JOURNAL VI

I am now working on making a locomotive 508 album. The album will contain plenty more pictures than I have previously showed on my website. I will most likely have it online in a few days but in the mean time you can go to the following link and see more of my ALBUMS.

Feels like the steam is back in me wanting to kick this search back in gear. The 508 photo album is coming along real good. It will contain all the pictures that were in my journals plus some added extras that have never been posted on the website before. Viewing the album will take you through all of the captured moments on my journey to solve the 508 mystery. I will also add some comments that will make the viewing enjoyable as well.

I have also e-mailed some more of my contacts today for some help trying to find interested divers with experience in hard diving conditions. In my mind, the search is over....it's a simple matter of confirmation. I want the next dive to be concentrated on the sand mound. Handheld magnetometers would be of great use as well as long pieces of rebar for probing. If the sand mound reveals nothing metallic, we can pretty well assume there is no engine to be found. On the other hand, if the sand mound reveals a huge piece of metal...the search heats up and perhaps gets solved. Let's solve this mystery!

It does not look like there will be a dive this fall. I was hoping that I could round up some military guys but it just won't happen this fall. Still not too late to go for a dive but I don't have much time to dedicate to this right now.

On the other hand, my fireplace is coming pretty good. Check it out here MY FIREPLACE.

I have also been working on the 508 Album but with all this great weather lately, I have been concentrating on the fireplace project instead. The pictures are more of a winter job to be scheduled anywhere in between Igloo building sessions.

I have finally finished fixing the thumbnail pictures that did not work when surfing through my journals. You cannot click on them to make the image bigger but at least it's not an error on the screen anymore. I am still working on the locomotive 508 album. This is were I will have all of the pictures in bigger format with some descriptions to go along with them. It will resemble the one for the fireplace and the igloo album already viewable on the ALBUM link. I have also fixed the poll that did not work for the past six months. Go ahead and cast your vote there again. The guestbook has also been improved on. I have however lost all of the previous postings because of this, so get back to this section and please leave your comments again or for the first time.

Thanks giving dinner has brought forward some encouraging news when it comes to the search for locomotive 508. By pure coincidence, I found out that one of our relatives (Christine's side) has trained with some Gagetown military divers in order to get his scuba diving certification. I have known Mark for a long time but never knew he was a diver. We talked about the accident and dive efforts to date and he sounded very interested in coming up with some of his military friends. Possibly even later this fall. Funny but I wasn't even trying to get things moving on this and yet like everything else related to this search, things seem to happen with or without my effort. Will keep everybody posted of my progress.

I have added a new section on the introduction page of the website that is called MESSAGE FORUM. Click on this section to see the latest topics of discussion.

Also just got back from an asphalt conference in Victoria, British Columbia. Pretty far away but what a beautiful city to see.

I have added more explanatory images on the introduction page. They explain a little more the magnetic and sonar surveys. I also took quite a bit of time trying to illustrate what appears to be a match between our salvaged brake pieces VS actual technical brake specifications commonly found on steam locomotives of that era. The book I found these specifications in is called "Locomotive Engineering" published in 1908. Page 566 shows the brake specifications I have posted on the introduction page.

I wanted to spend some time during my vacation at the archives in Fredericton. There is most likely a lot more information left to be discovered in the archives. Margaret Marceau spend plenty of time at the Harriet Irving Library researching Grand Falls history for her book "Grand Falls Yesterdays". I managed to convince my wife Christine to come help me tomorrow for the exchange of bringing her out to supper at the end of the day. Pretty good deal if you ask me. I want to concentrate on newspaper stories and Grand Falls history. Somebody told me they had seen another view of the collapsed bridge and I really would like to find that picture. Perhaps even find a picture of 508 at a station somewhere filling up on water and wood. This will be my first visit to this library, let's hope we find good stuff.

Me ad Christine had a good time at the archives but did not find anything new. I wrote up a list of newspapers in the Research Section that we looked at on Thursday. At least we have a record of the ones that have been searched. I think the newspapers are not going to reveal much more groundbreaking information anyway. We did however meet a couple of ladies at the Harriet Irving Library that will surely help us if they find anything interesting relating to the accident.

We also went to the Provincial Archives on the U.N.B. campus but did not find anything of interest with relations to the accident. I think my next visit should be at the railway museum in Moncton. There may be more train related items to be found at such a place. Also suggested by the archive people was the library/archive at the Edmundston Campus.

I have done considerable modifications to the introduction page again. Mostly the addition of some pictures and a short resume on each of the six dives to date. I find it has more flow to it now.

We have started building the igloo this year again but the weather has not been favorable. Not cold enough. Hopefully temperatures will drop so we can put this one in the books.

I have also made some minor changes to the "Contact me" section and added even more pictures on the Introduction page.

