Updated: Summer observations in Ottawa

I know it's technically not summer yet, but I thought I would share a few early observations as we head into the summer season here. So far, the weather has been decidedly springlike, with higher temperatures seemingly scattered amid a fairly predictable parade of pleasant weather, albeit a bit dry. 

It's hard to come up with any type of railway news in Ottawa these days, as CN continues it minimal presence, mostly serving Ottawa from Coteau. I've been by the Walkley rail yard a few times in the spring and it's mainly empty. The old OCR/CN building is empty and appears to be on the market. I can't imagine any business wanting to be there, but who knows.

The city's transit authority, OC Transpo, has been advising people that there will be delays on Line 1 of the commuter train system (the former Confederation Line). This is due to the ongoing construction to extend the east-west line from its current endpoints to Corkstown Road in the west end and Blair Road in east-end Orleans.

I was on West Hunt Club Road in my travels recently when I saw this piece of maintenance of way equipment being brought into the city on a flatbed truck. I've asked some people if they know what it is and no one has yet been able to pin down what it does, but I do believe it's likely going to be used on the O-Train expansion.

Maybe someone a little more knowledgeable than me can fill me in on what this does. I do see an ST-1 marking on the back. Also, I can't help but laugh at the notion that anything being delivered to Ottawa for rail purposes has to come in on a truck. It's amazing to me. I have seen examples of rail cars being delivered to the National Research Council or LRT equipment being brought in for the light rail network, but on trucks.

It makes me wonder. There are two ways freight could conceivably make its way to this city by rail and in each case, the rail lines are owned by Via Rail. Whether it would come in on the Smiths Falls Sub or the Alexandria Sub, I wonder how difficult it is to make arrangements to use these lines. I have no evidence to suspect that Via would give CN a hard time bringing in special freight shipments, but it does make you wonder just how difficult and cumbersome it is to book carload freight shipments to the city. Likely, it's just more cost effective by truck.

Speaking of Via Rail, I was taking my daughter to an appointment recently and we just so happened to be beside the Smiths Falls Subdivision on West Hunt Club Road. I managed to slip out of the office and catch an eastbound Via Rail corridor train, but not before I checked out what had become of the old severed industrial spur that once served the industrial park on Bentley Drive.

Short answer: Nothing has been done. The old rails and switch stand remain where they have been for well over a year (right/centre of the image). I'm not sure why nothing has been done to salvage this rail and switch stand. The next question might be who owns the rail. This spur was obviously once used by CN and Ottawa Central, but this rail line is owned by Via, so possibly it's not worth the effort to pick up the rails and move them elsewhere. The remaining lengths of spur behind the fence is still clearly in place.

After taking these photos and walking along the Hunt Club Road overpass, a Venture set came down the line toward me.

 

I don't often do tight shots of engines anymore, as they offer almost no context to the image, but I snapped a quick shot as 2220 led this consist under the overpass.

I suppose the biggest challenge ahead for me might be to catch a few modified Venture sets with *older other coaches attached, to comply with CN Rail's axle count minimum threshold. You have likely read elsewhere that Via has begun cobbling together these mixes, to ensure that its newer Siemens trains are not held to the CN speed restrictions at grade crossings. As others have already pointed out, Via had this option in hand when the safety feud with CN erupted, but the passenger railway has only now begun to implement this change on some trains. I haven't yet seen any of unusual combinations, but I intend to try. 

Those are a few of my limited observations from the last little while here in Ottawa. I haven't had much chance to spend any time trackside in recent weeks, but I plan to make up for it when my family goes travelling this summer. 

* - Please see comments below for an explanation of my correction to this post

It's time to talk about the O-Train again

I've avoided it long enough. Mostly, my neglect of the O-Train has more to do with the fact that I no longer commute to work. But with federal public servants mostly mandated to be in an office three days a week, there is a good reason to check back in with Ottawa's ongoing efforts to convert its public transit into a well-oiled rail network. 

So far, the results are understandably and predictably mixed. That's being charitable.

We all know that the Confederation Line, which will soon run from Orleans in the east to Crystal Beach in the west, has been a failure from the get-go. It was built poorly and opened too early with trains that were not suited to Ottawa's climate. And many, many details were overlooked. That is likely the shortest way to sum up years of light rail turmoil here. The scariest part is that successive city councils deliberated over the best way to establish a citywide rail network for many years and the process still produced very few positive results. All that time and we still got it wrong in many ways.

I have blogged about the O-Train and its failures many times in the past. In fact, I looked back to the last actual post I completed that was solely about the O-Train and it was in 2020. Since that last post, we have seen news about trains with improper trued axles, tracks that were not built correctly, trains that had to slow down on turns due to the track issues, frequent weather service disruptions and the list goes on. Let's skip ahead to something a bit more positive.

As people in Ottawa know, the north-south Trillium Line, which is now called Line 2, has been operational for a few months and it seems to be operating well, as the diesel trains are much better equipped to deal with Ottawa's temperamental winters. I took this shot in the evening, facing west, from the Bank Street bridge several weeks ago. Most know this as the Walkley diamond, although in truth, it's a half diamond. 

