I have to agree with traisessive 1 about Exira to Caye on the Rivers Sub. I think I am wrong with my choice of west from Portage is wrong but that’s what I put down.
I like Dudes idea of a second bridge at Natress but can’t see it happening either.
I also like Dudes idea of Galloway to Hargwen and giving a nice section of 2 tracks from Bickerdike West (or east) to Dalehurst of 33 miles.
Going by what is happening now they really need this.
It would not surprise me if the double track extension south of Superior, WI starts just east of the Bluff Creek bridge near Ambridge and ends just north of the Amnicon River bridge near Rockmont.
Double track currently starts just south of the Amnicon River bridge, and the additional double track north of there would allow for one train heading south out of Pokegama Yard to get a run for the climb up the Niagara escarpment while a northbound is able to stay in the clear north of the Amnicon River bridge while heading in for a crew change at Pokegama Yard.
Pokegama Yard is at 686 feet of elevation and Hawthorne is at 1,178 feet of elevation so it is a hefty pull.
CN announced today (March 18) where they are adding double track in Saskatchewan.
10 miles near Atwater east of Melville, might be a continuation of what was done in 2018
10 miles near Fenwood west of Melville, must be from Bailey
8 miles near Biggar, it didn’t say which side
7 miles near Clavet east of Saskatoon, probably from Dufault
CN has announced 345 Million Cdn$ capital investment in BC Planned expansion projects that will improve traffic fluidity in the Port of Prince Rupert and Port of Vancouver areas include:
Construction of a new train passing siding in Port Edward;
Construction of 2.5 miles of double track west of Prince George;
and, Multi-year initiatives to increase capacity at the Port of Vancouver in collaboration with the Government of Canada and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
Maintenance program highlights include:
Replacement of approximately 115 miles of rail;
Installation of more than 210,000 new railroad ties;
Rebuilds of 38 road crossing surfaces; and, Other maintenance work on culverts, signal systems and additional track infrastructure.
CN’s B.C. rail network serves the West Coast gateways of Vancouver and Prince Rupert and major inland terminals in Surrey, Prince George, Kamloops, and Fort Nelson.
CN has announced 370 million Cdn$ in capital expenditures in Alberta as follows;
Planned expansion projects include:
Construction of about 12 miles of double track between Leaman and Nilton, west of Edmonton;
Construction of about 5 miles of double track near Entrance, east of the Alberta-British Columbia border;
Construction of about 7 miles of double track near Greenshields, east of Edmonton; and,
Building new tracks at Scotford Yard northeast of Edmonton to increase yard capacity for growing local demands.
Maintenance program highlights include:
Replacement of more than 90 miles of rail; Installation of approximately 210,000 new railroad ties;
Rebuilds of 44 road crossing surfaces; and, Maintenance work on bridges, culverts, signal systems, and other track infrastructure.
This Investor Presentation from March 2019 has a lot of interesting information in it, including the 2019 Capital Program and much, much more.
CN announced capital spending of 120 million Cdn$ in Manitoba on Mar 25th, 2019 as follows:
Planned expansion projects include:
Construction of a new train passing siding near Nourse, east of Winnipeg; and,
Construction of 6.3 miles of double track near Exira, west of Portage la Prairie.
Maintenance program highlights include:
Replacement of more than 35 miles of rail;
Installation of approximately 59,000 new railroad ties; Rebuilds of 13 road crossing surfaces; and,
Maintenance work on bridges, culverts, signal systems and other track infrastructure.
Now I wonder if this is related to the Oil contracts that CP is angling for in the same province.
CN has pretty much told us where expansion is taking place in 2019.
BC
2.5 Mi. DT west of Prince George
A new siding at Port Edward
They are spending a lot of money in BC, what else are they doing?
Alberta
12 Mi. DT Leamon to Niton
5 Mi. DT near Entrance
7 Mi. DT Greenshields to Wainwright
Saskatchewan
10 Mi. DT near Atwater (from Waldron?)
10 Mi. DT Bailey to Fenwood
8 Mi. DT near Biggar (probably to the east)
& Mi. DT near Clavet
Manitoba
6.3 Mi. DT near Exira
New siding at Nourse
So now we have to get and get some pictures of them this year.
It would be wonderful if CN would do something about the very rough single track line from Chicago south it acquired from IC. Mr. Harrison had already done his track removal by the time it became CN. Is it not sad that passenger travel on this line is slower than in the last days of steam. Of course the roadbed in general and the diamonds in particular were better maintained.
CN announced today April 8 Capital Spending in 4 states.
$120 M in Wisconsin, most notable 8 mi. of DT near Hawthorne.
$100 M in Tennessee.
$95 M in Louisiana, start rebuilding 2 mi long Lake Pontchartrain bridge
$190 M in Illinois.
All figures in $US.
Looks like there is a gap between Hawthorne WI and Solon Springs WI that might make sense in terms of ease of construction and few small bridges.
Hawthorne is at 1,178 ft of elevation and Solon Springs is at 1,122 ft of elevation.
I am not familiar at all with Superior and area. I appreciate the posts by kgbw49 and the detail he puts in it.
I bought a 2019 CTG (Canadian Trackside Guide) and the only DT listed on the Superior Sub is from Mission Creek to South Steelton. Kgbw49 said it was definitely done from Hawthorne north of the Amnicon River bridge in 2018. Are there any milepost mileages for this? How long is this stretch?
I have looked at Google maps, it is a very rugged area with a lot of bridges and rail lines and hard for me to figure out.
They rather ambiguously mentioned “capacity improvements” in and around Vancouver and the ports there.
Materials have started to arrive for the construction projects, sometimes well in advance of when they are really needed. As an example, the brand new prefabricated 45 mph turnouts for Entrance, Niton and Leaman, AB showed up riding flatcars and gondolas a couple weeks ago. A nice sight and smell, there’s nothing quite like fresh creosote!
The double-tracking at Entrance is extending the 6,500 foot siding west to towards the bridge over the Athabasca River, correct, to almost Solomon?
Yes. I was told this segment will be “bridge to bridge”, so the siding may be extended eastward as well, to the west end of the Prairie Creek bridge.
I love the smell of creosote in the morning! Keeps the bugs away (sort of).
(with apologies to Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall) in Apocalypse Now)
That’s great. Thank you. I am very surprised about that double-track section as I thought that was a siding which was difficult to be extended, especially by another five miles. Upon looking on Google Earth, it didn’t actually look so bad. Do you also know if the sidings at Niton and Leaman will be integrated into the 12 mile double-track section?
CN’s practice is to convert existing sidings into parts of the double track section, may as well use up as much pre-built grade and track as possible. The vast majority of our sidings are already laid with heavy, welded rail, and many have already been upgraded for 25 mph instead of 15. Many of the double track sections that have been constructed over the past 10 years have connected two sidings.
As it exists right now, the siding at Entrance is about 6500’ long, which makes it almost useless in today’s world of long trains. Between the ends of double track at Dalehurst and Park Gate the only places for long trains to meet are Hinton and Swan Landing, both of which are regularly clogged by trains stopping to switch. Extending Entrance to 5 miles would allow two long trains to be brought over there instead of waiting farther back.
One graphic has showed a siding extention near Fort Frances, Ontario. That is said to be connecting Fort Fracnes to the first siding west of it, Devlin.
The Manitoba and Ontario releases both say nothing about this. I doubt it’s going to actually happen.