I have been in contact with both people from the department of environment (NBDOE) and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) this week. I am in the process of applying for the proper permits that would allow us to go uncover the sand mound at the bottom of the river this summer. I have received today the form I need to get the ball rolling on my application process. I have also talked to the guys from East Dive last week and discussed with them of my plans for the summer. I will in the weeks to come fill out various application permits and keep in touch with D.F.O. , N.B.D.O.E. and East Dive.

-2 Raise the money needed to hire professional divers and equipment to do this work.

Last week I was also got in contact with a gentleman from the New Brunswick Railway Museum in Hillsborough. I have been told at the archives to look them up for possible help and information. I got their website address and contacted them via e-mail with inquiries related to my search. Steve Boyko returned my e-mail and was very helpful. Mr. Boyko even mentioned he may stop into the archives someday and help with the search since his work is handy to the university.

Finally last week I contacted Claire Charest-Knoetze who works at the University of Moncton library on the campus of Edmundston. Again this was suggested at the archives as a possible route of interest. I gave my website address to her along with a summary of what it contained. She told me she would let me know if she stumbled on anything that may be of interest.

I have again done significant touch ups to the introduction page. If you read it before, read it again because I have tried to explain the sonar and magnetic survey images better and also how they were done.

I have sent off the paperwork for the environmental permit this week. I will follow up with them next week to see on the status of the application.

We have finally finished Igloo #3. This year was not the most favorable for igloo building but we did build it out of snow blocks. Here is a picture I took before the warm weather and rain gets the best of it.

The first step in the whole permit application process is to send my "Plan of Attack" to DFO and see if they have any initial concerns. They are usually the show stoppers and can basically tell you if you have any chances to get passed them or not. Applying to the province first and getting approval from them does not signify approval from DFO (Federal). I contacted DFO last week asking if they had received my package. We talked about the project and everything looks good to get things officially started. Half the battle is over.

I now have to start the whole application process with NBDOE and get a standard watercourse alteration permit. My package is ready but I need a few approvals before sending it off or else the application may be rejected if it lacks all the required information. The permit requires me to ask permission from the riverbed owner(s), the adjacent land owner(s) and verify with the municipality if I will be violating any by laws. I have checked with the local planning commission and everything is clear with them. For those who want to know, the river bed above the dam is owned by the crown (DNR). If you want to do any work on crown land, you must fill out an application form as well. This application form asks a bunch of questions including if I have asked the adjacent land owners (shoreline) permission. They also want copies attached to their application form. The adjacent land owner (shore on both sides of the river) is the power commission (NB Power). They own a strip of land all along the shore within the head pond area created by the dam. I have contacted the power commission last week and sent them an e-mail containing all the information I had sent to DFO. I called NB Power today to see if they had received my e-mail last Friday. They did and told me someone would be contacting me in the days to come for further questions relating to my request.

So right now, I am waiting for the power commission to give me the "OK". Then I can turn around and attach "OK#1" to the crown land application and send that one off to them. Once I get OK#2 from the crown, I can then attach OK#1 and OK#2 to the NBDOE application and expect to get an answer from them within two months. What a process to go play in the sand!!!

Here is a picture I got from East Dive this week when I asked them to send me something to add to the NBDOE application. This is the proposed equipment we will be using to dig up the mound.

It's a pretty simple concept, something similar to a pressure washer system with soap just like at Jessy Jane's Car Wash. The flow of water in the high pressure line is so fast that it sucks up the soap into the line thus giving you soapy water. The concept here is the same but replace the soap with sand.

I received a call from NB Power this morning. That didn't take long!! Sounds like I won't have any problems getting their permission but nevertheless we must get things done right. A representative from the power commission will come up to Grand Falls next week. He and I will go visit the site together and discuss the Grand Falls "BIG DIG" project further. Things are progressing nicely and I have to admit that everybody I have talked to so far (DFO, DNR, NBDOE and NB Power) have all been really cooperative, forthcoming and helpful. That's great because I still have to raise some funds before this can all materialize! 1) Permit 2) Fund raising 3) Digging.

On a sad note, I had to destroy the igloo tonight. It was getting pretty frail and little Jessy Jane and the boys were playing in it a lot. It did look nice at night. When lit up from the inside you could see bright light emanating from the cracks. Even dough it did not last long, Igloo #3 had a very unique look after dark.

I got a call from the NB Power representative today. He called to let me know he would not make it to Grand Falls this week. However he did tell me he had spoken to someone from NBDOE earlier today. They told him that I did not necessarily need to have the approvals in order to start the application review. So I decided to send everything out today. Here are the groups that will be getting mail from me next week.

1- New Brunswick Department of Environment (NBDOE): Application for a watercourse and wetland alteration permit. Permission from the province to move the sand mound and questions on how we are going to go about it.

2- Natural Resources - Crown lands branch: Application to get approval from the crown to work on their land. The crown owns the riverbed where we will be moving sand.

