Going west in the corridor

In early June, my family took the train to Toronto so we could take in a Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre. The trip west from Fallowfield Station was my first time taking Via Rail since 2015. It was also the first time I took the train between Ottawa and Toronto since 2009, when I used Via Rail to travel for business. For my daughters, it was their first time on a train that wasn't the O-Train.

We began our day from Fallowfield, as mentioned, before 6 a.m., as we waited for the 5:45 arrival of Train 41, which was the earliest train out of Ottawa. Our consist was led by P42 918 and it featured four silver streamlined HEP cars. My family was in the fourth car. It was an ex-CP coach and it was a bumpy ride. My wife and I were assigned seats at the end of the car, which gave us more leg room, although our window was half the size. Makes it hard to take photos!

As I mentioned in a previous post, the first thing I noticed trackside was a long line of empty intermodal cars parked on what blog readers confirmed to me was the last remnants of the CP Chalk River Subdivision. I was told that CPKC sets cars aside on this track when they are not in use for long periods. I was told that it is not uncommon to see grain cars parked on this track for long periods.

It was in Brockville that I captured my first photo at CP Chelsea, where the former CP Brockville Sub takes a sharp turn to the right for westbound trains, which forces the train to slow down. You can really hear the wheels screeching as the tight turn applies pressure on the train. It was on this turn that I attempted my first "Dutch door" style photo of a train. This was the best that I could do. It was at milepost 27.57. I was happy to catch the two signals as well.

The old windows on our coach made for less than stellar images, but I still like the fact that I could get a shot of our train from this vantage point. This is the first type of image in this style that I have ever captured. While we were in Brockville, I made sure to get a shot of the station. I have been through this town on the train many times, but I never have taken shots of the station.

This was about as much of the station as I could shoot from my narrow window in the fourth HEP car. There wasn't much else to see in Brockville during our stop, even though this is a good spot for railfanning, as this is a good place to see the convergence of the CN and CPKC's eastern systems. I did see a few flatcars, though.

I kept my eyes peeled for interesting scenes trackside. When we approached Kingston, I looked out for something on one of the two station tracks but I wasn't on the right side of the train to see what was on the other track. It wasn't until I was west of Kingston when I caught a quick glance at the abandoned ex-GTR, ex-CN Ernestown station, which still sits trackside, having long since hosted its last passenger train. This station continues to be a source of fascination for railfans and history buffs in the Kingston area.

I made sure to saunter down to the end of our car at times to get a shot of the tracks as we raced through Eastern Ontario. The harsh early morning sun was not my friend on these shots. But, as this train was not a double-ender, you could at least get a shot of the scenery rather than the back of an engine.

It wasn't until we arrived at Belleville that my vigilance finally paid off. As we approached the station, I saw a parked container train just east of the station. The engines did not seem to be idling, so I'm not sure if it was a case of a crew timed out and a train waiting for its next crew to bring it further west. I tried to get a shot as passed the head end. But again, the narrow window imposed limits to what I could do.

As we waited for our train to ease off the Belleville platform, I wandered to the back of the train to see if I could get a shot of the container train. This time, I was able to get a more complete shot. I was much happier with this shot. There is a bit of window glare in the bottom of the image, but I was happy that I could capture the curvature of the tracks and the contours of the train as it stretched into the distant horizon.

I also tried to frame the train with the overhead walkway of the Belleville station. The shadows were pretty harsh as it was still relatively early, so the freight train is a bit lost in the shadows, but I figured it was worth a shot.

I got a quick shot of the Trenton Junction Station, as I don't recall taking much notice of this stop when I took the train in the 1990s. I know there was a time when Via service was discontinued in Trenton for a time. The roof of the station needs to be replaced. It looks rough.

When we approached Cobourg, there were a couple of ballast cars in the yard, all with tarps covering the tops. The station in Cobourg looks very similar to the Belleville Station, only on a smaller scale.

I thought it would be fun to capture this scene in Cobourg, where you can see both rail lines over the water. There's a sizeable stretch of tracks where both the CPKC and CN lines are within eyesight of each other.

