One last kick at the can for the F59PH

Recently, I shared some photos and thoughts about GO Train service in Kitchener, where Metrolinx has enjoyed success with its Kitchener-Union Station service. I was camped out on an overpass this past summer to capture the morning run of Train 3962 eastbound for Union Station. That train was being led by 559, one of GO's old F59PH locomotives, a reliable warhorse that was built by the old Electro-Motive engine production facility in London, Ont. 

At the time, I couldn't help but wonder if the F59PH was into its final days with GO Transit, as very few still remain on the GO roster. Later in that same day, I was told that 559 had broken down between Kitchener and Guelph. 

Shortly after the Kitchener post went live, I got some interesting information from a blog reader, which I will share here in its entirety:

GO bought F59s from Los Angeles Metrolink and they are sitting in North Bay for rebuild so, by the looks of things, the last days in green of that loco type is some time away. I suspect the idea is to add to the power pool as newer engines get fitted with ECTS signalling, and also possibly 2MW battery packs to replace one Cummins on the MP54s. 

Shortly after that comment, I got further confirmation from another reader that, indeed, more F59PHs were on the way, which means that these old engines will be seen in and around the GTA for the time being. 

In November, I had a small layover in Toronto on my way to see family in Sarnia, so I camped out trackside near the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, when I found this GO Train heading eastbound toward Union Station, led by F59PH 561 in the old GO scheme. As I don't get a chance to shoot much but Via Rail trains in Ottawa, it was a treat to find a few GO Trains with different paint schemes. 

Besides the continuing presence of the F59PHs in revenue service, it was interesting to see a few of the old cab control cars in the middle of some GO Trains, as they had been refurbished and converted to regular passenger cars. A friend of mine was nice enough to meet me at Union. He was the one who pointed this out to me. 
 

Speaking of 559, it was back in revenue service when I was in Toronto in November. I caught it creeping eastward toward Union with a newer GO unit heading in the same direction a few tracks over.

In my last post, I made a point to explore the different approaches I have taken of late to rail photography. These photos would not be reflective of those new approaches. I was simply watching trains on my layover and taking shots fairly casually as I hung out with my friend. Still, any time you can get two trains in a shot, with different units, it's not the worst shot.

The London plant built 72 F59PH units from 1988 to 1994, along with 83 F59PHI locomotives for American customers. GO once rostered 49 of the original F59PH units, many of which have moved on to other railways or retired. 

The one thing that I don't know is if the F59s on their way to GO are the original models that we all know in Canada or the F59PHI models, which look different, especially near the cab. 

Personally, I kind of like the boxy look of the old GO 59s, as they remind me of the F40PH-2s that have served Via Rail well for decades. The Metrolink units have a sleeker nose and cab, but they seem a bit awkward aesthetically, in my opinion. Details, details...

I wanted to share on shot from the day when I caught these F59s that might be considered a little different from the usual 3/4 wedge shot. Although I was not trying to reinvent the wheel with the above two shots, I did try and get a shot of the train sheds at Union. The Skywalk overpass didn't do me any favours from this vantage point, but I did like that I caught a GO Train on one end of the sheds and a Via corridor train on the other end.

My chances to catch something from the platforms were limited, as crews don't want people wandering around the train sheds so I tried to sneak a few shots here and there.

I like this as a slice of life shot where passengers were waiting their turn to get on the escalators that would take them into the arrivals hall of the station. Sometimes, train shots can have the trains on the periphery and still tell a good railway story. I have a few other shots in and around Union that I took on my way back to Ottawa, but I will save them for another post. 

I have to say, I am happy that the F59s are going to continue to ply the rails for a while. The old boxy ones that have served GO well for decades are unsung heroes. Catch them while you can. 

Make Railways Interesting Again

Being a railway enthusiast sure is different these days. I am not going to go down the road of saying everything was better when I was young. It wasn't. Some things I found were better while other things were not. But I will say this. Railways have taken on a sameness, for lack of a better term, and it's really affected my enjoyment of rail photography.

Again, I won't say that things aren't what they used to be, across the board, because there are some aspects of railways today I find fascinating. But I cannot get excited by endless container trains, at least in that, once you get your initial photographs of the power up front, there really isn't much left to photograph. The same can be said for most rolling stock. Most covered hoppers are endless strings of grey, with only their alphabet soup of lease company reporting marks to offer any variety. The same has always been true for most tank cars, as this continental fleet has been under the control of leasing companies for far longer than other cars.

The question is what can we do to keep this hobby fresh when there is so much blank space on cars and so little diversity? With most railways not investing much in new rolling stock, there's not much variety in the average freight train. Also, with much of the fleet of fallen flag cars on its way to the scrapper's torch, there's a scarcity of history to capture.

Over the last few years, I have found that I have begun to refine my approach to railfanning quite a bit, without even realizing it. These small changes I have made to my approach have really allowed me to make the most of what there is to capture out there these days. I'm not saying it's for everyone. I understand that there are people younger than me who don't have the same experiences I have in my arsenal, so they don't know what they're missing, so to speak.

