Enjoy the drama

I've written a lot this year about how I have changed my approach to watching trains, writing about trains and photographing trains. Quite frankly, I'm doing this because I find myself bored with what's out there. Ottawa is essentially a dead zone for railfanning. I find most fans in this city dedicate themselves to the Arnprior Turn, a short train that services Nylene Canada and sometimes Kott Lumber on Wednesdays, via the Smiths Falls Sub, Beachburg Sub and Renfrew Spur.

Online, I often find railfanning photos are focused exclusively on the engines. That's fine if that is what keeps you motivated, but I just don't find these photos all that interesting anymore. There is more to a train than the power up front. Many photos, I find, are tightly focused on the engine with no thought given to the scenery around the train. Again, if this is what you prefer, I can respect that. It's just not my thing.

Here's an example above of a tight shot of an old F59PH commuter diesel passing by the Metro Toronto Convention Centre last November. I took a tight shot of this unit because they have become increasingly rare on Metrolinx rails in the Toronto area.  

Now contrast that with another shot I took from the same vantage point, but with more context. I won't say this is massive improvement over the top shot, but you can at least see some buildings in downtown Toronto, not to mention the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Possibly the fact that there are two trains in the frame makes the biggest difference. Still, I like that I can see more of the trains in the frame. What comes after the engine matters as much as the engine itself.

This brings me to a point that I don't think I've made in all my ramblings about rail photography this year. In all my images, I feel that giving your photos context also gives your photos drama. I don't means to be dramatic (pun intended) but I will mention that there is an essential truth to what we all do.

That truth is this. When we stand trackside, we all have a sense of anticipation over what is to come or what may come. When we first see headlights on the horizon, we all feel some sort of excitement, wondering what we might be able to capture. Is there a heritage unit? An old piece of rolling stock? An old legacy piece of passenger equipment? A caboose? These are all possibilities.

Then there's this. As we stand trackside, there is always some sense of drama as these massive machines make their way over polished, smooth rail, on their way to deliver people to their loved ones, or to deliver essential goods to make life easier for us all. There is always drama in the movement of a train.

This shot above, taken last April at the Belfast Road overpass in Ottawa, is an example of drama. You can barely see the P42 in front, as it makes its way down the Alexandria Sub to Coteau, Quebec, where it will then make its way to Montreal via the Kingston Subdivision. Can you see the smoke from the engine? Can you sense the momentum building? Do you see the old LRC equipment with the original Via colours? Did you know the houses to the left of the frame belong to a neighbourhood in the city where all streets are named after letters of the alphabet (Avenue A, Avenue B, etc.)?

Here's one of my favourite images, taken last August in Stratford. I like that you see multiple lines of cars in the yard, the faded paint on the old CN engines, the Stratford Masterfeeds grain elevator, the grass in the foreground, the communications tower and some sky. The local was slowly making its way east through the yard on a hot day. I think you can get a sense of what it was like to be standing where I was near Niles Street and what it felt like to see this train.

In other words, I think we need to enjoy the everyday drama of watching these machines and capture some of that drama. 

It's time to change the approach to . . . everything

I've been trying to put into words what it is that I have been trying to do with my rail photography recently, but I think I've fallen short. That was until I read the comments to my last post when a few fellow railfans commented and the words came to mind. So thanks to Steve and J.D.

And here is how I came to clarify my new approach to rail photography. It started with a memory of what my counsellor told me many years ago when I was struggling with my mental health. His name was Woody and what he told me I never forgot. He said, "No one makes you feel anything. People act and you choose how you REact." It was a revelation to me at the time.

That made me think of how I am approaching my photography right now. I thought back to what my counsellor said and I applied it to my hobby. I have no control over what railways do, which is in line with another thing my counsellor told me. He said, "You have no control over anything but yourself." I am applying those lessons in my photography. Since I have no control over how the rail industry has changed, I can at least control how I approach my photos.

So here is my new approach, boiled down to something more pithy, thanks to recent comments from readers and old lessons from my counsellor.

Railways might be more standardized, boring and faceless these days. I don't know if anyone can argue this. I cannot change this.

If you can't change the trains, change everything else in your camera's frame. That means change your angles, your spot, your height, your lighting, your choice of background, your location, your time of day, your approach to the sky, your . . . well, everything. 

