Railfanning Sartigan Railway 2

Inbound train arriving in Scott after leaving Charny (CN Joffres)

With Louis-Marie, we've paid a visit to Sartigan Railway (CFS) last weekend. It was a nice occasion to meet the owners and talk about the future of their operation. The inbound train was minimalist - a RS18 locomotive - and a centerbeam flatcar - but it was still an enjoyable time.

Sartigan Railway was founded few years ago to take over operation of this stretch of Quebec Central Railway that was acquired by the Ministry of Transportation.

They operate three trains per week and serves mainly the lumber and grain industries. CFS is a very small railway, much similar to a shelf layout than a large basement railway, but they still manage to attract more clients each year.

CFS employees discussing the repairs

We had the occasion to tour their old MLW RS13 switcher which is actually under repair and out of service for a while. When it will back in service, it will be painted in the quite nice CFS dark blue and silver paint scheme. The Bank Gothic font used is a homage to Canadian Pacific which operated this railway until the late 1980s. Both CFS locomotives are ex-Canadian Pacific that went through various ownership before coming back home.

The blog author finding shelter during a short rain storm

All pictures were taken at Scott-Junction, which is the de facto end of line until operation is pushed further south when rail will be rehabilited.

To be honest, this railfanning trip was more an occasion of chatting and taking pictures of track details and weathering pattern than watching rail operations!