Business Cars on CN

The kids and I were bored on Sunday afternoon, so I decided to "take them" railfanning. Aren't I a good dad? ;)

As we approached the CN Sprague subdivision south of Symington yard, I saw a long string of autoracks. I investigated and found three SD40-2s and a slug with a long string of cars ready to shove up the hump (consist).

I was thinking of driving up Plessis past the yard, but as I crossed the track by Tinker Town, I glanced south down the line and saw a very distant headlight. Train!

I turned right and headed down highway #1 toward Lorette siding. It became obvious that the train was in the siding at Lorette so I pulled up and parked on Station Road (here) at the north end of the siding.

The train was CN 3036 with four business cars on the head end! A lucky find. They were just crawling up to the end of the siding when I arrived.

I stepped out in the brisk (-27C) weather and walked along to photograph each car. The lead car was CN 1710, FRASER SPIRIT. 1710 is a power car, and I could hear the generator running, especially since Tier 4 ET44AC locomotive CN 3036 was so quiet.

CN 1710, FRASER SPIRIT

The next car was IC 800413, GREAT LAKES.

IC 800413, GREAT LAKES

Here's a closeup of the classy Illinois Central observation platform.

Closeup of GREAT LAKES' observation platform

That would be fun to stand on while the train was rolling along!

The third passenger car was a dome, IC 800723 / CN 99 AMERICAN SPIRIT.

IC 800723 / CN 99, AMERICAN SPIRIT

I'm just not sure which number the car is!

The fourth and final passenger car was IC 800653, SANDFORD FLEMING.

IC 800653, SANDFORD FLEMING

This is a theatre car, with theatre-style seats inside and a large rear window. When I saw it the window was covered up a large roll-up door.

That would be a fun place to be, too!

Anyway, the train sat there in the siding, obviously waiting for a meet. I stood outside taking photos and waiting. I was well-dressed for the -27C / -17F weather:

• Snow boots
• Jeans
• Three layers on my torso - T-shirt, hoodie, parka
• Toque with hoodie hood on
• My Freehand gloves with winter mittens on top

Thankfully there was no wind.

Every now and then, I walked over to the crossing to check the signal facing north. After 25 minutes, it was green over red and I saw a headlight in the distance. The meet was on!

My camera was getting a little sluggish in the cold and the battery light was blinking. I had a spare in my pants pocket but I decided to stick with the battery and trust that it would last long enough for the meet.

Here's CN 2842 approaching the crossing. That's my car to the left.

CN 2842 at a crossing

I boosted the exposure quite a bit as the sun was very close to the horizon by this point (4:39 PM).

Here's the meet.

CN 3036 meets CN 2842 at Lorette

The crew were on the ground for the inspection.

Inspecting the passing train

The eastbound train had CN 2871 as the DPU, near the rear of the train.

CN 2871 at Lorette

Note The Moving BOX on the well car ahead of the locomotive. I've never seen that before! I must confess that I don't pay a lot of attention to containers. You see OOCL, Triton, Tex, Zim, APL and so forth quite a bit, as well as CN and CP domestic containers. Occasionally something like the above container pops up...

Once the train passed, the crew got back on 3036 and they were on their way. In the cold, 3036 was smoking like a steam engine as they accelerated away. It turned out that the train did have a DPU, shiny CN 3005.

CN 3005 at Lorette, Manitoba

That was the end of the light and therefore the end of my railfanning. We hit the road back home and made supper.

Before getting in the car, I made sure to protect my camera gear from condensation due to the change in temperature. You do not want condensation in your lens - think fungus. I had left my camera bag on the trunk to get it down to the outside temperature. Once I was done shooting, I put the camera in the cold bag and zipped it closed before putting the bag in the car. At home, I brought the bag inside and left it alone for a few hours until it came up to room temperature. It's good to remember to take the card out before putting the camera in the bag!

Stay warm!