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Caption: Everything interesting seemed happen on crappy days. This is another one of those infrequent, actually rare, moves in which the Talbotville to Buffalo auto-parts train #328 of old had to detour the Thorold Sub, bypassing Niagara Falls. The Thorold sub connected at Port Robinson, about a mile up the line from where I am capturing this image. A handful of detours in late fall 1996 and early 1997 occurred due to Bridge 6 work block (after AMTK passed) at the Welland Canal. In this shot, the train has just crossed Hwy 20 at Blackhorse Corners; power is CP 5418, NS 4014 and CP 5600. Nice to see that NS x-SOU "baby boat" in consist.
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There must have been other detours on the Thorold sub, what did CN do – and the other VIA’s?
There’s been strong rumours that the CN Welland Canal bridge needs work and reroutes are to occur again – in theory CN could reroute via CP.. but they could also reroute via Trillium if they wanted to… surely they kept the rights just in case – Thorold, Canal subs to Dain City, across to Feeder and down the former Cayuga/CPR Hamilton sub to Brookfield and onto the Stamford..
The grade ‘southbound’ at Thorold is hell though… will be interesting regardless if it’s needed..
Steve: Of course there have been other detours, I know of an 3 ALCO CN freight running the line in 1973, and there might have been some minor derailments over the years, etc.,but all the time I was in the area this bridgework over the 1996/97 winter, which resulted in about 8 detours, was the only major one I can recall. Perhaps someone on the list can get a little more into this subject than I, but I recall the Work Block went up 1000 to 1600 daily. If ya didn’t make 1000, then it was off to the Thorold Sub. CN freights had their times adjusted, AMTK was before and after those times as was the daily single VIA each way. The afternoon Budd run was history by this time. all Budds ending by 1990. The NS trains were often at the mercy of the CSX in Buffalo in their attempts to keep schedules. And then there was the winter weather……As far as the latest “Bridgework”, well GOTransit will have to be accommodated..I understand work on the Canal Bridge #6 will start in 2016. The route you suggest is doable all right, but I wonder if CN would agree to running 60-70 car trains instead of 140!!!!! They might have to.
The closest thing that has gone down the Thorold Sub like this was a 3 engine, 32 car train a few years ago. I always figured that’d be more of an easy reroute. Trillium only uses those tracks twice a day. And they would not have been used when anything is going down the Grimsby. We shall see.
I found in my notes comments of a reconstruction project at the Clifton Wye in the Falls, which resulted in CN rerouting a few freights down the Thorold Sub. The last of these, Sept 1987, was an eastbound led by CN 9535; until the handful of “NS” detours beginning late 1996, last of those Jan. 22, 1997.