This photo above is perhaps not the ideal image to prove my point, but bear with me. In this frame, you can see the interior lights of my Venture coach and the reflection of the laptop screen of the young lady sitting in front of me. I tried to get images that would avoid the interior glare but this is the best I could do. In the image, you can see a string of GO coaches in the background and part of an old Via F40PH-2 in the foreground. The Via engine looks like it has just completed a run from Montreal or possibly Ottawa. It needs to go through the washing station, for sure. The buildings in the background tell you this is Toronto and the platforms tell you this is near Union Station. Put all those elements together, and you have some context about where this photo was taken. 

As for the computer screen in front of me, I do have a funny story to share about that. I couldn't help but notice via the reflection in the glass that the young lady in front of me was attempting to study for an exam or possibly upcoming test. However, she was also clearly messaging friends, which meant her attempts at studying were distracted at best, and I say that nicely. She was mostly messaging. At times on the ride, I wondered when she would give up the ghost with her studies. Whatever it was she was trading messages about was clearly her main focus.

Here's another image that I have come to enjoy. I took this shot at Via Rail's Windsor Station when I paid a very brief visit to the city in 2024. Here you don't see the front end power or much of the train, but you get to see a timeless scene of people boarding an eastbound train for Toronto at the station. I like that you can see the people in silhouette (sort of), a beautiful fall sky, the coaches and the station. It's a scene that could have been captured 20, 30, 40 or even 100 years ago. The trains and stations might look different but the scene is the same. Timeless. 

How many times do we stop to capture a bit of humanity in our images? After all, trains are still a very human endeavor.

Here's an example of angles. I have more photos of Via Rail corridor trains than anything else, so I have given a lot of thought in past years as to how I can capture images of them in different contexts. This is a shot of incoming Sarnia-Toronto Train 84 making its way into Stratford across Niles Street. I deliberately stepped back and made sure I got the people waiting at the crossing (on the left) as well as the cars waiting on the other side. You can also see the railway stop sign. There are many elements in this image, which made the task of framing the train a bit of a challenge, but I like the end result. So often, I find we obsess over getting the train or locomotive itself but lose sight of getting its surroundings. 

I would have liked to attempt this shot from the other side, but the harsh summer sun meant the shadow side of the train would have ruined the image of that train on the curve.

Here's one final image that I captured in February 2021 on the Canadian Pacific Winchester Sub at Bedell, Ontario. There was a maintenance of way crew working on the South Prescott Spur to Oxford Station, with a genuine CP caboose sitting on the spur, offering a warm place for crews to get out of the biting cold. I took a few shots of the caboose but I made sure to back up and get a shot of all the surroundings, so I could have a complete picture. The fencing in the foreground and the enormous pile of ties gives you can idea of the scale of the work being done here. I only wish I could have done a better job with the morning sky, as it did not turn out nearly as crisply as I would have liked. 

With these images, I hope I have made my new approach clear. It's time to change my approach to everything in my rail photography outside of the trains themselves. I've done this in fits and starts over the years, but I'm really trying to make it a major focus going forward. It doesn't mean I'm not taking standard photos anymore. I am. But at a time when everything tends to look the same, the one major thing about rail photography that provides endless variety is your background. And that is what I am trying to change in my images.

Fresh perspectives in Stratford

Last summer, I was in Stratford to visit family and take in a show at the Stratford Festival. While there, I was able to carve out some time at the town's train yard to capture some images of the local freight operations. With a little help from those who are familiar with CN and the Goderich Exeter Railway's moves, I was able to catch several freight trains and some yard action. 

Here's a post featuring some GEXR freight movements on the Goderich Subdivision after leaving the yard.

CN's presence in Stratford is quite noticeable. It has a large maintenance yard where it keeps all sorts of supplies for track repairs. Of course, the Guelph Subdivision is hardly a speedway these days, but CN has still clearly invested in a maintenance operation here. I would say that it is much more extensive than what GEXR had in place when it was the sole leaseholder on the Guelph Subdivision.

 

This is the first shot I grabbed of an incoming CN local, which originated in Kitchener, as it came to do some yard work and move on further west to St. Marys. I took this shot because I wanted to capture a glimpse of the overall operations in Stratford, including the maintenance yard. You can see piles of ties to the left as well as a few structures. 

 

The local was led by an old GP9 and GP38 in the safety stripes scheme. It looked like 9555 was due for new paint, for sure. The train was a pretty typical consist of covered hoppers mainly, which is common in this yard. 

