Bonus Train

Monday, August 6th 2018 was a holiday here in Manitoba. It's called a "Civic Holiday" here, other provinces call it "Family Day" and it's not even a holiday in some provinces. Anyway, I had the day off.

I went out to catch VIA's "Canadian" leaving Winnipeg. It turned out that the first train I saw was CN 8906 West - see above. I elected to catch it at Carman Junction at the curve, to get the head on view above.

The train had CN 8906 / CN 5694 / CN 8823 on the head end.

Westward ho!

After the train passed, I went west to Diamond to set up for VIA. I caught up with some of the train so I amused myself by taking a few shots of the old wooden "Diamond" sign.

Diamond signs are forever, apparently

I hope nobody steals this sign.

VIA 1

VIA Rail Canadian heading west

I got what I came for - VIA 6455 leading the "Canadian" with two other units and 20 cars.

"Glacier Park" was on the tail end.

Prairie Streamliner

Central Manitoba Railway

4002 and 4004 parked on the Carman subdivision

Two Central Manitoba Railway GP9s, 4002 and 4004, were parked on the Carman subdivision.

I noticed this shiny new equipment box in the gap between the main line and the track to the CEMR Carman subdivision.

CN actually owns the first little bit of the track - from the Rivers sub across Wilkes Avenue - before it becomes the CEMR Carman sub.

I didn't see anything happening after that on the CN Rivers subdivision, so I headed for home.

As I drove around the Perimeter Highway, I spotted a southbound CN train on the Letellier subdivision. That would have been CN 532, heading down to the Canada-US border at Emerson to interchange with BNSF.

Bonus train!

CN 532

The dark side of CN 532

I gave chase as best I could. It was hard to catch up to the train through St. Norbert, given the 50 and 60 km/hr speed limits, but eventually I got ahead of them south of the town to get the shot above.

I was on the "dark side" of the train and I wasn't super happy about that. Fortunately, they weren't going very fast, so after they passed by, I gave chase again... this time, at 100 km/hr!

Near Ste. Agathe, I was far enough ahead of them that I felt I could leave the highway and drive the 2 km or so to the track for another round of photos. As it happened, I had enough time to get both my cameras out... one with the 70-200mm "long" lens and the other with the wide angle.

First the long lens. There was a combine working a field nearby, so I included that in the photo. You can see a bit of heat haze, so the shot isn't as sharp as I would like, but I like what's in it!

CN 5693 and a combine

A few seconds later, I took another photo as the train approached.

Storming south

The right of way looks very clean and well maintained, doesn't it?

I love that 70-200mm lens.

I "dropped" that camera and picked up my older T1i with the wide angle lens to capture the train as it went by.

Going wide

The train had a friendly crew who both gave me waves as they went by. Thanks!

One going away shot, with the Viterra elevator at Ste. Agathe just to the left of the train, and the G3 SD40-2 locomotive at far left, on the loop track of the G3 elevator at Glenlea / Saint Adolphe.

Heading south

Here's the video showing all three trains, with a "clickbait" title just for fun.


You might want to read Busy Day - same play, VIA 1 then CN 532, back in 2012!

PS - Important News

It's the end of an era.

This was the last full post that I will write on blog.traingeek.ca.

I've been on the Blogger platform for many years, since my first post in July 2005. After 13 years and 3 months, it's time to move on.

From now on, I'll be writing on my main site - www.traingeek.ca - and the posts will appear there on the home page.

I like the WordPress platform a lot more for writing. I've been thinking about this for a long time, more than a year, and now I'm making the change.

I hope you'll follow me there.

All of my old posts will remain where they are. I am not interested in moving them over!

By the way, there will be one more post, a placeholder to direct visitors to my main site.

https://www.traingeek.ca/wp/

Grand Forks Action

Cleaning the Switch Points

After my little trip to Grafton, North Dakota, I returned to Grand Forks and spent an hour looking around. My first stop was North Washington Street and the industrial locomotives at Gavilon Grain. I photographed these back in April 2011 and I won't repeat the photos here - the Con Agra GP7 and the Peavey SW7 are both still there and look the same.

