Long may they run: the F59s stage a comeback in Toronto

In June in Toronto, I was thrilled to see an old warhorse F59 commuter engine continuing to pull GO Train consists in and out of Union Station. These old engines, which were built for GO Transit at the old GM Diesel plant in London, Ont. from 1990 to 1994, had been disappearing from the GO Transit roster for years, replaced by newer, sleeker MP40s and MP54s. This shot below was taken behind the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

 

I mentioned in a post last summer that I would miss the F59s, which seemed to be dwindling down to a last precious few on the roster. I was lucky enough last June to catch an old F59 pulling a consist out of Kitchener for its daily morning run east to Union Station. It was after that post when I received this message from a reader.

 

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.

 

I should mention that, shortly after seeing that GO Train leave Kitchener, a friend of mine told me that the train had stalled out near Guelph, as the old engine developed some sort of mechanical issue. Despite that incident, these engines have proven to be remarkably reliable in service for decades. That is why it was no surprise to me that Metrolinx, the company that operates the GO Trains, would buy some second-hand units from Metrolink, the Los Angeles commuter authority.

 

What was surprising was seeing these units in transition this summer in Sarnia.

 

This was the scene in June when I saw two Metrolink units, one still clad in its original livery (although faded), taking up space outside the Lambton Diesel Specialists facility in the CN yard. Clearly, LDS was in the midst of rehabbing these units for use in the GTA. You can see that one of the units has already seen primer applied to its outer shell. Each of the diesels are also wrapped in plastic.

 

This is what I love about visiting Sarnia. You never know what you are going to see outside the old CN roundhouse. At the every least, this shot confirms what one of my fellow railfans was telling me about GO bringing back some F59s for revenue service in and around the GTA.

 

There's something about these old boxy beasts that I like. They do bear some resemblance to Via Rail's F40PH-2 fleet, although the GO units are bigger with a platform in front of the cab, among other differences. It's interesting to think that these engines were the successor in many cases to the original F units that GO used when it first launched its services.

 

While these engines have been making a comeback, I have yet to see any of these refurbished units in action with the new, lighter green Metrolinx GO paint scheme. I suppose that will be something I will have to look out for the next time my family travels through Toronto.  

A cure for the conundrum

In my last post (The Ottawa Conundrum), I shared that I was becoming ambivalent about railways in Ottawa. There just isn't enough happening here to justify my blog. That isn't to say that I'm giving up my blog. By no means. I just thought I'd try to get some ideas about how to handle my local content in a way that is more interesting than posting the same photos of the same Via Rail corridor trains at the same spots over and over again. Also, I don't want the blog's local content to be solely focused on CN's one weekly freight train in the west end of the city. It's just not interesting to me. 

So after some great feedback from my friends out there and some thought, I figured that Step 1 should include going out there into the city and finding new places to take interesting railway photos. After all, if I can't change the fact that all Via Rail corridor trains look the same now, I can at least switch up the backdrop and possibly tell a little more of the story of the areas where these trains operate in the city. 

I've said this throughout my time blogging: I am not so much interested in the nuts and bolts, facts and figures. You can find this insight in other blogs and on other forums, where people far more knowledgeable than me are more than willing to share.

I am more interested in the history, the impact, the spirit, the feeling, the people and the stories of railroads. Yes, it's in my blood and family history, but the same can be said for just about the entire country. The railways very much built the Canada we know today. And they continue to play a vital role in our ongoing story. So I am trying to attack my Ottawa content with these perspectives in mind.

Here's a shot I got this past weekend after a failed attempt the week before. This is the Via Rail Smiths Falls Subdivision just past Milepost 3, before the tracks cross Woodroffe Avenue. A westbound corridor train is making its way past the Royale Equestrian Centre. I wanted to capture a shot of the horses and the train together, but the horses weren't cooperating last week. This week, one horse was standing peacefully in the corral but became shy when another horse ambled by. When the westbound came, neither of them was exactly front and centre, but I thought this was a good attempt.

If you've never spent time in Ottawa, you might be at a loss as to how this scene was captured in the middle of a city. The story of these farms and greenery in the middle of the city are very much the same story of how trains were relegated to the margins of Ottawa in the late 1950s. When the National Capital Commission's predecessor essentially removed all rails from downtown Ottawa, the Greenbelt was also created, which encircled the city at that time. The goal was to contain sprawl. While that certainly did not happen, the Greenbelt today is a jewel in a city this size, where wide swaths of forest and farmland intermix with subdivisions and other elements of Ottawa. This farm is nestled right next to the tracks in the western Greenbelt. This view is only made possible by a recreational trail maintained by the NCC.

