Your Guide to Railfanning in Ottawa

Most Canadians need to visit Ottawa once in their life. It really is a beautiful city with lots to offer tourists of all ages. Even railfans. Yes, despite all of the rail missteps in its past, Ottawa still offers great opportunities for the determined railfan. I am often critical of decisions made here in the capital, but this city still has its points of railway interest.

So, I present your pocket guide to shooting railway action in the capital.

CENTRAL STATION

Your best bet, by far, is Via Rail Canada's Central Station on Tremblay Road, just east of Ottawa's downtown core. The station is easily accessible off Highway 417. It lacks the historic significance of Ottawa's old Union Station downtown, but the central station is a spacious and airy building with interesting rail artifacts inside. Its long shelters make for some challenging shadows, but you can still get reasonably close to numerous Via corridor consists, which often include streamliners. There is a great cluster of arrivals and departures to shoot on any weekday:

10:55 a.m. - Arrival from Montreal
11:12 a.m. - Arrival from Toronto
11:27 a.m. - Departure for Montreal
12:30 p.m. - Departure for Toronto
1:58 p.m. - Arrival from Toronto
2:54 a.m. - Arrival from Montreal

If it's frequency you want, this is the busiest stretch of railroading you will encounter in Ottawa during daylight hours. That's six trains you can shoot in four hours. The food at the train station used to be better, so packing a lunch is a good idea. Staff will let you wander the platform closest to the station within reason, provided you follow the rules and make it clear you are taking photographs. I have never once encountered any problems here. You can also shoot over the fence on the other side of the station, if you can find your way into the Train Yards retail development.

You can also get some great shots on the Belfast Road overpass, although I suggest shooting east rather than west (toward the station) because of the hydro wires will foil your best efforts. The shots facing east can be rewarding, as you can see from the top photo in this post. Bear in mind that this overpass is currently undergoing construction and is off limits for photographers.

Above: Via corridor train leaves for Montreal on July 8, 2013. Shooting west from the Belfast Road overpass is tough due to the hydro wires.

The biggest complaint I hear about Ottawa is its lack of freight activity. Since Ottawa no longer finds itself on a national mainline, the freight traffic here is limited. However, you can still catch several local freights in the city, provided you are prepared. Ottawa has two local assignments, Train 589 and Train 584.

LOCAL 584

Let's start with Train 584. This train operates in eastern Ottawa mainly and operates Sunday to Thursday, beginning at around 8 p.m. Your best bet to catch this train would be to shoot it as it leaves Walkley Yard. There is an access road that runs along the yard, right at the end of Albion Road. You can also access it via Conroy Road. Given 584 begins late, this train is not well documented. 584 makes daily runs to Coteau, where it interchanges with the CN mainline. This local picks up and drops off rolling stock at Coteau. On Monday, 584 switches local CN customers.

LOCAL 589

Train 589 is a far better option for those looking for freight action. Like 584, Local 589 operates Sunday to Thursday. It originates in Walkley Yard and usually starts at 7 a.m., although this time can often change depending on a number of factors, including Via traffic on the Smiths Falls Subdivision and Beachburg Subdivision toward the Central Station.

On Monday and Thursday, 589 heads east to Hawkesbury and back via the Alexandria Sub. This means you could technically catch freight trains going through the Central Station tracks, although you would need a scanner to keep tabs on its location.

On Sunday and Thursday, Local 589 heads west on the Smiths Falls Subdivision toward Twin Elm. This train services the Kott Lumber facility on Moodie Drive near the Jock River and the SynAgri Feed Mill at Twin Elm. You can see an example of this train in action in this post. Both the Jock River crossing and the Twin Elm feed mill offer great vantage points and interesting scenery. The train is easy to follow for a stretch of Old Richmond Road and is also easily caught in Richmond, Ont., just south of Bells Corners and Kanata in Ottawa's west end.

This train sometimes waits for a Via corridor train to clear the tracks on Sunday, which means it doesn't make its way past Fallowfield Station or the Moodie Drive crossing until after 9:30 a.m. This could be your best opportunity to catch a freight train in Ottawa with decent lighting. Both the Moodie Drive and McKenna Casey Drive crossings offer great sightlines. If you don't have a scanner, the easiest way to figure out if 589 is coming is to check the Kott lumber spur. If you see a lumber car on the spur, 589 is coming. If the spur is clear, you missed it.

