Last Trains of 2011

I did manage to squeeze in a bit more 'fanning at the very end of 2011. Here's what I saw.

I saw CN 2566 leading an eastbound freight in the falling dark of December 30.


Ex-UP CN 2136 was the second engine. There's a little lens flare going on there, probably reflections of the train's headlights inside the lens mechanism.

I made an effort on December 31 to go shoot the last Canadian of the year, as I did in 2009. I went out to Diamond just west of Winnipeg and found CN 404 rolling toward me.


SD75I engines CN 5641 and CN 5694 were leading, followed by SD60 CN 5511.

There was too much foreground clutter to shoot a westbound from the south side, so I walked over to the north side after 404 passed and waited for VIA 1. She had VIA 6443 on the head end, followed by now-rare unrebuilt F40PH-2, VIA 6451.


The paint is wearing off the plow on 6443.

The Canadian blew by at an impressive speed.


The kids were restless, so off we went. On our return trip, I caught one more, my final train of 2011. CN 2651 led CN 5602 and an intermodal train. CN seems to like the Dash-9/SD75I combo for its general freights these days.


When the lead engine passed, the conductor gave me a nice wave out the side window. When I reviewed my photos later, I realized that both the engineer and the conductor were giving me waves.


You have to squint a bit to see the engineer's hand. Thanks for the waves!

Wave 'bye to 2011!