For that matter, there are people older than me who could say the same thing about my outlook. I will never know the luxury of their past experiences, so I cannot say whether their time spent trackside while young was better than my time spent trackside when I was young.

So here is my refined approach to railfanning, developed with modern railways in mind. 

1. Don't begin and end your time trackside documenting power only This might be my biggest disappointment when I look at the work of others. It's also a critique I have of my own work at times. So many videos today essentially follow the power to the detriment of actually cataloging the entire train. I try to look for shots of the train from different angles. This means finding interesting trackside infrastructure to frame the entire train against. I find shots of engines with no context are not terribly interesting anymore. Unless I know where the shot is being taken and the context of the train's movements, I am not all that excited.

Look at the shot above from Smiths Falls in 2017 and look at the shot below, taken with details in mind. I know which one I prefer.

 

2. Try and get the big picture This is one of the hardest challenges of rail photography and it often goes against our natural desire to get as close to the action as possible. I think we spend so much time shooting the power that we forget how powerful an image can be when it incorporates an entire train. There is certainly a trade off here. Your shot will not be as close and the train will not be as prominent, but I think it's a good compromise sometimes, when it works out.

 

This shot shows the limitation of my former camera, as I took this shot outside of Sarnia in 2013. I shared similar photos of this train in a past post, but this one at least captures the majority of the train. It also gives you an idea of the train's length as well as the topography outside Sarnia and the time of year. There are many details to consider. 

 

3. Change your perspective This is where I find I am having the most success and fun. I am always on the lookout for a new perspective, whether is be down low, on a bridge, shooting a train on a bridge, or just finding a creative way to capture a train in a way that doesn't mimic a standard rail shot. I think the best recent example of this was when I shot some GO Trains in Toronto in November, when I was travelling between Ottawa and Sarnia. I will have a few posts from Toronto later on.

 

This shot, taken in November, is an example of all the different techniques I have been trying recently. I am on a bridge over the downtown tracks, which means I have a different perspective. I also deliberately framed the cityscape in the shot, and placed the train to the far right of the image. Finally, I didn't zoom in on the train, which would have meant I couldn't capture the entire consist. I deliberately kept the train small in the image, so I could capture the big picture. I also like the look of the many tracks in the photo. I am far more satisfied with this type of image than I would have been with a shot where I zoomed in on the train.

 

4. Look for history This might be the hardest technique as so much rail history has disappeared. When I write about rail history, I'm not talking about steam engines or something that you can only see in a museum, I'm talking about fallen flag cars. I used to shoot images of shortline railway cars and the incentive-per-diem cars that tiny railways built and were still in wide usage when I was younger. I also made sure to get photos of railway fleet cars, which seem to be quite rare now that many railways basically use cars that are part of lease fleets. But, since this is such a challenge, it makes a good catch all the more rewarding!

 

I know that these old Burlington Northern covered hoppers are still fairly common trackside, but for how long? I have photos of old Soo Line covered hoppers that I shot just a few years ago and I haven't seen any since. I like this shot above because I made sure to wait until the yard job in Stratford was passing between the cars so I could grab this shot of the old BN hopper in a unique image.

 

My first thought for this post was to do an exhaustive comparison of how the rail photography hobby has changed since I was younger, but I felt that this approach would come across too much like an angry man shaking his fist at young whippersnappers so I decided to try and take a more even-handed approach.

 

I will say that, unlike when I was younger, today's epically long trains with power on both ends, and often with distributed power in the middle, are something that I never saw when I was younger. And it's a definite improvement for those who are trackside these days. I also like how container trains look from a distance, with so much colour and variety, when taken together as a whole. 

 

See? It wasn't all better back in the day. I'm grateful for what I have now, just I am grateful for what I saw when I was younger. It's all what you make of it. My goal is to make the railways of today, with their lack of diversity, interesting again. Make Railways Interesting Again. MRIA is this year's theme. Let's get to it!

 

Happy New Year everyone. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

It's time to guide this train into the station, take the siding and park it until the new year.

I'm grateful for another year of being able to share my interest in railways with everyone who chose to drop by this blog. A special thanks to my friends who leave a message, give me an idea or steer me in the right direction when I hit a dead end in my railway research. A lot has happened in the past year, which has given all of us no shortage of topics to discuss or kick around, as it were.

Thanks to Eric Gagnon, Steve Boyko, Kevin from Windsor and all the other frequent commenters or fellow bloggers and railfans that have helped me this year. Some choose to stay anonymous, but you know who you are!

Here's hoping that your Christmas is filled with loved ones, great memories, great food, health and happiness. No matter where you call home, I am grateful to be able to share a few rail photos and thoughts with you here, which is home to all.

Thank you to everyone and I'll see you in 2026!

Michael

hammond dot michael 77 AT gmail dot com