On Wednesday, Local 589 heads west on Beachburg and then on the Renfrew Spur toward Arnprior, where is serves the Nylene Canada plant. This train passes over two bridges in Bells Corners, which offer great photo opportunities. (Check out reader Dave's shots, which he kindly pointed out in his comments below). It also passes through some great rural landscape in Ottawa's west end, including Carp. The best way to catch this train is to listen in on a scanner, unless you have the time to wait for it trackside. It's a once-per-week run, so be prepared.

Above: Local 589 assembles its consist on a Sunday morning in September 2013. This train is your best bet for photos.

Shooting 589 in the spring is a great idea, especially around Moodie Drive, since the bare trees allow you to see the train switch Kott Lumber. You can also get some great shots of Via's morning corridor train to Toronto around this trestle. If you have access to canoe, you could get some shots from the river as well. There is no shortage of possibilities here.

O-TRAIN AT BAYVIEW, CARLETON

If you find yourself near the Bayview Station transit stop, just west of Ottawa's downtown, you can easily capture shots of Ottawa's O-Train. The commuter service has been wildly popular in the city and the train frequency is about 12 minutes. The line currently hosts Bombardier diesel light rail trainsets, but new Alstom Coradia LINT trainsets will begin operating on this former CP Ellwood Sub very soon. This line is a scenic one, as it passes through Little Italy and Chinatown before it heads beneath Dow's Lake in a refurbished rail tunnel. This line has recently been upgraded, complete with passing sidings and new signals.

I recommend getting off at Carleton Station, on the Carleton University campus. Just steps from this stop is a scenic spot on the Rideau River where you can capture shots of the O-Train passing over on a beautiful trestle. Catch the trains here in the spring and you will get the added bonus of capturing the roaring Rideau rapids during the spring thaw. Check out this spot in this post.

Above: Ottawa's O-Train in July 2014. The commuter line will be the scene of increased activity in the coming months as the commuter services ramps up service and introduces new trainsets.

FALLOWFIELD STATION

Not many cities can boast two train stations, but Ottawa can. The city has a gem of a station in Barrhaven. Fallowfield Station offers great vantage points, since it has a long platform. As mentioned above, you can catch CN Local 589 on Sundays or Tuesdays or you can catch any number of Via corridor trains along the platform. Due to recent safety concerns regarding malfunctioning signals at grade crossings in this area, security is a little tighter here than at the Central Station. However, if you follow the rules, you won't have any problems here. It's always a good idea to let station staff know what you are doing, if you are unsure. Just stay behind the yellow paint, be respectful and you will be fine.

Above: The platform at Fallowfield Station allows you to get up close and personal with Via corridor trains or the occasional CN freight train.

 

I should mention that it's never a bad idea to visit Walkley Yard. There isn't much activity there these days, but you might get lucky and catch some interesting rolling stock there. You can also shoot CN's two locally assigned cabooses or an old RDC unit. Check it out here.

 

So those are your options if you decide to come to Ottawa. For local readers, I hope some of this information gives you a better idea of what you can do around the city. I should mention that CP's Winchester Subdivision is just outside Ottawa's southern city limits and it offers your best bet for big-time freight trains. To read more about Bedell, Ontario, check out my first and second post about this area.

 

Special thanks to two Beachburg Sub readers who offered me the information about local CN assignments. I'm hoping this post will motivate local train watchers to share their observations or tips. This information is based on my own experience trackside in the last year or so. If you have anything to add, I'd encourage you to comment. I would specifically like to see if anyone out there has better information as to when Local 589 passes through Bells Corners on Wednesday mornings. I still have not caught that train, which is a shame, since it passes so close to my house.

A rare site: Bombardier HR616

The Summer of 1992 was a prolific time. Looking through my older prints, I noticed quite a number of interesting shots from that summer that are among my better catches. It was a good time for train watching in Sarnia, since the new St. Clair Tunnel had yet to be realized, meaning a number of trains and engines idled in Sarnia Yard. This was due to the bottleneck of oversized rail cars in the yard that had to be ferried across the river and the limitations of the old St. Clair Tunnel.

