One: Miramichi, New Brunswick

We probably got to Miramichi 50 years too late.
We arrived after several hours in the car on our way back from Prince Edward Island. Miramichi wasn’t on the way, but it is one of those places upon which I had become fixated after seeing the name on the map. We were as close as we might ever get and had the time to make the trip, so, to Miramichi we went.
There is ample evidence this was once a thriving industrial town, but that commercial heart is cold and petrified. The woman in the hotel said that tubing was now a big industry. I wondered how much money that brought in. Open lots surrounded by chain link fences bore witness to past industrial glory. There was a waterfront that had lost its pulse and left the overgrown railroad tracks without purpose. And there was a railroad station that had a small freight yard and got infrequent visits from VIA Rail’s Ocean.
A lone woman sat on the ground near the train station. I thought at first she might be waiting for the Ocean on its way from Halifax to Montreal, but I soon realized she was waiting for a ride that seemed a long time in coming. Not-so-little Helper and I moved off. My Helper was more interested in chatting with her friends on her phone and I was searching for a way to get to the head of a CN local laid-over on a yard track south or east of the station. A problem that was solved with a short trip up Gladstone Ave.
The freight was cold and I wondered how long it would be before a crew would come and start up the three-unit set. No matter, I got my photo and an excuse to restart this blog. Also, I enjoyed meeting the Miramichi of the present, but as my not-so-little Helper and I drove around I couldn’t shake the feeling Miramichi of the past was a little more special.