Two VIAs By Night

VIA Rail's Canadian has been notoriously late this winter. At times VIA 1 (westbound) or VIA 2 (eastbound) has been well over 12 hours late and sometimes more than 24 hours late. Today's VIA 1 and VIA 2 were no exception.

VIA 2

VIA 2 was almost 24 hours late today. It was supposed to arrive at Union Station downtown Sunday (yesterday) at 8:45 PM and leave at 10:30 PM.

I was downtown this Monday evening and noted VIA 2 at the station at 6:30 PM. I don't know when it arrived but that was almost 24 hours late.

I parked at the Forks and at 6:35 PM I noted two VIA locomotives zooming east past the station toward the head end of their train. I'm not sure what they were doing but I have a theory.

They were not so late earlier this morning, but they lost a lot of time. Maybe there was a problem with one or both locomotives and they had to swap them out at the Winnipeg Maintenance Centre. Regardless, VIA 6458 and 6454 ran to the switch, then reversed in toward the station. The odd thing was that they didn't immediately couple onto their train.

I just had my iPhone 6 with me so that was my best camera!

I walked around, trying to find an angle to see the two locomotives from VIA 2. The CN track is higher than the land around it so it's hard to find a spot where you aren't looking up a hill at the trains.

I found a spot where I could scramble up a snow-covered hill to get close to level with the tracks. There's a fence here, so I held my phone up to the fence with the lens between the wires.

VIA 6454 (closer) and 6458 in downtown Winnipeg at night

VIA 6454 still has its full "CANADA 150" wrap.

They sat there for a long time... or at least what seemed like a long time. It was pretty cold outside (-22C or -8F) and my fingers and toes were feeling it as I waited for them to couple up.

After 15 minutes, I decided to give up and find some warmth. As I walked under the overpass I spotted VIA 1 rounding the bend by the Shaw baseball park by the Red River.

VIA 1 Arrives

They paused before the overpass over William Stephenson Way (named after the famous spy who was one inspiration for James Bond, born in Winnipeg). I ran down to photograph them there.

In the photo below, notice the signals at the extreme left of the photo. That's probably why they stopped there.

VIA 6409 in Winnipeg

Note former "CANADA 150" locomotive VIA 6437 trailing. This locomotive still has the giant yellow VIA wrap but the red "CANADA 150" has been removed... at least everything but the "15"...

VIA 6437 in Winnipeg

They started to head into the station tracks as VIA 1's two locomotives finally backed toward their train. Maybe they lingered there for the crew to help line the switches?

VIA 1 arriving in Winnipeg - quite late

I walked under the York Avenue overpass to photograph them from the north side of the tracks.

VIA 1 and VIA 2 Meet

I wanted to get the two trains meeting, with the Museum of Human Rights behind as the background.. that would have been magic.

Yes, it sure would have.

Too bad my phone's battery died in the cold.

sigh

I'll just have to tell you what happened. VIA 2's locomotives backed onto the baggage car until it bumped, but they didn't couple. VIA 1 pulled up to overlap VIA 2's locomotives slightly, and one of the crew dismounted to line a switch to go into the station one track north of VIA 2.

It looked like a very tight squeeze to me, down on the road below, but I'm sure there was more clearance between the two trains than I saw. Regardless, VIA 1 pulled into the station very gingerly. No scraping noises!

Interlude

I had had enough of the cold and headed inside to warm my extremities and charge my phone.

As I walked away, I heard a "ding, ding, ding" of an engine bell. I turned and saw CCGX 4206 and CEMR 4002 - of the Central Manitoba Railway - running light to the east, exercising their running rights over CN as they returned to their yard in North Transcona.

VIA 2 left shortly after 7 PM, apparently as soon as they could after VIA 1 got in.

VIA 1 at the Station

Once my phone's battery charged up over 50%, I went over to photograph VIA 1 at the station.

VIA 1 at the Winnipeg, Manitoba station

That was it for me. I left the downtown at 8 PM and I saw on VIA's tracking site that VIA 1 left at 9:30 PM, only 9.5 hours late... so far.

I hope VIA can find a way to get the Canadian closer to schedule. The cold is not helping but I think it's CN's congestion that is really hurting VIA. I'm not sure what the short term solution for that is.

PS I caught a late VIA 1 two weeks ago at the station, also in bitter cold... I think the photo below is slightly better than tonight's. Better spotting by the crew for photography ;)

VIA 6459 and 6437 in Winnipeg, January 15, 2018

I wish I had managed to photograph the two trains at the Winnipeg station together - a very rare occurrence - but at least I saw it.

