St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (SLR/SLQ)

Hello,
The SLR/SLQ ran extra road trains again last night. This morning's westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0825 with the following:

GP40-3 3804
RM-1 804
QG GP40-2L 3014
4 centerbeam flats
1 covered hopper
8 tank cars
12 propane cars

That's 25 cars total, all empties.

By the way, it sounds like the QG GP40 3105 may have returned to its home road. It was reported to have arrived in Quebec City on February 2nd.
Have a great day,
Fritz

How much traffic over SLR/SLQ is bridge traffic between Pam Am and CN?

Shortline614,
This is completely a guess but I would say 10-20% is overhead traffic between CN and PAR, but, again, that is just a guess and is specific to the road trains running between Richmond and Lewiston Junction, so it does not include traffic that is interchanged from CN or CP in Quebec for Quebec destinations or from ST at Danville Junction for Maine destinations.

Today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0810 on a rather cold morning with the following:

RLHH SD40-2 3403
GP40 3004
QG GP40-2L 3014
9 centerbeam flats
2 bulkhead flats
24 propane cars
4 covered hoppers
10 hi-cube boxcars

That's 49 cars total, including 3 loads and 46 empties.
Have a great day,
Fritz

Thanks for answering!

Hello,
On this cold morning (-15), today's SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0732 with the following:

RM-1 806
GP40-3 3806
GP40-2 3007
4 centerbeam flats
19 propane cars
18 tank cars
7 hi-cube boxcars

That's 48 cars total, all empties.

I am not sure why but last night's trains ran very early leaving Richmond at 1521 and arriving into Island Pond at 1841 and leaving Lewiston Junction before 1900.
Have a great weekend,
Fritz

QGRY 1504 was on PAR POAY yesterday and now on CSX Q427 heading west. I assume this came off SLR at Danville Jct. Was this an active unit on SLR?
Sources say it could be headed to Johnson City, Tennessee

QG 1502 and 1504 have both been on SLR for quite a while mostly being used in multiple to switch Lewiston Jct-
Danville Jct and the roadswitcher assignment to South Paris but have been mostly idle since early fall, sitting on
a track beside the shop at Lewiston Jct. I noticed earlier this week they had been moved to one of the shop tracks
and later in the week only 1502 was visible- I assumed 1504 was inside the shop but per your post may have already
shipped out. This morning 1502 was still sitting outside on the west side of the shop.

QG 1504 initially replaced the former Berlin Mills Railway SW1's switching the paper mill trackage at Berlin and
Cascade NH on SLR, later being used at Lewiston jct after the Berlin paper mills closed and my earliest photos of
it were taken in 2006. QG 1502 made the migration in late 2011 and I have photos of them working together in
January 2012 at Lewiston Jct.

Hello,
Interesting reports, especially since I have been hearing from crews that SLR is short of power, especially with three units having been offline during the last two weeks (3007, which was on today's 393, 3803/803, and 3105, which is now showing as having been returned to the QGRY at Quebec City).

If Johnson City is the destination, then the 1504 is likely going to the East Tennessee Railway, which is another GWRR property. If so, that will probably spell the end of their Southern Railway-painted SWs.

Greg, which engine(s) have been working the 512 and 513? Is it the 3008, which doesn't appear to have left Lewiston Junction in many months.
Best,
Fritz

3008 seems to have been chosen to be the regular LJ switcher for some reason. Saw both 3007 and 3008 in use one
day a couple of weeks ago and occasionally one of the mother-slug sets. After the Berlin switch job was abolished
and 1504 was sent to LJ it spent a lot of time sitting around until it was joined by 1502- the pair then saw a lot of
use together. Previously the LJ switcher often used pairs of the GATX GP15's. I remember the daily monotony of
GP9's back when I was a kid- An RS18 was cause for attention. Now it's GP40's. I would expect the 1502 to get sent
somewhere else too.

Hello,
After a very late arrival last night (after 2200), today's late SLQ westbound 393 departed Island Pond at 0858 with the following:

GP40-3 3803
QG SD40U 6904
GP40-2 3007
GP40-2 3047
38 propane cars
1 hi-cube boxcar
1 SP boxcar
11 centerbeam flats

That's 51 cars total, all empties.

Following them west was the ballast regulator/plow which was pushing the snow back from the tracks.
Have a great weekend,
Fritz

And it's bye-bye for QG 1502- after apparently spending several days in the shop I observed it sitting on
the interchange track at Danville Junction this afternoon.

I caught a long and late-running SLR 393 in Sherbrooke yesterday afternoon and followed it toward Richmond. It was led by 805-3805-3035, and by my count (which may be off as I was taking pictures) it had a whopping 84 cars.

There were probably 2 dozen salt hoppers (mostly Trinity 3281 cu-ft cars in the AXLX 20000 series) and a fair number of LPG tanks. The rest was a smattering of boxcars, empty centerbeams, tanks, and larger hoppers.

SLR 805 is getting a bit rusty around the seams - hard to believe that it's been the better part of 2 decades since the slug sets first arrived!

Photos here:

http://trainiax.net/mephotosearchresult ... 2021,03,17

Given current train times, when is a good time to see the SLR in Vermont, especially around Island Pond? From reading pervious posts, it seems trains arrive here and then later leave? I noted a post above there a late WB arrived and then left at 0800. Do all trains operate this way or do some just pass through Island Pond? Thanks.

Charles

Traffic east of Island Pond is mostly nocturnal with the exception of the Lewiston Jct. yard switcher and
the Lewiston Jct.-South Paris afternoon road switcher. 393-394 usually operate four days a week- Mon, Tue,
Thurs and Fri. 394 eastbound arrives at Island Pond late afternoon/early evening and with a new crew may
switch the transload in the yard before leaving. 393 Leaves Lewiston Jct. 7-8 PM meeting 394 at Berlin, NH
where the two crews swap trains and return to their home terminals. 393 will often leave Island Pond 7-8 AM
for Richmond, PQ. Last night 393 was westbound thru South Paris about 9:30 PM and the returning 394 went
thru about 2:30 AM; those times are about average and may vary by about an hour either way. The long days
of summer have been about the only opportunity for photography of 393/394 for most of the past twenty
years. Good Luck!