As I mentioned above, the horses weren't cooperating the week before last, so I ventured east on the trackside trail to find another spot to capture a westbound Via Rail corridor train. This spot is at Milepost 3, where a dried-up shallow of spring runoff requires a small bridge. I set up shop on the trail and climbed to a shallow rise in the land next to the dried-up creek bed. I got this shot, which I thought was kind of cool. Again, this is not far from the equestrian centre. Ottawa has striking contrasts. In a city of more than 1 million people, to have vast stretches of rural topography like this is truly a blessing. For me, it still requires a bit of a bike ride, but the idea of earning a shot just makes the end result that much more satisfying.

And I should mention that the engine was bringing up the rear of the train, which makes this shot a bit deceptive. It was actually going the opposite way. 

I also liked this shot, taken from the passenger seat of my car as we waited for an eastbound Via Rail corridor train to make its way past Fallowfield Road to the nearby Via Rail station. Again, I am finding more and more that taking shots of trains requires a more critical eye in Ottawa, where other elements need to be in an image. After all, I can get up close and personal with Via Rail trains any time I want, but these images don't really tell a story.

Whenever I see a passenger train, I wonder how many stories are on that train. Where are the people aboard coming from? Who are they meeting? Are they coming home? Visiting? Making their way through the city en route to somewhere else? I like the idea that trains hold dozens of stories aboard each train. I have often thought of writing a novel about all the people aboard one train. There's a reason why trains often seem to be the muse of choice for authors. The timelessness of this medium of mass transportation predates all other forms, save the horse and buggy. 

Here's an image of something new. I can honestly say I have never seen a Via Rail high rail vehicle in my life. Given that Via Rail doesn't control much of its network, the need for these maintenance and inspection vehicles is probably pretty low. But in Eastern Ontario, Via Rail controls the Brockville Sub, the Smiths Falls Sub and the Alexandria Sub. That is a lot of infrastructure to maintain. In years past, most of the maintenance vehicles in this area seemed to belong to Rail Term, which did much of the maintenance on contract for Via. Now, possibly, Via has more of a hands-on approach to its rails in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. 

 

One final shot of the Via Rail westbound corridor train, taken from a distance across Woodroffe Avenue. I'm not sure this image turned out quite the way I hoped it would, but it was worth a try. I wanted to capture the rails as the main focus of the image, but the gleam on the rails just wasn't there as I hope it would be. I don't mind that the back end of the Ventures set is in shadow. The sun was likely at the wrong angle for the type of shine I was looking to capture.

 

So those are a few of my recent experiments in capturing pieces of the city and railways in a new way. The search continues. 

The Ottawa Conundrum

I've been thinking over the summer about the nature of this blog. It's called the Beachburg Sub, named after a Canadian National subdivision that once stretched from central Ottawa into the city's distant northwest hinterland, all the way up to Fitzroy Harbour, into the Pontiac Region in Quebec and beyond. The tracks are all gone past Nepean Junction.

You know the story. Canadian National, since taking over the Ottawa Central Railway's operations years ago, has gradually shrunk its footprint in the city to something that is almost negligible. My point is not to get into this history; it's to point out the obvious.

There just isn't much happening locally to blog about if you are a railway fan in Ottawa. I've been a little self conscious about this lately. This year, I've delved into the past a fair bit, mostly writing about the Renfrew Subdivision. But when it comes to blogging about what's happening in Ottawa right now, I can't help but feel that I am becoming a broken record.

This is a photo from the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology archives of the Beachburg Subdivision at Merivale Road, well before Nepean retail and suburban sprawl swallowed up the area. 

I do have a few new spots in the city where I am planning to take photographs. But for the most part, I don't think taking photos of the same Via Rail Venture corridor trains at the same locations makes for captivating reading. I know it doesn't really stimulate me in my writing. 

Then there's the ever-famous CN Arnprior Turn, CN Train 589, which makes its way out to Arnprior once a week on Wednesdays and sometimes Thursdays. To be honest, I am not actively tracking this train or reading local online forums, where railfans are following this train east of the city and out to Arnprior. If I happen to find a time to catch this train or see it, fine. I will document it, if I can. But I am no longer seeking it out. 