During summer, I made sure to check out the parked CN units outside the old roundhouse on the western edge of the yard. During my visits to this area, I took lots of photos of a variety of CN units, some with the CN North America scheme, some with the old safety scheme, some on their last legs and others that were shiny and new.

Then there's the unit below.

I came across this photo recently and uploaded it to my computer, almost as an afterthought. I initially didn't like the shot, since it was taken on the shady side of the unit. The print required a great deal of touching up, just to get it looking like this. I forgot about the print until a little while ago when I started searching for information on this odd-looking unit. It turns out, I had a picture of a rare bird.

CN 2105 was a locomotive of particularly rare vintage. It turns out, this was a Bombardier HR616 unit (six axles, 16 cylinders, 3,000 horsepower). Finding information on this cowl unit was tough, since its number now belongs to a C40-8W. To makes things tougher, I had no idea this was a Bombardier unit. I assumed it was an EMD model.

After some research, I discovered that 20 of these units were built for CN at Montreal Locomotive Works in 1982, a few of them leased to the Canadian Pacific and renumbered in 1983, before being returned. Some refer to these units as MLW HR616s, due to where they were built.

Sadly, these units were terribly unreliable, even though the HR was supposed to stand for "Highly Reliable." This must sound like a familiar story to those familiar with Bombardier's other big foray into heavy rail locomotives around this time, the LRC locomotive. The shape of this CN locomotive reminds me of the "red barn" SD40-2Fs that CP rostered. For a comparison, here's a shot of one of those units taken by Steve Boyko in his blog, Confessions of a Train Geek.

This CN unit, 2105, was the first to be retired, after it was damaged in an wreck in 1993 in London, according to Wikipedia. Here's a shot of the unit when it was newly delivered to CN. You may notice how this unit has black paint around its front windows, which is a slight deviation from the CN paint scheme. Also, in this picture, you will notice that the ditch lights had been added to the front of the unit.

You will also notice an old Alco hitched up to 2105, to the right. I should have grabbed a shot of that one, but I guess I didn't.

But the shot of this cowl unit, a throwaway print by most measures, turned out to be a gem. Glad I hung onto it.

 

 

The curious case of the Prince of Wales Bridge

On my recent trip aboard the O-Train, I noticed that Ottawa's Capital Railway at Bayview no longer connects to the former CP trackage that leads to the Prince of Wales Bridge. Instead, the old CP tracks have been buried by ballast, thus severing their connection to the Capital Railway. These tracks, it should be noted, pass through the old City of Hull along the old Maniwaki Sub. This sub is still technically intact to Wakefield, since it is the home of the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train. This tourist train, it should be noted, is in all likelihood a lost cause since storm damage to the line is too expensive for local governments, who own the line, to fix.

But getting back to Ottawa, I was a little surprised by the disconnection at Bayview, although it sadly makes sense given Ottawa's utter lack of vision when it comes to its railway infrastructure. I wandered over to the end of the Capital Railway the other day to take a few shots. Here's a shot below of the buried connection (almost dead centre) taken from the Somerset Street overpass.

This connection, as you can see on the left, still bears witness to the time when the line was part of CP's Ellwood Subdivision.

The other side of the sign reads "CAP" which obviously stands for the Capital Railway, which is the official name of the O-Train operation in the city as it stands right now.

This severed connection is not, on its own, a big deal, but it takes on more significance given what has happened on the other side of the river in recent years.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the bridge connects to Lemieux Island in the Ottawa River, which marks the official end of the Quebec Gatineau Railway, a shortline owned by Genesee and Wyoming. I was doing some research on this railway the other day, trying to figure out where I could go to shoot it, but discovered that it no longer operates in Gatineau, since its main customer on the river, a former pulp mill, has been closed for years. Even more discouraging, I failed to realize that the railway has severed its connection to the tracks in Gatineau, including the stretch leading to this bridge. The furthest west the railway comes is Thurso, while a local continues to serve the Buckingham spur. Much of the QGR right-of-way in Gatineau has been transformed into a controversial rapid bus transit system, which has garnered mixed reviews from residents of the city.

What does this mean for the Prince of Wales Bridge?

