Last blast of winter (Part I)

Over the March Break, I made my way to Southwestern Ontario to visit my family. I haven't seen any of them much since the beginning of the pandemic, so I made a solo trip down south to see them. I was looking forward to a few days without snow, since Ottawa was still pretty much covered when I left. Little did I know that a wide swath of lake effect snow squalls would hit right when I was driving southwest along Highway 401.

By the time I reached Watford, along Highway 402, I had had enough. I turned off the highway and made my way to the Confederation Line, a road that parallels the CN Strathroy Subdivision for much of its length through rural Lambton County. I was not all that far removed from Watford when I came across a mixed freight on a siding near Kingscourt Road, a narrow gravel concession. Since I was making good time on my drive and I had no family in tow, it was time for some quick railfanning.

Here is my first shot.

CN ET44AC 3024 is joined by a surprising partner. BNSF ES44C4 8200. It's always fun to catch something rare, especially a BNSF unit. I don't know if this unit's appearance was a result of run-through power from Chicago or a short-term lease. Both possibilities are likely as this train was headed eastbound toward Toronto, which means its departure was probably from Chicago. Just a guess.

The first time I saw BNSF units in person was way back in 2014. Here's the post from the last time I caught up with some of these orange units.

By the time I got to this crossing, it was clear to me that this train was waiting for the passing of a westbound train, or so I figured. As the snow was flying fiercely in the wind, getting some clear shots of this train was not as easy as you'd assume. Sure, it was stationary, but the combination of wind, trackside overgrowth and a dark, overcast sky meant I had to try getting some different angles. 

Here's more of an overall shot of the train. You can see from this shot that this is a true mixed freight. The first few cars in the consist say it all. TTX Boxcar, gondola, steel coil car, lumber car, covered hopper and boxcar. It reminded me of my younger days when I would often see CSX freights rumbling through my hometown with cars very rarely separated into blocks.

I did manage to cross the tracks, as there was no movement. Here's a shot from another angle. This gives you a better idea of the consist. I had to do a fair bit of colour correction to compensate for the gloomy day and poor visibility.

 

When I got the best shots I figured I could get, I decided to retreat to the warmth of my rental car and make my way to the next major crossing in Wyoming, to see if my theory about the approaching westbound train was true

But not before I tried some shots that were a little different. This one worked out well, as the crossing sign on Kingscourt Road added some much needed colour on an otherwise cold, grey blustery day.

 

When I was first approaching the train, I noticed two large trees at the side of the road near to where I was taking some long shots. Before I left, I tried using the old trees as a frame for the train, just to give some context to the scene.

I like the shot, even if it wasn't as sharp as I would have liked. The blur in the photos is pretty much the blowing snow, as I arrived at the scene right at the edge of a snow squall. 

The Strathroy Subdivision, like the Winchester Subdivision in Eastern Ontario, was once double tracked from Sarnia all the way to London, but with the installation of modern signalling, the line was reduced to single track a number of years ago, with a number of passing sidings kept in place to help maintain an efficient two-way route between Toronto and Chicago. This is what CP has done on the Winchester Sub in recent years.

Just east of CN's yard in Sarnia, there are several passing sidings in the rural parts of Lambton County, which are often used to keep this busy route flowing in both directions. I was quite fortunate to turn off the 402 when I did because I was able to catch this freight train with foreign power and also check out the situation in Wyoming, just west of this spot.

It was in Wyoming at its tiny Via Rail station when I caught the train that this consist on Kingscourt was awaiting. I'll save that until the next post, as it features some elements that are worthy of their own discussion.

More Action at Mandaumin Road

It’s amazing how seeing a few trains can make you greedy. After seeing an eastbound freight barrelling by Camlachie Road earlier in the week when I was visiting family in Southwestern Ontario this summer, I found myself looking for more. I drove my daughters and nephew around a fair bit that week, as part of my vacation. One sunny morning, I got my wish as I was driving down Mandaumin Road through the hamlet of Mandaumin. (Remember this post from Mandaumin from 2014?) My daughter and nephew both saw the familiar locomotive lights on the Strathroy Subdivision as we crossed the tracks. I decided it would be easiest to turn the car around and pull over a little way away from the crossing to get some photos, which is what I did.

And the train didn’t disappoint.