The longer Stadler FLIRT trains are roughly twice as long as the old diesels and they now ply a 19-kilometre route between Bayview Station, on the western edge of the LeBreton Flats, and Limebank Station, on the northern edge of the Riverside South subdivision. Much of this extension of Line 2 follows the right-of-way of the old CP Prescott Subdivison, some of which was still in place up until a few years ago. 

The route has additional stops including Corso Italia (Little Italy), South Keys, Leitrim and Bowesville. The original O-Train line, the old CP Ellwood Subdivision, was the main focus of city council's rail ambitions years ago, when local politicians wanted to build on the success of this line. The thought initially was to extend the north-south line, as the right-of-way was already in place. However, that made too much sense, so that plan was shelved for far too long in favour of an electric east-west line (Confederation Line or Line 1). The rest is a miserable local history.

One bright spot about the new Line 2. Some might recall that, in the original plans, local politicians insisted that a new maintenance facility was going to be built in Bowesville, which despite the name, is largely unoccupied land on the edge of airport lands. At the time, the owners of the Ottawa Central Railway questioned why the city didn't want to make use of existing capacity at Walkley Yard.

Luckily, saner heads prevailed. Looking at Walkley Yard now versus what it was years ago, you would be amazed. The shot below is from the Bank Street bridge in 2017.

 And here's what it looks like now, in 2025. Walkley Yard hasn't been this busy in decades.

The area just south of the Walkley diamond is South Keys station, where Line 2 has a junction with what is now known as Line 4, the spur to the Ottawa International Airport. This line is also being served by smaller diesel trains that only operate between the airport and South Keys.

This shot was taken near the EY Centre, a convention centre near the airport, which has a station stop for people going to a convention. The trains are small compared to what is used on Line 2. The issue that has been raised in a recent opinion piece in the Ottawa Citizen is that the airport spur does not provide through service to the end of Line 2 at Bayview. Instead, those wishing to get downtown from the airport need to take the airport O-train to South Keys, then hop onto a Line 2 FLIRT train to Bayview, before transferring again onto an electric train on Line 1. 

This lack of through connections has been heavily criticized, as the process of linking a major source of passengers, in this case the airport, is not seamless. In reality, the Line 1, Line 2 and Line 4 trains all work independently of each other. Not a great option for someone unfamiliar with the city.

Comparisons have been made to the other major airport links in Canada, like Toronto's Union-Pearson Express and Vancouver's Sky Train. The consensus is that Ottawa's rail link falls well short of these other services, particularly since the airport O-Train station is not terribly visible unless you are in the departures level of the airport.

This shot, above, was taken when I was dropping someone off at the airport recently. As you can see, unless you are on the second level of the airport in the departures area, you might be hard-pressed to find the O-Train station. That is the criticism, anyway. I'm sure the station was well thought out and every effort will be made to ensure the station is well promoted within the airport. 

I have yet to ride on the new north-south Line 2, but I look forward to it, just to see the extension of the line into Riverside South. It was behind schedule and over budget, but at least Ottawa can say it has a light rail line that is reliably running. It's more than we can say for Line 1.

Summer Observations in Eastern Ontario

These last few weeks have epitomized the line from a Tom Petty song: "The waiting is the hardest part." My family is trying to sell our home, which is a difficult task. Until we do sell it, we can't move on to next steps that will prepare us for a new life in our new home. Even though I was unsure that I would have much time for blogging, I am making an effort to do the things I love, which helps me deal with the stress of this time of transition.

I decided it would be fun to share some odds and ends that I have collected over the last little while and put together an observations piece. 

I'll start with a recent observation of Via Rail Train 59 in a new place. As you might have read in this blog recently, I am trying to find new places around Ottawa to capture some railway photos. I captured some nice shots of Train 59 on the Rideau River bridge, just north of Hunt Club Road. A few weeks ago, I decided to get a shot of the same train crossing on the Riverside Drive flyover. I have never attempted a shot from this spot before, so I figured it was worth a shot. Here P42 916 leads the train west toward the Rideau River bridge and Federal Junction.

A few weeks later, I was at the Hunt Club Road overpass, as my time was limited while waiting for my daughter's dance class to wrap up. I waited for Via Rail Train 43 making its way east to Ottawa Station. I haven't been to this spot in a while. While there, I noticed that the remnants of the old industrial spur to Bentley Avenue were still not cleaned up trackside. The tracks beyond the fencing are still in place, but the rails removed from the Smiths Falls Sub are still lying to the west of the tracks, along with the old switch stand. You can see the remnants of the rails in the weeds as Train 43 passes by.

