mears

TT’s local crew drops our inbound cement up on Beaverbrook. It usually fills the siding. That grade down to the plant is steep and there’s not enough room to shunt at the plant so, if we are unloading more than one type of cement we’ll sort those cars up on Beaverbrook before heading down the hill. Our engine is stored in the plant, behind the silos, and we can fuel it there when we’re doing the trucks. We usually take the empties up the hill and borrow the Co-op siding to swap one string for the other. Then back down the hill. If we sorted the inbound correctly the first car to unload is on the front of our train usually. The rest of the story writes itself…

I love how well composed the Modelu figures are. They look like they’re really interacting and handing things off…

Thanks to Chris for today’s blog post, I love this transatlantic connection we have, and when it results in a post like this I find it incredibly motivating, adding to the emotional depth of my Canadian project. We’ve done it before, I’m sure we will again. Until next time more soon…