Transcona Trains

CN often stops their long-distance trains in their Transcona yard in Winnipeg. These trains are bypassing Symington Yard and are merely stopping for new crew, refueling, or both.

The yard is located east of Beach Junction (the top entrance to Symington Yard) and west of Dugald, the first siding east of Winnipeg. The yard is also home to the sprawling (and mostly unused) Transcona Shops. There was an announcement back in 2003 that CN was building 100 boxcars at the Shops. I don't know what activities still take place at the shops. I believe they do rolling stock repair and I know there is always a lot of MOW equipment around.

Transcona is a convenient place to park trains because the main line and siding is about 10,000' between crossings, so there is enough room for most trains to stop here.

Often you can shoot the power for an eastbound train from Ravenhurst Street with a telephoto lens. I shot IC 2704 and BCOL 4626 from there on November 18.


I shot this train back in October. I still love the lighting in this picture.


Shots are also possible from Dugald but you have to contend with the pole line there.

The shops were built by the Grand Trunk Pacific as part of their transcontinental railway effort, and became part of the Canadian National Railways when the GTP went under. More information about Transcona here. Of course, there is also the Transcona Museum that I should visit at some point.

TRIVIA: Did you know Transcona is named for the TRANS-continental railway, and Lord StrathCONA?

ASIDE: Back to November 18, when I was going south on Plessis Drive I saw headlights on the GWWD track to the west. I stopped and waited, and it turned out to be a GWWD maintenance truck on the rails.