3- NB Power: Approval from the adjacent land owners is also required for the alteration permit and crown lands applications.

4- Department of Fisheries and Ocean (DFO): They have already received a summary from me a couple of weeks ago but this package contains more info and is presented more professionally.

5- East Dive Ltd.: Just to keep the guys that will be doing the work in the loop. They could possibly receive a phone call from any of the 4 mentioned above.

Now all the applications and requests have been filled out and mailed. Everybody that will deal with the application will have the same copy. It's now a waiting game. I will contact everybody next week and make sure they have all received a package concerning locomotive 508.

It looks like everybody has gotten the locomotive package I sent out last week. The only thing to do now is wait for them to get back to me.

I have added a new SOLAR FURNACE album in my photo album link. I built a solar furnace last weekend using an old satellite dish. A solar furnace is simply a bunch of mirrors oriented to focus the sunlight at a chosen focal point. The focal point can reach very high temperatures to the point of melting metals. I tried it last week but the sunlight was very limited. It did however melt sulfur aluminum and ignite paper. Click on the solar furnace link to see some pictures of it. I will add action shots of it melting stuff when the sun returns.

I have added many new pictures in my PHOTO ALBUMS. Since there as been plenty of sunlight lately the Solar Furnace album as been updated with some action shots. Pleased to say that thing works very well for cooking hot dogs. I have also added some new pictures in the Fireplace album. Brand new albums added consist of some pictures from our trip to Victoria, B.C. last fall and our very recent trip to Montreal, Quebec.

Still no news from NBDOE on the status of my application. The application form said to allow for 2 to 3 months for processing. Will keep the website posted.

I had forgotten to post this 1999 aerial image of the crash site on the website. Something similar went out with the permit applications only a little bit more detailed. This image shows triangle ABC that encompasses the metallic debris field in the river. The location of the sand mound on the Metallic debris map is in the area of magnetic peak points 2,3 and 4. Hole #3 from the the Sonar survey map is practically over the sand mound. The sand mound is where we found the brake pieces.

I am typing this journal entry tonight with my left hand only. I went out on my regular pedal bike trip last night and kind of wished I would of stayed home instead. I was cruising at about 50.8km/hr heading east on Madawaska Road when a truck in front of me put his signal light to turn right into a driveway entrance. I was traveling on the concrete gutter strip and turning right was hard because of the 8 inch curb height next to me. The outcome of that option would most likely have taken away the use of both arms. I didn't have much time to react so I locked the brakes and tried to turn hard left and avoid slamming into the truck but it was too late. Next thing you know I'm sweeping the road with my helmet, shoulder, knees and right elbow. The truck I struck stopped immediately and then drove me directly to the hospital. I felt bad for the guy because he had just gotten the green light and wasn't really going fast when I caught up to him. I was planning on passing him on the right side. The sun was directly in his rearview mirrors and a guy on a pedal bike is hard to see from any angle. I'm glad I had my helmet because it probably saved my life. However I did bruise my head, brake my right elbow, tear up my knee caps and back. Loosing the use of a part of your body is never understood until it happens. My arm is in a cast from wrist to shoulder and it's really hard to get anything done. That's not to mention the pain from it all. Just real happy I have a wonderful wife that loves me because this would of been a complete different experience without her.

When the typing hand gets better I have some interesting news to report concerning the 508 project but for the moment I need some pain killers.

Today I got some good news from the Department of Environment. The application was APPROVED and as of June 1^st we can explore the sand mound and move it to uncover what lies beneath. The work can be done anywhere between June and September of 2006 and only a handful of things need to be done in order to be ready 100% with permit stuff.

I have been in contact with a diver from Moncton for the past month. Dan actually called me and offered to help out with the search since he is moving to the area with his family this summer. I don't even know his last name yet but he is scheduled to come up next week to talk about summer search possibilities. We have had some very interesting discussions and ideas concerning the search efforts but I will wait till next week before writing about them.

I finally met Diver Dan last night. Real nice guy and he is just as into the search as I am. His name is Danny Trites and he is from Moncton but moving in the area this summer. We went to visit the site and we talked about the project extensively. This will be a very interesting summer searching for the locomotive. Diver Dan has all the cool gadgets we need to make the search much easier and really exciting. He has a hand held magnetometer, underwater picture and video capabilities and best of all the gear needed to excavate the riverbed. So the fund raiser I originally had planned for is not necessary anymore. Diver Dan is going to be a big help and the best thing about it all is that he can't wait to get started too!!!

The first step in our plan is going to get him familiar with the site with a few preliminary exploratory dives. At the same time we will be building a working platform for us to use when we go out on the river. The platform will be towed by another boat to the wreck site and anchored to one of the piers during the work. It will also serve as a diving pad and a place to lay all the equipment we will be using for digging. All of this can only happen when the dam as completely closed up.