Those were some of my observations in June as we travelled from Fallowfield to Toronto. I will continue with Toronto observations in the next post. 

Note: I have aimed to post three items a month on this blog, but that will not be case this month. As I mentioned recently, my family is closing in on the final steps that will see us move. We are very close to wrapping up the process, but it is dominating my time. Thank you for your patience.

The old guy in the lead

On a trip back from Southwestern Ontario in July, I encountered this strange consist idling on an overpass over the 407, near CN's Brampton Yard. There are a few things about this consist that caught my eye after my wife snapped a few shots from the passenger side of our car, which was headed east.

I liked how the old GP9 was the lead unit of a three engine consist lashed together elephant style. The engines in the image are GP9RM 7029 followed by GP38-2 7509 and GP38-2 7512. Look closely and you can see the differences between 7509 and 7512. One noticeable change is the extended roof overhang on 7509, which 7512 does not have. Also, the placement of the horn on each is different, as 7512 has it mounted on the cab while 7509 does not, although it's hard to judge by the image. Also, there's the obvious difference in paint schemes between the GP38s and the GP9, which looks tired.

A shot from further back gives you a better idea of the size of the container train on the parallel track.

The noteworthy aspect of the image in my mind was that the GP9 is in the lead. This is not all that surprising at first glance, as I'm sure it just happened that this is how the locomotives lined up when they coupled them together.

But given that CN has only 29 of these old units left on its system, any sighting of these engines is worth noting these days, before they disappear forever. Over the years, I have come across a number of GP9s in action in Windsor, Sarnia, Lambton County and even here in Ottawa in recent years.

The GP9 is a survivor, many of which were built in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although CP's fleet has disappeared and morphed into the GP20 ECOs, the CN roster continues to toil in its yards scattered throughout its system, but for how long.

I have been thinking about these old warhorses in recent months and thought that this image taken in late July might be a perfect opportunity to do a little retrospective on these engines and my encounters with them over the years. 

That will wait for the next post.

Eastbound and down in Bedell

Last week, I shared a few observations about Bedell, Ontario, a great spot to see passing freight trains on the CP Winchester Sub. This might be my favourite spot, simply because it is so quiet and the views along the line are quite impressive (when you can find a spot clear of weeds).

Those who have been here know there is a small hill next to the tracks, close to where Bedell Road crosses the tracks. Sadly, the weeds on the hill are making photos tough. But, closer to the crossing, there is a clear section next to the bad order track that offers a fairly decent vantage point where you can capture an eastbound train.

I should mention that I had initially set up on the hill and was planning to try and get in front of the weeds on the edge of the hill, in order to capture a westbound freight. But, for the first time, I heard the sound of an engine horn coming from the east, which forced me to scramble to the clearing near the tracks. The only disadvantage to this spot is that is in not elevated.

Anyway, I set up and could hear the eastbound freight charging toward the crossing at quite a clip. I’m not sure what the speed limit would be on this stretch of the tracks, but I am assuming this train was travelling at about 70-80 km/h. Some experts tell me the limit is 65 mph which seems about right.

 

I was a little disappointed that the train was an intermodal, but there were a few points of interest. The head end was led by the usual two six-axle hulks.

But what I found interesting was that, while there was a double stack container behind the power, there was a short string of autoracks, which gave way to a long string of containers. I don’t pretend to know why trains are made up the way they are, but I did find these outliers interesting in an otherwise all-intermodal train.

In this shot, I think I might have caught a refrigerated container unit (UASC marks on the side). At least that was what it looked like. This was the only container on the train that had what seemed like an air conditioning unit. Someone who is more knowledgeable can correct me, if I'm off the mark.

I know most railfans don’t like shooting intermodal consists, but I always like getting a shot of a string of colourful containers in a long line. This train had no Canadian Tire containers to shoot, so I contented myself with a few of these multicoloured images.

Another thing I found interesting was that this train had barely a spot of graffiti on it. I know that well cars are usually not the canvass of choice, but they do often bear frequent tags of the “artists” who deface trains. This consist had almost none. I think it might have been because much of this train was made up of brand new well cars. Mostly, they were these shiny yellow TTX wells.

