Caption: This was a first for me. L562 radioed RTC in the early evening hours for a light to leave Port Rob; and that part is fairly typical. What was new however is that they asked for a light to head to Niagara Falls, something I have yet to see in all of my journeys to Niagara. They headed towards the Falls with a dozen or more empty plastic pellet hoppers on the head end, and two or three tanks bringing up the rear. They told RTC they were going to go around the wye at Clifton, and then switch a couple of customers on the way back. I was able to quickly piece together that the tanks were for Oleo Energy, but couldn't for the life of me understand who the second of the "couple customers" was and who/what the plastic pellet hoppers were for.
I got to Clifton at roughly the same time as 562, and watched them go around the wye. Unfortunately, the combination of overgrowth and lighting didn't allow for any shots there, but it was interesting to see nonetheless. They then headed back in the direction of Port Rob and began to switch out Oleo Industries. This allowed me some time to scout locations for a shot on their return trip, as there are no shots to be had at Oleo itself. Trust me when I say this is not easy in Niagara Falls: the angles at crossings are very tight (if not overgrown). I landed on the shot here, at the Dorchester Road crossing, where they are pictured heading back to Port Rob.
At this point, I wondered if perhaps the hoppers were for Oxy Vinyls and that this was the other of the "couple customers", and they'd be running the Chemical Spur when they got back. However, when they got into the yard they set off the entire drag. From this I can only conclude that they need quite a string of idler cars to make the move at Oleo Energies. Not sure why they told RTC they were going to work a couple of customers, but anyways, it was nice to see something new. Afterwards, they did some work at Southern Yard (setting off transfer traffic for CP to pick up for Innophos in Port Maitland, and some cars for Welded Tube) and then returned to Port Rob light power.
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I do like the cab roof outline on the ex-Santa Fe units. It is just that little bit different than all the other GE’s.