One of the largest and heaviest cargos ever moved by rail in North America arrived at its destination near Fort McMurray last week following a 10-day, 2,415-kilometre overland journey from the Great Lakes.
The 65-car special train carried many key components for a new Syncrude oilsands expansion.
The train was an international team effort of five carriers, including two south of the border. It consisted of two locomotives, 17 specialized loaded railcars with eight to 12 axles each, 24 cars of miscellaneous equipment and 24 spacer cars to balance the load.
Some individual components measured 80 feet long and weighed more than 1.5 million pounds.
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| CN hauls one of the longest and heaviest trains ever across a rail bridge east of Edmonton enroute to Syncrude’s UE-1 project near Fort McMurray. |
Syncrude is in the midst of a major expansion of its operations in Northern Alberta. The company mines oil sand from the earth that is impregnated with oil, then separates the two and upgrades the oil to a high quality product.