Here’s a question for the experts out there. I occasionally see these tanks in well cars. This train had a number of them. What do these tanks usually carry? I wonder why a liquid cargo would be carried in these tanks on well cars and not in a dedicated tank car. It might be because the liquid is from overseas, which would necessitate being handled in an international shipping container. Just a guess. Does any out there know?

This was a long train. I had to work around a lot of bushes to get a decent going away shot of the end of the train. Here it is. A great meet for me at my favourite spot.

Spring observations in Bedell

Last weekend, I had the chance to take a break from my hectic family life to have some “Daddy time” as my daughters called it. I decided to go to one of my favourite railway spots, Bedell, Ontario. I haven’t been out to this spot in several years and was surprised how much has changed.

For those not familiar with Bedell, check out some of my older posts about this spot, which once hosted a CP passenger station and active rail yard, right outside of Kemptville, Ontario, south of Ottawa.

The rolling pipeline in Bedell (2016)
Bedell, Ontario, Part I (2014)
Bedell Ontario, Part II (2014)
Bedell, Ontario, Part III (2014)

Getting back to my observations from this past weekend…

First, the vegetation on the north side of the CP Winchester Sub has clearly been allowed to grow a fair bit. That’s obviously not a big deal to the railway, but it’s a big deal to me, since it made my vantage points of the line much more difficult. Witness this shot, which essentially shows how high the bushes are in this spot, making the going away shot tough to get! (More shots from my meet with an eastbound freight next week)

Note the bush on the left. No going away shots were possible during this meet!

Second, the railway has stacked hundreds of old railway ties along the tracks in this area as well. Once again, a big visual hazard that forced me to reconsider where I might be able to set up for a shot of a passing freight train.

Third, the old remnants of the North Prescott Spur (formerly the Prescott Sub to Ottawa and Hull) have been groomed and fully converted into a multi-use recreational trail. I was impressed with how nice it was, although it didn’t seem all that busy.

Finally, I noticed this old facility, which hosted what was evidently that last customer to be served on the old spur, has been demolished. There was still a for sale sign up at the front of the property, which suggests there are no immediate plans for the land. My guess is the old building had to come down to make way for housing and something that is non-industrial in its focus. It makes me glad I took a few snapshots of the rails while they were still in place.

The old industrial building and rail line in this 2014 photo have all vanished.

I should mention that the remnants of the old Bedell rail yard are largely intact, including the stub-end spurs that are marked for bad order cars. The yard was empty when I arrived there on Sunday, which was no surprise as I have never seen anything parked in this area since I have begun visiting the spot periodically.

I should mention one last observation from this spot. I have read a few comments on the Eastern Ontario Rails Facebook group about the double track status of the Winchester Sub. Some have asked why CP maintains two tracks when the volume on the sub clearly doesn’t require two lines. I read some comments from railfans who suggested that removing the second track is too much trouble and too expensive, which seems like a reasonable theory.

That got me to think when I was there recently, what is the purpose of the two lines? I have been to this spot several times and each time, I have a caught a westbound train on the north track. Well, I’m guessing I might have received my answer. This time around, I finally caught an eastbound train on the south track. Does anyone know if the railway routes its trains westbound on the north track and eastbound on the south track?

My first eastbound meet at Bedell from June 16

Anyway, I’ll save most of my shots of the train for next week, as there are a few more points I wanted to bring up that didn’t fit the theme of this post. Stay tuned.

Some thoughts on Amazon coming to Ottawa

Ottawa can consider itself pretty lucky to have a sizeable consolation prize from Amazon. The city lost out, like many other cities, in its bid to be the home of Amazon’s second headquarters, so HQ2. Amazon announced recently that it would be locating a massive million-square-foot facility on Boundary Road, in the city’s east end. The facility will be a warehouse and shipping hub for the company (fulfilment centre is the official name). From the coverage, I read that this building will have 97 truck bays. Of course, that had me thinking.

