Switching the Peace River Northern Interchange on the Manitoba & Minnesota Subdivision

A local arrives in Nance.

In an earlier post, I wrote about how the town of Nance is one of three "switching layouts" on the CP Rail M & M Sub. (Areas where operators can switch a variety of industries or spots independent of mainline action.)

In that post, I described how the local drops off and picks up cars destined for the Peace River Northern, a shortline that interchanges with CP Rail at Nance.

Depending on my mood, either nothing happens to those cars--they are simply picked up by the next local through, having presumed to be loaded or emptied during their sojourn in the the Nance area--or I actually swap them out for cars from the PNR.

When the latter happens, number 6, the PNR's old CP Rail GP7, comes out from behind the hill to perform its switching duties--as seen in the photos below.

No. 9 appears from the hidden track behind a hill to begin the switching assignment.

It couples with the cut of cars left in the small two-track yard. These cars are all bound for the paper mill. (See the industry that isn't there.)

It pushes the cars through to the tail track at the west end of the yard, leaving the string of cars it brought to Nance in the now-vacated track.

It pulls the new cut of cars past the cars it left in the Nance yard.

The PNR train heads back towards the mill (the industry that isn't there), seen in the background.

The view from behind "the stage" of the layout, as the PNR train heads into staging.

This was an easy switch; everything was bound for the paper mill. Sometimes cars left in Nance by the CP Rail local need to be switched into industries in the town. That complicates things for the PNR crew, which needs both yard tracks for passing (although it can ask for permission to use the CP Rail main, too).

Now there are four new cars ready to be picked up by the CP Rail local, the next time it comes to Nance.