Grand slam in Stratford (Part I)

I love being able to visit the rail yard in Stratford. Not only does it allow for a glimpse of a longstanding short line operation, the Goderich Exeter Railway, it also now gives you a chance to see a secondary operation in Canadian National's vast North American network. The trick here, as you would find on any secondary line, is to be there when the trains are operating, which is not terribly frequent. When you are along the main line in Kingston or in Toronto, you don't always have to wait long. In Stratford, there are long gaps you need to endure between trains sometimes. In my case, I did have some inside information from someone who is familiar with CN's operations.

But, as is often the case, when I arrived at the yard, it was quiet. Neither CN nor the GEXR was operating and the yard was only scattered with cars. As is often the case, there were a few strings of covered hoppers and some coil cars (unseen, but to the right of the hoppers).

Here's where being able to read railway signals helped me figure out that it was worth sticking around. The two signals to the left of the photo are what are commonly known as "searchlights." They are only activated when there is a train relatively close. On the Guelph Subdivision, even when these signals are activated, it doesn't mean you will see action imminently. The Guelph Subdivision often sees a more leisurely pace with its freight trains.

But a train did eventually appear on the main line, to the left. At first, it didn't seem like anything special. It was a string of covered hoppers pulled by the usual CN power on this line, which appeared to be a GP38-2 minus the wide safety hood. The train, which is usually 568, was pulling onto the secondary track leading to the yard. It was a sign that the consist was likely due to be switched, positioned in the yard, or added to cars already parked. Either way, it was great to know I'd be able to watch some freight action without any rush.

When it approached the Stratford Station platform, I was quite surprised to see that the leading geep was trailed by an old Grand Trunk Western and BNSF unit. Three liveries in one train. Talk about great luck.

The power, for the record, was CN GP38-2 4732, CN (GTW) GP40-2 6420 and BNSF GP38-2 2317. There were two tank cars immediately trailing, followed by a string of covered hoppers. I was surprised to see tank cars in tow directly behind the power, as they are usually separated by a buffer car. 

I waited for the train to move past the parked GEXR unit, so I could capture four liveries in one shot. This was a first for me. I would have to look through my photo archives to see if I have a shot with even three liveries. I know have a few shots with two liveries. But four? Well, this was a first.

I stuck around to watch the switching for a while, trying to get a few different shots as the crew did its switching duties.

And one last shot of the train in reverse.

I tried one last image with all four units and the Masterfeeds grain elevator in the same shot. When I was searching around a bit to get information on the units on CN 568, I saw that there were a few other railfans that caught this unique consist in Kitchener and elsewhere along the Guelph Subdivision. CN put on quite a show.

It was definitely the highlight of my time at the yard in Stratford.

Via Rail: All dressed up and nowhere to go

Does it seem strange (ironic? unlucky? typical?) that, within days of the federal government reaffirming its support for a Via Rail high-speed rail corridor in Ontario and Quebec, the passenger railway was hit with new regulations by CN? The new rules were brought in due to fears that its new Siemens Venture trains run the risk of not activating CN's grade crossing guards and signals. I won't get into the finer details of this new wrinkle for Via. Eric Gagnon of Trackside Treasure broke the story and did an excellent job of describing the problem. Check out his post on this issue here. 

As Eric points out, Via does not have a lot of great choices in the short term, as its Ventures alone run the risk of not activating signals at grade crossings (this is an oversimplification). The choices the railway faced were bad no matter what, so Via decided in the interim to slow its speed in the corridor to allow for these new trains to cross all grade crossings safely by properly activating the crossing guards and signals. 

It should be pointed out, and Eric did of course, that Via's legacy equipment, like its LRC and HEP cars, led by F40s and P42s, are not affected by this new rule. They have no operational issues with CN grade crossing equipment.

The reduction in Venture speed, however, means delays across the corridor, since Via Rail depends on its tenancy on CN rails for much of its routes. In the Ottawa area, Via enjoys much greater autonomy as it controls its schedule on the Smiths Falls and Brockville Subs between Ottawa and Brockville, via Smiths Falls. Also, Via largely runs unopposed most of the time on the Alexandria Sub from Ottawa into Quebec. In Southern Ontario, Via has more leeway between Chatham and Windsor as well as on the old Goderich Exeter Railway between London and Guelph, since CN does not use its Guelph Subdivision with the same regularity as it does its busier routes. 