 

As the crew assembled the consist it would need to go west into St. Marys, I made sure to make my way to the Niles Street crossing, which allowed me a chance to get a different type of shot. As I have mentioned before, I am on a mission to capture new and different railway images. I could have easily taken shots from the station platform, as I have done many times in the past, but I wanted something different. 

 

Even though this angle was on the shadow side of the train, I though the angle of the tracks in the yard would give me a unique perspective of the train in its entirety. I thought this shot was more satisfying than an image of a long line of blank grey covered hoppers. Some of those hoppers were destined for the cement operations in St. Marys, which are served by CN.

 

Speaking of different angles. 

 

 

On my first day in Stratford, the yard was quiet but I did catch GEXR's local power at an odd angle in front of the Masterfeeds elevator. I was told this track is one of the last remnants of the old roundhouse complex that was once in place to service the steam engines of the Grand Trunk and the CN.

 

I could have gotten a much closer view, but I decided it would be cool to capture a shot of the long string of steel coil cars and the brooding summer sky in the image as well. I think this shot gives you a much broader picture of local operations.

 

That is a brief summary of my first days trackside in Stratford, I'd be curious to read your thoughts about how to capture different railway images. In two of these shots, the train or engines that were my main focus were actually quite small relative to the overall frame. Do you have your own ways of keeping things fresh while trackside?

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 a 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.  

Via Train 84: The forgotten stepchild of the corridor

After a recent trip home to see family in November, I took Via Rail's Train 84 east from Sarnia Station to Toronto on November 24. A great deal has changed since I last took this train. I would estimate it has been 26 years. 

And I have to say the experience was a little disappointing. I mean no disrespect to the excellent crew who took care of the passengers on the train. They are great ambassadors for the company and are not to blame. However, the general state of Via Rail's operations in the Windsor-Quebec City corridor are to blame, without a doubt. Does that mean it's all CN's fault? I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough to assume this. On the other hand, one cannot blame Via Rail entirely, either. The state of Via's relationship with its landlord in the corridor, CN, has never been worse.

This has to do with CN imposing speed restrictions on Via's new Venture trains at grade crossings. CN contends that these 24-axle trainsets increase the risk of crossing gate failures by a large degree, while Via disputes this finding and has made more than one comment in legal filings to suggest CN's network infrastructure might be to blame. To be fair, Via Rail has been quite consistent that no safety issue exists. These opposing opinions have resulted in Venture sets being held back in the corridor, which has harmed on-time performance and increased congestion in the network. It's a mess to be sure and there's no end in sight.

Read Eric Gagnon's latest post about this in Trackside Treasure for a much more comprehensive breakdown of the issues.

This brings me to Train 84, the daily morning eastbound that departs Sarnia at 8:40 a.m. with stops (some on demand) in Wyoming, Strathroy, London, St. Marys, Stratford, Kitchener, Guelph, Bramalea, Brampton and Malton. The train travels on CN's Strathroy Subdivision, through CN rails in London before following the Guelph Sub most of the way into Toronto before its lays over at Union Station before becoming an Ottawa-bound train later in the day (this was my train home to Ottawa, which I will write about in a later post). 

This shot above shows Train 84 backing out of its layover spur next to Sarnia Station on the morning of Nov. 24. The good thing about Via Rail using the Venture sets is that their bidirectional capabilities do not necessitate a wye movement to turn the train around in the yard. The train can simply be left on the spur when the evening westbound arrives. The spur is under video surveillance, which I suppose helps CN Police thwart any would-be vandals.

Rather than getting into a blow-by-blow of the entire trip, I will mention some of the highlights and low lights. The initial move out of Sarnia Yard was mostly smooth sailing, so to speak, as the train was able to move fairly quickly on the Strathroy Subdivision. This stretch of the CN network is well maintained and is able to accommodate freights at higher speeds, given that it is a crucial link between Toronto and Chicago.

On the morning of Nov. 24, our train encountered no freights on the sub and the station stops in Wyoming and Strathroy were skipped, as no passengers were there to get on board. At this point, the train was likely at five-percent capacity. It was quiet and peaceful.

 

Hello, Goodbye: Wyoming station early in the morning on Nov. 24. No one's home.

 

I have to admit that I didn't feel any noticeable reductions in speed as Train 84 encountered the level crossings on the Strathroy Sub. I credit the engineer for making the ride fairly consistent. I know this speed restriction mandate is a pain for Via crews on lines like the Strathroy Sub, as there are many country roads crossing the tracks.

