Recent VIAs

Here are a few recent VIA trains that I've seen.

On April 23 I shot the Canadian rocketing out of Winnipeg. I was near Diamond but I didn't have a lot of time to get ready. I got this shot of VIA 1 but did not get the full consist, since the train was zooming along at 60+ MPH.

That was fast!

On May 5 I had a busy day of railfanning (to be detailed in another post) and I made sure to see the Canadian first. This time I was at St. James Junction.


Nice to see the big summer trains again.


Here's the video. I shot it with my Canon S3 mounted on my GorillaPod so it's pretty low to the ground.


Finally, I shot the Hudson Bay VIA 693 leaving Winnipeg on June 20. This was taken just west of Shaftesbury Boulevard. This is a very typical 693 with two engines, a baggage car, two coaches, a diner, and a Chateau car.


The going-away shot... notice the large backup light on the end for the long backup move into Thompson.



It's been a while since I've shot VIA 693! I'm much more interested in the Canadian because A) it's much longer, and B) the equipment varies. The Winnipeg-Churchill train tends to have two units and exactly the same type of cars on it every time. Not quite as interesting but hey, it's a train, it's all good!