My family recently spent the weekend in Toronto, which allowed me to get months worth of railfanning in, which I will share in a series of future posts. I will share a few shots, however, closer to Ottawa. On our way home from Toronto as part of a J-train, I took a quick shot of the CP offices in Smiths Falls, or should I say CPKC. As someone whose family has a long history with the Canadian Pacific, I had mixed feelings seeing this new logo. I understand the nature of modern railways. There's no room for sentimentality. Still, I can't help but think we lose a little bit of our heritage when an iconic name becomes part of some corporate alphabet soup. I have similar issues with BNSF.

On our way to Toronto, I noticed that there was a long line of empty intermodal cars parked on a track near where the Smiths Falls Sub gives way to CP territory. Possibly someone with more knowledge can tell me if this might be the last remnant of the old CP Chalk River Sub? I know that railways often keep short stretches of old subdivisions for car storage purposes. I don't know if this is the case here. It seemed odd that these cars would be here rather than the CP yard, unless they were here so they could be kept out of the way.

While we're on the subject of the Smiths Falls Sub, there was chatter online about the spur at SynAgri in Twin Elm being disconnected. I can confirm from my trip to Toronto that this spur has indeed been lifted. There isn't much freight trackage still connected to the Smiths Falls Sub, save for the Kott Lumber facility on Moodie Drive. Here's a shot of some hoppers at SynAgri from 2015. I'm glad I have these shots now.

In the west end of Ottawa, rails have begun to appear alongside the Queensway, where the end of the second phase of the Confederation Line is taking shape. The project is behind schedule, which is no surprise, given that the pandemic pushed most projects back quite a ways. I have seen some MoW equipment on the rails lately near the Corkstown Road station, but haven't been able to get any shots.

This shot was taken from the passenger seat of our car, as my wife drove toward the Tanger Outlets further west. The next part of the O-Train system that will come online will be the long-delayed north-south Trillium Line (former CP Ellwood/Prescott Sub right-of-way). When it is complete, it will operate from Bayview Station, near the Ottawa River, all the way south to the Riverside South community. The spur to the Ottawa International Airport is also nearing a point where it will come online as well, which will give travellers another option for getting to the airport. 

One final bit to share. My girls are on a break from their evening dance classes, which means my Wednesday evenings trackside have taken a hiatus. Here is a recent shot of Via Train 59 at the Merivale Road level crossing. I didn't have any plan in mind. I just happened to be there so I took a few shots as the train sped by. You can see the symmetry of the Via wraps on the P42 and the first three cars.

 The end of the train was a bit different, as this was a double-ender.

So those were a few observations from Ottawa and Smiths Falls from the last few months. I have quite a bit to share from my trip to Toronto recently, but that will have to wait until life settles down a little. I am also going on a day trip to Montreal on the train, so I am hoping to have more to share. It's always nice to have too much material. A rare challenge for me.

Summer Observations in Ottawa

Over the course of the summer in Ottawa, there have been a few railway developments worth noting. Happily, we won't have to dwell on the city's ill-fated Confederation Line light rail service terribly long. Those who live here know that this system continues to experience severe operational problems, relating to the fact that the trackage was found to be improperly installed. After another service stoppage, repairs to the rails to allow trains to properly negotiate curves and the discontinuation of many double-long trains have allowed the commuter line to return to operation in some form.

I digress. I could also mention the many delays that are pushing back the start of service on the newly expanded Trillium Line, which thankfully is powered by diesel light rail trains. That operation seems likely to be operational at some point toward the end of the year or early next year, depending on the update you believe from the city. There have been sporadic sightings of test runs in the past few months, as the builders are trying to finish partially completed stations all the way out to Riverside South.

Can we move on? Talking about the city's light rail system is such a drag.

The good news is that Via Rail Canada recently announced the restoration of more service to and from Toronto, which is the result of increased demand for rail transportation. Two more trains have been added, as of Sept. 1, which restores services to and from Toronto to roughly half of what was available to travellers before the pandemic. The restoration of service in Ottawa is part of a larger return to normal across the Quebec City-Windsor corridor. 

For local railfans here, I can't imagine two more Via Rail corridor trains will elicit much enthusiasm, but I suppose it can only hasten the imminent arrival of the new Siemens equipment, which continues to arrive from its U.S. manufacturer. More trains means more equipment needed, right?

I haven't done a lot of wandering about the city this summer, especially not trackside, although I have had a number of opportunities to catch Via Train 59 westbound on Wednesday evenings, as I am trackside at that time when my daughters are at a nearby dance class.

I noticed over the summer that an industrial spur that once served some small industry on Bentley Drive has been disconnected.

This is a shot taken in July from the Hunt Club Road overpass. Over the course of the summer, I haven't noticed much work being done beyond the initial removal of some of the rails at the switch point. I wasn't surprised to see this, as this spur has been covered over with weeds and brush for a long time. It doesn't look as though it's been used for years. And it doesn't seem as though CN has much interest in reaching out to small industry to maintain carload service along any of these spurs in west Ottawa. The slow rolling CN exit from Ottawa drags on, as the railway seems to be maintaining the remaining service to a few customers and that's it. 