 

Our train began to slow east of Strathroy where our train proceeded to enter busier CN territory near London. As you might expect, we were briefly stopped at a junction west of London, although I can't be sure it was the Melrose connection with the CP Windsor Subdivision or the Komoka Junction with the Chatham Sub. The area was the subject of a fair amount of maintenance of way crews. Possibly they needed to give the all clear before we crossed. Either way, the train's speed gradually slowed as we neared London.

 

A bit of a surprise. I saw an Essex Terminal Railway engine in London as our train made its way through the city toward the station. I have to say, I miss the old yellow, green and black ETR scheme. This one is okay, but not nearly as distinctive. ETR is cycling its engines to Lambton Diesel Specialists in Sarnia for maintenance and work. Since these units can no longer be routed via CSX's old line in Chatham, the easiest connection is from Windsor to London and then down the CN Strathroy Sub. 

 

ETR engine awaits its move to Sarnia by laying over in London. 

This is where Train 84 began to suffer from elements that are out of its control. After our station stop in London, the train had to pass onto the CN Guelph Subdivision toward St. Marys. Long story short, this stretch of the CN network between London and Kitchener is in rough shape. Our train made its way through the countryside at a fairly constant 46 km/h, which everyone can see as the train's display panels show you its speed in real time. 

 

This is not at all acceptable for a passenger train today. It's unfair to compare this train to the Sarnia-Toronto train I rode more than 20 years ago in my university years, but I can distinctly remember the train being able to move much more quickly back then. Did the Goderich Exeter Railway take better care of this track when it controlled the Guelph Sub on a long-term lease from CN? I can't say. That's just my impression. The trains didn't seem as slow when I was in university.

 

I've been told that CN would likely be glad to hand over the tracks from London to Kitchener, so it can rid itself of the maintenance burden on this lightly used rail line. Already, the Metrolinx-controlled tracks east of Kitchener show how much better things can be when a motivated owner is in charge. I can't imagine that Via Rail would like to take on the burden of owning the tracks between London and Kitchener, given it only uses this line twice a day for the Sarnia-Toronto trains. This means the line will continue to be operated and maintained by CN, which has very little reason to upgrade these tracks for fast passenger operations. CN's local freight service can operate at slower speeds given there is so little traffic on this line.  

 

What surprised me was was the number of passengers that got on from St. Marys to Guelph, despite the speed restrictions on this line. This train does much of its business east of London. 

 

All aboard in St Marys. This little town had lots of people who "love the way."

 

St. Marys is a good example of a small town that relies on Via Rail service, although the service is spotty. I fear for these small towns, as they are often the first to lose service when bigger issues are at play and threaten margins. 

 

I missed the old stone GTR station in St. Marys but caught the caboose.

 

There was no opposing traffic for our train to contend with on the Guelph Sub, thankfully, as our speed was already pretty slow. By the time we arrived in Kitchener, the train was already behind schedule, but not by a wide margin. Thankfully, the tracks east of Kitchener are maintained well by Metrolinx, which is expanding its rail service to Kitchener and points east in the coming years. This meant our train could actually stretch its legs and move at a more reasonable speed.

 

Kitchener's CN operations getting started for the day with lots of grain and covered hopper cars ready to serve agricultural customers in southern Ontario.

 

As we got closer to Toronto, our train was stopped for quite some time in Brampton as we had to wait for a meet with a GO Train because CN had a freight train blocking an interlocking east of the station. This delay, combined with the speed restrictions east of London, not to mention the delay in Komoka/Melrose, made for a slower-than-usual ride. This has to be frustrating to passengers and crews alike, as this train's scheduled 1:38 p.m. arrival in Toronto is already a pretty generous schedule. I can't imagine many people in Sarnia and London would take this train for its timetable. You take this train if you have to.

 

Passengers in London, in particular, have better options, as the eastbound trains that take a different route (Dundas Subdivision) through Woodstock, Brantford and Aldershot (Hamilton) are much quicker. I took a train west from Toronto to London on this route on my way down to see family and it was a much quicker ride, even with the occasional slowdown.

 

From a business point of view, this has to be troubling. If you cannot offer a fairly timely service, people will be less likely to take the train.

 

Finally in Toronto: Our train was more than a half hour late, which wasn't 

so bad considering the obstacles it faced. The Via Rail engineers are likely exhausted.

