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35-464: The Barrie-Collingwood Railway ( reporting mark CCGX ), commonly referred to as the BCRY, is a shortline railway operating between the towns of Innisfil and Utopia in south central Ontario , Canada. The line was started in 1998 and runs on former Canadian National (CN) trackage which was collectively purchased by the railway's namesake municipalities. The BCRY continues to run under the ownership of

70-695: A 2-digit code indicating the vehicle's register country . The registered keeper of a vehicle is now indicated by a separate Vehicle Keeper Marking (VKM), usually the name of the owning company or an abbreviation thereof, which must be registered with the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) and the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and which is unique throughout Europe and parts of Asia and Northern Africa. The VKM must be between two and five letters in length and can use any of

105-464: A hyphen. Some examples: When a vehicle is sold it will not normally be transferred to another register. The Czech railways bought large numbers of coaches from ÖBB. The number remained the same but the VKM changed from A-ÖBB to A-ČD. The UIC introduced a uniform numbering system for their members based on a 12-digit number, largely known as UIC number . The third and fourth digit of the number indicated

140-463: A local shunting operation. The line's future could be in jeopardy unless new customers can be attracted, as operating costs consistently exceed revenues. As of January 2016, unused stretches of track are being leased for empty tank car storage, due to the slow down in the oil industry. This has led to community backlash, citing safety concerns and impact on property values. Currently, the BCRY has only one locomotive , an EMD Phase III GP9, #1001, which

175-700: A predecessor of the CNW, from which the UP inherited it. Similarly, during the breakup of Conrail , the long-retired marks of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and New York Central Railroad (NYC) were temporarily brought back and applied to much of Conrail's fleet to signify which cars and locomotives were to go to CSX (all cars labeled NYC) and which to Norfolk Southern (all cars labeled PRR). Some of these cars still retain their temporary NYC marks. Because of its size, this list has been split into subpages based on

210-589: A small interchange yard was subsequently built using old rails and ties pulled up from Allandale Yard. This was necessary as the abandonment of the Newmarket Sub north and south of Barrie effectively isolated the line from the North American rail network. The yard is also where maintenance of way (MOW) equipment and the locomotive is stored when not in use. Transloading facilities are also located here for customers not directly rail served. The yard has

245-615: A storage capacity of 60 cars. The Newmarket Subdivision is not used by the BCRY; it was purchased to preserve future GO Transit expansion north from Bradford, which re-opened in late 2007. It has since been sold to Metrolinx , the operators of GO Transit. The BCRY was used in the TV series Mayday for the episode featuring the San Bernardino train disaster . On July 15, 2011, the Town of Collingwood decided to decommission its portion of

280-464: Is particularly dangerous because not only is there the risk of being run over, but on some railway systems—particularly ones that use buffer-and-chain/screw coupling systems—the shunters have to get between the wagons/carriages in order to complete coupling and uncoupling. This was particularly so in the past. The Midland Railway company, for example, kept an ambulance wagon permanently stationed at Toton Yard to give treatment to injured shunters. Of

315-646: The City of Barrie and is operated by Cando Rail Services Ltd. , based in Brandon, Manitoba . In 1996, the Canadian National Railway abandoned its Newmarket Subdivision from Bradford to Ramara , as well as its entire Meaford Subdivision which ran from Barrie to Collingwood (both parts of the former Northern Railway of Canada ). CN had plans to rip up its tracks; however, the City of Barrie and

350-669: The TTX Company (formerly Trailer Train Company) is named for its original reporting mark of TTX. In another example, the reporting mark for state-funded Amtrak services in California is CDTX (whereas the usual Amtrak mark is AMTK) because the state transportation agency ( Caltrans ) owns the equipment used in these services. This may also apply to commuter rail, for example Metrolink in Southern California uses

385-681: The 20,964 staff accidents in the UK that were investigated by the Railway Inspectorate between 1900 and 1939 (around 3% of all staff accidents), 6701 have been classified as involving shunting. Of those 6701 cases, 1033 were fatalities. All of the 20,964 Railway Inspectorate accident investigations have been transcribed and made freely available by the Railway Work, Life & Death project, along with around 28,000 other cases. The main tool of shunters working with hook-and-chain couplings

