Throwback Thursday - Arriving in St Thomas.

NS freight number 327 is swinging into the CN North yard in St Thomas, Ontario.  The units have just come under the Barwick St. overpass and will soon be heading west towards Talbotville.  This action was photographed on October 21, 2000.

By Peter Mumby.

BNSF 4408 and NS (CNOTP) 7079 are powering NS 327 into the yard at St Thomas, Ontario.  They have just completed the 12.5 mile trip along the Talbot Subdivision from London, and will soon make the short run along the Paynes Subdivision to the CN Southwold yard in Talbotville.  The auto parts traffic the train has hauled from Buffalo will then be picked up by CN for transfer to the Talbotville yard which is located on the east side of the St Thomas Ford plant.  The NS power will return to the St Thomas yard to wait until it is needed for the next day's 328 train.

NS continued hauling this Ford traffic until the end of 2006 when the contract was handed over to CN.  Within a few years the Ford plant shut down, and auto parts traffic became a thing of the past in the St Thomas area.  Both Southwold and Talbotville yards are unused today, and the Talbot Subdivision has been downgraded to the Talbot spur.  The St Thomas yard today is an interchange point between CN and the Ontario Southland Railway.