If there were any interested parties looking to start a short line service here, they have yet to materialize and it doesn't look like there's much infrastructure left to work with, even if someone had the notion to get started here. Sad, but that's how a multibillion-dollar transcontinental railway operates. There is little room for small backwater operations that don't meet its margins.

I have not seen CN's Arnprior Turn returning to Walkley on the Wednesday evenings when I am near the Beachburg Sub near Merivale Road. Although, it's always cool to see the remnants of the old Northern Transcontinental line when wandering along the tracks.

Much of this old infrastructure has long since been removed from the Beachburg Sub. However, a few of the old searchlight signals remain, turned aside form the tracks, like this one, which was staring forlornly off at the adjacent soccer fields. 

Later this year, I'd like to share some of the many shots I have taken of Via Train 59, an evening departure from Ottawa Station that passes through Federal Junction around 6 p.m. each night. I have tried to get as many different creative shots as I can around this junction, which is almost completely hidden from view. 

Here's a shot I got below the Hunt Club Road overpass, near Gurdwara Drive. The shot proved to be tough as something would be blurry, and it wasn't going to be the train. I don't know if I will try this vantage point again, as it was extremely difficult to keep the train in focus with the camera I have. 

However, I was reasonably happy with this shot, as the F40 and the first class coach match each other with their wraps. Much of this train was wrapped, in fact, but it was not a complete matching set.

The fall hopefully will bring with it some more interesting shots and possibly more variety. I did manage to travel to Waterloo near the end of summer, but my time was completely booked up, which did not allow for any rail sightings. 

I still have a great deal of material to share from Stratford, the GTA and a few other unexpected places, thanks to the contributions of friends. For now, this is what passes for news from Ottawa.

Highlights amid the lowlights

I am so glad April is over. It was an absolutely awful month for me, to be honest. It started with an ice storm that knocked out our power and caused large damage to the trees on our property. That required a great deal of effort just to get things cleaned up. Later in the month, my union went on strike for the first time in 30 years, which left me somewhat stuck. I was ambivalent about a strike, since I have my own ideas about a fair collective agreement and they don't necessarily align completely with my union or my employer. But a strike was the decided course of action and I felt compelled to support my union, as it was looking out for my best interests. It's been an exhausting few weeks of constant walking, a few close calls with angry motorists, some pushing and shoving (nothing involving me) and general upheaval at my house. (Ed. note - The strike is now mercifully over)

This required a lot of sacrifices in our family, but life rolled on, so there were some things that continued on as normal, like my daughters' evening dance classes, which take place near the Federal rail junction in the Colonnade Business Park. Since I usually have time while they are in class (no parents are allowed in the dance studio), I headed to a spot near the junction, where I can take a shot of the evening Via Train 59, which usually passes by Federal around 6 p.m. 

At the beginning of the strike, I headed to a spot off Antares Drive, where you can take a shot of the evening westbound as it crosses under Hunt Club Road. This train featured P42s in the fall when I last took pictures of it, when there was enough daylight. The train now seems to have some dedicated F40s as its power.

On April 17, 6436 was the featured power, with the Via wrap scheme. As per usual, this train usually sports a consist of old silver HEP cars, complete with the buffer cars. There really isn't much more to say about this meet. I had just completed my first day of picketing and was a little shell shocked by the entire experience. Being able to lean against a fence by myself was good therapy. I needed some time away from the recent madness. The final car was 8125. Since my vantage point was partially obscured by trackside brush, I couldn't get a good going away shot, but I thought the shot below was okay. I was hoping to see a more exotic buffer car, as I saw more recently at Ottawa Station, but this was fine.

A small piece of information about this car, courtesy of my friend Eric Gagnon at Trackside Treasure. When I looked at the car, I noticed its car number on the stainless steel plate was listed as 8125. However, you can also see a small lit-up sign in the window next to the coach's door. When I zoomed in on the photo, I noticed it read 2904. I wasn't sure why this number was different from the car number.

Eric explained that the number is a designation used by passenger railways to alert people to their car. So, if it reads 2904, it would be the fourth coach on Train 29. Although in this case, as it is a buffer car on Train 59, it's a meaningless designation. Eric said that these small analog number boards were used by CP for its passenger trains, which makes this coach an ex-CP HEP coach. You will notice if you have been on an LRC coach or a former CN stainless steel coach, these numbers are lit up inside the coach near the vestibule. Unlike the CP coaches, the numbers are digital. I learned something new. Thanks to Eric for this information.

This past week, I decided to return to the same spot, since I once again needed a break from the pressures of the strike, which has gone on a lot longer than anyone imagined. I know from my conversations on the picket line that many thought the strike would wrap up in less than a week. This was not the case, unfortunately. Once again, I caught up with the same train, in need of some railway therapy.

This time, it was F40 6407 doing the honours with a very similar consist in tow as the train made its way westbound to Fallowfield Station. I do like this spot a fair bit, if it's Via Rail you are looking to capture. I would imagine that this would be a good spot if something out of the ordinary came through town and I was looking to get a shot in a spot where others wouldn't think to set up. Call it a secret spot. Locals can pretty much figure out where it is, but I still won't say anything about its specifics.