Well, it means it is truly on its own for the time being, until such time that the powers that be in Ottawa and Gatineau, not to mention other levels of government, decide to establish a commuter rail link between Ottawa and Gatineau on the remaining trackage. This continues to be a no-go for local politicians, for reasons that escape me.

In the fall, there was a call from city staff to transform the bridge into a recreational pathway for bikes and pedestrians by 2019. This would be a great link, but it also prevents the capital region from realizing the transit opportunity the bridge represents. The report outlined that the city is hoping to do something with the bridge by 2025. In other words, there are no plans. In fact, despite pleas from transportation advocates, the city is not even maintaining the bridge.

This is what the bridge looks like these days, starting with a view from the Ottawa River Pathway.

And a view of the tracks leading to the bridge, just past the end of the Capital Railway. You will notice, compared to shots I took at a similar time last year (see Prince of Wales link above), the foliage is a little late in arriving this year.

And a shot of the Prince of Wales marquis (or is it Ince of Walcs?)

On the plus side, work on the new passing sidings on the Capital Railway has finally been completed, although the new Alstom trainsets have yet to be placed into service. The new sidings have also led to new signalling equipment. Here's a shot of a southbound Bombardier trainset from the Somerset Street overpass.

I have not heard any news as to when these trains will give way to the new Alstom trains, although I would suspect that the new trains will be put into service before the coming school year, since Carleton University, at the half-way point of the Capital Railway, represents one of the biggest sources of O-Train ridership. The new O-Trains are no longer parked in Walkley Yard during the day, so I assume they are being tested somewhere. I dropped by Walkley recently and saw no trace of the new trainsets.

Back on Track: The O-Train Rides Again

The O-Trains are rolling again even though work on the Capital Railway is not yet finished. The eight-kilometre line was put back into service in time for the school year at Carleton University, which is one of the biggest sources of the Capital Railway's ridership.

Here, below, you can see southbound Bombardier BR643 heading toward the Gladstone Avenue bridge while is passes what will be a new siding.

These sidings will be the key to allowing the Capital Railway to operate six newer Alstom Coradia LINT 41 trainsets at higher speeds. Right now, this line has only one stretch of double track at Carleton University, which is where two trains meet up in opposite directions. When these new sidings are installed, the city is hoping the trains will be able to make the runs between Bayview Station and Greenboro Station in eight minutes instead of the current 15.

The recent media coverage focused on the fact that the O-Train service did not improve when it opened for business again, but the coverage failed to mention that the work on the line is not finished and the service improvements are contingent on the the new Alstom trainsets being used with all the passing sidings in place. Right now, the Bombardier trainsets are still in use on what is essentially the same O-Train line as before, with new ties, new ballast and other improvements. The essential challenge of having one stretch of double track on this line remains.

 Above: Southbound Bombardier BR643 passes beneath Somerset Street near Little Italy and Chinatown, next to what will soon be a passing siding. The train has just departed Bayview Station at the north end of the Capital Railway.

So, for the foreseeable future, riders can expect to ride the current Bombardier O-Train, since the new Alstom trainsets are not expected to be in service until the fall of next year. The new trainsets will be tested outside of regular service hours on this line, I presume.

Above: Northbound O-Train heads toward the Young Street pedestrian overpass under sunny skies.

Initial coverage of the resumption of O-Train service focused on the fact that the trains were taking 20 minutes to complete the eight-kilometre route, but as I checked out the service the other day, the trains seemed to be making the run in 12 minutes, which was equal to the frequency of trains before the $59-million project was started.

Above: Southbound O-Train passes beneath Highway 417, more commonly known as the Queensway to locals.

An interesting note to the resumption of O-Train service was an article in the Ottawa Citizen, which brought up the long discussed option to extend the current O-Train south along existing trackage to the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport. Again, the newspaper did a great job building the case for this proposed $74-million expansion, although it missed the obvious point that there is an existing right-of-way that still occasionally hosts trains. CN uses the southern portion of the former Canadian Pacific Prescott Sub, to bring cars to the National Research Council's surface transportation research facility on Lester Road, near the airport. The trackage is not all intact between the NRC and points further south, but the corridor is still in place and is being eyed as a route to connect southern suburbs, mainly Riverside South, to the downtown via rail.