I have mentioned this before in this blog in recent years, but I find that giving yourself some space from the crossing is something that ultimately results in better shots. When I began taking photographs trackside several years ago, I often found myself leaning toward being closer to the crossing. Now, if the landscape permits, I find giving myself space allows me to get more interesting shots. I have never been one to just snap shots of the engines in front. I have always been interested in getting shots of the whole train where possible and getting shots of interesting rolling stock. This first shot above is an example. I like that the train is blending into its surroundings. You can also see a small farm shed behind the tree, right next to the front end power.

It's amazing how turning my camera toward a different angle can result in such a dramatically different sky. Case in point, the above photo. ES44AC 2999 and newly painted ET44AC lead the way with the trailing unit sporting not only the CN 100 logo, but also the Indigenous Peoples logo on the nose. I have to say that I find the railway's 100th anniversary logo a bit boring. Still, catching a new unit in new paint was cool. I was also happy to have caught the trailing Southern Railway boxcar behind the power, although the graffiti has largely covered over the boxcar's fallen flag heritage. I have to mention, as well, that I see more Southern boxcars than any other of the fallen flags still on the rails.

It wasn't long before I came along an articulated lumber car, one of many on this train. I haven't yet caught one of these cars, so I was happy with that. Notice also how the farming storage facility frames the shots. I'm not sure what that facility holds or who it serves, since there was no signage along Mandaumin and no railway service. Still, a nice element to have in my shots.

This flatcar gave me the opportunity to get a better view of the storage facility on the other side of the tracks. Looking at the image and the stamping on the flatcar's load, it appears as though these are concrete pilings or precast ducts of some sort. Just a guess

I know these are still common on the rails, but there will come a day when we will no longer see Conrail cars anymore. Same goes for the Conrail Quality logo to the right. Better to get a few shots before the fallen flag logos disappear entirely.  Whats seems mundane today, right? Also, I thought the autorack helped the CN Mandaumin sign stand out really well.

I snagged another shot of an articulated lumber car and an empty trailing car, just because.

I decided to do something a little different. I framed this tree in the middle of the farmer's field with the train heading east in the background. That white car you see is a full concession over from where I am taking my shot. It is waiting for the train to pass Waterworks Road. The heat lines also give you an idea of how warm it was when I was shooting.

This shot also illustrates just how flat this area of Ontario is. It's like looking across a billiards table.

Camlachie Road: One of my new favourite spots to catch a train

The older I get, the more I tend to shy away from railyards. When I was younger, I loved having the chance of visiting a yard, because it usually guaranteed that I would see something. These days, I am constantly in search of more rural or interesting urban settings when I do find myself with time trackside.

Case in point. This summer, I visited family in the Sarnia area and really wanted to catch some action trackside, but I was also looking after my two daughters and my nephew for the week, so I knew I would have to get creative. My nephew was game, but I know my daughters would not likely have the patience to sit trackside for long. So I made sure to plot my routes for the week around as many rural crossings as possible along the Strathroy Subdivision, in the hopes of catching something.

One advantage you have in this area is topography. When crossing the tracks in the countryside, you can slow down and see clearly what is (or what isn’t) coming. Twice during the week, I saw the familiar headlights far down the tracks, which gave me time to set up and get some shots.

The first time I caught something was when I was on my way home with my daughters, after we had spent the day with my sister’s family in Corunna and were heading back to my brother’s house, where we were staying. When we crossed the tracks, my older daughter was quick to point out a train was coming. In this case, it was an eastbound freight coming out of Sarnia heading toward Toronto. I had to find another road to set up, since the road we were on had no gravel shoulders and was a bit too busy to take pictures safely. So, after some scrambling, I found a spot along Camlachie Road, a spot I have used in the past (which you can read about here), which has a great vantage point for westbound freights.

The train was travelling a lot faster than I had expected, which required some quick decisions and set up before I could fire off some shots. Sadly, I had to settle for the shady side of the train, which necessitated a fair bit of colour correction.

The first unit, ES44AC 3202 sported the Indigenous Peoples logo on its nose, meant to honour Canada's Inuit, Metis and First Nations. I've come across this logo a few times this summer. The trailing unit was ET44AC 3073. In other words, there was some serious power on this train.

Given that the sun was not making things easy for me, I tried a few going away shots and was happy with the way the sunlight was reflecting the front of the trailing unit. You can see that the growth trackside certainly makes it a little tougher to shoot a passing train with much detail. To me though, I thank the landscape is just as important as the train. I don't mind images like this where the train blends into its surroundings.