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420-513: The 26 letters of the Latin alphabet . Diacritical marks may also be used, but they are ignored in data processing (for example, Ö is treated as though it is O ). The VKM is preceded by the code for the country (according to the alphabetical coding system described in Appendix 4 to the 1949 convention and Article 45(4) of the 1968 convention on road traffic), where the vehicle is registered and

455-504: The AAR, maintains the active reporting marks for the North American rail industry. Under current practice, the first letter must match the initial letter of the railroad name. As it also acts as a Standard Carrier Alpha Code , the reporting mark cannot conflict with codes in use by other nonrail carriers. Marks ending with the letter "X" are assigned to companies or individuals who own railcars, but are not operating railroads; for example,

490-672: The Town of Collingwood stepped in to purchase the lines to maintain their rail infrastructures. Barrie purchased the remainder of the Newmarket Subdivision, the Meaford Subdivision from Barrie to Utopia in Essa Township and the remainder of the abandoned Beeton Subdivision (originally the Hamilton and North-Western Railway ) which runs south from Barrie to Innisfil and connects with the other two subs at

525-496: The US). Most shunter/switchers are now diesel-powered but steam and even electric locomotives have been used. Where locomotives could not be used (e.g. because of weight restrictions) shunting operations have in the past been effected by horses or capstans . The terms "shunter" and "switcher" are not only applied to locomotives but also to employees engaged on the ground with shunting/switching operations. The task of such personnel

560-682: The VKM BLS. Example for an "Einheitswagen" delivered in 1957: In the United Kingdom, prior to nationalisation, wagons owned by the major railways were marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway concerned; for example, wagons of the Great Western Railway were marked "G W"; those of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway were marked "L M S", etc. The codes were agreed between

595-541: The acquiring company discontinues the name or mark of the acquired company, the discontinued mark is referred to as a "fallen flag" railway. Occasionally, long-disused marks are suddenly revived by the companies which now own them. For example, in recent years, the Union Pacific Railroad has begun to use the mark CMO on newly built covered hoppers, gondolas and five-bay coal hoppers. CMO originally belonged to Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway ,

630-465: The class of track. Speed is limited along the line due to the short length of each subdivision. Track speed is currently 10 miles per hour (16 km/h). Efforts are continuously made to improve the right-of-way, including tie and rail replacement and signal upgrades. Between 2011 and 2018, all level crossings on the Meaford and Beeton Subdivisions (spurs excluded) have received signal upgrades. In 2013,

665-448: The first letter of the reporting mark: A railway vehicle must be registered in the relevant state's National Vehicle Register (NVR), as part of which process it will be assigned a 12-digit European Vehicle Number (EVN). The EVN schema is essentially the same as that used by the earlier UIC numbering systems for tractive vehicles and wagons , except that it replaces the 2-digit vehicle owner's code (see § Europe 1964 to 2005 ) with

700-424: The level crossing at Mapleview Avenue was removed during the street's widening and replaced with an overpass. Reporting mark In North America , the mark, which consists of an alphabetic code of two to four letters, is stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one- to six-digit number. This information is used to uniquely identify every such rail car or locomotive, thus allowing it to be tracked by

735-528: The line due to financial reasons. It was costing taxpayers up to $ 425,000 annually to keep providing regular rail service to essentially one customer, the Canadian Mist distillery, while Amaizeingly Green in the same industrial lot used it only sporadically. The only other user was a farm supply company in Stayner that was well served by Highway 26 . In 2018, The trackage between Utopia and Collingwood

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770-572: The owner of a reporting mark is taken over by another company, the old mark becomes the property of the new company. For example, when the Union Pacific Railroad (mark UP) acquired the Chicago and North Western Railway (mark CNW) in 1995, it retained the CNW mark rather than immediately repaint all acquired equipment. Some companies own several marks that are used to identify different classes of cars, such as boxcars or gondolas. If

805-405: The owner, or more precisely the keeper of the vehicle. Thus each UIC member got a two-digit owner code . With the introduction of national vehicle registers this code became a country code. Some vehicles had to be renumbered as a consequence. The Swiss company BLS Lötschbergbahn had the owner code 63. When their vehicles were registered, they got numbers with the country code 85 for Switzerland and

