I have been making some “taken this day in xxxx” social media posts, picking a photo from years past but from the same month and day. I chose a few from “January 28, 2001” from a visit to McAdam, New Brunswick.
Lots of NB Southern Railway green and yellow, as my young son and I wandered around.
The only thing is… these weren’t taken on January 28, 2001.
I have a “smart collection” in Adobe Lightroom (where I manage my photos) that shows all photos taken on that date from 1999 to 2024.
These photos were scanned from my negatives, so I did not have a date when I scanned them. In cases like this, I look for clues in my other photos, my sighting database, and so on to try to narrow down the date taken. In this case, I apparently decided on January 28.
I discovered the truth when searching my emails. Here is my report to the old Atlantic Rails mailing list.
To: AtlanticRails@yahoogroups.com
From: Steve Boyko sboyko@nbnet.nb.ca
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 20:54:48 -0300
Subject: [AtlanticRails] NB Southern sightings, 2001/04/16
Not about derailments or other disasters…
My son and I went to McAdam this afternoon to see what was around. Alas, the Saint Stephen train was late so we didn’t get to see it.
We did see an interesting MOW vehicle there – a “Little Giant Trakrane” in NB Southern colours. It was a small truck-mounted crane with both road and rail wheels, labeled “R/N 2501-02” which I presume is the registration number. I spoke with the operator and he said he would be taking it down to Saint John tomorrow. It was pulling two empty flatcars, NBSR 301131 and 301502, one of which had brake troubles.
The only other interesting cars in the yard were two CN cars, CN 389208 and CN 389004. They are painted a flat gray with the usual CN markings, but they have a little kangaroo logo in the middle with the lettering “Australia”, “Agrium” and “Partners in Quality”. Odd.
It was April 16, 2001, not January 28. Now I know.
Also, the “only” other interesting cars? Perish the thought.
First, here’s the “Little Giant Trakrane”.
Next, the kangaroo.
Logo on CN 389208: “Australia: Partners in Quality” / Agrium
I chose to expose a few precious frames of film to record these Maine Central boxcars bearing the faded “The Pine Tree Route” logo and slogan.
I also exposed a few frames of the tank car below. I was interested in this car because I had an HO scale model car that was similar to this.
NATX 160018 was very shiny, which should not have been a surprise, given the BLT-12-00 stenciled on the side, indicating that it was less than six months old when I photographed it.
I was channeling my inner Greg McDonnell when I photographed this boxcar door:
“Unload from this door” Flake Board Co. Ltd., St. Stephen N.B.
The branch line to St. Stephen originates in McAdam, so it’s not surprising to see this tacked onto the door.
I must have been standing on a snow pile to take the next shot.
BAR 2336 is one of the centrebeam flatcars in the foreground. Behind them is the “engine house” where maintenance of way equipment is stored, and one leg of the wye track is visible. The track in the distance is the branch line to St. Stephen.
On our way home from McAdam, we stopped in Harvey and I photographed my young son Nick:
He’s all grown up now.
This was at mile 65.0. Note the automatic block signal (ABS) tower, turned away from the tracks and long out of service. The signals stayed in place along the line for years until about 2007, when large dimensional loads were transported by rail from Saint John.
So there you have it – this day in 2001, April 16.