So, once the front end of the train was properly documented, I turned my attention to some interesting rolling stock. It seems like most cars these days are owned by leasing companies, which makes finding an old gem from a fallen flag harder than ever. However, I did like this gondola, graffiti aside.

I also liked the way these empty lumber cars allowed me to see through to the other side of the tracks. This was a mixed freight in every sense of the word. Some cars were empty...

And some were obviously headed for unloading. These chassis appear to be headed to one of the automotive plants that still makes trucks in Ontario. My brother and I were trying to figure out where. I speculated that they might have been going to the Oakville Ford plant while my brother thought they might also be going to Oshawa, as that facility is still in production for now.

The train ended with a long string of empty autoracks, including a few that were lettered for Mexican railways. I thought I would share this end of train shot, since it captures the countryside just beyond the train fairly well. As you can see from the way the shadows are reaching across the road, it was difficult for me to tell when I arrived at the crossing which side would be best. I think I could have done better on the other side. Oh well.

It was still fun to catch a train in the countryside and it wasn't the only time in my week in Southwestern Ontario when I caught a train.

The tricky business of capturing the hidden Nova railway operation

Like it or not, plastics are vital to the global economy. Until we figure out how to properly recycle them all and keep them out of landfills, they will always be part of our lives. And someone has to make that plastic. This year in St. Clair Township, Nova Chemicals is investing $2.2 billion in a new polyethylene plant next to its existing plant, just east of Corunna on the Petrolia Line. This plant is crucial in the production of polyethelyne, which is the most common form of plastic in the world.

For those who like to watch railways in action, it means that Nova’s switching operations are likely to remain quite busy and quite possibly expand.

I’ve always been fascinated by this operation, which is partly visible from Highway 40, although it is not a great place to get photographs, since the rails are largely hidden behind a grassy berm. Also, the highway can be quite busy and the only place to get photos is on the overpass over the tracks that connect Nova’s railway to the CN St. Clair River Industrial Spur. Needless to say, there is no place to stop here.

Hoping for the best! This is a no-look shot. I left some of the highway guardrail in the shot. I was going pretty slow at this point.

My approach to getting any shots of this operation has always been the same. I only attempt a shot when I am sure the highway is not busy and there are no cars around mine. Next, I roll down the passenger window and slow down while keeping my eyes on the road. Finally, I point my camera in the general direction of the railway and hope for the best.

This summer, while visiting family in the area, I was passing by this operation when the conditions were right for a shot. The highway was empty in the middle of the day so I fired away and hoped for the best. Fortunately, I managed to get some interesting shots of this switching operation, which has a half diamond, what appears to be a genset locomotive and occasionally an on SW unit, although that old warhorse was nowhere to be seen when I was driving by.

Here’s a good shot of the genset switcher.

I did, however, manage to spot the SW unit later in the week as I was passing by CN’s Sarnia Yard, where I saw the old Nova switcher near the old roundhouse, where it was likely undergoing maintenance at the Lambton Diesel Specialists shop. I’ll save the rest of that adventure for another post.

The Nova operation isn’t terribly flashy, as it’s exclusively the domain of the tank cars you see on trains anywhere in Canada and the United States. But the refinery in the background does make for some interesting shots you won’t just anywhere.

I’ve always been fascinated by this operation, ever since it used to host those old GATX Tank Train branded tank cars. In recent years, Nova Chemicals has been expanding a fair bit in the area, which bodes well for the CN industrial spur that connects Sarnia to the Terra Industries plant at the edge of the old Sombra Township.

August 2017 at the Rokeby Line

In the last few years, trackage has been added off the CN spur near Mooretown. These tracks are shielded from view by a large metal wall lining the Moore Line, but some of it can be seen as you travel west down the Moore Line near Highway 40. I don’t know enough about Nova’s expansion in the area to be able to say what the purpose is of these new tracks.

I think the beauty in shooting the industrial switching in this area doesn't necessarily have to do with the trains, which are pretty standard tank car and covered hopper consists. I think the interesting element is the background.

My railway happy place

I’m tired. Tired from renovating my basement after a flood and tired of rehabilitating my property after we had a new pipe connected to our house, which destroyed our front yard and landscaping. So yeah, I’m tired from that. I’m also tired of this wet spring and cool temperatures. This spring has not been great and much of my time has been spent as a cut-rate Mike Holmes wannabe.