Finally, there's the O-Train, a never-ending source of dismay and skepticism in the city, as it continues to underperform and spotlight the city's woeful lack of railway knowledge or appreciation. But, again, my point stands. I've covered this all before and I don't know that it's all that interesting to readers outside of the occasional mention. 

I guess it's a matter of been there, done that. That's why I'm finding photos like this one below more appealing.

Yes, it's a blurry shot taken through the windshield of my car on a rainy summer day. My youngest daughter took this photo for me, because she knows Dad likes trains (bless her!). I guess what appeals to me is that this photo also tells a story of a moment in the life of my city. It's one of the few level crossings in the city (most of them are in Barrhaven) where people actually have to interact with trains. I've been biking up to this crossing on Woodroffe Avenue recently. There is a spot nearby where I think I can get a unique angle and unique piece of the city in a shot. But I will have to wait for some free time where I can get the shot. 

And I guess that explains my approach to Ottawa rail photography these days. I don't really think people come to this blog to read news from Ottawa. They did in the past, but much of the news is now instantly shared on forums that are more active than my three-times-a-month blog. 

This leads me to my question or my invitation to readers for their thoughts. I'd like to know from you what you would like to see in this blog when I focus on Ottawa. I feel as though I've been giving the city short shrift of late, but much of that is out of necessity. I simply have far more photos and content to share from outside the city. Honestly, this blog would not survive if I didn't share content from outside Ottawa. 

I've been thinking of some historic posts or explorations such as:

• the former New York Central line from Cornwall to Ottawa
• former stations in and around Ottawa
• the former northern rail line to Montreal that ran north of the Ottawa River
• CP switching services around the old Eddy and Domtar facilities on the Hull waterfront
• the final days of the Canadian Pacific in the city in the 1990s

These are just a few thoughts off the top of my head. They would require finding photographs and sourcing reliable information. None of these topics would lend themselves to a post in the near term. But I offer them up as an attempt to start a conversation. What do you, the fair reader, want to see about Ottawa?

Okay, how about some honest-to-goodness news?

I took a quick photograph of this former Ottawa Transportation Commission bus, which predated OC Transpo, the successor to the OTC. The bus was parked at Ottawa City Hall recently as part of a day honouring those who serve in uniform, be it police or military. There was a weekend ceremony honouring people who have given their lives in the line of duty. 

Seeing this bus got me to thinking about the bizarre name of Ottawa's transportation service. Where did the name OC Transpo come from? Luckily, I have the answer! I read it in the Ottawa Citizen years ago. 

The story goes that OC stands for Ottawa-Carleton, which is simple enough. Those who have lived here long enough know that Ottawa was once part of Carleton County. As the city and its suburbs grew (think Nepean, Kanata, Gloucester, which were once all their own townships and then cities), the county gave way to what was known as the  Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton.

So, why Transpo? After all, in a bilingual city like Ottawa, the word transport is the same in English and French. According to the Citizen article, Transpo was meant to be an amalgamation of "transportation commission." So, Trans for transport and the o for commission. I'm not sure why the powers that be didn't think to shorten it to Transco, which would make more sense as an abbreviation of these two words, but I suppose Transpo makes more sense if you're trying to emphasize that it's a transportation service. 

Still, all these years later, it's a head-scratcher, but no one in the city seems to mind. 

We've had this discussion before, but I felt it might need to be repeated. We all know that the Beachburg Subdivision west of Federal Junction is lightly used track, to say the least. However, for those pedestrians who might use the rail overpasses on Greenbank Rd, Robertson Rd or even Merivale Rd, beware.The Canadian National has dispatched its police to the city two weeks in a row to patrol the rail overpass on Greenbank Rd.

This overpass seems to be the most popular of all the rail bridges in Ottawa. I see young people using its as a walkway all the time. This is convenient, since the bridge is right next to Sir Robert Borden High School. 

But in case anyone is confused, that rail line remains private property and CN seems to be getting serious about enforcing this rule. Besides the trespassing fine, it's also extremely dangerous to use this right-of-way in the morning or afternoon when CN operates its weekly train to and from Arnprior. If you are caught on this bridge with headphones on, you might find yourself in a very dangerous situation. It's not worth it.