Making lemonade again (Part II)

Last week, I shared some photos from a mostly empty Canadian Pacific rail yard in Smiths Falls. I was disappointed that I didn't see more, since I was told mornings can be the best time to see some action there.

But as I have mentioned in this post and this post from last year, there is always something interesting to shoot, even if it's not readily apparent.

After taking a few shots of two idling geeps in the yard as well as a few strings of rolling stock, I began to think about the type of shot I might like to capture when Via's Train 643 made its way through the yard. With some limited options, I began to do some test shots and plan what I wanted to get.

First things first. I knew I wanted to capture 643 rounding the bend into the train yard. I am shooting from the edge of the old passenger station in the shot above. I was fairly happy with this shot.

P42 909's lighting didn't help with my shot as the train crept closer, but I made sure to adjust where I was shooting so I could get the signals into the shot as well. Again, it's a small difference, but it at least gives me something different.

As I mentioned in last week's post, I set my camera in at a spot where I was hoping to catch the Via corridor train and the idling CP geeps in the same frame. It was not an easy task, since the CP tandem was pretty far back in the yard. But I readied my shot and waited for the passenger train to enter my frame. This was the result.

This is not a conventional shot by any stretch, but I did like what I captured. You can see how empty the yard is, you can see the snow and ice and you can see the nose of Via 643 making its way across the old passenger station platform.

Speaking of the old station, I tried a few going away shots of 643 leaving the yard and merging onto the Via Rail Brockville Sub. Here's a shot with more of the old station in the frame.

And here's a shot that was a little more tightly focused on the train itself.

Before I left Smiths Falls, I dropped by the new Via Rail station on Union Street, just to get a few reference shots. Not a whole lot to look at, but it has its own charm.

I did notice a few pieces of MoW equipment on the siding at the Via station, so I made sure to capture that string before I returned home.

Overall, it wasn't a terribly productive morning for quantity but I liked that I experimented a bit and captured some interesting shots, even if there weren't any freight trains to shoot that morning.

Making lemonade again (Part I)

I think the theme of making lemonade from lemons might just be a recurring series on this blog. You might recall last year that I had to make the most of a dry spell by looking for new locations and new perspectives to make the most out of some slim railfanning choices up here in Ottawa. Last summer, I gave a lot of thought to some shots I wanted to get on the Smiths Falls Sub and I managed to get some interesting rail photos as a result.

Making Lemonade Part I
Making Lemonade Part II

This past weekend, I found myself in Smiths Falls and was looking forward to catching something interesting in the yard or on the main line. Unfortunately, I probably chose the worst possible time to visit the yard as it was largely empty and no freights seemed to be forthcoming, judging by the signals.

This is what I saw:

Deep in the yard, CP GP38-2 3089 and GP20C-ECO 2279 were idling, although they didn't move when I was there. Likely they were just keeping warm in the cold weather until they were needed.

Other than that, there were maybe 20-30 tank cars and a few cylindrical hoppers. EHH's CP is not terribly interesting, even with the man now gone and setting his sights on CSX.

Nothing special in either shot, but the tank car shot gives you an idea of the curvature of the Smiths Falls yard, which offers some great opportunities for photographs, if only something in the yard is moving!

As I said, there wasn't much to look at or shoot while I waited for a train. There was an assortment of MoW equipment, but it was quite far off.

After I shot all the obvious items I could, I began to think about whether there were some obvious details I might be missing. It turned out, there was something staring me right in the face. Along the track closest to the old Smith Falls Via Rail station, some signaling equipment sat on the ground, begging to be included in a shot.

This was the result.

Compare that shot to the top shot. I was much happier with this shot. It gave me a more dynamic visual. It also got me thinking about the morning Via from Ottawa, which was due to make its way through the yard.

So I began to put some elements together in my mind. I could take advantage of the curvature of the track on either side of the yard and I wondered whether I could bring together the Via corridor train with the two geeps idling in the yard.

There were some challenges, the most obvious being that the geeps were quite far from where I was standing, but I had to try something because it appeared as though no freights were imminent.

I'll save the rest for next week.