See Also

• Double-wrapped "Canada 150"
• VIA's Canada 150 Wrap Visits Winnipeg

A Different Perspective

"It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view." - George Eliot, "Middlemarch"

I've photographed VIA Rail's Canadian in Winnipeg many times... 131 times at the time of writing. That's a lot!

I've shot the eastbound Canadian, at many locations along its route out of Winnipeg, but there are a couple that I have shot at many times.

St. James Junction

VIA 1 passing a CN container train

When I first moved to Winnipeg I often photographed it at or near St. James Junction, because that was close to my office and I could spend my lunch time trackside catching VIA 1 and whatever else came by.

It was great because it was close and also because you could also see BNSF and CP there at times.

Diamond

The Canadian approaching Diamond

Once I started working from home, that became less convenient and I opted to shoot VIA 1 at or near Diamond, just west of Winnipeg on the Rivers subdivision.

I've written about Diamond a lot (even recently) and it is certainly my "go to" location.

Scratching the Itch

This past Thursday, I had the itch to try something different. I feel a bit stuck in a rut, creatively speaking, so I wanted to go to a new location that I'd never tried before. I pulled up Google Maps and looked at the route of the Canadian from Union Station downtown through Winnipeg and out past Diamond.

Route of the westbound Canadian through Winnipeg

The Canadian leaves Union Station at top right and rolls along the Red River, past Fort Rouge yard and the VIA Maintenance Centre, through Portage Junction, then past St. James Junction and Carman Junction out of the city. Around mile 10 (where they pass under the Perimeter Highway) they usually put the hammer down and accelerate up to 60+ MPH and pass Diamond and hurtle westward to Vancouver.

I feel I've covered that stretch from Diamond east to Portage Junction very well - maybe too well. There is a little bit between Waverley Street and Portage Junction that I haven't photographed much, but honestly I have tried it and I am not really that impressed by the possibilities there. 

A New Hope

How about here??

I did notice an intriguing section of track just south of Union Station that I had never photographed at before.

There is a walking path between the tracks and the Red River that seemed to come pretty close to the tracks, and it would be on the east side of the tracks for morning photography.

I asked on the RailsMBSK Facebook group and people seemed to think it was an OK location, but I was warned that there is a fence between the walking path and the tracks. 

Sunlight... Camera.. Action

On Thursday I arrived behind the Mulvey Flea Market off Osborne Street at about 11:15 AM. I parked, grabbed my camera bag, and walked down the path to check out the view.

There was indeed a chain-link fence between the trail and the track. It has a gate and it was wide open. I believe that fuel trucks use that gate to refuel locomotives here. I didn't go in.

I had prepared for this eventuality. I went back to my car and fetched a stepladder out of the trunk, then set it up by the fence and waited.

I had a few odd looks from the passing joggers and walkers, but that was it. As a railfan, I'm used to that.

It took about half an hour, but the first train was a big one. CN 3025 was leading what may have been CN 111.

CN 3025 approaching Subway in Winnipeg

I like the going away shot too.

CN 3025 approaching the Osborne Street bus rapid transit station

As I watched the containers roll by, there was time for a selfie.

There's always time for a selfie, right? ;)

I'm not quite sure what podcast I was listening to at that time....


The train had a mid-train locomotive, CN 2856.

CN 2856 in Winnipeg as mid-train power

Finally the end of the train came in sight, with a third locomotive pushing hard.

CN 2821 passing under the signal bridge

So that was exciting!

I picked up my stepladder and did a little more scouting, looking for different angles or better locations. I strongly considered a location further east, across from the apartment building visible above, but in the end I ruled it out. It wasn't bad but it didn't "feel" right.

Not quite

I went back to where I shot the CN train and waited for VIA.

I didn't bring my scanner - I hardly ever do - and so I was reduced to listening for locomotive noise and obsessively checking VIA's web site to see if the departure time for VIA 1 had been updated.

In the end my listening was what alerted me to the approaching Canadian, as VIA's web site wasn't updated in time.

VIA 1 leaving Winnipeg

Just a bit of fence in the shot...

I was being adventurous and recording video with my iPhone while snapping photos with my camera. I've tried doing both before, with mediocre results, but I felt confident that day for some reason.

I shot every car as it went by, to record the consist, and you can see my phone-holding hand in a few shots..

Taking video

Here's the video:


Like most Canadian photos, the going-away shot is just as good as the approach. Nothing like a PARK car to finish off a train!

Glacier Park on the rear

That was all of the time I could spend there, but I was pleased with the location and pleased with my photos. It's definitely a spot I could return to!

