A Canada Day doubleheader

When I visited Sarnia this summer to spend time with family, I was lucky enough to have some time trackside at the Sarnia rail yard, which is always a treat for me. I already shared some images of my time in Sarnia, including shots of my first mainline freight train this summer, along with my commentary on the enthusiastic railfans down there, not to mention the oddities I saw off the main line.

First taste of the main line

The Railfans

Off the main line

For this post, I simply wanted to share photos of more mainline action from my time in Sarnia. As much as I love reading railway blogs (and I do) and learn from the commentary and knowledge of my fellow bloggers, I also like to read posts about just being trackside and capturing a passing train. It's a simple pleasure in my life. Sometimes, it doesn't need a whole lot of overthinking. So with that in mind, let's go trackside on the Strathroy Subdivison. 

This is my first glimpse of a westbound freight that was making its way to the tunnel when eastbound Via Train 84 made its way east of the platform of Sarnia station on July 1. I always love to catch a meet, but it's always a challenge to get the light cooperating at this vantage point. Sometimes, the early morning sunshine and the haze makes some compromises inevitable. 

By turning my camera away from the sun and having the Via Rail Venture set out of the way, I was able to get a better view of the westbound CN with a long line of empty autoracks making its way to Michigan. It's interesting how the glare from the Venture set seemed to influence the lighting of the shot in the first image. Take that distraction away and shift the direction of the lens and the sky comes into focus. But it wasn't until the train came closer to the platform that I was in for a true surprise.

 

 

Behind CN ES44DC 2228 was a Canadian Pacific-painted unit. I'm not going to say that shared or leased power is rare on this main line, because I have seen outside power here in my limited time trackside. But I don't recall seeing CP power here before. I'm sure it's more common that I think, but it's still the first time I have seen CP (sigh, okay CPKC) power on the Strathroy Subdivision. 

 

 

The engine was CPKC ES44AC 8907, in the railway's basic red scheme minus the golden rodent and badge logo. One thing I've loved about modern CP engines is how, even after the railway migrated to a more modern paint scheme following its longstanding action livery, the railway still kept its unit operating numbers in the same white italic font. It's a little detail. I'm sure there wasn't any deliberate thought put into this, but I like that it reminds me of days gone by when I would see CP action red units in Windsor with the same operating numbers on the cab. It's the little things that make me happy.

It's weird seeing these two rivals side by side. Look at the difference it makes when you're not fighting the morning sun! The eastward facing images make it look like a cloudy, overcast day but the westward images reveal that it's really another typical Southwestern Ontario sunny summer morning.

Here's a quick shot of Via Train 84 making its way toward the Indian Road overpass while the westbound autorack train picks up momentum as it glides down the descent toward the Paul M. Tellier Tunnel beneath the St. Clair River. 

And speaking of that CPKC railway, here is the unified railway's logo. The beaver and the maple leaf are still prominent, letting people know which one of these former companies was the buyer. 

 

And here's a shot of that action red scheme, which you can still find on occasion on old covered hoppers and autoracks. I've seen a boxcar with the old action scheme in recent years, but that is truly rare. Check out that image of an old CP Rail clad boxcar in this post from London, Ontario: Serving up suds?

 

And here's one final shot of the train making its way down the grade to the tunnel as the rear markers cross the signal gantry. All in all, a cool start to my Canada Day.

 

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