A journey to Montreal in February

Now seemed like as good a time as any to share some photos of my trip to Montreal a few months ago, when I took my daughter to her first Montreal Canadiens game at the Bell Centre. Sadly, the Habs lost that day, but it ended up being a day full of wonderful memories as my daughter, now a big hockey fan, got her first taste of what Montreal is like when the hockey team is humming. 

We took the train, of course, as I do not have the desire, ever, to drive in downtown Montreal or on its highway system. I've been there and done that and I do not wish to ever do it again. Our train was one of Via's bright, shiny new Ventures. Before heading to our train, I took a quick Via family photo through the windows of Ottawa Station. The light wasn't great in the morning and the windows overlooking the platforms were dirty, but I did like the fact that I caught a few Ventures and a few F40PH-2s in one shot. No P42s, which would have completed the generational shot.

The cool thing about boarding our train was that it gives the motivated photographer the chance to get a few quick images on the platforms. There was a time when you could wander onto these platforms at any time and take shots, but now you need to be a passenger to be on the platforms, as it is mainly behind fencing. I did manage to get a few quick shots of two trains in the brilliant morning sunshine.

I like this shot because it captures four elements. You can see both the new Venture set pointing east and a Via Love The Way-wrapped F40PH-2 pointed west. You can also see the passengers making their way to their assigned car as well as the station Danger sign to the right, warning people to stay off the tracks. I love getting different railway shots these days, which include many elements besides just the trains themselves. When you have to take shots of Via Rail trains as much as I do, this improvisation becomes a regular part of the hobby.

If you look closely at the display in our car (We were car four on Train 624), you will see that we were humming along at 160 km/h at one point on the Alexandria Subdivision. Via Rail is having all sorts of trouble maintaining its on-time performance over its fight with Canadian National regarding Ventures slowing down at CN crossings, but we encountered no such problems while travelling along between Ottawa and Coteau. Our train somehow managed to keep its pace between 160 km/h and 120 km/h for much of the length of the Alexandria Sub. The delays began when we got to Coteau and we held for a two freight trains on the Kingston Sub. Curiously, the on-board crew didn't mention we were being held for a a freight train, which was clearly the case. 

I saw the CN yard power at Coteau and, being on the right side of the train, was preparing to get a shot of the geeps in some wonderful early morning sunshine, as our train crept along the tracks, waiting for the westbound freight. Right when we were in the right position, this happened. Denied by autoracks.

Those two freights we encountered at Coteau essentially killed our chances of arriving on time in Montreal, which is why I was glad I booked my daughter and I on an earlier train so we could make the hockey game in time, which we did.

I wasn't able to get any decent shots of either freight train around Coteau. Instead, all I could get were a few shots of the yard, including this line of freight cars off in the distance and this snow clearing equipment near the maintenance shed.

The morning sun did me no favours, but I thought this shot turned out reasonably well. It at least gives you a sense of the weather and the relatively quiet Sunday morning atmosphere in Coteau on Super Bowl Sunday, which is when we made our trip.

Closer to Montreal, the CN yard was relatively full but nothing was moving around and no power could be seen anywhere. Another minor disappointment.

We encountered another freight that slowed us down closer to the city. I was on the wrong side of the train and couldn't cross over to the other side to get a shot of the CP freight with a KCS unit on point. It would have been my first shot of the KCS unit. Another near miss.

 

Once we arrived in Montreal, we made sure to walk by the old Windsor Station on our way to the Bell Centre for the hockey game. The people in Habs sweaters were absolutely everywhere. My daughter and I had found our people. It was fun to see the festive atmosphere downtown, as the city's team was overachieving, relative to its youth and inexperience, and fighting for a playoff spot. Spoiler alert: Mission accomplished.

 

The day was a lot of fun and the Via personnel in Montreal's Central Station were absolutely wonderful to us. The baggage crew allowed us to stash our bags for the day for free, because they were enchanted with my daughter, who was wearing a Nick Suzuki sweater. People really like young girls who cheer for their city's team. My daughter was stopped more than once and given compliments, in both official languages, for her choice of jersey. It warmed a father's heart.