 

When we arrived in Toronto, I felt exhausted, given my car was quite loud, with screaming babies and a boisterous group in St. Marys. I'm not complaining. It was nice to see a full train, but I have to wonder how long Via Rail can count on its passengers' patience as it sorts out its Venture dispute with CN. Neither side appears willing to budge while the federal Transport Minister does not appear eager to step into this mess.

 

I went into this trip from Sarnia to Toronto with a certain excitement as it was a chance to revel in the nostalgia of taking the train in the late 1990s. How times have changed! Via Rail is struggling in every respect. It has not done a great job explaining to its passengers why its brand new trains are performing worse than its aging LRC and HEP fleets. Meanwhile, CN appears to be in no hurry to accommodate Via Rail in any way.

 

I suppose in a perfect world, Via Rail would have its own tracks that were free of freight trains that more often than not are prioritized higher than passenger trains. Of course, this is impossible. For every train that is rerouted to a theoretical Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal route via the Kawartha Lakes Railway and a potentially reactivated line east of Havelock, you lose all the passengers along Lake Ontario from Port Hope to Cornwall. This is just not feasible. You have to serve the cities on the lake.

 

And, although Via controls rails between Chatham and Windsor, Brockville and Ottawa as well as Ottawa and Coteau, Quebec, it is still very much at the mercy of CN. And there is no solution. 

 

And sadly, trains like Train 84 are the hardest hit. 

Details matter

I found myself passing by Fallowfield Station recently when I decided to stop in and see if something was imminent. Luckily, a westbound from Ottawa's main station was making its way to the station, so I took to the east platform to get a few shots. It turned out to be a double-ended consist of the silver streamliner (HEP) cars with two P42s. I figured it was worth a few shots, just to get some seasonal variation in the photographs I share here. You can see a hint of the snow plowed off the end of the platform.

The first detail I noticed was how dirty the train was. The lead P42 920 clearly needed to go through the wash stand, but I suppose it's a tough assignment to keep these trains clean shortly after the first snowfall of the season, combined with the subsequent melt and the rainfall in the various regions where these trains operate. 

 

 

The second detail popped out immediately. Do you see it? Unlike the lead P42, the trailing engine still has a bit of its as-delivered blue paint shining through the wrap. It was a bit odd to see this, as it looked out of place. I have seen many wraps, but most have the plow of the front repainted.

 

Speaking of paint schemes, you can see the original lettering peaking through the wrap on this dirty trailing power. I'm guessing such minor details don't matter much right now, as I'm sure these units aren't long for this world. The Venture takeover will soon mean many of these older locomotives will retire from revenue service or head to another railway. 

 

This is a shot I took this summer of a genset locomotive that handles the plant switching duties at the Nova Corunna refinery. The detail I liked in this photo was the line of towers and power lines. Anyone who has been in the Sarnia area knows how much energy is needed for these refineries to operate. This is also an area where an immense amount of energy is managed through cogeneration, solar, battery storage and other means. And the power supply just keeps increasing. I could have zoomed in on the locomotive, but I also liked that I captured some of the refinery and the massive pipes in the bottom right of the image. This would be great information to use if I had a model railway setup right now.

 

 

Here's one last image from this summer that has a lot of details, like the photo from the Nova refinery. I wasn't really enthused about catching another Via Rail Venture consist while in Stratford, so I set up across the yard on a side street. The details in this photo are what make it more interesting than a standard railway photo. These are the details I wanted to catch: the station undergoing renovations; the rail yard; the grain elevator and the crossbucks. I left a piece of the tree in the shot intentionally, mostly because it was protecting my shot from a complete washout due to the sun.

 

The harsh sunlight required a fair bit of colour and lighting correction, but I think it was worth the effort. As I have mentioned quite a few times, I have been aiming of late for images that are more than just the standard wedge shot. I think setting a scene where a train is operating makes for a much better image.

 

The details are what fascinate me now as much as the trains themselves. 

Some random photos from summer and fall

This summer and early this fall, I have been able to collect a fair number of random railway photos that don't quite fit in with any particular theme or topic of a post. As I have done in the past, I usually give myself some time to store up a few and explore them in detail in a random post.

I suppose if there's a theme or topic that unites these photos, it's as follows. When you blog about railways and live in Ottawa, you need to be ready to take a railway photo anywhere and everywhere you can. To go one step further, you also need to constantly think of new places and new vantages points to take photos, so you can present some shots that aren't constantly covering the same ground. 

That's because Ottawa has very little to offer, obviously. 

