BC Rail loco in Ontario.

[morseman]

At 645pm today  A BC Rail in the lead with a CN loco, no cars went northbound through Bracebridge, Ontario (Newmarket SD).       At 715pm it came back through Bracebridge  southbound with the CN loco in the lead pulling 72 box cars and tank cars.      Presume they picked the cars in Huntsville, On.             Was a distance from the rails so unable to state loco type or numbers but it appeared a newer type BC Rail unit.              Any info on the above  movement  would  be appreciated                                                                  

 

[CShaveRR]

Oh, no!  CN and BC Rail are going to merge!

Hey, wait a minute--they already did.  And since part of the story on the wrecks out west was that they were caused by flatland locomotives out there, it stands to reason that some of the former BCOL power has come east on occasion.

[Anonymous]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060221/train_derailments_060221/20060221

Hah! You are right.  It was not the flat land loco that were just the problem.  It was CNR greed.

They simply would not be told.  When they took over BC rail, which had been successfully running trains up the BC interior for decades, CN immediately added 30% or more to the length.

The result was unmanageable trains.  They quite literally yanked the trains off the tracks in the Cheakamus Canyon on several occasions through improper driving.  CN dug in their heels and continued to try to run such trains against the local wisdom, and only desisted when forced to by government rail safety authorities.

Moreover, CN, I heard, was using far fewer experienced men on their train crews because so many of the original BCR staff chose to retire of leave rather than work for CN!

CN trains on the former BCR line run through my area.  They are much much shorter now, even smaller trains than BCR would run.  They are under some prohibition of operation I think.

[morseman]

Thanks for he two replies.   I was unaware of the term "flatland locomotives"

Although I was knowledgable of the many derailments on BC Rail, I did not know the end result  was that the Gov't mandated the decrease in the length of the trains.      I have noticed that the few trains that do pass by here are usually around 70 cars, but there are the odd ones up to 100 cars        It still strange to have seen BC Rail in this neck of the woods.

[CShaveRR]

I don't think you'll find the term "flatland locomotive" in common railfan or even railroad usage, but I suspect that a lot of people know what I'm talking about.  Railroads like CN (especially GTW) and Illinois Central were among the very last to adopt dynamic braking on their locomotives because of the relatively flat terrain they traversed.  For whatever reason, some of these non-d/b locomotives made it into western Canada, including on former BCOL territory.  The result was trains with markedly decreased braking power and control.

[enr2099]

CN trains on the former BCR line run through my area.  They are much much shorter now, even smaller trains than BCR would run.  They are under some prohibition of operation I think.

 

I've heard the restriction is 80 cars w/o remotes. CN rerouted a lot of traffic via Jasper and the Fraser Canyon leaving one Squamish-PG "through train"(trains 570/571 or PGSQ/SQPG, although it could be considered a wayfreight with all the pick ups and set outs it has to do), and the wayfreights like 568/569(I worked this train for a week, Squamish-Lillooet local). 

 

That being said, the current state of BC's Forestry Industry is having a big effect on the traffic on the former BCR south end. If it was still BC Rail, they may only be running 1 or 2 trains a day.