While the city has been busy slapping itself on the back for this development, which will employ more than 600 people, not to mention 1,500 people in the construction phase, I see problems.

Why? Well, the increased truck traffic on Highway 417 will tax an already strained highway, which is certainly near its capacity in Ottawa itself. Traffic coming from Quebec will have an easier time reaching Boundary Road.

Anyone who lives in Ottawa will tell you that the truck traffic on local highways and in the downtown core is excessive to say the very least.

When I checked out where the new Amazon facility would be located on Boundary Road, I did a quick check to see where it was in relation to a railway. It turns out, not far. Via Rail’s Alexandria Sub runs through Carlsbad Springs, which is just up the road from this facility.

I have no idea if Amazon makes use of intermodal transportation to get its goods to its facilities, but I would think there would be an opportunity here to take advantage of the economies of scale that railways offer.

Of course, the biggest challenge would be how to do you get all this merchandise to Ottawa on a train and then load those containers on trucks so it can be taken to the Amazon facility? Ottawa has no intermodal facilities in this area, save for a tiny little boxcar loading ramp located at the Rideau Bulk property next to Walkley Yard.

And that’s where the idea dies. There is so little rail infrastructure left in this city that an idea like this is dead in the water. It’s a shame because after the excitement dies down over the Amazon facilities, a few uncomfortable realities will settle in. In fact, they already have. Construction has begun on this centre and already, people in the area are complaining about the noise and dust in the local media.

This project begs the question, how is the city going to accommodate all this truck traffic on the highways? How many millions will be spent to widen Boundary Road? What will the impact of this truck traffic be on communities like Carlsbad Springs?

You might recall that I have in the past suggested that perhaps Ottawa would be an interesting site for an intermodal hub serving parts of Eastern and Northern Ontario. Of course, I’m no expert on these matters, but I wonder if anyone is thinking of possibilities like this.

Perfect!

London, Ontario, Part IV

When I mentioned that August was a record month for me, I wasn't kidding. My visit to London alone yielded more railfanning than I have ever done in a weekend. The highlight of the weekend, at least from a photograph standpoint, came when I caught this container train from the Highbury overpass over the London East Yard.

It started when I was passing over the Highbury overpass and saw the signal lights for eastbound traffic flashing green. I knew that meant that something was on its way. So I turned my car around and headed for a nearby parking lot, which allowed me to scamper up the overpass sidewalk and position myself for some great shots. In a few seconds, a container train with two locomotives rumbled around the curve near the Western Fairgrounds and hit the straightaway. I initially set myself up almost straight on (see above), so I could get a shot of the train and the train yard in the same shot.

But I quickly shifted to my left so I could get a little more of a profile of the train. I was pretty happy with the above shot, since it pretty much confirmed to me that everything came together. Perfect lighting, perfect positioning (no shadow) and great framing. I won't pat myself on the back too much. I know my limitations as a photographer. But when I saw this shot of 5487 and 2635 pulling a long string of containers, I knew I had a special shot.

I did a quick zoom and got a close up of the lead units. You can see the exhaust in this shot. Always a plus for me.

I zoomed out a little and got a shot of the train itself with some of the London skyline in the background. You can see this train snaking around the curve in the top of the photo. I was waiting for traffic on Highbury to lighten up a little so I could cross to the other sidewalk and get a going away shot of the train, especially since the other side had some interesting features for a rail photo.

I really like this shot of the containers heading under the gantry as the train heads east toward Toronto.

One final going away shot, although by this time the sun was washing out the sky to the extent that I couldn't colour correct it in a way that still did the rest of the photo justice, so I left the shot unfiltered.

This was the first CN container train I have shot since I ran across two container trains in Markham in 2013. Yep, it's been that long. I will concede that these trains hardly thrill most railfans and I am no exception. However, when you get an overhead shot and the light and positioning are just perfect...well, it's a satisfying meet for sure.

I have one last item to share from my time in London, which I will save for the next post. Actually, I have two items, but one of them will be saved for a more thematic post later this year or next. I think a six-part series about London might be overkill.