I see this often online where railfans will take a shot of the same train at the same location at the same time of day. For them, it's fulfilling and worthwhile. That's not my thing anymore. I need to mix up the landscape and the background, not to mention the points of view, to keep things interesting. I think that's why a fair bit of my photography is now taken with landscape in mind.

I'll start with a shot that was shared with me by my sister. She and her husband were celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary in late September. They found their way to Alaska, where they took a ride on the White Pass and Yukon Route passenger excursion from Skagway, Alaska. 

 

Here's a shot of a few of the vintage 19th century vintage* coaches ready to welcome passengers for an excursion from Skagway to Carcross, Yukon, where the line currently ends. The railway, now owned by a company that includes Carnival Cruise Lines, operates in Alaska, northern British Columbia and Yukon. In recent years, there were talks about restoring service all the way to Whitehorse, Yukon's capital, but that has not materialized. Part of that discussion includes the line taking on freight service again, as mining interests still work along the route, although much of this traffic is handled via trucks. 

 

* - I neglected to mention in my original text that these vintage coaches are mainly newer builds made to look like 19th century equipment, although some are indeed very old and there are even some originals still in the railway's possession. Read the comments below for more.

 

It would be interesting to see this 3-foot-gauge operation back in action all the way to Whitehorse again, complete with freight operations, but this would require a fair bit of investment on the part of governments. I'm not sure there's a business case to be made right now.

 

A few days ago, I was on my way home from an appointment in Orleans, in Ottawa's east end, when I decided to avoid the westbound construction on the Queensway by taking some other city arterial routes back home. That path brought me by Ottawa's main train station on Tremblay Road. It was quiet when I arrived, save for this P42 and HEP consist pointed eastward, although the train was a double-ender. I am guessing this was a Montreal-bound train, as I have boarded eastbound trains on this track before. 

 

I didn't need to take another shot of a P42 and HEP consist, as I have hundreds of similar shots, but the thought occurred to me as I watched the train idle: How much longer will I see these trains? Even the engines with a face only a mother could love won't be around forever. The Venture sets are everywhere now and the legacy rolling stock is fasting becoming scarce. It's always worth a shot. 

 

In the summer, my family visited Sarnia and found our way to the Bluewater Bridge, which connects to Port Huron, Michigan over the St. Clair River. Beneath the bridge in Port Huron, near the Thomas Edison Inn, you will find this baggage/passenger car that once belonged to the Chicago, Detroit & Canada Grand Trunk Junction Rail Road. The railway connected Port Huron to Detroit beginning in the mid-1800s and became part of the Grand Trunk Western in 1928. 

 

Thomas Edison, a world-famous inventor born in Ohio, spent much of his earlier years in Port Huron, which is why the hotel is named in his honour. Edison also worked for the Grand Trunk, beginning as a young man when he told items, including newspapers and candy, to travellers bound for Detroit.  

 

Edison would later work as a telegraph operator for the Grand Trunk in Stratford, Ontario. You can read about his connection to railways in this earlier post. You can also see the historic Port Huron Railway Station behind the passenger car. 

 

 

This last image isn't exactly random as it's an image of Via Rail Train 84 headed eastbound toward Stratford Station en route to Toronto. I was lucky enough to catch this train while in Stratford this July, but I wanted to share this image, taken amid a sea of visial distractions. I liked the curvature of the tracks and the trees as a brackdrop. I will share my other photos of this meet later on, but I thought I would put this one out there to see what people thought. It was a bit of an experiment. I'm not sure about the concrete and metal poles framing the train. I like that there's a stop sign in there as well as some crossing signals. It shows you how the Guelph Subdivison snakes its way through the city in and around the station. In this image the consist is crossing Downie Street and making its way to Niles Street, which is the last street eastbound before it hits the station.

 

A bit of bric à brac from the last few months.  

Say hello to Belton

Over the course of my travels this summer, I was able to take photographs at many of my favourite spots, including the Sarnia rail yard and the Stratford rail yard. What's rare is when I come across a new railway find and am able to properly capture it for the sake of discussion on this blog. After all, my trips to see family are usually quite busy and they don't leave a lot of time for wandering. 