So the blog has suffered a bit. I was thinking of new things to talk about and there is no shortage of newsworthy items from Ottawa. Our new LRT is still not ready and doesn’t appear to be, even though it is more than a year behind schedule. Did I mention that one of the new electric trainsets derailed just outside of Belfast Yard recently? Okay, maybe this topic is not your cup of tea. How about the uncertainty over CN’s desire to pull out of Ottawa? How about CN’s recent (and vague) advertisements alluding to some sort of celebration they are organizing for Ottawa next year? I’m wondering if they’re even going to be here still.

I am not going to write about any of this. I’m bored with reality, tired of light rail and full up with day-to-day headaches. I want to think back to when I was young and just liked watching trains go by; a time when I simply admired them for the mechanical marvels that they are.

With that in mind, here are a few small anecdotes and observations from the railway of my youth, CSX’s Sarnia Subdivision. In many ways, this rail line is an anomaly that you don’t often find anymore. I was looking through some photographs of this line the other day when I noticed some interesting things that I hadn’t seen before.

1. In this shot, can you see the old telegraph pole? I never noticed it before and with good reason. They are pretty small, compared to the old poles I’ve noticed along other rights-of-way. Just a single pole and two measly wires leaning away from the roadbed.

As readers of this blog know, this line is actually quite old. It has changed hands a number of times and reads like a who’s who of CSX predecessors. It was the Erie and Huron Railway when it opened for business in 1886. It changed hands once and was renamed before becoming part of the Pere Marquette Railway in 1902. From there, it became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio in 1947, and then the inevitable mergers brought in the Chessie System group of companies before finally becoming CSX Transportation.

Unlike many other railways, this line shed its passenger service in 1933, much earlier than other lines. It’s a shame that none of the passenger stations have survived, other than the old Mooretown Station, which is located on the grounds of the Moore Museum.

But that little telegraph pole, barely noticeable as it is at the back of my sister’s property, which extends to the tracks, is a witness to the history of this line and its importance in connecting a very large and scattered group of settlements in Lambton County.

2. This is something I’ve noticed before but it was particularly noticeable behind my sister’s house. Usually, a railway’s roadbed is elevated a fair bit above the surrounding landscape for many reasons, not the least of which is to prevent washouts from floods. In many areas along this line, the roadbed is actually not elevated all that much higher than the surrounding area. I really noticed it in these images. It made me wonder if this was a factor of neglect in that the railway has not bothered to bolster its ballast in a while or if it was a factor of the line’s design. Did the elevation in this area suggest to the line's builders that it did not require that much of an elevation? I wonder.

3. I’ve shared this shot before, but I like the fact that this line still has concrete mileposts, like this one near Emily Street in Mooretown. I’m not sure how many are actually left but I like the fact that some of them are still around. I recall as a kid seeing concrete W signs as well, but as you can tell from this shot below, some of them have been replaced over the years.

4. I didn’t realize this until I was older, but this rail line has no speed or occupancy signals, and for good reason. The line, even in its heyday, connected with CN in Sarnia and CP in Chatham. The trackage through Chatham-Kent is now finished, of course, and the Sarnia connection is used only for once-a-day interchanges between CSX and CN at CN’s Sarnia Yard. CSX also connects with CN’s St. Clair River Industrial Spur at Terra Industries, south of Courtright, but this connection seems to be lightly used or unused at the moment. The point is, neither of these current connections require signals. The Chatham connection did have signals but I think that was it for this line. Up until the 1950s, the line also connected with the former Canada Southern St. Clair Branch in Courtright, but I have not seen any images of whether it was governed by any signals. A real throwback. I imagine the line was (and still is?) governed by OCS.

5. One more way this line was really different. I remember watching a competitive baseball tournament one summer when I was young and then hearing the rumbling of a GP38 (like this one pictured) on the adjacent rail line (this line in my day was the exclusive domain of this geep). Well, didn’t the engineer stop the engine next to the ball field so he could watch some of the action? How many rail lines have this type of casual attitude these days? It reminds me that numerous blog readers have told me that they see CN 589 stop at the March Road railway crossing in Kanata so the crew can pick up a Tim Hortons coffee on their way to Arnprior.

You know, I feel better now. It’s been a tough couple of weeks of hard work for me. And my commute to work has been changed by bridge closures, due to flooding. So, not a lot to cheer about, but I have plans to have a trackside day in the coming weeks. This was the same trackside day I planned a year ago. So, things are looking up.

