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.
On Saturday I spent an hour or so prowling around the Canadian Pacific Railway yard in downtown Winnipeg. Regular readers know I railfan CN much more than CP so I try to visit CP when I have spare time.
I started off at the east end of the yard, where I found CP 5863 and CP 1550 shunting. I mentioned CP 5863 before as one of the two SD40-2 engines that still has a multimark.
The real prize, though was CP 8904, one of the shiny new ES44ACs delivered to Canadian Pacific this year. This is the first time I've seen one of the 8900 series.
CP 8904 and CP 9682 pulled away almost as soon as I arrived, pulling a grain train out of the yard.
Right after that, CP 8798 and CP 8548 pulled up. I took a few shots and then I went to the Salter Street bridge. It has been years since I've taken any photos from that bridge. Normally I like the Arlington Street bridge more, but I thought I'd go back to Salter Street.
There were a few switchers parked between the two bridges at the fuel stand. CP 1530, 1532 and 1597 are all visible in this photo.
On my right, I saw CP 1540 pulling a cut of cars through the yard, so I jogged over to get this overhead shot of 1540 and 1585.
After they passed, I returned to my car and drove over to shoot the engines at the shop. There were quite a few engines there... SD40-2s, including three "red barn" SD40-2F units; SD90s, ES44ACs (including shiny new CP 8903), and a few GP9s.
Here's "red barn" CP 9010. I've heard from people that work at the shops that these SD40-2Fs are a real pain in the neck. I just like the look of them.
Dual-flag SD40-2 CP 5936 was also there. The paint is looking a bit shabby now.
After I did my photo inventory, I heard horns from a train approaching from the south. I figured it was a train on the La Riviere subdivision, so I drove over to take a quick video. It turned out to be CP 8251 and CP 1587 running light.
I was just about out of time, so I returned to the east end of the yard to see CP 8798 now coupled up to a train. They started rolling and scared off a few Canada geese.
I was bored Saturday afternoon, so the kids and I went out to do a bit of shopping and to see some trains. The weather was somewhat rainy but that didn't deter me.
First we went to Symington Yard. As I crossed the southern tip on Fermor, I saw a train approaching the yard from the Sprague subdivision. A quick trip down Symington Road by Grand Prix Amusements brought me to the tracks. CN 7522 and 7521 were working the hump yard to my right.
SD60F CN 5532 was the sole power on the grain train coming off the Sprague subdivision.
I took video with my Canon T1i but I had the long lens on... you can really see the lack of image stabilization in this video.
We headed up to see what was going on with CEMR and CP in Transcona. CEMR was quiet, with 4010, 4013, and 5232 all stored behind the shops and the Brandt unit in front with some other power.
I drove around a bit and found CP 9142 East stopped just west of Redonda Street, under the Perimeter Highway. After a few minutes, they started up and rolled into Winnipeg. CP 9103 was the second unit.
At this point the rain broke. A beautiful rainbow came out. In fact, it was a partial double rainbow. I mean, it was no double rainbow, all the way but it was still pretty.
After 9142 West passed, a local with CP 3065 and venerable GP9u CP 8251 rolled up with a transfer train.
They pulled almost all the way through the crossing, then backed up into the CP Transcona Yard. Here's the video of their backup move.
but I had the long lens on... you can really see the lack of image stabilization in this video.
