I decided to capture the Labour Day VIA Rail "Canadian"... but I didn't want to go out to Dugald or Anola like I had been doing. I wanted to try something... different.
As I scrolled through Google Maps, following the route of VIA 1, I found the highway overpass near Beach Junction and the north entrance to CN's Symington Yard. This overpass is where the 4-lane Lagimodiere Boulevard crosses over the two-track CN Redditt subdivision.
Looking at the satellite view, I saw that the shoulders on each side were really wide - more than a lane's worth - so I was not very concerned about safety from the cars zooming by at 80+ km/hr. You have to watch that with overpasses - some of them have very little space between the cars and the guard rails. Safety first!
There's no place to park on the overpass, but there are side streets nearby, and I don't mind walking a bit.
My alarm went off at 6:03 AM on Monday morning, and I hopped out of bed and checked VIA's web site to see where VIA 1 was. It was approaching Elma, supposedly an hour away from Winnipeg, so I had lots of time. I quickly dressed and grabbed my Lowepro SlingShot 102 AW and hit the road. I normally bring my AmazonBasics camera bag, but since I knew I was going to be away from my car for an extended period, a small camera bag seemed more appropriate.
Waiting for the sun to rise
Within 20 minutes, I was "on station". It was a chilly 8 degrees Celsius, and I was glad I wore a light coat. I was wishing I had brought my gloves, too!
The First Train
I noted there was an east-facing CN train stopped just west of the overpass, just before Panet Road. These days, CN's trains pause a bit as they wait for their turn to enter a yard or proceed farther down the line. That's the curse of having so much traffic...
Eventually that train started to roll forward, and I took a few photos as they rolled under me and proceeded into Symington Yard.
CN 2438 and 2023
It was a nice cowl leader - a Dash-8!
After nine minutes, the tail end passed me and they curved around into the yard.
Round the bend
It was not long before the second train came along... and the third.
The Second and Third Trains
I saw a train coming out of Symington Yard, led by CN 2951. I decided I would shoot video, to show the train squealing around the curve and onto the main line.
I was glad I brought my monopod, as I could record the train easily without too much camera shake or strain on my arms. As I kept recording, I heard another train behind me, and after about 4m 45s after I started recording, CN 2596 East rolled past on the north track and went into the yard.
It was really cool to see the two trains passing on the curve. They almost looked like model trains!
The Fourth Train, and a Friend
CN 8833 East
It was a container train, crossing over from the north to the south track - and carrying on past the yard.
Just before this train showed up, I received a message from Mark Perry. In the past few weeks, Mark and I have both gone out to photograph VIA 1 coming into the city, both in the same area, but we never ran into each other. It's been amusing, really. Anyway, he messaged me asking if I was out shooting VIA. I replied and told him where I was, and he said he'd be there shortly.
Note the track curving off to the left in the photo above. That's the CEMR Pine Falls subdivision, leading to their yard on Day Street. The Central Manitoba Railway runs down that track onto CN and then into Symington to interchange cars with CN. They also continue west on the Redditt and then the Rivers sub to get to the CEMR Carman subdivision.
Here's a black-and-white photo, in homage to Mark, who likes black and white photos.
Black and white rules!
This was definitely "cowl day", with two cowl units on this train - CN 2418 and BC Rail 4601.
BC Rail 4601 and a CN cowl unit!
Mark drove by while the train was going by, and parked nearby. He walked up to the other side of the overpass and photographed the train going away.
Mark and the "going away" angle
There was a hot air balloon nearby. It would have been a great morning for going up!
CN and the hot air balloon
We had about a 25 minute wait for VIA 1 to arrive.
Mark is a great railway photographer. His photos and articles have been published in a number of books, and magazines such as TRAINS. I admire his work and his photographic style. I keep urging him to write a book but so far, he's not interested. I'll keep trying!
VIA 1
It's coming right for us
The "Canadian" came around the corner out of Transcona yard and started down the straight section.
I took a few overhead shots, then switched to the sun side.
The problem with shooting into the sun... dark nose
I suppose I could have stayed and kept shooting "head on" - I do like head on photos - but I had visualized the shot I wanted before I came to that location, and I wanted to get it.
Here it is.
The side glint
Three locomotives, four domes, stainless steel... I feel very lucky to be able to see this train.
Some day I want to ride this train
The only problem with this location is that the "going away" shot is no good... you can't sprint across four lanes of traffic and jump the giant gap in the middle between the pairs of lanes. Not safely, anyway.
Not a good "going away" photo
After VIA passed, Mark and I both packed up our gear and headed out. I had family stuff to do and Mark had to get to work!
Post Game Analysis
Overall, I was very pleased with that location. I feel it has a lot of potential for overhead shots, which are certainly in short supply in the Winnipeg area. You can see signals to the west, which are very helpful for knowing when a train is coming. Parking is available at the mall or nearby side streets.
The only downsides I see are that you can't switch sides easily, and you are definitely in the public eye when you're up on the overpass in such a high traffic area.
I'll probably be back!