This time, I tried to get a going-away shot but this was the best I could do, given the trackside growth. You can see it in this shot. Upon inspection of my photos, it appears this is the same consist that was used in my earlier shot. 

Also in the past week, our union advised me to head to Parliament Hill to gather for a large combined demonstration. There were about 10,000 people who turned out throughout the day, of which I was one. That meant I took the O-Train for the first time since before the pandemic started in early 2020. The trains were in reasonable condition, but I did notice the effects of the track defects were certainly making their impact known. As many locals know, the O-Trains on the Confederation Line have speed restrictions on curves, since there is debate about whether the track was installed correctly. I did notice that our train slowed down noticeably on a turn in the western portion of the downtown tunnel. This was the case in 2020, but the slowdown seemed much more pronounced this week. That's what it seemed like to me, anyway.

On my way back home from the downtown protest, I took a quick snap of the train that brought me back west. On this day, the trains were working normally, but I should note that the line was shut down yet again to allow crews to find the source of water leaks at Rideau Station in the downtown tunnel.

And so it goes in Ottawa.

Spring Observations in Ottawa

I'm happy to bring back a feature I used to have in this blog regularly, when I would round up a collection of newsworthy photos and talk about the goings-on in Ottawa. The challenge this type of posts poses is that sometimes, there just isn't enough to mention and then there's the added headache of actually getting out there to record what's happening. A few recent developments in my life at least allowed me to capture some interesting photos, so the observations post is back.

The first was a simple doctor's visit to Riverside South, an area of the city where the O-Train Trillium Line will soon end. Those who read this blog know that the extension of this line follows the former CP Prescott Subdivison right-of-way, some of which was still in place before the extension construction began. Like anything with the O-Train, it's not simple. The extension is behind schedule and is not expected to be ready anytime soon. But, before I went to my doctor's appointment, I took a couple of quick snaps of the O-Train Riverside South terminal, which looks to be nearing completion.

This is a shot taken from Limebank Road, which shows you the terminal as well as the rail bridge over the road. But, there was another interesting item in this area that made me think that work here is wrapping up or nearing its end.

I spotted this piece of maintenance-of-way equipment parked in the track right before the bridge over Limebank Road. Just a few days ago on the Eastern Ontario Rails Facebook page, someone posted a picture of a new diesel O-Train doing a test run on tracks in this area. You might recall from this post that I took a picture of this new O-Train parked in Walkley Yard last summer. 

Later in the week, I had to return to the doctor's office to retrieve a form, so I made sure to make my way through Barrhaven, past the Via Rail Fallowfield Station because I figured a free train sighting was worth the slightly longer drive. I was rewarded by the sight of this westbound corridor train making its way to Toronto in the rain.

This was about as common as it gets for Via these days, as an F40PH-2 lead a line of four LRC cars through the signals just west of Woodroffe Avenue. Since I was on my way home and caught something, I fugured this was a win. I don't know how much longer this scene will be common, as Via is about to undergo a radical change in look in the coming years, as its Siemens trainsets become more common and the older rolling stock is retired. 

Case in point: earlier this week, another new Siemens trainset was spotted crossing the border near Sarnia, Ont. as it made its way east to Montreal, presumably. Those shots were shared with me by a blog reader in Sarnia, but I chose not to add them in to this post, because I wasn't sure the shot was taken from public land. I don't want to encourage trespassing on railway property.

Back to Fallowfield Station for a second. I got a few other interesting shots when this westbound came in to the platform. I like this shot, simply for the lines on the parking lot tarmac. This is the eastern edge of the platform, closest to Woodroffe, where these lines are meant to keep cars from parking in a laneway that allows Via crews to access the platform. I've never seen it actually used, but I would imagine it's for snow clearing vehicles mainly.

As is my new custom at Fallowfield, I tried to get a scene of people boarding the train. I have mentioned this a fair bit recently, but this station really doesn't offer a lot of great photo opportunities from different vantage points, so one is often left to get creative. This was my attempt at something a little different.

To me, the real attraction of this image is the cloud bank over the station. You can see a few passengers waiting for the on-board crew to open the doors to the coaches. You can also see how narrow the platform is at the station, which really restricts your photography here, unless you retreat to the empty parts of the parking lot and shoot from a more generous angle. That is the approach I often take. I'm not a huge fan of these head-on shots, unless there's a good reason for it. In this case, there were enough elements to justify the shot.

This leads me to my last shot. How does that expression go? Be careful what you wish for? Well, for years, I've wanted to get a photograph of the Transitway trench that the Confederation Line O-Trains use. This trench is, of course, the old right-of-way of the CP Carleton Place Sub, which was used for years as a bus-only road, dubbed the Transitway. When the Confederation Line was built, the trains took over this right of way up to Tunney's Pasture. When the line extends to Corkstown Road in the west end, the entire length of this old trench, which ends at the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, will have rails once again.