For much of its operations in Quebec and Ontario, however, Via Rail depends on CN rails, many of which are its main routes.

Last week, I witnessed some of these challenges in real life as I was waiting to catch westbound Via Train 59, which usually passes through Nepean at 6 p.m. Instead, I saw an eastbound corridor train, Via Train 42, coming through the Merivale Road crossing nearly an hour late at a time when the westbound 59 usually has the all clear signal all the way to Fallowfield Station. The light was getting pretty dim, so I didn't stick around for Train 59, which might have been holding at the siding at Wass, closer to the Tremblay Road station in Riverside Park. 

Speaking of Wass, I noticed when I caught Train 59 in September on Hunt Club Road that Via has erected a sign on the right hand side of the track alerting crews that the Wass siding is ahead, although not before the train passes through Federal Junction, taking it onto the Beachburg Sub. 

Here's a shot from 2016 of a westbound Via Rail LRC consist overtaking a slower moving CN freight train on the Kingston Sub near Highway 401 through Kingston. Via Rail has always had to make do with its status among CN's freight traffic on this trackage. There was a time when a few of its long distance trains could make use of CN's Northern Transcontinental route through Algonquin Park and onto the Beachburg Sub through the Upper Ottawa Valley, but those days are long gone. With everything heavily concentrated on this right-of-way, Via Rail is at the mercy of CN, which has had an impact on its on-time performance since its very founding. 

So, in theory, re-establishing a route from Ottawa through Tweed, Marmora and Havelock sounds great, as this right-of-way still exists up to Havelock, and much of the path to the east would be salvageable, albeit at a cost. This line once connected Toronto and Ottawa via Peterborough, but has long since been severed and exists now as the more leisurely moving Kawartha Lakes Railway into Havelock and north into Nephton. This line has been the subject of political interest for more than a decade.

You might recall efforts to re-establish rail service between Peterborough and Toronto during the Stephen Harper years in power. First, there was talk of Via RDC service. At some point, the talk shifted to the possibility of a GO Train link, not unlike what you see in Kitchener today. But nothing has come of it. 

Given the complexity and cost of a high-speed rail line along the Kawartha Lakes Railway route and the former CP trackage to the east, I would put the chances of this happening as very low, especially given the fact that we are likely headed for a change in government in the coming year. The arguably profligate spenders at the wheel now will likely give way to a government of restraint, as is the normal case in this country. We tend to go back and forth and it seems the pendulum is swinging back toward fiscal conservatism.

So where does this week's headache leave Via? To me, it seems it leaves the railway pretty much where it's always been, which is in limbo. Try as its leadership might, it's an operation that just cannot seem to catch a break and it just can't seem to be able to realize its dreams. I'm trying to be fair here, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the railway's missteps along the way, and there have been a few. But that is for another time.

 

It's a shame, really, since there seems to be a lot of factors that, in theory, are all aligning in Via Rail's favour. Canada is a geographically enormous country, so a fast, efficient railway network makes sense, especially at a time when fuel prices are high, airlines are anything but stable, and people are rethinking their travel habits. The addition of the new Siemens equipment should play a factor in making Via more reliable and less prone to mechanical failure. 

Finally, it seems as though much of the world is embracing rail as the greenest, most efficient mode of transportation. So, you would think we could make it work in a country like ours. But it seems as though Via is now at a point where it's all dressed up with new equipment, but the same problems it's always had continue to haunt it.

So you'll more than likely be late if you are taking the train in the corridor these days, but at least you'll look good getting there.

Still Standing: Glimpses of the Goderich Exeter Railway

It was a mixed blessing for railfans when Canadian National took back control of its Guelph Subdivision in 2018. At that time, its 21-year lease with shortline operator Goderich Exeter Railway expired, meaning that the GEXR railway had been severed from its London-Guelph-Georgetown operations and was forced to continue operating mainly on its Goderich Subdivision between its namesake town and its junction with the Guelph Sub in Stratford, Ontario. It also retained its Exeter Subdivision, which diverges off the Goderich Sub at Clinton and goes to Centralia. Stratford continues to act as the home base for this railway, which now shares the rail yard with Canadian National. GEXR's main customer base is agricultural, as well as the salt mine at the Goderich port on Lake Huron. 