Reasons to appreciate rolling stock (Part III)

Sometimes, a single photo of a single railcar is just not worth it to a railfan. However, even if something like a blank sided hopper car or similarly drab tank car doesn't excite you, maybe it's time to think outside the box. Yes, one railcar might not be worth a shot, but what about a shot of a bunch of railcars?

Read Part I and  Part II of the Rolling Stock Appreciation Society posts.

As railfans, we often chase diesel units and focus almost exclusively on the head of the train, but I think there's merit in shooting the middle of the train and the end of the train. Why? Because when taken together, railcars can sometimes tell a story of their own.

The best example I can think of is a container train. Intermodal trains are commonplace to say the very least and for the most part, aren't terribly exciting to shoot. Well, not so fast. I think when you take the container trains as a whole, they are actually fairly compelling to the eye. This photo above is one of a number of examples of containers trains I have shot. This train was one of my favourite meets. It also tells a story about railroading today. And check out the CN Mandaumin sign. The containers really form a great backdrop for the sign.

You'll never see just one container car on a train like you might with a boxcar, hopper car, flatcar or tank car. Intermodal cars are always part of a unit. These units are huge. They tell you a lot about how railroads operate today.

This shot, above, is one of my favourites. It doesn't contain a great deal of detail, but it tells a story. This is what railroading looks like today. This is how goods are shipped on the rails today. This is what intermodal is all about. This is what railways do best these days. Check out my post about this meet here.

You'll notice in each of these shots that the container cars are framed by an interesting looking sky. This is where I think many railfans could benefit from paying a little more attention to rolling stock. This shot, above, may not have an engine in it, but it gives you an idea of the scale of unit intermodal trains today and it is framed by an interesting backdrop. Sometimes, even a throwaway rolling stock snap can be worthwhile.

Another example of this is the humble autorack. This car hardly inspires excitement among many of us, I would imagine, but when you take a shot of group, you are telling the story of how cars are moved via rail today. You never see just one autorack on a train. They are always grouped together in large units. This tells you the scale of this source of revenue for railways. I like this shot above for that reason, but also because these autoracks are framed by some cool wildflowers trackside.

Here's another example of the whole being more than the sum of its parts. I like the lines that this image captures. On the surface, a unit ethanol train isn't terribly exciting, but when I reviewed this shot and looked at the lines this long string of tank cars created, I really liked the shot. The other thing I tried to capture was the anomaly. In this case, there is one white tank car in a sea of black ethanol cars.

Full disclosure. I don't see a lot of trains, so many of these revelations I have come across about rolling stock are really the product of a dearth of meets. I don't see many trains so I am always taking as many photos as possible when I do see one. I also can admit that I threw many of my old shots of rolling stock away in the 1990s, which in hindsight was a dumb move. I can only imagine if I had those photos today how much more compelling my image collection would be.

Learn from my mistakes. Take a shot of everything. You'll be glad you did.

A little fun on the 401

When my family recently travelled down to the Sarnia area for the Mother's Day weekend, I once again played one of my favourite games. Whenever we travel Highway 401, I bring along a camera to see if we can get some shots of trains at speed. I've done this many times, with varying results. At the very least, it's a good way to pass the time on what is always a very long ride.

Here's what we got this time around.

When we were passing through Kingston Friday morning at around 110 km/h, a westbound Via Rail train from Montreal overtook us. My wife snapped a pretty cool shot of wrapped P42 912, a renaissance-painted Business Class coach and a wrapped coach.

This stretch of CN's Kingston Subdivision is a gold mine for railfanning, even if you're in a car. A little further west of this spot, the subdivision crosses under the 401 near Montreal Street (I think), which is where we caught a glimpse of this freight heading east. I was a little disappointed with our timing. Had we travelled a little slower, we would have met this one at a better spot along the highway. Oh well.

Not the best shot, but it still works for me. There's just one unit pulling some centre beam lumber cars and a few gondolas and some covered hoppers (out of frame). Maybe a local? I suspect my friend Eric Gagnon might be able to comment on this.

