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

VIA's Canada 150 Wrap Visits Winnipeg

Canada 150

This year is Canada's 150th birthday, thanks to the British North America Act passed on July 1, 1867 (fun fact: there were more Acts after that, mostly revisions to add more provinces and territories). VIA Rail is wrapping some of its locomotives and cars to commemorate the occasion. Some don't like the wraps, but they're different and we railfans like unusual things.

A few VIA locomotives have already been wrapped, but they are P42 locomotives that don't leave the Ontario-Quebec corridor, so nobody outside those two provinces will see them. VIA wrapped the first F40PH-2 locomotive, VIA 6454, and sent it on the Ocean to the Maritime Provinces.

A few railfans tipped us westerners off that VIA 6454 was going west on the Canadian.

Coming

Acting on that hot tip, I set out early Thursday morning to try to catch VIA 1 coming into Winnipeg with the first "CANADA 150" wrapped locomotive, VIA 6454, leading. I got up at the crack of 5:45. A quick check of VIA's web site showed the train was an hour late, so I hit the road after a quick shower and breakfast toward Dugald and points beyond.

No green signals were seen as I rolled through Dugald. I liked how this signal looked so I stopped to take a photo.

I parked at one rural crossing just east of town. After fiddling with my phone for a bit, I decided the angles weren't great so I relocated. MISTAKE.

As I came up to the tracks a few miles east, I saw headlights bearing down on me.

Quickly I slapped my tripod down, mounted my trusty old Canon S3, aimed it vaguely toward the tracks, and turned the video recording on.

I fumbled with my DSLR as the train rolled by, totally missing focus and not getting a single frame of the train.

I said a few choice words - caught on video but later cropped out - and threw everything in the car and set off in hot pursuit.

I know it's not level - I was lucky to have it pointed at the train at all!

Sadly I was unable to catch VIA 1 and I gave up the chase.

Going

As noon approached, I resolved to do a better job documenting the event. I headed to Carman Junction, where CEMR's tracks diverge from the CN Rivers sub. There's a nice little bend there where you can shoot straight east.

Going Once..

After a short wait, I saw headlights in the distance and got excited, but it turned out to be CN 8011 leading a 2+1+1 container train west.

In the weeds - CN 8011 in Winnipeg

That was OK, but not the Canadian!

I was messaging with Jack Hykaway, who told me that VIA 1 was stopped at Subway. A message that the Canadian got a yellow signal was a welcome sign!

Going Twice..

Headlights in the distance again! Turn on the video camera, raise the "big gun" lens, and... containers. Another CN intermodal. Hello CN 8864... must be SD70M-2 day.

This train crossed over from the north to the south track in the distance, then rolled past me with a healthy dose of Canadian Tire containers.

Red red red - like a Taylor Swift song

Again, nice, but not the Canadian.

My old Canon S3 was doing video duty on the tripod.

The Camera Eye

Hot on the heels of 8864's train was another headlight... FINALLY VIA!

Score!

The silver nose of VIA 6454 was a welcome sight after the squat red noses of the SD70M-2s. My plan was to shoot them head on with my DSLR, then drop that and shoot each car with my iPhone while my video camera rolled on. Too ambitious? We'll see!

Here it comes!!

I clicked and clicked as 6454 approached, scaring a bunch of birds as it rounded the bend on the north track.

Boo!

As 6454 filled my lens, I dropped the DSLR - believing utterly in my camera strap - and banged away with the iPhone to document the consist. A quick swivel to capture Kootenay Park trailing the train and then VIA was gone.

Not bad for a phone shot!

I threw everything in the car and took off in pursuit mode, hoping that they would get a stop signal due to the two intermodals they were following, but that wasn't to be. I roared past Mark Perry and his trusty red truck, trying to catch up to VIA as she was catching up to the second intermodal train. I realized quickly that I wasn't going to catch up on the unpaved road, but VIA was passing CN as they both raced west.



