Nothampton Saw Mill Adds Wood Chip Loader

Saw Mill Expansion

In the photo below, a high-sided wood chip hopper car has been spotted at the new wood chip loader beside the Patterson Lumber Mill in Northampton.  The Patterson family was convinced by the railway that there would be a growing market for woodchips, and that the railway would provide the best means for transport.  The loader is a very basic scratch-built structure, connected to the mill by a long overhead pipe that travels across the mill yard.  

FINALLY -- AN OPERATING SESSION!

A crew of eight from Prince Edward Island did an exceptional job of moving freight on the Carleton Railway this afternoon.  In the two photos below, Steve Dickie was the very busy yardmaster in South Newbridge, while Ed Cooke worked with Chris Mears in Avondale yard.  

 Taylor Main runs a freight on the upper level.

The next regular operating session will be on Friday evening, March 21.

Monticello (module) scenes

I am finally posting some recent photos of the Monticello, Maine area that is modelled on my six 4' HO-scale modules.  The photos were taken during the Saint John club's annual show in Quispamsis in early November. The modules depict a fictional junction between the BAR and the Carleton Railway (click on the photos to enlarge them).

Below, the local autobody shop hides its supply of dilapidated cars with an old wooden fence.  The well-maintained tracks in the foreground belong to the Carleton Railway.  The BAR passenger car and the MPG warehouse in the background are on BAR tracks.  The junction is just to the left of the photo.   

You can tell there is a fall chill in the afternoon air as folks head for a warm cup of coffee at the West End Diner.  CPR Trainmaster 8901 is leading westbound Carleton Railway train #21 (The Fast Freight) as it waits to depart the Monticello yard.  The CPR and the Carleton Railway pool motive power and personnel for this priority freight.

The Carleton Railway's busy classification yard in Monticello is designed for the efficient sorting of freight and connects directly with the BAR, allowing for interchange in both directions.

Because of its two railways near the downtown area, the small rural community of Monticello has become an important commercial centre.  

Progress At last!

2013 has been a year of major changes in the basement.  We made the decision to remove the oil furnace, oil barrel, and associate pipes for the hot-water heating system, and replace it all with a heat pump.  The change took quite a while, and made it necessary to remove all of the railway that was located in the furnace room (west-end staging tracks, the main line between Wakefield and Pembroke, and the town of Northampton).  I then studded, insulated, and gyprocked the outside wall of the former furnace room.  Finally, I was able to begin rebuilding the railway.  Northampton is now back in place, the new West Avondale Yard (west-end staging) has been installed, and the mainline is open once again.

The photo shows the new west-end staging yard, comprised of nine tracks.  Four of the tracks are long enough to hold 36-car trains.  The nine-track yard is a big improvement over the old staging yard with only five tracks, the longest of which had room for an 18-car train.  All three east-bound passenger trains can now enter the layout from staging--one of them previously originated in the Avondale coach yard.

(Click on the photo below to see the full width of the expanded staging yard)

The east-end staging will also be enlarged, an entirely new industrial area will be added west of Avondale (above Northampton in the furnace room), and a few new industries will be added in Lower Wakefield.

2014 looks like a good year for operations on the Carleton Railway.

Sketch of the layout

I am often asked if I have a track plan that I can show people.  I do not--but if someone with the skill to draw a detailed track plan volunteers, I would be very grateful!  I have sketched a very basic plan to give a sense of the two levels of the layout--each grid line represents 12 inches (click on the sketches to enlarge them).

Lumber by Rail!

Patterson's Mill Begins Shipping By Rail

(click on photo to enlarge)

With flatcar loads of logs arriving at the mill almost daily, Patterson's Sawmill in Northampton has long been a major customer of the Carleton Railway, but the mill owners had become accustomed to shipping their finished products by truck.  That is about to change. The flatcars that previously left the mill empty are now likely to be loaded with lumber destined for markets in the eastern US and Canada.  The Carleton Railway's marketing department convinced the mill owners that rail is a reliable and cost-efficient mode for delivering their products to market.  In the photo above, three carloads of wrapped lumber await their departure on the next "Northampton Local."    

An Unusual Extra

Railfans were pleasantly surprised this week to see a very short passenger train stop briefly at the Avondale station on the way to the Carleton Railway's car shops in Nortondale, York County.  The eastbound extra train consisted of Alco C-420 #2010 pulling a pair of shiny dome cars that had recently been purchased in Tatamagouche.  Once the cars have been re-lettered for the Carleton Railway and upgraded to the railway's exacting standards for quality service, the cars should enter regular service by fall (click on the photo to enlarge it).  

It is a busy day in the Avondale yard.  Those covered hoppers on track 5 are part of the westbound Newbridge Turn that has just arrived from South Newbridge, and the caboose that is almost out of sight on track 6 is at the rear of the Aroostook Local leaving for Monticello, Maine.