One the way home to Ottawa, we didn't have the same kind of luck, but I did manage to snag a shot of some GO Trains idling near the 401 east of Toronto. You can see some of the glare from the window, which I was not able to photoshop out completely.

And, as we usually do, we came across an endless container train. We usually see a few of these when we travel the highway, although we often catch them mid-train. Still, a good collection of trailers to see, if that's your thing.

Here are two final shots, which illustrate how tough this game can be, although I have to hand it to my wife for being a gamer. Here's a shot she got from the passenger seat, shooting across the driver's seat and across the westbound 401. The first shot is completely untouched.

Another wrap! Here's my attempt to work with one of the shots.

You get the idea. It's sometimes a game of diminishing returns, but it makes the drive much more fun, for me at least.

Bedell Ontario Part III: Big Time Railroading

At long last, I am able to share some big-time railroading photos from my recent adventures in Bedell Ontario, a small hamlet south of Ottawa. Bedell is situated on the Canadian Pacific's Winchester Subdivision, the main line between Montreal and Smiths Falls. Due to computer issues, which have finally been resolved, I was able to recover my Bedell shots and back them up. Yes, this was a very good lesson for me to regularly back up my photos.

Click here to read Bedell Ontario Part I.
Click here to read Bedell Ontario Part II.

On July 17th, I made my first visit to Bedell and was able to capture shots of the remnants of the old CP Prescott Subdivision, which was being scrapped. After doing a little exploring in the weeds of that old line, I heard a westbound freight making its way toward my spot along the main line. For those unfamiliar with Bedell, it is a former CP stopover and servicing point. There is little left now, but the area does offer a spectacular view of main line action from an old parking lot and plateau perched trackside, both of which offer safe, legal places to shoot trains.

This freight was being led by ES44AC 8719 and AC4400CW 8565. After shooting mainly old geeps around Ottawa, it was refreshing to see some modern workhorses. As I was putting this post together, I thought about the last time I shot CP action and I realized that it was in 1992 in Banff, Alberta. You can read about those adventures here and here.

As you can see, I was unfortunately on the shadow side of the train, which wasn't a huge loss considering the lighting was decent. You can see the steel coil cars trailing the lead units above and below. In the shot below, you can also see a turnout for bad orders. This turnout was once part of a much larger rail yard in the area, most of which is gone. You can also see a bit of an old signal tower behind the trailing 8565 unit. You can see that tower in the final shot below.

Although it may seem I was right beside the track, I can assure you I was a safe distance from the train and using my camera's zoom.

As I have mentioned before, a mixed freight is the best freight to shoot, in my opinion. Intermodal double-stack trains are the most common, but they don't offer much variety. This train was a true mix. It reminded me of the mixed freights I shot along the CSX Sarnia Subdivision as a teenager. Boxcars closely followed the coil cars on this train, as you can see below.

It wasn't long before a few ballast cars came into view with some old CP Rail multimarks. I have a HO-scale blue hopper car painted in this livery at home, so I took a shot.

There was a long line of tank cars before a couple of hopper cars gave way to the double stacks at the end of the train. You can see the whistle sign in this shot, as well as old rail that had just been lifted from the old turnout that led to the abandoned North Prescott Spur, formerly the Prescott Sub.

The double stacks included a number of Canadian Tire containers, which wasn't unusual since CP is the retailer's main long-distance cargo hauler. The sunny blue skies, scattered clouds and full summer foliage made for a perfect backdrop.

Alas, all good things must come to an end, as did this manifest freight. You can see the bad order turnout more clearly in this shot as well as some angled crossing signals at the Bedell Road crossing. These lights are angled due to the path of the road, which parallels the track before taking a sharp turn at the crossing.

A few weeks later, I made sure to get a shot of the old signal tower, just in case the railway decides to get rid of this relic.

 

So that was my first encounter with a CP freight on the Winchester Sub. I am planning to return to Bedell very soon to see if there is anything left from the old Prescott Subdivision. Also, I hope I won't have to wait 22 years to shoot my next CP freight.