Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Portage Junction Tuesday

I wanted to shoot the Hudson Bay VIA 693 on Tuesday, but I was bored with the usual Wilkes Avenue shots. I decided to head to Portage Junction by Fort Rouge to get a different angle.

Workers are hard at work on the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor and much has changed in Fort Rouge. One beneficial thing for railfans is that they have built a large mound of earth near the Junction that is great to stand on to shoot trains. Previously it was hard to get a shot over the fence separating the tracks from the rest of the area, but now you can stand on the hill and easily shoot over the fence.

The Winnipeg Free Press just released an article about the corridor and it looks like the photographer was standing on the same mound.

First up was a westbound container train. I didn't catch the number but it was headed by CN 2283 and BCOL 4653.
CN 2283 in Winnipeg

I understood that CN 112 and VIA 693 were both going to pass the location around the same time, and I was concerned that the freight train would block my view of the VIA train. Fortunately, VIA came just before CN 112 did.

I like the composition of this photo but the focus is soft.
VIA 6452 and the Hudson Bay in Winnipeg

Here comes VIA 6452!
VIA 6452 and the Hudson Bay in Winnipeg

They went around the bend at Portage Junction to meet CN 112, who was coming east on the south track.
VIA 6452 and the Hudson Bay in Winnipeg

CN 112 had CN 2200 on the head end.
CN 2200 in Winnipeg

CN 2260 was pushing hard on the tail end. There were no other engines on the train.
CN 2260 in Winnipeg

Look, I even included the Tim Hortons sign in the shot. Now you know it's Canadian!
CN 2260 in Winnipeg

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Atta boy Steve.....Canadian content is important.
Yeah Tim's..................lol

I like the first Via photo......your 'soft focus' one...
it actually softens the busyness of the background..
no apologies necessary...good shot.

Glen

Unknown said...

Did you also notice in the "soft focus" Via photo...how all the cars looked a bit scrunched up ? Guess it's your photo angle and lens zoom used......
Nice effect...I like that photo....actually,.. excellent shot

Glen

One Man Committee said...

I like the variety in the background...the urban setting is visually interesting.

Ever notice that it's surprisingly hard to shoot trains on the CN mainline in Winnipeg a distinctly urban setting (other than the segment around Union Station)? For whatever reason, the CN mainline is surrounded by fields and scrub land for much of its path through the city.

You get the impression that Winnipeg is a much smaller city than it is when you come in by VIA as opposed to driving in by car!

Canadian Train Geek said...

Glen: Yes, the telephoto lens compresses the train and makes it look all scrunched up. I like the effect. I just wish I had a better telephoto lens.

OneMan: It is hard to shoot CN in urban settings in Winnipeg. I am not really sure why it is. Maybe CN owns a lot of the surrounding land. There's a few spots in Transcona but not very much either!