840-402: The pole to push the car on the adjacent track. Before poling pockets or poles were common on switching locomotives, some US railroads built specialized poling cars which could be coupled to locomotives that lacked poling pockets. The practice was most prevalent in rail yard operations circa 1900. Poling was the cause of some accidents and in later years was discouraged before the practice

875-562: The present end of the Newmarket Subdivision at Allandale Waterfront GO Station . A rail trail has since been constructed along the former right-of-way between Stayner and Collingwood. Today the railway services only four customers in the Barrie area. They include Tag Environmental and Western Mechanical in Barrie, and Tarpin Lumber and Comet Chemical in Innisfil, effectively reducing it to

910-406: The railroad it is traveling over, which shares the information with other railroads and customers. In multinational registries, a code indicating the home country may also be included. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) assigns marks to all carriers, under authority granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board , Transport Canada , and Mexican Government. Railinc , a subsidiary of

945-589: The railways and registered with the Ministry of Railways , Government of India . Shunting (rail) Shunting , in railway operations, is the process of sorting items of rolling stock into complete trains , or the reverse. In the United States this activity is known as switching . Motive power is normally provided by a locomotive known as a shunter locomotive (in the UK) or switcher locomotive (in

980-762: The railways and registered with the Railway Clearing House . In India, wagons owned by the Indian Railways are marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway divisions concerned along with the Hindi abbreviation; for example, trains of the Western Railway zone are marked "WR" and "प रे"; those of the Central Railway zone are marked "CR" and "मध्य", etc. The codes are agreed between

1015-820: The reporting mark SCAX because the equipment is owned by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority —which owns the Metrolink system—even though it is operated by Amtrak. This is why the reporting mark for CSX Transportation , which is an operating railroad, is CSXT instead of CSX. Private (non-common carrier) freight car owners in Mexico were issued, up until around 1990, reporting marks ending in two X's, possibly to signify that their cars followed different regulations (such as bans on friction bearing trucks) than their American counterparts and so their viability for interchange service

1050-535: The site of the former Allandale Yard in Barrie. Collingwood purchased the rest of the Meaford Subdivision from Utopia northwestward. In 1998, the BCRY was created to service various customers in Innisfil, Barrie, Colwell , Angus , Stayner and Collingwood along the Beeton and Meaford Subdivisions. The line crosses the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) Mactier Subdivision at Utopia, where

1085-407: Was a shunting pole, which allowed the shunter to reach between wagons to fasten and unfasten couplings without having physically to go between the vehicles. This type of shunting pole was of an entirely different design than objects of the same name in North American practice (see below). In some countries, a pole was sometimes used to move cars on adjacent tracks. In the United States this procedure

Barrie Collingwood Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-405: Was formerly Ohio Central (OHCR) #94 and Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) #6594. Another GP9, #1000, was in the fleet until 2000, when it was transferred to the newly created Orangeville-Brampton Railway (OBRY), another shortline which Cando operated until 2018. BCRY also possesses various MOW equipment and a road railer. The track is over a century old, though remains in satisfactory condition for

1155-580: Was impaired. This often resulted in five-letter reporting marks, an option not otherwise allowed by the AAR. Companies owning trailers used in trailer-on-flatcar service are assigned marks ending with the letter "Z", and the National Motor Freight Traffic Association , which maintains the list of Standard Carrier Alpha Codes, assigns marks ending in "U" to owners of intermodal containers . The standard ISO 6346 covers identifiers for intermodal containers. When

1190-413: Was known as "pole switching" or "poling" for short. In the UK it was known as "propping." In these instances, the locomotive or another car was moved to be near the car that needed to be moved. The on-ground railwayman would then position a wooden pole, which was sometimes permanently attached to the locomotive, and engage it in the poling pocket of the car that needed to be moved. The engineer would then use

1225-567: Was sold to the County of Simcoe, which abandoned it. The City of Barrie continues to operate the line east of the Utopia yard, serving Barrie, Essa Township and Innisfil. After the decommissioning of the line west of Utopia, removal of the tracks was carried out over the next several years. As of late 2023, most of the abandoned track between Utopia and Collingwood had been lifted, though a few short sections remain intact. Track also remains in place to

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