What about you, fair reader? Where is your railway happy place? Or where was it?

My first great chase

Lambton County 2017 Part III

I've read about so many chases in other blogs over the years, but realized recently that I've never really had a good, long chase with a happy conclusion. Until now.

Recently, my family travelled to Southwestern Ontario, where we were visiting family. I decided to travel from a spot in rural Perth County, where we were visiting grandparents, to my hometown of Corunna using nothing but country roads. I did this with good reason. One of the roads that would lead me toward Corunna paralleled Canadian National's Strathroy Subdivision from its namesake town all the way to Sarnia. That drive would offer me a good chance to get photos of a freight train, since the road I was on (named Napperton Road in Middlesex County and Confederation Line in Lambton County) is not only close to the Strathroy Sub, it is also traversed by a number of intersecting country roads that lead to the tracks. Easy enough, right? Wrong.

I had just checked out two level crossings in Strathroy before I headed out onto Napperton Road, as I was convinced a meet was not going to happen in that town. I was about five minutes outside of Strathroy when I noticed the tail end of a freight train thundering its way west toward Sarnia, and at quite a clip. Clearly, I was going to have to drive for a while to catch up and maybe dart down a road (safely, of course) to catch this train. I managed to reach the head end of the train after about 10 to 15 minutes of patiently trying to catch up. I fired a few blind shots with my camera, being sure to keep my hands on the wheel and my eyes on the road. Needless to say, very few turned out, especially considering how far the track was from the road at this point.

This shot reminds me of some of the shots I took with a cheap camera in the early 1990s. It's blurry, but given the distance to the tracks and the movement of my car, it was the best I could do. This gives you an idea of where I was in relation to the Strathroy Sub.

The chase lasted far longer than I had anticipated because of a few wrinkles, mainly the fact that the road I was on passes through Kerwood, Watford and Wyoming before it reaches Sarnia's city limits. I managed to get ahead of the train by the time I reached Watford, but the speed limit near the Confederation Line-Highway 79 intersection fell to 50 km/h, which meant the train passed us, as it was maintaining a steady speed of about 80-85 km/h.

The train must have slowed a bit because as I pulled out of Watford and continued west, I found myself just about caught up with this massive train by the time I hit Wyoming. I was hoping to pull ahead of it and catch it at the Broadway Street crossing, just like this meet I had at the Wyoming Via station earlier this year.

But the slower speed limit in Wyoming (again 50km/h) ensured I would have to catch up to this train again. The slowdown in Wyoming was made worse by the fact that a tractor trailer took an unusually long time to turn from the Confederation Line onto Broadway.

So, after more chasing, I was finally able to overtake the train for a third time as it neared Sarnia. In fact, I managed to set up on Blackwell Side Road, the last road the Strathroy Sub crosses before it enters Sarnia yard. If you're keeping count, that means I had to cover about 60 kilometres before I was able to get proper shots of this train. It's a good thing I was heading in this direction anyway otherwise that's a lot of time and distance devoted to one train.

Here's what I saw.

The early morning sun washed out the sky beyond the limits of my photoshop program. However, I did like that I was able to frame the train against this farmer's field, which looked to be a soybean crop. Had I been given the luxury of a little more time, I would have been able to cross the tracks and set up in a more sun-friendly location although it was still fairly early in the morning (before 9 a.m.) so the sun would have posed a challenge from any angle.

Here it is a little closer. Note that the position of the sun was such that the sky began to reveal itself a little more in this shot. A typical cut of covered hoppers led off the consist, likely destined for a number of refineries, possibly in Sarnia or possibly farther afield in Michigan or Chicago, depending on where this train ended up.

Above you see the going away shot (with blue sky). Below is a shot of the power crossing Blackwell Side Road.

Now, staying true to my recent emphasis on rolling stock, let's see what CN ES44ACs 2875 and 2916 were pulling.

St. Lawrence Railway boxcar 163. Railfans love these. I often see them elsewhere.

A new railway logo for me. GACX 516123 Southern Illinois Railcar hopper.

Some of the more colourful hoppers out there today - Potash Corp. hoppers. It's always refreshing to see rolling stock on the rails that isn't just a blank sided car with the reporting marks of some leasing company.

Tidewater Grain Company  GRDX 7739 hopper looks like it's seen a lot of action and a couple of touch-up paint jobs.