I gave up the chase and turned around to go chat with Mark for a few minutes before heading home, SD cards full and a big grin on my face.

The consists

First CN Train

• CN 8011
• CN 2609
• CN 8829 (DPU in middle)
• CN 8947 (DPU on rear)

Second CN Train

• CN 8864
• CN 5761

VIA 1

• VIA 6454
• VIA 6428
• VIA 8604
• VIA 8123
• VIA 8500
• VIA 8332 Laird Manor
• VIA 8330 Hunter Manor
• VIA 8314 Cameron Manor
• VIA 8401 Acadian
• VIA 8311 Burton Manor
• VIA 8227 Chateau Varennes
• VIA 8708 Kootenay Park

Lessons Learned

• Pick your spot and STAY THERE
• You can't get every shot - I don't have any side shots of 6454 yet
• Take a second opportunity if you can

See Also

• VIA's "Canada" 150 Wrap Sucks!
• VIA Rail's Canada 150 Video
• VIA 6454 Arriving in Moncton, NB
• VIA 916 in Ingersoll, ON

Recent Canadians

Here's a couple of Canadian trains I saw recently. I have to credit David Morris for encouraging me to get out and shoot, because he does love the stainless steel and enjoys receiving my photos. David is a passenger train "nut" and is a good resource about the Atlantic and Ocean, but more importantly he is a good friend. I'm happy to do it.

OK, first train - Thursday's Canadian with a little surprise on the head end. I went out to St. James Junction to shoot this one, and chatted with a couple of railfans who were already there. When I saw VIA 1 in the distance, I knew they had a couple of deadhead cars, just by the height of them.


Note how the two Canada Geese photobombed me!

The two Rocky Mountaineer cars were RM 3213 and RM 9523.


While tagging this post, I realized that this was not the first time I've seen RM 9523. I saw it on April 14 2011, also westbound on the Canadian. VIA 1 looked a little different that day because it still had the unrefurbished engines on it.

The background is different, too, because a small strip mall has sprung up on the north side of the tracks since spring 2011.

Saturday's Canadian was a pretty normal one. I shot it at Carman Junction at mile 8.2 of the CN Rivers subdivision. CEMR's track can be seen branching off to the right. Note the "Clear to Stop" indication on the right (south) track. I didn't stick around to see what was coming next.




Here's the video. It's quite low because I only had my GorillaPod tripod with me... use what you have!


In doing a bit of Googling for this post, I stumbled across this lovely blog post referencing Carman Junction. A photo by frequent commenter (and blogger) VW Busman was prominently featured. Check it out!

Busy Times at St. James Junction

I went out on Thursday, February 9, to shoot the Canadian at St. James Junction. There was another vehicle there already, with two railfans in it, brothers I have met before. We had a brief chat but it was interrupted by two trains arriving at once - BNSF 2968 returning from Fort Rouge and a CP local train heading north on the La Riviere subdivision. I chose to focus on the CP train and saw old friend CP 8251 leading.


It is challenging to shoot a northbound CP train here as the sun is over the engineer's shoulder. Of course I also got the shadow of the signal protecting the diamond on the engine... sigh.

Here's the video of the same train.


I chatted for a bit in the cold and finally saw headlights coming from the east. There was the Canadian, maybe 10 minutes late.


As the train passed, I shot each car to record the consist in my database. I quite liked my shot of the Skyline car, VIA 8504, and turned it into a black-and-white shot.




VIA 1 quickly receded into the distance and I hit the road.

VIA Plow Train

David Morris chased the Ocean and Chaleur a few times in February and sent along these shots of the trains plowing snow.

First, here's the Ocean at Nigadoo, NB.


Next, the Chaleur plowing a crossing at Escuminac in Quebec.

Hopefully he didn't get too wet after this shot!

Here's the same train at Anse a Beaufils.


They met the real plow at New Carlisle, propelled by SFG 1856, the former NBEC 1856.