It was great to see Mark again and finally meet up after a few inadvertent joint VIA photo sessions.
On June 19th I was in the Carberry-Brandon area of Manitoba and had a free evening. I had seen some photos from a location just east of Rivers (the namesake of the CN Rivers subdivision) and I wanted to check it out.
Little did I know how many rainbows I'd encounter around Rivers!
Warning! This is going to be a long post, and very picture heavy. Let's go.
In Rivers
From Brandon, I headed north on highway 10 past the old grain elevator at Forrest, under the CN main line, and then turned west on highway 25. This road parallels the CN line a few kilometres to the north and I saw a train go by as I was rolling west.
I arrived at Rivers and drove through town. I noted a locomotive parked by the former station (more on that later) and I continued to the west end of town.
I saw an approaching container train in the distance, so I set up to photograph and video it by the former Cargill grain elevator(s).
Soon, two of CN's finest, ET44ACs CN 3035 and 3048 rolled past the elevator.
CN 3035 and 3048 passing the Rivers grain elevator
It was nice to see the elevator's doors open, indicating that it is still in use. In fact, later on I saw a grain truck drive up to the elevator.
The skies were pretty interesting that night, as you'll see later.
Recording.... recording...
Here's the video of that train.
Once the train passed, I headed back into town. I stopped by the VIA station to check out CN 2438 idling away.
CN 2438 is one of CN's GE Dash 8-40CM (or C40-8M) units with the "Draper taper" behind the cab for greater crew visibility. Opinions are very mixed on whether the visibility is improved very much, and I don't think many crews like them.
Many of the 55 CN units that were built have the "CN North America" logo on them.
CN North America Logo
Grant's Cut
The location I wanted to shoot at is nicknamed "Grant's Cut". I don't know why.
To get there, you drive east from Rivers on highway 25, then hang a right on Road 120W - basically the first right after crossing the Little Saskatchewan River. Drive straight through the 4-way intersection and keep going and you will cross over the CN Rivers subdivision. This is Grant's Cut (Google Maps).
Looking north
Note the skies! It was really threatening to rain by this time, and the clouds were moving swiftly. I parked off the bridge - it's really just one lane - and stayed relatively close to my car just in case it started to rain.
This is the view to the west...
Looking west from the overpass at Grant's Cut
And this was the view to the east after a few minutes...
Double rainbow! What does it mean?
Rainbows were the theme of the night. The weather was very unsettled and there were some very dramatic clouds around. I was pretty concerned that I was going to be rained on - or hailed upon - but the nasty stuff passed by to the north. I did feel a few rain drops now and then. There was even some lightning in the distance.
So, nice broad curves to the east and west... and an overpass with no traffic. A lovely location! One other nice feature is that you can look straight down the track toward the east...
Mile 140.8
Wait... what's that in the distance? Red lights and a set of headlights?
CN 347
I was really hoping the rainbow(s) would stick around for the train's arrival. How cool would that be?
Alas, it didn't happen here. The rainbow was gone by 19:03 and the train didn't arrive until 19:06. So close!
The sun was very spotty indeed. Notice the train rolling through the rural crossing and the "sucker hole" of sunlight here.
Catching the sun
This is a highly cropped view with my 70-200mm lens. The train was still a long way away.
Here they are just about to take the curve... in the dark.
Back in the dark
A few seconds later, they've emerged into sunlight again and are taking the curve.
Taking the curve at Grant's Cut
CN 2151 and BCOL 4641 were the power on this train. The profusion of empty centerbeam flat cars means this is CN 347... a train I have photographed many times. It is very distinctive.
The weather was so strange that night. Here's a shot of them a few seconds later and it looks like a beautiful day!
Gorgeous evening!?
The train rolled on, endlessly, centerbeam after centerbeam after centerbeam. I counted from my video and I think there were 138 cars. I think these were all 73' cars so that's a 10,000' foot train.
I've heard CN 347 called a "sail train" because of the appearance of the empty cars, and also because they have a sail effect and create a lot of wind at ground level for trackside crews who have to inspect the train as it passes.
No CN crew has ever said anything nice about this train!
As I said, the light was very variable and part of the time the train was in relative darkness. Challenging for photography and video!
After that train passed, there was a lull for almost an hour.
Green = GOOD
I was thinking about whether I should hang around or hit the road, but eventually the signal lit and that told me a train was en route.
Or maybe I heard the engines before the signal lit.
I can't remember which came first, but either way... TRAIN.
I knew it was coming from the west, which is not great light for evening photography, but what can you do? Take pictures anyway, that's what!
Oil Train
CN 2957 East
CN 2957 East was an oil train. They had a single unit on the head end, a CN grain car as a buffer car, then a long black snake of oil tankers.
I think the above photo turned out pretty well for shooting somewhat toward the sun. It took a fair amount of processing in Lightroom but I like that side glint.
The going away shot shows the dark and foreboding clouds and some rain on the horizon... plus a little shadow selfie.
Going away
Of course, if you crop in far enough, it looks like a beautiful evening...