 

But still, I hadn't really gotten any really cool railway shots, which was a bit of a disappointment. On the way home, however, a bit of redemption.

 

The train stopped in Coteau to let off a few passengers, which allowed me to get my shot of the CN yard power after all. It's not a perfect shot, but it's something. All in all, a great day and a little bit of railfanning thrown in. It doesn't get any better than that.

Guest Photos: Freight Train meets Via on the Alexandria Sub

A good friend of the blog, Keith Boardman, has really been my eyes and ears in the east end of Ottawa. To be honest, those who are looking to capture some rare CN freight trains in Ottawa are much better off focusing on the Alexandria Subdivision rather than the weekly run up to Arnprior. Sadly, since I work from home and do not have the time to go out into the east end much, I don't have many photographs of anything beyond Belfast Road. That's where Keith has come in over the years with news, photos and tips from the east end. 

Keith has come through in a big way many times. He recently shared an interesting collection of photographs from the east end when a CN freight train returning from Coteau met a Via corridor train on the Alexandria Subdivision.

This is my favourite shot, below, of CN's freight returning from picking up cars at Coteau. It is waiting on the siding for a Via Rail passenger train. As the Alexandria Sub is Via's trackage, this is one of the few places in Canada where passenger trains get the priority of movement. You can see the signal lights, the plows up sign to the left and the ditch lights of the CN geep. Lots of cool elements in this picture, not counting the snow and the outline of the rails amid the white.

And here's the reason the freight was waiting in the hole. A speeding Via Rail corridor train with a F40PH-2 in the lead is heading east and kicking up some snow as its speeds past.

After the corridor train is past, the freight gets the all-clear signal. The next shot Keith took that I really like was this shot, below, which gives you a rare glimpse of a freight train in the Ottawa area that has more than three tank cars, like the weekly Arnprior Turn. It's a going away shot, but the different colours of the box cars are the stars of this image, in my opinion. The NS boxcar is almost completely covered in graffiti. You can also see a TTX Railbox car and a mysterious white boxcar, which does not appear to have any clear markings. Also not sure about the light blue boxcar in the left of the shot

Keith also sent me pictures of another meet he caught. I shared them earlier this year but thought I'd share them again with the fulls story from Keith. Here is what he told me about this meet:

From Keith's Dec. 2021 email:

I was passing through Carlsbad Springs at 8:28 this morning and the signals came on as I was about to cross Piperville Road. I know there's a westbound Via that goes through around 8:05 give or take, but didn't think it would be running that late. A Railterm truck was parked on the side near the crossing and a worker was out of it, so I assumed he was testing the crossing equipment. 

It seemed he wasn't, so I looked down the track towards the siding,and I could see a light, with ditch lights coming through the fog. Turned out it was the blue and white leased unit (now a CN unit), with a second power unit in tow. I couldn't get a very good pic as the Railterm truck was immediately to the left of my view of the approaching consist. 

I like Keith's spirit. Despite the visual obstruction with the Railterm crew trackside, he managed a few shots of the Coteau train. Here's one more shot he was able to improvise.

I have some other shots Keith took, including a few he captured of the Arnprior Turn in the west end. Keith clearly gets out more than I do. 

I will leave these other images for future posts, which I intend to share in the coming weeks. I might increase my frequency of posts to every 10 days, as I have a massive backlog of topics to cover, not to mention a year-end post with some highlights. 

Stay tuned for two very hard-won shots of some antique freight cars I saw in Ogdensburg, New York. Also, I have shots from Kingston from Novemeber, which I intend to break into two posts. I have two posts worth of shots from Waterloo, Ontario, from a summer trip I took there. I also have a few shots from a summer trip to Gananoque, Ontario. It's been a relatively fruitful year for this blog, although my biweekly pace has helped me considerably. 

My thanks to Keith for these shots and the ones I have yet to share. Stay tuned for more from Keith.

Observations aboard Train 32 to Montreal

I recently rode Via Rail's Train 32 to Montreal for an appointment. I haven't been aboard a train since 2011, if memory serves. So, I was excited to go this past week, which brought me to Ottawa's Central Station very early. This was the consist that was facing eastward. This train was not the one I rode, but our lineup was identical: P42 and three LRC coaches. I was guided to an older coach, yet to be refurbished. Here's the best shot I could muster early in the morning of the other Montreal-bound train.

