Switching it up in Kitchener

It's been more than 15 years since I've lived in Kitchener, which seems crazy to me. When I moved there to take a job with the local newspaper, I never intended to move back to Ottawa, but things happen. I have fond memories of my years in KW, but I do regret never pursuing rail photography there, like I had in the past. Right before I was laid off at the newspaper and forced to return to Ottawa, I had begun to consider volunteering for the Waterloo Central Railway. 

Now when I return to KW on occasion, I make sure to make up for lost time. The city was served by the Goderich Exeter Railway when I lived there, but that service reverted back to Canadian National after I left the city. This past summer, I had a tip that the CN local for St. Marys was getting assembled in the Lancaster Street yard, which meant I had a chance to capture some local freight images. 

I started with a long shot of the crew crossing Lancaster for the first time. I've mentioned this before, but I am surprised that the city still allows this type of shunting to block city streets for as long as it does. I've seen this type of congestion in London as well. This type of arrangement where freight trains hold sway on grade crossing in the middle of busy cities is fast becoming a memory. Here in Ottawa, Via Rail has removed its grade crossing on Greenbank Road in Barrhaven, and those inconveniences are minor, considering the passenger trains pass by in less than a minute. This shunting operation I watched blocked Lancaster for quite a while. I can imagine motorists are sick of this.

I took a quick shot of the local as it disappeared behind the metal recycling depot on Lancaster. The lead unit is a former GT geep. The cab lettering makes it clear. As I watched the crew assemble its train and cross Lancaster over and over, the thought occurred to me again that people in big cities are no longer used to living side-by-side with railways or, at the very least, have grown more impatient with them. Just down the line from Lancaster, the former grade crossings at Weber St. and King St. have both become flyover crossings. That has changed since I lived in Kitchener. I would imagine the housing, technology, research and academic developments in this area had a lot to do with King and Weber both being routed beneath the tracks. The Guelph Sub, in addition to hosting CN's local operations, also hosts daily Via Rail service, as well as GO Trains. 

 

From the Lancaster grade crossing, I was able to get a shot of the local backed well east of my vantage point, back in the yard. This shot gives you an idea of the topography that the Guelph Subdivision covers in the eastern end of Kitchener. As I was told by a few railfans who know Kitchener, the rails east of the yard are in excellent shape, as Metrolinx hosts its daily services on this line and has done much to ensure upgrades on the line into Toronto. 

 

Back and forth the train went, much to the chagrin of motorists on Lancaster. It should be noted for people not familiar with Kitchener that Lancaster Street is a busy road, as it connects much of Kitchener to the Conestoga Parkway, a busy highway that links most of Kitchener with Waterloo.  

 

Here's another example of my attempts to make railways interesting again. The lack of variety in today's freight trains means you need to get creative sometimes. In this shot, I framed a rust-stained hopper against the crossing guard, with the CN Guelph Sub plate visible. You can also see the trackside signals in the shot. 

 

One final shot of the train next to the recycling depot. I had to shot this image through links in a fence, but I think the effort was worth it. The morning sun and lack of cloud cover meant the sky was largely washed out, which was a common occurrence in my images from last summer, but such is life.

 

You can check out my other recent images from Kitchener in this post, when I caught the morning GO Train making its way east out of the station.