GEXR has had three owners in its history. RailTex was its first owner when it began operations in 1992, followed by RailAmerica, which purchased the railway in 2000. Genesee & Wyoming, the shortline holding company with operations across North America, took over the railway in 2012 when it bought out RailAmerica. GEXR was initially known for its green GP9s that were named after Shakespearean characters, a nod to its base of operations in the Festival City.

Earlier in July, I paid a visit to family in Stratford and caught a few glimpses of the GEXR in its hometown, although the yard was largely quiet when I initially visited. Still, you can pretty much always find a few orange G&W painted units parked up against a bumper in the middle of the yard.

On July 20, after two days of watching really interesting CN action in the yard, I made my way back to the station, but it was quiet. There was a train coming from the east on the main line, but my time ran out waiting for it. I made my way across from the station to get shots from an adjacent street. In this shot, three G&W units, all GP38-2s, were sitting in the yard. The three roads represented were Goderich Exeter, Huron & Eastern (Michigan road) and the old Southern Ontario Railway. The SOR is another former G&W shortline in the Hamilton-Norfolk area whose trackage was brought back into the CN fold. Although all the units look alike, there is some interesting shortline heritage here in this shot.

Here's a shot that gives you some clues as to how it is for GEXR these days. On the final afternoon when I visited, the yard was largely empty. The hopper cars are the most common sight on the Goderich Sub these days, given the various crops and fertilizers that make up its freight services. Besides the hoppers, which are also used to serve the Godrich salt mine, the railway uses tank cars for servicing the salt mine as well. The coil cars are for CN customers on the Guelph Sub.

Which brings me to an interesting shot my brother took when he was in Goderich in June. He likes to snag images for me when he can, which is greatly appreciated. Take a close look at these tank cars.

You can see a box atop tank car TILX 220285. The key to understanding what is in that car is the material placard in the bottom right corner, which reads 3257. The placard tells us that this tank car is carrying an elevated temperature material, which would explain the box atop the car, which is used to maintain higher temperatures, I'm guessing. Since this car was parked in the Goderich yard, just up the hill from the salt mine, it's a safe bet that this car was carrying molten salt, which is listed as one of the common products carried in these special tank cars. 

Molten salt, unlike salt at room temperature, is a liquid and can be used in the industrial production of magnesium and aluminum. It can also be used in nuclear power generation. There are a number of other applications. I'm not sure what this car's contents would be used for in this instance, since I wasn't sure if it was an inbound or outbound car. Someone with a better knowledge of the salt mine might be able to shed further light on this.

My brother also caught the GP9 Goderich yard switcher 4001, which has been up in Goderich for years, which would explain why it has never been repainted in the G&W colours. At one point, this engine had its former road name painted on the side, but that has since been patched over.

Back to Stratford in July. When my family was staying in the city, we rented an AirBnB home just down Birmingham Street from the GEXR Goderich Sub trackage leading to the yard. My first day in the city, I caught a glimpse of a southbound train heading into the yard, although I was too late to catch it with any photo. Later during my visit, on my way back from the yard, I caught another southbound train on my way back to our AirBnB and managed to snag a quick photo through the front windshield. That's the old Southern Ontario Railway geep in the lead, pulling a long string of covered hoppers back to the yard.

And below is the Huron & Eastern geep trailing with the first covered hopper in tow. I moved a bit closer for this shot, but the sun was peaking out from behind the trees, which caused some windshield glare. I should have stayed put!

I took a quick shot of CAEX 471400 covered hopper, which had its Agri Industries lettering patched over at some point, but the patch was clearly fading amid the elements. This is another clue as to what the train was carrying, as GEXR is still very much involved in the movement of crops, seed, fertilizers and grains from the farming economy in this part of the province.

All in all, I was happy to be able to cobble together enough shots of the GEXR to put together a post about this fascinating operation in a picturesque part of Ontario. Here's one final shot of the GEXR right-of-way from the Birmingham crossing, which I took on a walk through the neighbourhood. This is facing northeast in the direction of Goderich.

This is one of my favourite railways. I was lucky enough to capture quite a bit more action from Stratford in my time there in July, which will be shared in several upcoming posts. Stay tuned.