So, why was I able to finally get this shot?

This week, I found myself in the unfortunate position of being on strike, as a member of the federal public service. As such, I was at Tunney's Pasture to take part in a picket, which has been my reality since Wednesday. The one upside was I was able to at least get a shot of some O-Trains plying their way to and from the downtown using this old trench. I like this shot because there's some interesting cloud cover and elements of the city in the background. The train itself is not really the focal point of the image. Many, many shades of grey! It's a metaphor for this entire strike situation. As much as I was pleased to get this shot, I hope I don't find myself in this part of this city for too long.

On the topic of the LRT, there has been a fair amount of chatter in the media this week about city commitments to implement most of the recommendations that came out of the provincial inquiry into the O-Train's many failures. Those with any idea of this system know it has many, many problems. I won't get into it here, but there is hope that possibly there is finally a political will to get this right. Although many aren't holding out much hope since the system was completely shut down by our recent ice storm, which stranded no fewer than five trains on the Confederation Line, leaving it to the Ottawa Fire Services to get people off these disabled trains. It begs the question why the system continued to operate when everything else in the city pretty much shut down.

There's also planned stoppages this weekend to deal with leaks in the downtown tunnel.

The problems seem endless. Such is the state of transit in Ottawa.

Random photos from a random year

Last year was an odd year for my railfanning activities. There were some great moments where I was able to capture lots of images and material and then there were moments where high expectations met flat reality. In other words, it was a year of highs and lows. The challenge I always face as a blogger from Ottawa is that there isn't nearly enough going on here for me to maintain a weekly blog. You can only photograph Via Rail trains so many times before it gets old and before you run out of things to mention on a blog. I suppose if I had focused my blog on passenger trains exclusively, then I would be in better shape, but I never intended for this blog to be so narrowly focused.

Bloomington, Indiana, USA

Naturally, whenever I get out of Ottawa, I have high hopes of capturing something to share. In September, my wife and I travelled to Bloomington, Indiana, to attend a wedding. I was excited, as Bloomington was situated along the Indiana Rail Road's Indianapolis Subdivision, south of the state's biggest city. Sadly, in my research, it became apparent that this part of the railway's subdivision saw sparse traffic, with much of it passing through at night, mainly coal trains. Our hotel was within walking distance of the rail line, but it was quiet for much of my time there, except for a weekly local, which passed by on Friday evening. I only know this because I heard it while eating dinner in the city's downtown.

But the city has some fascinating railway history that is visible and accessible. Although Bloomington hasn't seen regular Amtrak service in many years, the town's former passenger station is still standing next to the rails, although it wasn't clear to me if it was a private residence, art studio or business. It looked like it could be any of the three, although there was no signage to indicate what it was used for. I decided to confine my photographs to shots taken from a small winding road that led to the station on the hill.

It looked to me like the station once housed a restaurant, where the station had an addition added on the left. The originals stone structure appeared to be a residence. Interestingly, the station sign still hangs on the side of the building. It would be a good thing, in my opinion, if some civic-minded person saved this sign, cleaned it up and housed in a local museum. I am always fascinated when I see old station signs and relics in local museums. They are a part of a community's history.

While in the city, I also came across what locals call the freight station. The building is a fairly nondescript maroon wooden building, which has an elevated main level, which is your first clue that it served the railways. Since the building served only freight purposes, it really doesn't have the architectural flourishes you would see on a passenger station. Still, the building was significant enough that it was declared a national historic site. After closing in the 1960s, it served as a restaurant at various points. Today, it is an office building.

The building has an interesting history. It was built by the Illinois Central Railway in 1906 in response to a local effort to attract a railway to compete with the Manon Railroad, which was the sole railway serving the city at the time. The IC depot was built after the IC finished its railway line through the city. The presence of the depot spawned economic growth in its immediate vicinity, which sustained the city for decades. It wasn't until 1963 when it closed, due to a decrease in demand for rail service. 

Still, as you can see, the elements of the building have been well maintained, including signage on the side of the building, indicating its original purpose. You can also read about the building's importance on the plaque amid the hostas. This was the rail line that connected America from north to south through its heartland, from Chicago to New Orleans. You might recall the famous Willie Nelson song, City of New Orleans. That song is about the train of the same name that rolled through Bloomington for decades.

Corunna, Ontario

This shot below could have been something special, had I been just a bit quicker. I was in the middle of a visit to my sister's house. My sister's property backs onto the CSX Sarnia Subdivision, just south of Corunna. I was caught in a bad place when an unexpected CSX local rolled by carrying a string of gondolas destined for the the old Ontario Power Generation Lambton Generating Station power plant, which is in the process of being demolished. I have meant to get a shot of one of these trains, which are a rarity on the CSX line, since this operation deals almost exclusively with tank cars and covered hoppers for petrochemical customers.

