207 has just started its 2.5 hrs of work at Porcupine on the outskirts of Timmins while a foreman braves the harsh winter weather to clear switches and make it possible. In one of the most intricate switching operations I’ve ever seen, tank car empties are taken to the main and swapped with ONR’s new second-hand articulated well cars on the tail end, followed by the flats on the front end being dropped at the loading dock just behind the train. The train then carries on to the industrial chemicals wholesaler just behind me, switches out the empties and rearranges the loads (not as easy as it sounds) in a number of moves. While this is happening the double stacks are being unloaded and a flag raised when that is complete so the crew knows the empties are good to go. Tank loads would then usually be dropped in place of the wells (unusually none from Hearst arrived on this day), the empties collated and taken back to the small yard at Kidd, ending with 308’s train being built by combining the traffic from the huge mine. Quite the operation, especially in the winter!
