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.

Sunset Shooting

The kids and I went over to the east side of Winnipeg late Wednesday afternoon. I wanted to take pictures of the grain elevator in Dugald, and I was hoping a train would come by when I was there. No train came by, so I went up to see what was happening with CP.

There was nothing visible when I got to Day Street, so I looked in the CEMR yard. I saw CEMR 4013 looking as bad as she did back in October 2009, now with a tarp half off the back end. ANY 5232 and ex-CP 5396 were there as well. CP 3027 and CP 1127 were idling together in CP's North Transcona yard.

Back at Day Street, a headlight was visible to the west. It turned out to be CP 114, rolling out with CP 9729 on the head end and CP 9527 as the DPU unit. It was 4:50 PM and the sun was quickly setting.


After that, we headed toward home. I saw CN 5557 and CN 8863 at the head of a train in Symington Yard when we passed. Funny to see an old unit like 5557 leading.

The sun was a red ball near the horizon, but with a weird flame-like distortion above it. I had to stop and take a picture. Prairie sunsets are often quite beautiful.