The first two reasons were good, but upon hearing the third on I was sold.
Being well into the Internship it was about time to get things rolling. I spoke to my boss and he made the arrangements. Last Thursday (yeah, yeah, I am a little delayed on the blog writing) I was picked up by one of our guys and driven out to McAdam.
You are saying you have never heard of McAdam, New Brunswick? Well... until I worked for NBSR, neither had I. I don't know how far away McAdam is from Saint John (I suppose I could Google it... but then again... so could you...). Anyways, we headed Southish towards St. Andrews and then turned into the booneys. We drove through nowhere and when we reached the middle ad were in McAdam. McAdam looks like it used to be more than it is now. It is my understanding that back when passenger trains ran the line McAdam was booming. Now, the passenger trains have left that line desolate and McAdam is a quiet little town without enough people to warrant a cell phone tower. The trains may have stopped, but the train station has been maintained as a tourist attraction and as a monument to when the middle of nowhere was the middle of somewhere.
McAdam Train Station
We arrived in McAdam a little bit early. I showed up at the resthouse (where the train crews sleep - home away from home) and it turned out that the train crew was in fact... sleeping. Actually, the Engineman was conscious, but the Brakeman (Conductor) was no where to be seen. Having time to spare I headed towards the train station. I took a look around and spoke with the girls manning (womanning) the station. I said I explained that I did not have much time in McAdam and wondered what there was to see. She said I could probably see most of the town in half an hour. She asked what I was doing there and I told her that I was on the next train out. I received a blank look as the proceeded to ask if I was aware that there had not been a passenger train on those tracks in decades. I informed her I was aware.
McAdam Train Station
I headed out to McAdam to see what I could see. Turns out that the girl at the train station was right; you could see most of McAdam in about half an hour. I wandered about but soon had to head back to the resthouse. One thing that I found amazing was that there is a Masonic Lodge in McAdam. Evidently many of the small towns in that area have Lodges and other like associations.
Downtown McAdam
Masons
Cook's
After returning to the resthouse I found that the Brakeman had awoken and we now has a full train crew. We were just waiting for the train to roll into town. It did not take long before we got the call and piled into the car to drive to the station. We drove down, got out, and arrived just in time to watch the train pull in to the McAdam station.
My Train Rolls In
I got to watch as the guys prepared the train to go. The crews switched over and then with a joint effort the two train crews attached the appropriate cars. I watched the train go back and forth as it went up one set of tracks and then down another, collecting the cars as it went. One thing that I found interesting was when the train went up one set of tracks and then I saw the Brakeman hanging off of the edge of a car. The car was rolling down the tracks and it was connected to three other cars. He waved to me as he went by and it took me a moment to realize that there was no engine attached to those cars... he was riding them as if with magic... I like to call that kind of magic gravity, but for a moment I was seriously shocked and awed. Now I am just awed.
Brakeman Magic
With the train ready to go all was ready. Our train was 4020 feet long and called 2317, after the name of the lead engine. It was 4ish in the afternoon and finally time to go. We all piled into the engine and were on our way. As we pulled through McAdam we were going slowly, but as soon as we cleared the town we began to pick up speed. It was not long before we hit the speed limit of 40 miles per hour and were roaring down the tracks. We were literally roaring, locomotives are not the quietest of vehicles. Roaring away the Engineman switched off our locomotive to let the two behind us do the work.
From then on we just got to sit and relax as we cruised through nowhere, leaving the middle, and heading towards somewhere. I was told that it is quite common to see moose on these trips. This was not a shock to me as it appeared as if we were going through one bid swamp. It was about then that the Brakeman told me that if you take a straight path from McAdam to Saint John just about everything in-between is swamp.
We were now definitely in nowhere. The only thing that could be seen were railroad tracks ahead of us and behind (for as far as the eye could see), and abandoned power lines. There was a certain kind of peace in the seclusion of being nowhere, and a certain satisfaction in knowing that it was only us out there.... us and the mooses.
Lines to Nowhere
We continued along the powerlines and noticed that they were in various states of decay. Some were tipped over. Some still had cables attached. Some had insulators. Some were standing if brand new... but then the ones beside would be all busted. I was told that the wires were worthless because they were steel-coated-copper lines as opposed to copper but that there was still something of interest here. Insulators. Evidently the insulators had been replaced over the years, but in some places there are still original insulators, and those ones are marked CPR. As we drove along the Brakeman asked me... "want one?"
I have yet to turn down an adventure, and so this was one I would not turn down.
In nowhere, the 2317 pulled to a stop and we piled down to the tracks. There was a tipped over powerline there and still with an original insulator. The Brakeman was down into the bushes before you could blink, and after the blink was done he was back on the tracks. In his hand he held a CPR marked insulator... for me.
Salvaged Memento
CPR Insulator
Booty in hand we resumed our voyage.
Lake
We continued through the wilderness without seeing a soul for some time, but eventually we saw signs of man again. We could see the highway running up against the track and in the distance we could see houses. I was sitting in the Brakeman's chair so that I could see out the window and out that window I could see people enjoying a beautiful day. There, standing in the distance was a little girl... waving.
I was frozen. I saw here waving but I did not know what do to. "Wave," said the Engineman. "Wave," said the Brakeman. "Wave!" The both said. Finally figuring it out I pulled my hand into action and waved back to the little girl. I could see her pleasure from my simple action and I found myself filled with something unfamiliar... a warm fuzzy feeling. As we continued down the tracks more people waved, and I was more than happy to wave back.
On our way we caught glimpses of a town in the distance, and a thousand other beautiful sights.
A Town in the Distance
While we were still in nowhere the Engineman asked if I wanted to try and drive. Before I talk about this let's get this straight. I was not left alone driving, I had someone over my shoulder standing at the emergency break at all times just in case. That said, I was sitting in the Engineman's chair and I was using all of the controls. It is relatively easy to drive a train in the basic sense, I mean, it runs on a track so steering is not an issue... but, there are other challenges. Carrying around the better part of a mile of freight means that there are a lot of cars bumping around, so if you go down a hill your cars are likely to bump you from behind as they come down after you. If you put on the brakes all the cars are likely to squish together, potentially damaging them. I was taught the basics of how to keep the train stretched out, and what to do when going over a hill.
Some of the most exciting parts were when we got to railway crossings. Then I got to pull whistle. It is definitely fun to come up to a crossing, and pull the whistle to let everyone know we are coming, and then to wave out the window as you go by.
Now I am a real Engineer!
The Train
As we reached civilization the Engineman took over, which is probably wise since I was shocked that I had not already crashed the train.
Back in civilization we had reached were we were doing work on the tracks. This means we got to drive passed all of the equipment from our gangs. This also meant that track speed was down to 10 miles per hour. With nothing that we could do, we brought the train down to 10 MPH and continued on towards Saint John.
Saint John
It was 8:30 pm when we rolled into the Yard. It was an amazing day, and one that I will not soon forget. I can now call myself an Engineer, and mean it, and I will always have that salvaged keepsake from CPR's abandoned powerlines.
Thank you Chris and Ricky; it was a great day.
Home Sweet Home
p.s. Check out my album here to see all of my NBSR photos, including a number of photos of my trip from the Brakeman's seat.
No comments:
Post a Comment