Passenger Power in Calgary

I'm finally finishing up my Calgary trip from last month. You may recall I looked at Alyth Yard on October 28. After that, I decided to see if anything was left in Ogden Yard. Ogden has been closed down after 100 years of operation.

There are a few engines still around, for example CP 1400 and CP 9000.


CP 1400 was retired in February 2012 and has been cannibalized for parts.

This is the first "red barn" (SD40-2F) that I have seen with the "dual flags" CP Rail logo on it.


After taking inventory of the few engines in Ogden, I noticed CP 8854 rolling past. You may recall it had just come off the Red Deer subdivision. I guess they ran right through Alyth Yard and were heading out on the Brooks subdivision. I barely got ahead of them and caught this "from the car" shot at a crossing.


I then headed up to CN's Sarcee yard. There I saw CN 1409, CN 7078 and GTW 5945 rolling past the gas station there. Note the operator riding the point of CN 1409. Love those GMD1s!


Here's GTW 5945. I'm told these are actually GTW units, not owned by Alstom, despite what it says on the engine.


That was certainly fun. I went back toward Alyth, but while passing Ogden Yard, I saw this.


CP 1601 was putting the heritage engines (CP 4107 / CP 1900 / CP 4106) away. Jeff Keddy and I saw them the previous day in Alyth, and I guess they were being moved.

After the crew uncoupled, CP 1601 (and CP 1527) rolled away and left the engines there.


Sweet heritage units.


CP 1539 was also around. Note the two cabooses and I think CP 8217 on the far right.


Here's CP 1527 going back onto the main line.


I was running out of time, but I ventured back to CN's Sarceee Yard just in time to see a train coming off the  CN Three Hills subdivision. I paused to capture CN 5677 and CN 8938 bringing the train in.


I would say it was a very productive morning of railfanning in Calgary!

Surprise At Lake Louise

After the excitement of shooting at Morant's Curve and photographing the Rocky Mountaineer, you would think I was satisfied, right? No way! A good railfan is never satisfied!

On August 9 we traveled to the Lake Louise area to visit Moraine Lake. We had just about reached the Lake Louise exit when I heard an end-of-train squawk on the scanner. This meant there was a train in the area! Since we had just driven up the 1A, I figured there were no trains east of us. We drove the short distance to Morant's Curve and I promised my wife we would wait up to 10 minutes for the train, then leave.

Well, no train came, so we headed back to Lake Louise. I dropped her and the kids off at the shops there and headed back to the Curve to wait for a train. I had 40 minutes so I was hoping something would come along.

There were a few other people hanging around, so I talked with them while keeping an ear to the scanner. One fellow was from Germany, on assignment as a photographer in the area and hoping for a train at Morant's Curve. As we were talking, I heard the hotbox at mile 111 come alive. Since Morant's Curve is at mile 113, a westbound train was imminent!

CP 8714 and 9813 pulled an intermodal train through the Curve.

The engineer gave the crowd of photographers a toot as he went by.

That was very exciting and I was pleased that my trip was not in vain. I heard another train was coming from the east but my time was up, so I advised the other photographers and left, hoping to get a chance to shoot it at the Lake Louise station.

I found my wife and kids at the shops and my wife grudgingly agreed that I could go shoot the train at the station in Lake Louise. As I drove down Sentinel Road, I saw a sight that made me forget all about the imminent freight.

The Royal Canadian Pacific was parked on the stub siding at Lake Louise! Who needs a boring old freight when the pride of the CP fleet can be photographed?

You may remember I saw the Royal Canadian Pacific in Calgary in June, albeit fleetingly. This time I had a few minutes to take shots of CP 4106 and 4107 from various angles. Mindful of my wife and kids in the van, I went as quickly as I could.

Isn't it pretty? Four minutes later, I was done and driving back to the main road. As it happened, the westbound freight rolled through right beside me. I stopped, shot it while sitting in the van, and carried on. It was kind of an anticlimax after viewing those beautiful old engines.

The freight had CP 9808, CP 9607, CEFX 1026 and CP 9506, all on the head end. Oddly enough, I saw CP 9808 on the same day I saw the Royal Canadian Pacific in Calgary. Quite a coincidence.

We drove up to Moraine Lake and took a little walk around. It is a long trip but well worth it. I think Lake Louise has the best overall scene but the colour of the water at Moraine Lake is simply unbelievable. Oh, and unbelievably cold on the ankles.

Another great day in the Rockies. I miss them already.