Baseball and Trains

Baseball and trains... what a great combination.

On July 5 we went down to Shaw Park in Winnipeg to watch the Winnipeg Goldeyes play baseball. Shaw Park was formerly known as Canwest Park and is built near Winnipeg's famous Forks. The whole area is built on the former train yards, and is still near the CN Rivers subdivision main line and the VIA Rail Union Station.

We parked near the Union Station and made our way to the stadium and found our seats. We were sitting behind third base and had a great view. I think most seats in the stadium are pretty good. After a few innings, I took my kids to the bathroom and I heard a train rumbling nearby. I stepped out to the side and saw CN 2562 and CN 2098 rolling eastward onto the bascule bridge. The engineer gave a few waves and toots to everyone.


I heard at least one more train rumble by while we were watching the game.

Right at the end of the game, there was another train going by, so I dashed up the stairs to grab it before we headed out. Here's CN 2283 and BCOL 4607 bringing a train eastward.


That was fun! On our way out, I noticed VIA 2 was sitting at the station, with VIA 6441 on the head end.

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.


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.


Here comes VIA 6452!


They went around the bend at Portage Junction to meet CN 112, who was coming east on the south track.


CN 112 had CN 2200 on the head end.


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


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