Workers with Cando Limited sort through steel parts that are being salvaged from the abandoned Canadian Pacific railway bed in Renfrew.

25 August 2011

Dismantling of CP Line in Full Swing

Renfrew Ontario - The Manitoba company, Cando Ltd., will be working in the Renfrew area into late October to help salvage equipment from Canadian Pacific's abandoned rail bed.
 
A&K Railroad Materials, through its Canadian subsidiary Canadian Rail Track Material, won the salvage contract for the rail line that runs from Smiths Falls to Mattawa.
 
A&K, which is based out of Kansas City, has subcontracted out the dismantling and salvage of railway equipment, including the ties, anchors, spikes, and other steel components, to Cando Contracting.
 
A&K is noted for its rail train that transports continuous-welded rail, which is located along many sections of the line between Smiths Falls and Mattawa.
 
Cando Ltd., which is located in Brandon, Manitoba, is involved in a variety of railway-related activities.
 
These include the operation of the Barrie-Collingwood Railway in Ontario, industrial switching, and the dismantlement of rail lines in Alberta.
 
SOME OTTAWA VALLEY WORKERS
 
More than a dozen Manitoba-based workers with Cando are on the job, between Cobden and Renfrew, to help with the dismantling process. The company has also hired another 10 or so workers from the Ottawa Valley.
 
The goal for 2011 is to collect 25 miles (or 40 kilometres) of the rail line.
 
"The pickup of the rail may be done by the end of September," said Anne Cornay, the Calgary-based manager of inventory control and track rationalization for Canadian Pacific.
 
"We want two trains of material collected by 1 Sep 2011, with more to come (in the fall)."
 
Cando's specific work for this contract involves three major types of equipment, wedging and lifting of the actual rails, prying out of the railway spikes, and collection of the spikes, plates, and anchors. The latter is commonly referred to as ATM, or Other Track Material.
 
The ATM is being transported by rail car to the Town of Renfrew where it is dropped at the end of Railway Avenue. At that location, an excavator operates a large magnet to pick up the ATM and drop it in a bin beside a crew of five workers. That material runs along a conveyor belt, from which the workers hastily collect and drop the reusable steel into nearby containers. The uncollected material fills a container at the end of the conveyor built.
 
"We've been recycling for over 30 years, even before it was popular," says Ann Lintott, an administrative assistant with Cando. The firm's on-site supervisor is Alex Burr.
 
Cornay, of Canadian Pacific, suggested much of the salvaged rail will find a home on other rail lines across North America, and not have to be melted down, because it's in such good condition.
 
Many plates and anchors will be relocated, while many of the spikes and rail ties will likely be sold. The track itself is in very good shape, said Cornay, indicating some of it was only laid in 2006.
 
Steve Newman.