Next I went to the North Dakota Mill, a massive facility. Fortunately I spotted a BNSF locomotive working there. BNSF 2256 was switching on the north end of the facility. I believe this was being operated via remote control by the gentleman pictured above, cleaning out switch points. The wind was blowing pretty hard and there was a lot of blowing snow.

BNSF 2256 at North Dakota Mills

I took a little video of the locomotive running light over a crossing.


I saw BNSF 2256 in Grand Forks back in 2011. After that, I headed south down Washington to BNSF's yard.

BNSF 3004 was working in the yard in the background. BNSF 1546 and BNSF 2834 were parked near the main building. The main excitement for me, though, was a trio of foreign power.

CEFX 6006

SOO! Well, not any more, but clearly it was a SOO engine.

PRLX 8136

Clearly an ex BN unit!

CSX 7541

Finally, a non-patched engine!

Those were fun to see in a BNSF yard.

There was one locomotive over by the turntable, BNSF 4606, surrounded by some maintenance-of-way equipment.

BNSF 4606

I spotted a pair of Burlington Northern snowplows - BN 972501 and 972510, both of which I spotted back in April 2011.

I was almost out of time, so I headed west on Gateway Drive to get back to the interstate. I noticed a train was heading out of the yard so I resolved to grab it before heading back to the hotel. I got ahead of it, and after a bit of driving to find a safe place to park, I ran back to the tracks. Fortunately the train was heading directly west, rather than going south toward Fargo!

A bit of blowing snow...

I was surprised to see BNSF 3134 and BNSF 2259, the very same locomotives I saw in Drayton on the previous day. The weather wasn't so nice this day!

BNSF 3134 in the snow

They rolled on past me, with a wave from the engineer. Let's just say visibility was restricted...

Grain cars in the snow

On Monday (Louis Riel Day) we headed back north to the US border. At Drayton I photographed BNSF 4382, BNSF 5679 and BNSF 4438. We crossed the border and I kept an eye out for CN 532/533. There was nothing at Emerson but as we drove through the blowing snow, I kept looking and eventually I spotted a train just south of Morris. I pulled over, hoping to get a great action shot in the blowing snow... only to realize they weren't moving. I drove closer and found CN 2640 and CN 2508 with a medium sized train.

CN 2640 parked south of Morris, MB

I don't think there was a crew on board.

That was the end of our Grand Forks adventure. Thanks for reading!

Further reading:

• Part 1 of this trip report
• Grand Forks, February 2014
• Grand Forks, March 2011 (and part 2)
• Grand Forks, February 2010

Busy Day

Thursday, July 12 was a busy busy railfanning day. It started at noon when I went out to shoot the Canadian. I went down to my new favourite spot by Carman Junction around mile 8.3 and set up. Soon I realized that there was a CN freight coming east. I was hoping it would not skunk me like a certain previous time, but fortunately it was on the north track. CN 2592 led CN 2609 and a medium-sized intermodal train. I believe it was CN 102.


As the train rolled on past me, I saw a set of headlights in the far distance to the east. Here comes VIA!


The end of the CN train passed and shortly after that, VIA 6413 came around the curve.


Now... here's a funny little picture from the same time. Guess what happened? (answer at bottom of post)


I took a video of the two trains.


After work, I traveled out toward the CN Rivers subdivision again. I saw a container train rolling over route 90, and it turned out to be CN 199. I gave chase, although I figured I would not catch up to it.They met an eastbound train and I caught a glimpse of the head end at Shaftesbury Boulevard as I waited for the light to change.

I continued on westward and 199 got away, but I heard them get a rollby inspection from a train. Curious, I kept going west of Diamond and found CN 112 stopped on the north track. They were waiting for a green light. Here they had just received their light, turned their headlights on, and were preparing to head out.


I took some shots as the head end passed, then jumped in my car and gave chase. It was quite easy to pace them at the start, as they were still pulling hard to get moving. I fired some shots out my side window and ended up with a half-decent pacing shot.