If you're interested, I posted some photos of the Manitoba Mega Train Show on one of my other blogs... lots of model trains and a great show!

VIA Plus One

On September 20 I went out to shoot the Canadian. It had been a "long" time since I last saw VIA 1 and I wanted to correct that. When I drove out Wilkes Avenue, I could see their headlights in my side mirror so I knew I had to be quick. I parked on the shoulder near Shaftesbury Boulevard and took the shot. Fortunately they were not going terribly fast.


I also processed this as black and white with a slightly different crop, just for the heck of it. Over on Google+ I asked which people liked more and most chose the colour version.


Here's the going away shot.


Since it was so bright, I shot at 1/800s shutter speed so everything is nice and sharp. I've found in the past that I did not set the shutter speed fast enough and I would get a tiny bit of blur, especially with the fast passenger trains. I also set my camera to center focus instead of using all of the focus points, and I think it helps avoid the "focus hunt" that dooms some shots.

After the Canadian ambled past, I hopped into my car and chased them. I easily overtook them before the Perimeter and proceeded out on the gravel road. Unfortunately for me, someone had dumped some new gravel on the road and it made it treacherous to drive more than about 60 km/hr there (limit: 90) so I decided I had to take my next shot quickly. I went onto Hall Road and took video there.


After that I chased on after them but they did not stop at Diamond, so there was no catching them. I saw fellow railfan Brian S. out there, so we had a good chat about train shows, idiot railfans and Eric Gagnon's upcoming book. Soon enough, a westbound CN container train came into view so we shot that too.


CN 2676 splits the westbound signals at mile 14.4. CN 8022 was in the middle of the train and CN 2281 was on the rear.

Buh-bye!

Activity in Thompson!

I mentioned in my last post about Thompson that Wednesday (March 7) was a busy time in the train yard.

First thing in the morning, this engine was at the north end of the yard.


HBRY 3001 is obviously an ex-CN unit, based on the sergeant stripes. It's a GP40-2LW. I didn't have time in the morning to do more than take this shot... oh, and this shot of caboose HBRY 79851.


It was coupled to a boxcar and some trailers-on-flatcars.

At noon I went back to the yard because I knew the VIA train should be there. Little did I know there were... *two* VIA trains.


I *think* this was VIA 692 from Churchill. It was backed right up to the south end of the yard. It was the standard length, two engines, baggage car, two coaches, diner, and Chateau car.

As I watched, Château Verchères was backing up on the same track.


They pulled up to within a couple of car lengths of VIA 6405, then the step boxes came out and passengers disembarked.

I walked the length of the first train to get the full consist and then did the same with the newly-arrived train. Here's its consist.


VIA 6409 was the lead engine on that train.


They had seen a fair bit of snow and ice on their trip...


I didn't have time to hang around (again) but it was nice to see those trains there... given that I've seen them often enough in Winnipeg.

I came back late in the day and HBRY 3001 was still there, down by the yard office and coupled up to the caboose and a few cars.


The light was failing and I had to go (story of my life) so that was the end of my train day in Thompson. I'm glad I saw what I did!

Bathurst and Miramichi

There was no power in the Bathurst yard this morning either. I wonder if the switcher is still stationed in Bathurst now that Smurfit Stone is shut down?

Speaking of Smurfit Stone, their snowplow is in their outside yard with no other railcars visible inside or outside the fence.

I just saw the tail end of VIA 14 at Belledune at 0846. I proceeded to the same location I was at last night to wait for them to leave the station. While I waited, another railfan showed up, David Chiasson. As it happens, we were about to take a photo at the same location as one he has on Railpictures.net.

VIA 14 passed under us at 0929 with 6409, 6424 (Spiderman) and 6403 (CBC) leading 17 Renaissance cars, one Park car, and 5 more Renaissance cars. I presume the extra Ren cars are going to IRSI for maintenance.




Later in Miramichi, I noticed that the NBEC RS-18s were still sitting at Ultramar around 1130. There were four cars at the LaFarge cement plant, but they weren't the usual cylindrical CN cars. The RS-18s were gone from Ultramar at 1330.

NBEC 402 arrived in Miramichi at 1340, with CFMG 6906, NBEC 4214, NBEC 4210, NBEC 6900, and SFEX 4204 heading up 27 cars (about 5 boxcars and 5 tankers, plus the 17-car TankTrain). It seemed like a lot of power for a smallish train, until I saw the crew setting 4204 off and moving from 6906 to 6900. I guess 4204 is going to IRSI as well.



There were several MOW trucks at McGivney around 1530.