Who says flatcars are boring? Steel a glance at this load! Reporting marks HJPX. Another first.

There were a lot of visual hazards near this crossing, so not every picture was distraction free. However, despite the pole, I was pleased to catch this BRIX-patched hopper, branded for Incobrasa Industries of Illinois. This company deals with soybeans and makes all sorts of products based on soy. So, through observation, it appears that this train had a definite Illinois flavor to it (there were also a few Wisconsin Central and Illinois Central cars). Of course, most trains rolling through Sarnia are headed for Chicago, so this is hardly surprising to see.

I made sure to take a quick couple of shots of long strings of freight cars just to serve as a reminder of how long this train was. With the exception of the trains with mid-train DPU, this was one of the longest consists I have seen pulled by two lead units.

Always a bonus when I come across a fallen flag (sort of). I used to have multiple photos of GT and Central Vermont rolling stock, only to lose those shots some years back. Now, I at least have one shot of a GT hopper. I wish the light was more forgiving, but still a great catch for me.

Also, it was great to catch a Cargill-branded hopper. As previously mentioned, anytime you see rolling stock with any colour, it's worth capturing. I have not seen many hoppers painted for Cargill, which has a huge grain and oilseed elevator facility on Sarnia Bay, served by the CN Point Edward Spur.

Finally, the end.

When I went to visit family in the Sarnia area, I didn't think I would have so many railfanning adventures outside Sarnia Yard, but it ended up that all of my adventures took place outside Sarnia Yard. It made for the start of a record railfanning month for me.

The busy spur with the long name

Lambton County 2017 Part II

I often mention my rotten luck when it comes to trains, but I have to say that I was incredibly fortunate to see lots of railway action and even knock a few items off my railfan to-do list. As I mentioned last week, I finally caught a freight train on the CSX Sarnia Subdivision near my hometown. This was the first time I have documented action on this line since the early 1990s. You can read that post here.

The next day, I was heading out to visit family when I was approaching the St. Clair River Industrial Spur level crossing along the Rokeby Line. As luck would have it, three warhorse CN GP9s were switching the industrial tracks near the crossing. Of course, since I didn't have any advance warning, I had to make do with a spot on the edge of a farmer's field, which was one of the few places I could stash my car on Rokeby, which has no gravel shoulders, but very, very deep drainage ditches.

Yes, there is a major hydro corridor right next to this line. Hard to shoot without running into a few towers!

I wasn’t sure if the crew was servicing the Suncor Energy Ethanol plant. I say this because the train the crew was assembling for a run back to Sarnia Yard was comprised of covered hoppers almost exclusively. So, my first thought was the train must have been serving the Nova Chemicals Moore refinery, which is located on the Moore Line, just a concession south. Upon further thought, the train might have been collecting hoppers that were used to deliver raw material for the ethanol plant.

Check out the tree behind the GP9s!

Whatever they were doing, they were assembling a pretty impressive consist for a spur, which is what the line is. As I have mentioned in this post, this industrial spur is quite long and likely among the busiest spurs you will find. CN boasts some siginificant customers on this line, including the above mentioned customers, along with Nova Chemicals’ Corunna refinery and the Terra International nitrogen products plant near Courtright. These are all big facilities, which require significant service. In other words, this is not a spur like the Renfrew Spur, which sees a lone train to and from Arnprior each week.

This is my favourite shot from the meet. It shows you a little of everything, including the thunderstorms south of Rokeby.

As I will explore in a future post, CN is about to see business increase on this spur as Nova Chemicals is in the midst of a massive expansion of its operations in Corunna and near its Moore site. You can see the signs for the expansion of its rail facilities along the Moore Line. The company has already bolstered its operations at the plant and is operating two switchers each day.

But at this moment, I wasn’t thinking about all the developments along this line. I was simply enjoying the show as the old geeps trundled back and forth and assembled a train bound for Sarnia. This meet marks the first time I have caught a train on this line. I have taken photos of rolling stock, like this shot taken at the former Serviplast plant near Corunna, but I have never captured a train.

I backed up the zoom in this shot to show a little bit of the Suncor ethanol plant (at left) and the high-voltage towers to the right of the spur.

So, if you’re keeping score, that’s two big items I had on my list for this trip down south that were crossed off. I caught trains on the CSX Sarnia Sub and the CN industrial spur. As I will show you in a few more posts, I managed to cross off some other items from my to-do list. It was an eventful trip for sure.