I then pulled up to Hall Road to take video. I thought I had plenty of time but in fact I was a bit rushed and missed a bit of horn noise at the start.


All very exciting, but there was one more train to see! CN 106 was still to come into Winnipeg. Here they are near Diamond.


Here's the video from the same location.


That was quite enough for me, so I headed for home. But wait! There's more... when crossing the CN Letellier subdivision, I saw CN 532 rolling south, so I took a quick exit and shot them as they approached the Perimeter Highway. CN 5532 on 532... love it.


I have no idea why the door was open, except perhaps to provide some cooling for the crew.


Answer to why the VIA photo was so dark: My camera was set to meter on a single point (the center of the lens) and I had pointed it at the headlight. The camera metered for the headlight and so the shot was very underexposed. I like the effect!

Catching Up

Here are a few "catch up" photos of individual trains I've seen over the past couple of months. The above is CN 8812 leading IC 2700 into Winnipeg on April 18. The early morning sunlight is bright on the nose of 8812 and its waving crew.


Later that same day, I caught another Illinois Central unit, IC 2714, leading train 198 into Winnipeg ahead of CN 2513.


Fast-forwarding a bit, I had a bit of luck and caught CN 532 on June 14. I was driving over the tracks at the Perimeter when I spied a headlight to the north. A quick exit brought me to the nearest crossing (mile 5.30) where I shot faded CN 2414 leading a very long train.


It's amazing how one little engine can pull so many cars. The Letellier subdivision that CN 532 runs on is very straight and flat.

There were several interesting flatcars on the train. They were all bearing the COER reporting mark, belonging to the impressively-named shortline the Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad. Any idea what these cars were used for?


Two days afterward, I caught a large CN freight near Carman Junction. The train had CN 8927 leading CN 2440 and CN 8862.


They had a clear signal on the south track.


As I watched the train roll by, I was surprised to see a DPU engine, CN 8007, midway through the train. Not many of CN's general freight trains have DPU engines.

Dash-9s by the Dozen

Well, OK, maybe that's an exaggeration. But here's five I've seen in the past couple of months.

I saw CN 532 rolling south along Pembina Highway on February 29. I chased it south until I got ahead of it south of St. Norbert. CN 2684 was the sole power on the train. This is not uncommon - many times 532 has only one engine, as the Letellier sub is pretty straight and flat.


Next up is CN 2659, lead engine on an eastbound train in Winnipeg ahead of powder blue IC 2458 on March 21. IC 2458 is a Dash-8 so it doesn't get included in the count.


It's amazing how the snow disappeared in three short weeks.

Six days later, I shot CN 2671 on another eastbound through Winnipeg. I was waiting in my car because it was pouring rain, and I jumped out to shoot the lead engines (CN 2290 and CN 2332) and then waited for the DPU engine (2671). As it happened, during all this jumping out and into the car, I dropped a set of keys. I was fortunate enough to find them again when I returned a few hours later!


The last two engines were on yet another CN container train coming into Winnipeg, on April 7. CN 2533 was the lead engine and I shot it as they passed Diamond heading east.


I decided to head east and get another shot of the train. I was ahead of it by Carman Junction so I stopped there and shot it passing the switch to CEMR's tracks at the Junction.


Sister Dash-9 CN 2536 was the DPU power on the train, pushing on the rear. Note the red light above the ditch light, indicating the rear of the train.


I hope you have enjoyed this view of a few of the Dash-9s that pass through Winnipeg.

February 5

We spent last weekend in Fargo, North Dakota doing some shopping. I did not have any time for railfanning while in Fargo, which is too bad because Fargo has a lot of BNSF action. I did see one BNSF caboose... woo. ;)

On the way home, though, I saw one BNSF train, led by BNSF 4901 and BNSF 4151. It was between Fargo and Grand Forks.

Once we passed through Canadian Customs (a 35 minute wait) we were on the road for home... until about 3 minutes later when I spotted CN 532 approaching the border. I pulled over and took a series of shots as the train rolled past. SD60 CN 5503 led the train with ex-BNSF CN 2145 trailing.


