Historically CN Rail strikes didnt last more than 6/7 days before the Government ordered them back to work because they are an **essential service**. That was when CN was owned by the Federal Government. Now that it is run by the Americans maybe the stike will be longer. Who knows. Another **fly in the ointment** When BC Rail was owned by the BC Government shippers could ship to Vancouver Via BC Rail and then East via CPRail or Burlington Northern Rail, when CN went on strike. Now that CN owns BC Rail and has a monopoly in this area, if they go on strike, everthing grinds to a halt. C'est La Vie.

While they are off the job, there will be less chance for them to be involved with another train wreck. And that is the good side.

They are arleady effectely on strike by work to order and dragging their feet on service trying to create as much impact ast they can when they officially shut down services. I predict very little movement in the next week by CN in regards to meeting the needs of their customers.

Harbinger, better a train wreck than a car wreck. How are you going to have salt on your roads if the trains aren't running when the weather thaws out. Tell me they don't time it like that....

Oh joy, a peaceful sleep!

With the depressed lumber prices, this might just be the excuse that the lumber mills need to shut down the mills for a month or two. One would expect a critical shortage of lumber cars in the very near future, and if you cannot ship your product then you may as well shut down. Some would continue to run because the pulp mills need woodchips, however they can also whole log chip if need be.

If Canadian mills cannot ship lumber to the USA it will over time create a shortage, which in turn will drive up prices, which in turn will eliminate the 15% Government tax on lumber exports, and **Walla* we are back in business.

Who loses. Those people in the forest industrie who are laid off, however they will no doubt apply for Employment Insurance, so the whole fiasco can be finianced by the Federal Government through EI Payments.

Well for a few days we should be able to keep the train on the track...
or not!

To correct some errors of fact expressed in some of these comments:

The same CAW workers were on strike at CN for 28 or 29 days in February 2004 without service being interrupted.
All North American railroads have shipped record volumes in 2006, and several railroads have reported they are at maximum capacity, resulting in container ships in the port of Vancouver standing offshore queuing to be unloaded.
http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/CA6404519.html
About two weeks ago, I recall an article in the newspaper comparing various forms of transport with respect to fuel efficiency. This article was relevant because of the recent public attention to global warming, greenhouse gases, peak oil and comsumption of fossil fuels. According to this article, transportation by ship and by rail is considerably more efficient than by truck and air, by an order of magnitude.

All of this is to say:
- all the facts are available and accessible, don't take my word on it
- a strike is not good for anyone
- the trains have continued to run through the previous strike and could last just as long or longer
- there is little slack in the transportation system, so making up for the capacity won't happen overnight

Every train carrying containers that doesn't run across the country means you need to find several hundred trucks to haul them, several thousand hours of extra driver attention and thousands of gallons of additional fuel. Consider this when you are driving the publicly-funded highways and white-knuckling a pass of a double-trailer in a crosswind, or cursing the road ruts that the last overloaded axle has rippled in the asphalt.

It is highly unlikely that the trains will continue to run for very long, especially if this cold weather keeps up through January and February.

Another problem for this area is that the BC Rail is no longer in the picture, and therefore traffic that used to go South to CP, BN Rail during a strike, will not do so this time. There are insufficient trucks in this area to handle any increase in business, and therefore lumber companies will have to store lumber on the ground until the strike is over, or shut down. Pulp mills will use up the available cars, trucks, and warehouse space in the first week of a strike, and after that they will have to shut down.

If the CN Rail cannot deliver the Chemicals required to the pulp mills on a timely basis then that will add to the problem and make shutting down a certainty.

CN Rail can hardly provide a service to customers when they are not on strike, so I fail to see how they would be able to do it during a strike.

I suggest you batten down the hatches, because if they go on strike all hell will break loose.