And climb… the greats always bubble to the top!!

……..Wreckhouse……..what a great place name…only on The Rock !

The Setup: There was little time to set up for this Kodachrome, in process of the chase from Port aux Basques to Stephenville. By the time this location was found, right beside a county road, the head end had already popped out from behind the far hill. The quick decision was to try a shot with the train on the S curve, in the background. Newfoundland topography is such that a capture of a full or part of a Newfoundland mainline train is almost impossible. The lighting problematic too – sun angle was low and to the left – thankfully the high cloud softened the scene.

The Track: The TT 1982 track condition was much better than I expected – track speed was easily between 30mph and 40mph. And TT #204 was clipping along at track speed.

The Operation: The length of the mainline trains also surprised. What is a challenge to see in the image is the back half of the train is all containers – the green TT containers [ interesting: TT containers were short, maybe 40 feet, and most were built in Brampton Ontario by Steadman Containers]. Based on observations at the terminals: P Aux B, Stephenville, Corner Brook, Clarenville, St. John’s, most 1982 mainline trains were similar in length to what is seen here.

The Nights: Unfortunately mainline trains operated across the central Rock throughout the night (perhaps to allow the daytime branch line trains easy access to / from St. John ‘s? . Afternoon departure from P aux B, and evening departure from St.John’s. Camped two nights at the Terra Nova National Park (2,789 km from Port Union Ontario) – the TT mainline about 4 miles away from the Park through the bush. Could clearly hear the night freights.

The 567: At night, from the campsite those 567′s were really ‘singing’ as the trains crested the frequent grades. The NF210′s prime mover: 12 cyl 567C, at full throttle sound just like three TH&B geeps ( 16 cyl 567C ) – as heard from my home in East York – on the Starlight / Kinnear working the CP Rail Belleville Sub grade up through Leaside and Don Mills. Of course the sound is similar: same design prime movers !.

The Train: This train was the only TT mainline freight captured – purpose of The Rock trip was to chase the threatened – as of 1982 – branchlines: use the Rail Pictures Search option and type in any one of: Bonavista, Brigus Jct., Carbonear, Clarke’s Beach, Clarenville, Lockston, Lethbridge, Princeton. Happy viewing, do click on ‘favourite’ !

The Favourites: as I write this only 13 Favourites from View Count 472 ! Geeezz ! Railpics Fans are a really a tough crowd to please !

The Reality is – photographically – the shot is back lit, not that ‘great’

The But: just look at the quality of that road bed! The condition of that 3 foot 6 inch track structure! And the narrow gauge train LENGTH!

The Thank you for the informative and kind comments and views and the ‘ Favourites ‘ , keep clicking !

The More: and if you or you know of anyone with The Rock Rail Action pix…please do encourage and /or help them to post !

The Sdfourty

I echo Arnolds astute observation on the difficulty of choosing an angle but.. the rails, the train snaking across the countryside, all of it leading your eyes to the beautiful Newfoundland coastline is the perfect choice.

And the fact you had a train long enough to do this is awesome. Hurrah!