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!

More Rocky Mountaineer Cars

I had a tip that Thursday's Canadian would have a couple of Rocky Mountaineer cars, so I went out at noon to see them. It was another beautiful but cold day. When I arrived at Wilkes Avenue I saw an eastbound freight train stopped a little west of St. James Junction. The power was SD60 CN 5506 and Dash-8 BCOL 4618. Old power!

BCOL 4618 has been repainted in CN colours.

BCOL 4618 in Winnipeg

The number sounded familiar, so I looked it up after and I realized I shot this unit in her BC Rail colours back on August 21, 2009.

BCOL 4618 still in BC Rail colours

I went over to the Junction and waited with another railfan for the Canadian. It was about 10-15 minutes late.

VIA Rail with Rocky Mountaineer cars

The lead Rocky Mountaineer car was RMR 9523, a dome car built by Colorado Railcar.

RMR 9523, Rocky Mountaineer

Trailing that was Rocky Mountaineer 5506, a former CN/VIA Dayniter.

Rocky Mountaineer #5506

That was fun!

VIA Rail "going away"

Shortly after the Canadian left, the freight started rolling. It turns out it was CN train 852.

CN 5506 in Winnipeg

While it was rolling by, CN 101 passed on the north track. CN 852 had to stop because 101 was crossing over from the south to the north track in front of 852.

Another nice day for photos and video.

See Also

• VIA Rail with Rocky Mountaineer car
• More Rocky Mountaineer cars