My First Trains of 2013

The first trains I saw in 2013 were on January 1, in the morning. I was returning from taking someone to the airport and stopped at the CN Rivers subdivision to see if anything was coming.

I went out to Diamond, and the west-facing lights were lit. TRAIN! I went out to the curve west of Diamond and it was not long before headlights were visible to the west. They turned out to be on CN 8920 leading an eastbound intermodal (with IC 2699 and CN 2242). I took a few shots on the curve and then hit the road.

Fortunately they had a LIMITED TO CLEAR signal to cross over to the north track, so that slowed them enough for me to get ahead of them after Diamond. I took a few shots from the side and then leap-frogged them again.

Note the heavy frost on these engines, on the nose and on the louvres.

Once more I got ahead of them and saw they were meeting a westbound. I tried to gauge the meet as best I could and hopped out to get the shot.

The westbound was another intermodal train, with CN 2336, CN 2537 and pusher CN 8811 on the rear. I processed this in black and white to show the frost.

I sped ahead of the westbound to get this shot right at mile 7. Nice wave from the conductor!


Again I was able to get ahead of the train, just before Diamond.


Much to my surprise I saw an eastbound freight west of Diamond. I "shot the meet".


The intermodal had CN 8811 on the rear. Check out what is written in the grime between the engine numbers on 8811.

Yes, I'm 12 for noticing that and posting it. ;)

The eastbound freight sat there west of Diamond for quite a while, waiting for their light. I think it might have been CN 198 but I don't know for sure. The second unit was BCOL 4641 (in CN colours). After maybe half an hour they started up and crossed over to the north track.


I gave chase as usual. I got the next shot under the transmission line towers. I had been meaning to get a train here, and since I had shot CN 2291 a couple of times already I figured I could "waste" a shot to frame this up.

Right after that I was again surprised by another meet. A westbound intermodal met them near the Perimeter. The westbound was probably CN 101 and had CN 2296 on the head end, CN 8876 in the middle and IC 2709 pushing on the rear. I grabbed a quick shot of CN 2296 but I was able to get a better shot of the middle unit CN 8876 near mile 10.


Finally, here's IC 2709 heading west (left) and CN 2291 heading east (right).


So many meets!

Winnipeg Content!

Maybe you're tired of Maritime content, so here's some actual Winnipeg content... fresh from Tuesday!

I went out at noon to shoot the Hudson Bay aka VIA 693.  I went north on Waverley Street and saw a big line just south of the tracks, but no train, so something must have just gone by. I turned left onto the Sterling Lyon Parkway and soon I saw a container train... edging east.  I turned around and crossed Waverley heading toward Portage Junction, hoping to get there before the train.  I figured I had a fighting chance despite the many stop signs, because the train was just getting underway.  Long story short, I made it to Heatherdale Avenue just south of the Junction before the train did.

The train was CN 116 and had nothing unusual for power, CN 2530 and CN 2336.




I waited there for the Hudson Bay to show up, but what came around the corner was not VIA 693. It was train CN 101, with engine CN 8912 on the point.



They were not rolling very fast, and in fact it was clear that CN 101 was coming to a stop short of Waverley Street.

So, CN 116 rolling east on the north track, CN 101 stopping on the south track... how is VIA 693 going to get through?  I figured that 693 must be east of this mess and would come through on the north track past 101... in good time.

I headed to St. James Junction to have a chance of seeing the Hudson Bay without 101 blocking the shot. Soon I saw a CP train heading north on the La Riviere sub. While I waited for them to come closer so I could shoot them, a gentleman who works in the nearby warehouse told me that CP ran a 187 car train over the La Riviere a week previous. That's quite a train for this little branch line!

The power for the CP train turned out to be CP 3027 and daughter CP 1127. Since the light isn't good here for a head-on shot, I elected to include the Golf Dome in the shot.



After a few minutes of waiting, VIA 693 finally showed up. Faded VIA 6421 and refurbished VIA 6452 provided the power for a typical consist: baggage, 2 coaches, diner, Chateau sleeper. I didn't get the numbers of the diner and the sleeper.



I assume CN 101 started up after the Hudson Bay went through, but I did not wait around for them. I hear they had 222 cars and 13,940 feet of train!  There must have been a couple more engines scattered through the train. In the past I've noticed that 101 has one or two engines on the head end and one on the tail.