The biggest issue at this moment was I was in the middle of a conversation with one of my sister's neighbours and didn't want to be rude by bolting for the tracks. So I politely turned around and got this shot of a CSX local poking out from between the trees. There were two GP38s with the new CSX scheme pulling a load of about 10 AIM gondolas. A big missed opportunity, but at least I got something, right?

Earlier in the year, I was visiting family on the March Break when I passed by the Nova Corunna refinery on the Highway 40. Its rail operations have expanded a great deal in recent years, as the facility has undergone an immense multi-billion dollar expansion. The problem with getting a shot of rail operations here is you need to shoot overtop of the earthen berms. That means getting a shot from the highway overpass, which goes over a spur connecting Nova to the CN St. Clair River Industrial Spur. This can only be done if you are on the highway when it is empty or when you are in a passenger seat. In this case, I was riding shotgun in my brother's car, which made the shot easy to capture.

These are not easy shots to get, so any time I can capture Nova's old SW switcher, it's a win. I like the colours of the sky in this shot mixed with the smoke from the stacks. As I have mentioned a fair bit in the last year, I am much more interested in train photos that incorporate the surrounding landscape. I could have zoomed in on the switcher, but I wouldn't be getting the old story behind the shot. I will be doing a deeper dive into the SW switcher, as I have a few cool shots of these old beasts. They are rapidly fading from railways. Most of the survivors are in use on short lines or industrial operations. 

Ottawa, Ontario 

Most of what I captured in Ottawa in 2022 was shared in my posts. I only made it out to Via's Tremblay Road station once. When I was there, I got a quick shot of an O-Train on the Confederation Line heading west toward Tremblay Station. It was not a good year for the O-Train as its operations were disrupted a number of times by various mechanical issues, accidents and even a lighting strike. I don't generally like to shoot these operations, as I don't find them all that compelling from a photography point of view, but I made the exception on this turn, since the sunlight made for a quality image at that moment.

There are a few more odds and ends from last year that I considered throwing into this pot pourri of a post, but I have plans for those shots in some upcoming themed posts, so they will have to wait. I can't really complain about my adventures trackside last year. There were definitely more hits than misses, which you can see in this year-end post. But I am always taking shots trackside, no matter what. You never know when those random shots will come in handy.

Pop-up Post: Here come the . . . new O-Trains?

This year, I have been pacing this blog so that a post is shared every other week, but the problem with that pace is that it doesn't leave much room for me to share items that a newsworthy. So I am speeding up the pace of the blog a little bit for the time being, as there is a lot to share and the backlog of posts is getting to the point where some information is becoming outdated by the time some things are ready for publication.

This post is a short one, but it does come with an interesting story. Long story short, my two children were down with the flu last week and our supply of childen's medication was quite low. As we needed to get them through about 5-7 days of fever maintenance, I made the decision to go down to Ogdensburg, New York to get some children's medication there. Alas, there was very little available, since many Canadians near the border are doing the same thing as me. I did manage to get some, but it was a tough pill to swallow, as the border is about an hour's drive from Ottawa. Hardly worth the gas, although a full tank only cost $30 in the U.S. Glass half full.

As I was driving south on Highway 416, I noticed a large flatbed truck making its way north toward Ottawa with a large plastic-wrapped railcar in tow. As I was driving in the opposite direction, I could only steel a quick glance and file the information away.

As I approached the bridge over the St. Lawrence River at Prescott, I noticed another flatbed truck with a similar railcar in tow, which was wrapped in plastic. As my car was stopped and it was safe to take a photo, I managed to get a quick shot of the mysterious rail cargo.

I was a little confused at first, since the trucks on this piece of rail equipment struck me as something that you'd see in a heavy rail vehicle, and not the typical trucks of a light rail car or power unit. So, to find something by way of comparison, I took a look at a shot I took from the end of Albion Road of a new O-Train sitting in Walkley Yard this past August. It's a Citadis Spirit trainset, which will be the train in use when the second phase of the O-Train Confederation Line is ready for use, supposedly next year between Corkstown Road in the west end and Trim Road in the east. The shot below doesn't show you the trucks, so I couldn't use that as a comparison but I thought the curvature of the end of the unit was similar to what I saw in the plastic-wrapped car. The reason I'm doubtful though, is that the O-Train below has a distinct hump on the end of the roof and the car under wraps does not. 

Also, as the O-Trains are designed to be accessible with seamless walk-on, walk-off capabilities, I'm not sure this piece of equipment fits the bill, although I realize that the platforms would rise above these trucks.

Since some have mentioned that Ottawa has had most of its light rail equipment delivered by truck, I figured it could be a piece of light rail equipment other than an end unit. But I'm not sure. Possibly a new piece of diesel equipment for the Trillium Line expansion? A piece of unrelated equipment destined for testing at the NRC facility near the airport? Can anyone else shed light on this mystery?

In this press release from Alstom, the company that makes the O-Train, it mentions that the trains are being "assembled" in Belfast Yard, where the current O-Train fleet is maintained. So, this further clouds the issue. In what state do the O-Trains arrive in Ottawa? Is this piece of rail equipment something else that is perhaps bound for the NRC facility for testing?