The sunset colours were pretty good. I spotted the moon over the tracks and grabbed this shot of the engines under the moon.

The Shot

Sometimes on a train-watching outing, I get some decent photographs but nothing really special. Sometimes I get nothing but duds. Occasionally... I get a shot I'm really pleased with... The Shot.

On Saturday afternoon I went out with the kids to run a few errands and shoot a few trains. I headed toward my usual spot near Diamond to try to catch VIA 692 aka the Hudson Bay returning from its long journey from Churchill.

I had a little detour, though, because when I drove over Pembina Highway I saw the headlights of CN 532 to the north. I did a quick turnaround and went into St. Norbert to wait for 532 to roll by. I didn't want to go too far south so I set up at the crossing of Avenue Ducharme to get them. I did not have to wait long. In fact, I was still slapping the tripod up when CN 532 came around the bend. Faded SD75I CN 5628 and shiny ex-BNSF C40-8W CN 2199 were the power for the long train.




After they passed, I continued on my way up to Diamond. There were quite a few CN maintenance vehicles around and a foreman had a block from mile 10 (the hotbox detector) out to mile 17 or so. This meant that all trains had to call the foreman for permission to pass through his block, so I could get some advance warning.

I was not there long before I heard VIA 692 call through loud and clear to acknowledge that the foreman had given them permission to pass through on the north track at 30 MPH. I set up the tripod with the Canon S3 on it for video, and waited for the train.

I should mention that the outside temperature was -11C according to the hotbox, but the wind was howling. My hands were almost completely numb after VIA passed. I think I need to toss some light gloves into the camera bag!

Anyway, here's VIA 6455 leading the usual consist of two engines, baggage car, two coaches, diner and one Chateau sleeper car.




Here's my video. Note that my tripod is a little broken and the wind of the passing train twisted the head around a bit!


VanBilly1 shot the same train at St. James Junction a few miles east of me.

That was all well and good. I heard CN 117 calling for permission to go through the block, so I shot them coming the other way. I had already packed up my tripod, and I didn't feel like standing in the cold cold wind again anyway, so I just shot stills.


Dash-9 IC 2724 and ES44DC CN 2292 were the power for this intermodal train. You can see by the light that the sun was getting close to the horizon. This was at 5 minutes to 5 PM.

Yes, yes, Steve, all good, but where is this "shot" you are talking about?

I figured there were not going to be any more trains on CN for a while, and with darkness approaching I thought I'd try my luck on the CP mainline 10 minutes north. I drove up to the elevator at Makwa and saw that the west-facing lights had a green light on them.

In fact it was red over green over red by the elevator at Makwa, which is Canadian Rail Operating Rules rule 416, "Limited to Clear"... "Proceed, LIMITED speed passing signal and through turnouts." From Makwa (mile 11.1 of the CP Carberry subdivision) there are two main tracks east to the yard at mile 1.7, so the eastbound train would be switching to the other main track, hence the LIMITED speed.

This was good! It meant there was probably a train coming soon. I headed west toward Rosser village, straining to see a headlight in the falling dark. I passed through Rosser and continued west toward the grain elevator at Meadows, figuring if nothing else I might get a bit of sunset on the side of the elevator. As I was on the straightaway approaching the elevator, I saw headlights on the track on the other side of the elevator. I was hoping that I could get there in time to get the train passing the elevator.

Well, you might have guessed that I did get there in time. Here's the Shot.


I mean, seriously, look at that sky! I could not have asked for a nicer colour.

The train rolled on by and I gave pursuit. It was going a good 55-60 MPH (speed limit 60) so I did not pass the head end until near Makwa where they had to slow to that LIMITED speed. By this time I had my "nifty fifty" 50mm prime lens on to try to grab what little light there was. I did this panning shot of CEFX 1050 as it rolled on by, and the engineer gave me a few toots.


I was super pleased with myself for getting that elevator shot, and I think I need to try some more sunset shots!

You can view the complete consists in my sightings database, as always.