In July, as my family made its way to London to visit our family there, we drove through a wide swath of countryside, which is when we came across a small farming hamlet called Belton. North of London, Belton is a tiny community that is home to the Agromart Group fertilizer storage and distribution site. It's a large facility with various storage domes. The site is used as the company's administrative centre as well as a storage and distribution hub for farming customers throughout southern Ontario. In total, 25-acre site can house 80,00 metric tonnes of "urea, potash, SOP, MAP, DAP, ammonium sulphate, MESZ and NitroK." 

If you know what some of those abbreviations mean, let me know. I took it directly from the company website. Most importantly for our purposes, this facility is served by an interesting loop track near milepost 106, off CN's Guelph Subdivision.

 

This was a shot I took from the passenger seat of our car as we made our way back to Stratford from London. As you can see, the track serving the facility is a long loop. I would think this would be the domain of GP9s, GP38s or other more nimble engines. The tight radius would not accommodate larger motive power. I can imagine the squeal of the trucks and axles on this track!

 

Here's a closer look at some covered hoppers parked beside one of the storage domes, behind which stands a very large feeder. I don't know that I have ever seen an industrial rail siding with this type of radius in real life. I've seen a few on model railways, but that's it. This would be a neat facility to model.

 

Belton is just a short jaunt south of St. Marys, which is also on the CN Guelph Sub. I can't imagine that Belton is served by CN's Kitchener operations, which serve St. Marys. I would assume this facility is served out of London's CN yard, on the Dundas Subdivision. But I stand to be corrected, as I am not familiar with CN's operations in this area.

 

I had to do a little searching to figure out what railway served Belton, as I had no idea where it was relative to nearby CN and CP lines when I passed through in the car. I assumed it was CN served, and was proven right when I consulted the geography of the area using the Railway Association of Canada's online Canadian Rail Atlas. It's a handy resource if you are unsure about railway geography. I was surprised how much I was able to drill down on the interactive map to see the loop track in Belton. It's a really handy resource.

 

Speaking of surprises, here's a shot below that I was able to take that I would not have thought possible without a little luck and some great information from people who know about the movements of trains in Stratford. As I mentioned in this previous post, I was able to stay at an AirBnB in the city that was close to the GEXR Goderich Sub. Since I had already visited the Stratford rail yard and took photos of GEXR assembling its train, I was able to drive back to my place and wait by the tracks to get a shot of the westbound freight train making its way over two overpasses as it headed out of town.

 

You can see the train snaking its way around a building as it heads over the first of two overpasses that take the GEXR northwest out of the city en route to its rural customers. I was surprised to get an image like this, as my timing was perfect and there was just enough shade to allow me to get a decent shot, even through the morning sun was unforgiving. If you don't believe me, look at the small patch of sky behind the train. The sky was blue that morning, but the angle of the sun in this shot meant that the sky was washed out, no matter what I did. I stayed off the tracks and found the best spot to take a shot legally and safely.  

 

Those were among the bigger surprises from my adventures this summer. I have a fair bit of material from this summer to share still, so I won't get ahead of myself and drop it all into one post. As I have not really been trackside in Ottawa of late, it's good to have a backlog from this summer.  

The last days of the F59PH

In my travels this summer, I managed to find myself in Kitchener for a few mornings. I used to live in this city when I worked for the daily newspaper, the Record. At that point, I was not in the practice of taking rail photos. So whenever I find myself back in the KW area, I always make sure to check out what is happening on the rails. 

Kitchener's rails have undergone a fair bit of change since I lived in the city back in 2007-09 For one, the Goderich Exeter Railway has given way to Canadian National on the Guelph Subdivision. Also, Metrolinx has a dedicated daily commuter train going to and from Toronto Union Station. One morning, I had the chance to catch the GO Train. I was surprised by what I saw.

 

I didn't know that Metrolinx still rostered any of its F59PH units. In this case, 559 was the power for the day. I managed to get some shots from the St. Leger Street overpass just east of the Kitchener railway station. You can see a member of the crew to the left of the old F59PH, getting some fresh air before the morning's departure.

The F59PH was GO Transit's power of choice for years, as the commuter service rostered 49 of these locomotives, which were built between 1988-1993 at EMD in London. They served GO Transit (Metrolinx) well, and a few remain on the commuter railway's roster, which I have come to learn. My information puts the number at eight in total.

On this morning, 559 was leading Train 3962. I did run into an F59PH a few other times, although mostly I see the MP40PH-3Cs and MP54AC units when I am in the Toronto area. Still, it's fun to see the old F59s, which bear some resemblance to the F40PH-2, a few of which Via Rail continues to use. 