Can you help solve this mystery? There were two of these heading to Ottawa on December 13.

Summer Observations in Ottawa

I will admit that I have mixed feelings about CN's weekly train out to Arnprior, CN 589. While it's fun to catch this train, as you almost always have to earn it, it seems like it's sometimes the only thing us rail enthusiasts in Ottawa want to talk about.

Recently, I was taking my daughter to soccer and heading down Carling Avenue around the intersection with Herzberg Road in Kanata, when I saw CN 589 heading east back toward Walkley Yard after making its weekly run to Nylene Canada. My daughter in the passenger seat was able to capture a few images from our vantage point with an iPhone. Granted, these are not ideal shots by any means, but any sighting of this train is always a plus in my book.

You can tell my windshield has seen its share of bugs. The image is a bit grainy and blurred, but you can see the usual two-engine consist of a CN GP38-2 and the former GATX GP38-2 leading the way home. That cyclist nearly ruined the shot, but we just managed to squeeze the train in. There are five tank cars in tow, although the much-talked-about GT caboose is nowhere to be seen. I've noticed on Facebook in recent weeks that the caboose has yet to make another appearance in the west end, which makes my recent meet with it all the more special.

This (above) might be the second best shot, but it's all relative when you're shooting through a bug-stained windshield with an iPhone. Here's a tip I've learned about iPhones. They are perfectly acceptable to use if you are fairly close to a train but the shots pixelate in a hurry any time you zoom in, especially with the older models. I use them in a pinch when I don't have my proper camera, but I always resist the temptation to use the zoom for this reason. 

In recent weeks, people that follow the weekly Arnprior Turn have been wondering why they haven't been using the Grand Trunk caboose. I was in the area of Walkley Yard and managed to capture a fleeting glimpse of the caboose in the yard in late August. 

This image was taken at the end of Albion Road on public property. I know some people still make their way into the yard on the service road that is an extension of Albion Road. I can's stress it enough that this is not a great idea. That road is more than likely on private property and is not a public road. Don't risk it.

While I was at the end of Albion, I had a fairly clear view of the new O-Train diesels that will soon be plying the Trillium Line all the way from Bayview to the southern extension past the airport. From an aesthetic point-of-view, these new units are much better looking than the electric trainsets that make their way east and west on the Confederation Line. I won't get into the recent mechanical failures and technology failures that took the O-Train out of service yet again. The best thing going for the O-Train right now is not that many people take it, as most public servants continue to work from home. The uproar over this malfunctioning line would be a lot louder if more people actually used it. But, for now, here's one of the new diesels.

 

 

I should mention that, with the ongoing construction happening on the Trillium Line, which is behind schedule, one of the developments that will affect railfans is happening in Walkley Yard. The city is building a maintenance facility in Walkley Yard that blocks much of the view railfans once had from the Bank Street overpass. This is unfortunate from our perspective, as this overpass did once offer a reasonable view of Walkley Yard from a safe, publicly accessible vantage point. This means you will not be able to get a view like this anymore.

This shot, from 2017, can no longer be duplicated, as there is a large maintenance facility on the left track, which blocks much of the view of the yard. Thankfully, the vantage looking west toward Walkley diamond is still unobstructed, so that area is still in play for photographers. 

Recently, I spent some time in Waterloo, Ontario and saw its own light rail system, dubbed Ion, in action. My friends in that area say the system runs very well and has rarely had any operational problems since it began operating on a full-time basis. I will explore this system in a future post.

Finally, the big stir this summer in Ottawa was caused by the Canadian Pacific bringing some business train equipment to town, behind its F-series units. Some have called this the Royal Canadian Pacific train, which I'm not sure is entirely accurate. I did managed to snap some shots of it from Conroy Road from quite a distance, thanks to the zoom on my camera. The CP police officer, who told me he was from Regina, said the train was in town so the railway could entertain VIPs as part of its sponsorship of the CP Women's Open golf tournament at the nearby Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. 

The next day, August 29, the train was scheduled to head back west and leave Walkley Yard in the morning. A group of railfans waited at Fallowfield Station, but the train had not shown up yet, as it had obviously not been given clearance between Via's many corridor trains to and from Toronto on the Smiths Falls Sub. I stayed as long as I could, sacrificing my lunch hour, but I only saw Via Train 52. I did like that it was being led by a wrapped F40PH-2. I don't have that many shots of these old warhorses in the wrap design. It was better than nothing, but I was quite disappointed to have missed the CP heritage equipment. Oh well.

One last shot of the train beside the station as the passengers boarded.

Those are a few observations from my limited railside adventures this summer in Ottawa. Much of my material for further posts came from outside Ottawa in recent months. Stay tuned for some material from Waterloo, the GTA, Kingston and even a few items from the Sarnia area. And with an imminent trip to the United States looming, I hope to add some railway photos from the heartland of America in Indiana. Stay tuned.