CN Detours on the OVR

* Photos marked with an asterick courtesy of Raymond Farand

For a brief period in the early days of the Ottawa Valley Railway, we would frequently handle CN detour trains.  At the time, I was the General Manager of the OVR freshly arrived from CN and Daryl Duquette was the Manager of our Rail Traffic Control Center having recently arrived from CP.

Nov. 16, 1997 - CN Train 204 in North Bay

The fellows in CN’s OMC knew me well and Daryl had all the necessary connections in CP, so it didn’t take much for us to get detours set up when a request from CN would come in.  In fact, it was often done so quickly and discreetly that CP’s Network Management Center in Calgary had no idea that we were detouring the competition’s trains over what were essentially CP lines.  Once discovered, I believe CN found

* Nov. 18, 1997 - Another 204 at Deux-Rivieres

this outlet surprisingly convenient, at least until May 14, 1998.  On that date, Fred Green had arranged for CP business car Strathcona to be deadheaded into North Bay to entertain Tembec’s president and other senior Tembec executives.  Tembec was a major CP account at the time and it must have been contract renewal time or something of the like.  I was also invited to join the group, which was a nice gesture on CP’s part.    

As background, shortly after I had taken my position with the OVR, RaiLink purchased several MLW M-420's and Bombardier HR-412’s from CN.  Three of them ended up on our roster in North Bay.

3509 in North Bay Yard

On the same evening that we were entertaining the Tembec executives in the Strathcona, the 3509, still looking very much like a CN locomotive, was busy switching the yard.  Also, on the same day, it just so happened that we were handling CN detour trains.  As we sat in the back of the business car enjoying drinks and hors-d’oeuvres , I sensed that Fred Green was getting irritated by what appeared to be a CN engine switching the yard.  Then, with classic timing, CN's train 104 appeared from the west off the Cartier Subdivision, a long and solid double stack led by impressive new locomotives.  Although he kept quiet, the look on Fred’s face said it all, “What the hell is going on here”!!  It also didn’t help matters when one of the Tembec executives asked, “Weren’t those CN locomotives on that train”?  I explained to the group that we were detouring CN trains due to a derailment on their Bala Subdivision, but Fred Green didn’t seem overly impressed.  When he got back to Calgary, he must have asked some questions because in no time we received a call from CP’s NMC asking us about these detour trains!  They made it very clear that the NMC was to be involved in any future detour arrangements, and from that point forward, the CN detours pretty much dried up.  When CN sold their Beachburg Subdivision to the Ottawa Central, it made the possiblity of future detours even more remote.  The OCR didn’t have enough crews to handle extra trains so interchanging the trains in Pembroke was no longer an option.  Despite the barriers, on November 23, 1999, a CN freight train hit a tractor trailer on a farm crossing on the Kingston Subdivision and derailed.  An opposite direction VIA train then slammed into the freight train and derailed.  It was a mess and over the following two days, we handled what would be the last CN detours across the Ottawa Valley Railway, bridging the trains over the entire route between Smiths Falls and Sudbury.

* Nov. 25, 1999 - Last Detour, CN Train 104

I always regretted the end of the detours.  When we were handling those trains it showed the true potential of the Ottawa Valley as a co-production route.  It was an exciting period, watching the trains of both railways using the most direct route between Montreal and Western Canada.  When it was finished, it just seemed like an opportunity lost.

As an aside, following the evening with the Tembec officials, CP asked if we could store the Strathcona in North Bay until its next assignment.

CP Business Car Strathcona in N.Bay Yard

We accepted without hesitation, said it would be in good hands, and took possession of the keys.  Although I was not so bold as to use the car for an inspection trip across the OVR, it sure did make for a nice setting for an OVR staff meeting!!