It's been so busy at work and for the train project this week that this is actually the first chance I get to write about the progress we have made.

First of all at the beginning of the week we built a barge that will help us with the diving equipment and all of the gear we need to do the work. All of the materials needed were donated by local businesses:

Grand Falls Pallets: Sylvain Rioux donated 6 pallets and the metal strapping needed to secure the plastic barrels to the underside of the platform.

BMR: Geatan Pineault donated the lumber and plywood needed to secure everything together.

Raymond St-Onge donated the motor we will be using to tow the barge from the shore to the site.

Eric Ouellette donated a little fiberglass boat that had been laying upside down on his back lawn for the last 3 years. It's not pretty but it will serve as a shuttle from the barge to the shore when we need stuff.

Eric Ouellette, Marc Laforge, Patrick Mazerolle, Raymond St-Onge and Daniel Tardif.

We went to drop the barge off on the river today to see if it would float. It seems to work very well and is very stable.

Secondly we went for the first dive of the year yesterday. Diver Dan was very eager to get to the bottom of the river and find out about visibility, water flow, riverbed materials and more. He is well equipped but will be even better equipped the next time he goes under. We found some interesting pieces at the wreck site but I don't think they are from the accident. Dan saw the sand mound and says it is very big!!!

Diver Dan also took a few pictures of some interesting things he saw at the bottom. Don't know what they are yet but this is the first time I see the bottom since I started the search back in 2003. Cool!!!

Me and Danny went out for a quick site visit today but it ended up being more of a waste of time than anything else. We had problems with our motor, our marker on the water was gone and visibility was zero. Not surprising considering all the rain we have gotten over the weekend.

Diver Dan is not in the area this weekend but he will be here most of next week. He told me that he would like to go for several dives next week. Since I am busy at work the dives will most likely occur in the evenings.

Our Car Wash "JESSY JANE'S" has recently undergone a bit of work. We have installed a new water softener last month to save on soap and help with ugly spot issues. A new vacuum has also been installed outside the car wash to clean the inside of your vehicle. The Vacuum accepts normal money as well as JESSY JANE TOKENS which can be purchased next door at GEMTEC during office hours. Just come in and ask me or my wife (Christine) for some and save $ at the same time. For every 10$ purchase of TOKENS you get a FREE one. One token is worth 2$ at JESSY JANE'S.

Danny Trites was over for another dive tonight. He had a two tank harness this time and was able to stay underwater much longer. The dive almost got canned when we were heading out to our boat landing and two large tress had fallen directly into the middle of the road. Luckily I had just got myself a chainsaw a few week ago and it saved the dive. I also got the boat engine fixed today. Two new spark plugs did the trick because it worked fine tonight. We also restored our marker on the river along with a hook at the end of it to help us anchor the barge and boat when digging starts.

I was talking to Desman Tranquilla last week concerning our digging capabilities. Desman works for Atcon Construction and he is currently working on the Brunway Highway construction project in the area. We have a system now that is small and with the size of the mound I think we need something a little more industrial. Desman was very happy to help out. He volunteered his time to help us build a system that will save us lots of time. Should be interesting what he comes up with because just a few week ago talking to him onsite, he had pretty much figured out how to retrieve this engine if we do find it.

There hasn't been much happening with the search lately. Mostly due to my hectic work schedule in the summer. I have till the end of September to do this work and when we do go digging, everything will be well organized and ready for action.

I'm almost 33 and as of last week, I had never gone on a train ride. At work last Thursday, I had an opportunity to get a special train ride and I took it. I was supervising slope repairs for CN in Quebec and we were hauling rock to the site with a work train which consisted of a locomotive and nine dump cars. The locomotive would go back and forth from the site to the quarry and I jumped on it for one round trip. Riding up front in the locomotive was pretty exciting in itself. The engineer (Bertin LeBlanc) was really interesting to talk to and explained everything from how the locomotive works to how they communicate in order to make sure they don't meet and crash into each other. Locomotive 508 was in the order of 35 tones and the one I got on was 250 tones!!!

The location where we were working was nicknamed "LE CROCHE DES SOLDATS" or "SOLDIERS CURVE" and the reason it was named this is pretty sad. The supervisor onsite told me this:

Shortly after the second world war, a train full of returning soldiers was coming through here and derailed. The accident claimed the lives of most of them.

Isn't it unfair that these men served their country, survived the war and on route back in celebration they died in a freak accident at home never getting to reunite with their families again. I would like to find out more about this story. Next time I go to the archives I will definitely dedicate some time to look up this one.

INTRO	FUN STUFF	POLL	SOUNDS	CONTACT ME	LINKS
RESEARCH DOCUMENTS					HOW TO GET MARCEAU'S BOOK
GUEST MAP	www.locomotive508.nb.ca				GUEST BOOK