There is obvious support for this expansion, since it would bring thousands of new riders to the O-Train with minimal investment, compared to the problematic east-west O-Train project. However, city officials here fear that, during the construction of the east-west Confederation LRT Line, the increased stress on the existing O-Train line would be too much for the system to bear. I find this reasoning curious, since the city now has six new trains and its existing Bombardiers that, combined, would accommodate an increase in ridership. The city has also invested in improvements on the old Ellwood Sub, which will increase train frequency and allow for more commuters.

I also wonder if anyone has thought about establishing a separate rail link between the southern neighbourhoods to Greenboro, where trains could theoretically stop, allow passengers to get off and board another O-Train from Greenboro north to Bayview. This means there would be two separate services originating from Greenboro heading north and south. It's not a perfect solution, but it's a start.

Beachburg Sub Update: Finally, the City of Ottawa has thrown its hat in the ring in ongoing efforts to save the troubled Beachburg Sub. For full details, please see my post from earlier this week.

And for those wondering, yes Gordon Lightfoot did end his set at the Ottawa Folk Festival with the Canadian Railroad Trilogy! Epic!

Ottawa's Capital Railway gets a facelift

Ottawa's O-Train, formally known as the Capital Railway, runs along the old CP Rail Ellwood sub and is by most estimates a runaway success. The Bombardier diesel trains have proven to be a massive hit with commuters since they first began running in 2001 between Greenboro Station in Ottawa's south end and Bayview Station, just west of Ottawa's downtown . The city estimates that the trains have accommodated 21 million commuters since their debut.

This past spring, the line fell silent as the city began a $59-million overhaul of the 8-kilometre line to allow the trains to make the run in eight minutes from the current 15. This will be accomplished with the help of two new passing tracks and six new trainsets. As it stands now, there is only one section of the railway, at Carleton University, where the trackage has been doubled. Two trains ply the route each day and coordinate their schedules so they arrive at the university at the same time as they head in opposite directions.

I have been visiting Bayview Station lately, to see how the work is progressing, which has proved to be a disappointment. My patience finally paid off last week when I saw the trackage in the beginning stages of being replaced. I was surprised at how the track was being removed, as you can see below.

Above: End of the line (for now). Trackage leading to Bayview Station is being torn up and the bed prepared for new rails. New ties can be seen to the right. Smell the creosote!

Above: View of the new roadbed being prepared from the Somerset Street overpass.

Below: A few days later, the trench is moving.

The new O-Trains are Alstom-built Caradia LINT diesels and have been the subject of lots of attention from interested light rail advocates here, like this shot from the Skyscaper Forum. I will actually miss the Bombardier O-Train, whose look I grew to appreciate. The new trains are apparently quieter and use less fuel. Here's a shot of the new and old O-Trains together. The new O-Train is on the right.

The new O-Trains will be tested this fall when service resumes in time for the new school year at Carleton University. The new, faster schedule will be in effect after the testing is complete. It sounds like this will happen sometime early in 2014.

Above: Can you see the red signal still operating in the distance? Capital Railway around Young Street in Ottawa.

The O-Train line is one of the more scenic you will see in a city. Its picturesque crossing of the Rideau River on a vintage trestle is a favourite of train watchers here. Most O-Train shots you'll find online are of this trestle. This shot above is shot looking south from a pedestrian bridge at Young Street in Little Italy. You can just make out a red signal still operational, even though the line hasn't been used in months.

My guess is that this line will be torn up from north (Bayview) to south (Greenboro) and then a new track will be installed from the south end to the north end, since its only operational connection to an outside rail network is the Walkley Diamond junction with the Canadian National's trackage in the city, near Walkley Road.

The amazing thing in all this flurry of renovation is that the city has still not even seriously considered extending the Capital Railway's O-Train service to the Ottawa International Airport on existing trackage from the old CP network in the city. The tracks are still occasionally used when the National Research Council needs various rail cars to be delivered to its surface transportation testing facilities near the airport, so it's not as though significant repairs need to be made. However, for whatever reason, this option has not been seriously considered.

So, for now, all is quiet along the Capital Railway until this fall.