Dark clouds? What dark clouds?
Pictures can be deceiving.
There was a tail end unit, CN 3041, with another buffer car between the locomotive and the tank cars. You can see it in the video I compiled.
I hung around another 10 minutes or so but it was starting to get late (8:15 PM) and I wanted to check Rivers out one more time. The clouds were still pretty dramatic... and if you look closely, you'll see a wee little rainbow on the horizon just left of centre.
Not your normal clouds
Back to Rivers
Time for.. a crew change..
Apologies to the Little River Band
I drove back into and through Rivers. On the west side I saw there was a train pulling up to a stop... out of town.
They were stopping at a rural crossing and there was a CN vehicle there.
I suspect they were doing a crew change there to avoid blocking crossings within the town.
CN 2242 was the sole power on the head end of this long freight train. It had a lot of autoracks.
I was at the highway crossing on the edge of town.
I decided to do something a little different and shoot with my "long lens" (70-200mm) to get a telephoto look, then use my iPhone to take a quick wide angle snap as the train passed.
The problem with the telephoto / long shot was that there were a few shrubs (visible in the photo above) that prevented a nice full train shot, and then there was the crossing gate itself to get in the way. I'm not 100 percent happy with the shot below.
Making the best of a bad angle
It would have been a better composition had I stood closer to the tracks, but that's not safe and so I settled for this.
I prefer the iPhone shot I took a few seconds later.
The iPhone wins!
After that, I rushed over to the other end of town to shoot them passing the train station, with the grain elevator in the background.
Backlit in Rivers
Imagine this shot in the morning... golden sunrise light on the nose of the locomotive, elevator and station lit... that would be nice.
Not this time.
I had a notion to get them on the bridge just east of town.. before Grant's Cut. I knew I couldn't beat them there but maybe I could get a silhouette shot against the sunset. Worth a try!
I drove back east along highway 25. Looking to the south I could see a container train slowly rolling west in the distance.
There was another rainbow. Of course.
Rainbows were definitely the theme of the night.
Did you know that "rainbow" comes from the Latin arcus pluvius, meaning "rainy arch"?
In school everyone learns ROYGBIV, the seven colours decreed by Sir Isaac Newton. I always knew it was VIBGYOR - not sure why - but I think Roy G. Biv is a lot easier to say.
Here there was no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow... just a container train. Nice enough for me.
The photo to right was with my telephoto, cropped in. Check out the wide angle photo below.
That's a big old cloud
I couldn't stop taking photos of the sky!
Taking a LEAP
Another rainbow...
On my way to Rivers, I had noticed a major north-south road, highway 270. As I was returning east I decided to drop down 270 to the tracks and see what I could see.
When I got there, I very quickly saw CN 2242 approaching from the west. I took a video of the train (see bottom of post) and then took a few photos of the area.
This is "Leap", a new control point / set of crossovers on the Rivers subdivision. It has all new shiny LED signals. This is part of a 9 mile stretch of double track between Knox and Levine.
There used to be a Manitoba Pool grain elevator here, at "Smart". It was demolished in 2002.
While admiring the signals, I was surprised by a westbound train.
I was so surprised, in fact, that I didn't have time to adjust my settings and shot a full two stops too dark!
Fortunately, I shoot RAW files so there is enough information in the file to recover a decent shot, despite underexposing the image so badly.
RAW FTW
Remember, kids, always shoot RAW. ;)
I liked the going away "glint" shot.
Glint FTW too
The train had CN 2953, 2969 and 5796 on the head end.
This post has been picture-heavy already, so I'm not going to post any photos of the cars, but I did want to mention that it had not one but two 2001 Census hopper cars (DCLX 7490 and DCLX 8096).
Photos by Last Light
It was getting pretty late by this point, so I went back up to highway 25 and then down highway 10 past Forrest. I couldn't resist stopping to take a few photos of the old Forrest grain elevator.
Forrest grain elevator at sunset
I combined three photos into one to get enough of a dynamic range for the above photo. A little "HDR trickery" if you will.
I was sure I was done taking photos by this time (9:36 PM), but as I passed the Brandon airport, the old T-Bird on display at the highway caught my eye.
Fine, just one more photo...
Then I was truly done for the night.
The Video
Here's my video combining the two trains at Grant's Cut with CN 2242 at Leap.
I hope you like it. I am trying a new video editing program, Hitfilm Express. So far I like it - and it's free!
Summary
It was a good night. I:
Explored two new locations (Grant's Cut, Leap)
Photographed five trains
Photographed two grain elevators
Saw a bunch 'o' rainbows
Got a bonus plane photo
Good times and good photo opportunities. Thanks for reading.
PS - hey, do me a favour and sign up for my mailing list! I'll send you a weekly summary of photos I post on social media (if you opt in to that) and occasionally I'll send you reminders of blog posts like these. That's it. Thanks!
PPS - check out George Dutka's White River Division blog! He posts a great mix of model and 1:1 scale trains.. always worth a read.
