A day with the E&N (SVI) - Dec 27, 2012

[Vic Guy]

On Thursday I spent the day watching the E&N crew go about their routine. It started out by waiting for the weekly arrival of the Carrier Princess which would be bringing over the railcars from the mainland. Once the ship was unloaded they would do a bit of yard switching and then they would finish their day by running out to switch Superior Propane in North Nanaimo. I'm not sure how much longer this operation will be going on for, the land that the barge slip sits on has been bought by the city of Nanaimo for a new arena project. Losing the barge slip cuts off the E&N from their only interchange with the North American rail network so I'm not sure how this will turn out.

Backing the idler cars onto the Carrier Princess to begin unloading:

Spotting the empty pole cars on one of the yards team tracks:

Crossing the Trans Canada Highway:

Northbound though Nanaimo:

Pulling 3 empties from Superior Propane:

After switching Superior, they head north to Wellington siding where the crew will run the GP9's around their train and then make the southbound trip back to Wellcox Yard:

The rest of the days photos can be found here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjDo9v7r

Thanks for looking!

 

[andrewjonathon]

Nice pictures. It seems hard to believe this operation can be sustained in the long run. With so little traffic someone has to be losing money on it.

 

[April]

Do they still run the RDC on that line?

April

 

[cprted]

Do they still run the RDC on that line?

April

Passenger service was quietly suspended a few years ago due to poor track condition.

 

[trainboyh16-44]

There's a lot of hope about restoring the line. Bottom line is that about 1 in 5 ties need replacing, and though the federal government's said they'll chip in most of the cost, they haven't yet.

 

[Vic Guy]

There's a lot of hope about restoring the line. Bottom line is that about 1 in 5 ties need replacing, and though the federal government's said they'll chip in most of the cost, they haven't yet.

Right now the provincial and federal governments, as well as the 5 local districts, have committed their share of the funding, but it all hinges on VIA Rail coming back to the island. VIA's decision should be coming in March or April. If VIA says no, the funding disappears and the E&N becomes a bike trail.

 

[Trainfanne54]

Nice shots.

 

[trainboyh16-44]

Right now the provincial and federal governments, as well as the 5 local districts, have committed their share of the funding, but it all hinges on VIA Rail coming back to the island. VIA's decision should be coming in March or April. If VIA says no, the funding disappears and the E&N becomes a bike trail.

Either way I'll be traveling it. What are the grades like between Nanaimo and Victoria?

 

[Abilene Ks Railfan]

Those MRL units?

 

[ENR3809]

Those MRL units?

SRY=Southern Railway of BC units. They're owned by the same company.

 

[BCR4601]

Got word that the line is closed and Top Shelf and Superior have had their last rail loads,is this true

 

[cprted]

Got word that the line is closed and Top Shelf and Superior have had their last rail loads,is this true

Wow. Talk about going out with a whimper ...

 

[Vic Guy]

Got word that the line is closed and Top Shelf and Superior have had their last rail loads,is this true

I've heard a lot of rumours, nothing official yet. The rumours are that 2 bridges between Duncan and Nanaimo have ben condemned, so that cuts off Top Shelf feeds. The other is that the one barge that can be used to bring railcars over to the E&N has been condemned as well. There is another barge that can be used but because of the track configuration it can only hold 5-6 cars, not very efficient. SRY is said to be pulling their power from the island next week. We shall see....

 

[Vic Guy]

Got word that the line is closed and Top Shelf and Superior have had their last rail loads,is this true

So an update: the Chemainus River bridge, rumoured to be condemned, passed an inspection today so they can continue serving Top Shelf Feeds. The rumours about the condemned barge and about SRY pulling their power from the E&N, both completely false as well.

Here is a link to a news report about the bridge inspection today: