Winnipeg Railfanning, Part 2

CN 115 in Winnipeg

This is the second part of my Winnipeg railfanning report, which began with part 1.

On my way to Wilkes Avenue, I noted CN 5663 and 5548 at the intermodal terminal at Symington yard at 10:56.

I went to my favourite spot on Wilkes, where the CP La Riviere sub crosses the CN mainline. I climbed a tall pile of snow there and saw a headlight to the east, but it was not moving. I waited for a while, then drove down Taylor Avenue to the back of the Sobeys past Waverley Avenue. There I saw a long train with a grimy CN 5336, BC Rail 4641, and CN 5690 sitting there.

One of the crew was out on the "front porch" of 5336, so I walked up and had a chat with him for a few minutes. The train was CN 115 and he figured they would be on their way in 15 minutes or so. It turns out they left at 12:47. I started to tape them but I hit end-of-tape before I could get the whole train of 146 (!) cars.

On the scanner I heard a track foreman request permission to come up to near my location. The RTC said OK but CN 111 would be coming from Transcona. The high-railer rolled by at 13:27 and stopped just short of Waverley Avenue. At 13:44 CN 111 came through with CN 2272 and CN 5385 with 83 platforms.


After that, I pulled up stakes and headed over to Polo Park to spend 15 minutes parking, then meet up with my wife for some lunch and shopping. On my way back I crossed over the CP La Riviere sub on route 90 and saw a headlight to the west. I pulled onto the next side street near Costco and waded through some snow to wait for the train. In due time a short CP local came by at 16:30 with GP9s CP 1507 and 1532, with 3 covered hoppers and maybe a dozen tank cars.


They stopped in front of me and started to do some switching, dropping the hoppers off. I happened to notice that the conductor was a woman (not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, just a little unusual).

I didn't stick around to watch as the light was failing and I had to get to supper.

That was it for that day. On the following day (the 27th), I went to Portage la Prairie to catch some mainline action. Stay tuned for part 3 of my Winnipeg railfanning.

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