I did get a few more shots on the overpass before I headed out to another nearby road for a shot at a level crossing. There are many level crossings in this part of the city, which tend to snarl traffic, particularly on Lancaster Street, which is right next to the CN yard. 

The shot above shows you how far ahead the Metrolinx engineer has to pull the consist ahead of the station (to the left of the rear of the train), just to get the people into the right cars. They certainly never envisioned passenger trains this long when they built this station.

The shot below gives you a better idea of the changing skyline in and around downtown Kitchener. The mix of the old and the new is quite striking in some places. In this shot, I was trying to get a glimpse of the old Krug building beside the train station. You can just see a hint of it to the right of the end of the train, mostly hidden by trees. Contrast that with tall, sleep towers in the distance. 

I had time to get another few shots, below, at the Margaret Street crossing, as the eastbound slowly geared up and made its way out of Kitchener toward Guelph. Truthfully, I was trying to catch CN freight trains near Lancaster Street that morning, but the crew had yet to sign on for the morning and I was pressed for time. I was fortunate to catch some freight action on another morning, which I will share in another post.

I also made sure to get a good going away shot, which is always a necessity when you can do so safely and legally. Control cab car 255 was bringing up the rear on a very sunny, hot, hazy morning. Getting clear shots in the harsh morning sun was not feasible from this angle. Sometimes, you have to work with what you are given.

As an interesting postscript, I later learned that the old F59PH broke down shortly after leaving Kitchener, which leads me to wonder how many more days these units have left in revenue service. 

Update on Moderation of Messages 

In recent months, I have begun to moderate my messages due to the proliferation of spam messages that were infiltrating my entire history of posts. I have found that the number of comments I get from readers is down sharply. The good news is the spammers have only tried to break through my moderation feature one time since I began moderating the messages. I encourage you to let me know what you think and point out any additional information or mistakes. I monitor the messages submitted regularly.

Update on my Book, 1999

My new novel, 1999, is now available on Amazon.ca. It is printed in Bolton, Ont. and the proceeds go to the Canadian arm of the company, as well as me, as per my modest royalty. I can assure you no one gets rich selling books this way. It was the best I could do to put something out there without running afoul of the trade wars. 

 

You can check out the book on Amazon or go to my author's website to learn more about the four books I have published over the years. I can say that 1999 has a few dramatic scenes featuring railways. Most of my stories features trains in some fashion.

Finally, you can check out my other blog, where I talk about random things related to my writing. My latest post is about how truly bizarre the year 1999 actually was.  

All the book links are also included in the sidebar. This will be a permanent feature to the blog.  

Grand slam in Stratford (Part II)

In my first post about this strange lash-up I saw in Stratford, I shared some  photos of the CN crew bringing a short string of cars into Stratford's rail yard. The crew did a little switching, which was perfect for someone like me who never gets to see freight trains. My time in Stratford earlier this summer was quite prolific from a railfanning perspective. Not only did I get shots of a unique triple-header leading a CN freight, I also was able to catch an inbound Goderich Exeter Railway train returning from the Goderich Sub.

So you would think that would have been enough for one trip. And it was. However, I was surprised when I returned to the yard the following day for a quick peak to see this consist coming into the yard, with the same triple header I saw the day before.

CN had clearly kept the trio of geeps together for a return trip to the yard on July 19. This time, it was the BNSF geep in the lead, bring in a mixed load of mainly tank cars and a few covered hoppers. I tried to get a shot of the train emerging from behind the parked cars in the yard, as it made its way toward Romeo Street and the Masterfeeds elevator storage facility.

I also tried to frame the local with the entire elevator in the frame, just to give myself an idea of the scale of the Masterfeeds operations against the small consist. At least this way, I didn't have to fight the heat swivels coming up from the ground, which is always an issue in the summer when you are using the zoom on my camera. You can see the two searchlight signals showing the crew what it was allowed to do. The main line is red over red while the secondary track is red over green.

I don't take a lot of close-up shots of power anymore. I prefer shots where the train shares the frame with some other element of the landscape. In this case, the trio of geeps was too rare for me not to capture it in its own shot.

While I was in the yard, I made sure to try and find some unique rolling stock. I did spot these old Burlington Northern ribbed covered hoppers, which were in pretty decent shape considering how old they are.

That was the last really cool surprise before my family returned home from our trip. It was a really fun time for my kids and it was a very peaceful time for me at the rail yard at a time when I needed it. Great railway therapy.

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.