 

My first realization was that, east of the city, The Alexandria Sub has a number of level crossings. It seemed as though, for about the first thirty minutes of the trip, the engine's horn was blasting almost continuously as we raced through the countryside.

 

I mention this because there has been a great deal of discussion in the city about trying to eliminate the level crossings on CN/Via's Smiths Falls Subdivision trackage through the southern Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven. It was at the Woodroffe Avenue/Transitway level crossing that a Via train slammed into a city bus, tragically killing six people aboard the bus, including the driver. Since that time, there has been a lot of talk about getting rid of these crossings and replacing them with grade separated crossings.

 

Granted, there is a huge difference between level crossings on rural roads and the crossings in a very busy south-end neighbourhood in the city. However, it made me wonder. There are multiple examples of level crossings in other cities where there is relatively little trouble. But in Ottawa, when you factor in the multiple crossing signal issues and the fatal accident in Barrhaven, you can't help but wonder what's so different about this city.

 

 

This shot doesn't really do my second point justice, but it was the best I could muster at a difficult angle through a mud-spattered window. To the right, you can see a few freight cars at the end of an idling freight train near Coteau. As our train made its way through Eastern Ontario towns, I couldn't help but notice that pieces of old freight yards, however small, have largely been ripped up in numerous spots along the line. This makes sense, given what I've seen in Ottawa, where rails have been lifted in a number of spots, including the remnants of the old CP Carleton Place Sub in Bells Corners and the remnants of the Beachburg Subdivision northwest of Nepean Junction.

There were a few times where I could see rails bundled up trackside, ready to be moved elsewhere along CN's system. I suppose this is standard fare for railways where they take stock of their the unused rails, lift them and shift them to busier areas. I was on the wrong side of my car to get shots of Coteau's station or the Alexandria station. The Coteau station is Spartan to the least.

This shot, above, once again shows the difficulties of taking shots from inside a train with only a basic camera, like the one I brought. However, I must say that I was happy to see a passing freight train at Dorval, which may be the best place to watch trains in the Montreal area. This shot was taken on the train home to Ottawa in the evening. The light was fading fast and, by the time our train geared back up and passed the head end of this CP freight, I couldn't get a shot of the lead engine. But I definitely filed this spot away in my mind as a future spot I should visit, if I ever have the time. Depending on the time of day, you would be able to see multiple Via Rail trains, numerous AMT commuter trains (seen below, more on these in a later post) and multiple freight trains.

As the train approached Montreal, I was fascinated by all the trackside industries and other items of interest that you can only see on a train. Here's an old CN swing bridge at CN Wellington (an old CN building, dubbed Wellington Tower by locals, was near the bridge). It appears as though it was disconnected and just left there.

And another shot:

 

This bridge once swung over the Lachine Canal until the canal was closed to maritime traffic in 1959. The nearby Wellington Tower was built in 1943 and was a busy operations centre, but some of its usefulness died when the canal was closed to traffic, which meant the bridges became fixed. I couldn't get a shot of Wellington Tower, but here's a story about it from the Montreal Gazette that explains the history of the facility. It appears this building is about to get a new lease on life.

 

The last item of interest I noticed when Train 30 was making its way into Montreal's Central Station was this container facility. This has model railway written all over it. This facility would be fun to have on a set.

 

 

On the other side of the Quonset hut over the tracks, there were a few hoppers, including this old government grain hopper.

 

 

One final shot of the containers, stacked quite high. I wondered why the hoppers were there.

 

 

One final look. Kind of like Lego for grown-ups.

 

 

That was what I saw through my dirty LRC window on the way into Montreal. I saw quite a bit more once I disembarked. I will share that in a future post. I will finally  mention that I do like the raised platforms in Montreal, which are similar to the platforms in Quebec City in that they rise all the way up to the coach doors. It's a nice touch and it helps with accessibility. Unfortunately, it was way too dark to get any shots trackside beneath the Montreal station.

 

More to come.