Two Trains

This is just a short post recounting the two trains I saw on Friday morning.

I saw train CN 111 rolling west along the CN Rivers subdivision just after 9 AM. It had CN 2274 in the lead.


One challenge with shooting into the sun like this is to avoid blowing the sky out with the high contrast between the dark train and the bright sky. Typically I would focus on the side of the train, which is much darker than the sky. I used the exposure compensation on the camera to step it down 2/3 of a stop.

CN 2529 was the second unit and has something odd on the side of the engine over the "5". Is it a rear-view mirror?


After the head end passed, I drove west to catch it again. I was surprised to see a train coming the other way. It turned out to be CN 102 and I had just a few seconds to pull over and shoot it.

Note the lack of any class lettering under the "5611" on the side of the SD70I.

I did get ahead of train 111 and shot it approaching Diamond.


I decided to do a pan shot of 2274 this time. I set the shutter speed to 1/80s.


After I watched the train pass for a bit, I saw the mid-train engine, CN 8938.


While I was in the panning mood, I shot this CN container. "We Deliver!"


The train rolled off into the distance, and so did I.

The Afternoon Meet

After my noon shooting of the Canadian and other trains, I went back to work for a few hours. On my way home, I decided to take a spin around Wilkes Avenue to see if I could catch a train. Right away I saw a potash train heading east into Winnipeg but I didn't see the head end. However, I *did* see that a westbound train was passing it. I was able to catch up to the head end around mile 7 but I didn't think I could get my car stopped safely at Carman Junction, so I carried on to the next crossing and parked and ran back to catch it.


This turned out to be CN 117. I got ahead of it and shot it on the open prairie just before Diamond.


Watching it pass, I noticed headlights coming the other way - a meet! I jumped back in my car and headed to Diamond but I missed the meet by just a bit. Here's the other train at Diamond itself.

Note the propane tank for the switch heaters.

I headed back east, and decided to try a few pacing shots. Out of a dozen or so, two turned out OK.


For my last shot, I stopped at Hall Road and got them before the Perimeter. You can see the late afternoon sun was against me in this photo.


It was a good end to the day.

My First Trains of 2013

The first trains I saw in 2013 were on January 1, in the morning. I was returning from taking someone to the airport and stopped at the CN Rivers subdivision to see if anything was coming.

I went out to Diamond, and the west-facing lights were lit. TRAIN! I went out to the curve west of Diamond and it was not long before headlights were visible to the west. They turned out to be on CN 8920 leading an eastbound intermodal (with IC 2699 and CN 2242). I took a few shots on the curve and then hit the road.

Fortunately they had a LIMITED TO CLEAR signal to cross over to the north track, so that slowed them enough for me to get ahead of them after Diamond. I took a few shots from the side and then leap-frogged them again.

Note the heavy frost on these engines, on the nose and on the louvres.

Once more I got ahead of them and saw they were meeting a westbound. I tried to gauge the meet as best I could and hopped out to get the shot.

The westbound was another intermodal train, with CN 2336, CN 2537 and pusher CN 8811 on the rear. I processed this in black and white to show the frost.

I sped ahead of the westbound to get this shot right at mile 7. Nice wave from the conductor!


Again I was able to get ahead of the train, just before Diamond.


Much to my surprise I saw an eastbound freight west of Diamond. I "shot the meet".


The intermodal had CN 8811 on the rear. Check out what is written in the grime between the engine numbers on 8811.

Yes, I'm 12 for noticing that and posting it. ;)

The eastbound freight sat there west of Diamond for quite a while, waiting for their light. I think it might have been CN 198 but I don't know for sure. The second unit was BCOL 4641 (in CN colours). After maybe half an hour they started up and crossed over to the north track.


I gave chase as usual. I got the next shot under the transmission line towers. I had been meaning to get a train here, and since I had shot CN 2291 a couple of times already I figured I could "waste" a shot to frame this up.

Right after that I was again surprised by another meet. A westbound intermodal met them near the Perimeter. The westbound was probably CN 101 and had CN 2296 on the head end, CN 8876 in the middle and IC 2709 pushing on the rear. I grabbed a quick shot of CN 2296 but I was able to get a better shot of the middle unit CN 8876 near mile 10.


Finally, here's IC 2709 heading west (left) and CN 2291 heading east (right).


So many meets!

Meet Me In The Middle of the Day

Meet me in the middle of the day
Let me hear you say, everything's okay
Bring me southern kisses from your room
Meet me in the middle of the night
Let me hear you say, everything's all right
Let me smell the moon in your perfume
  -- Romeo's Tune, Steve Forbert


Here's a meet that occurred in the middle of the (Thurs)day. I went out to shoot the Canadian and when I arrived there, I saw that a freight was approaching from the west. I set up my video camera and then shot a few photos of CN 106 approaching.


The engine is on top of Kenaston Boulevard / Route 90. Note my gloves and my scanner lying in the snow. I have to figure out a way to hang the scanner from the tripod.

They passed me on the north track and then slowed down and finally stopped.


I waited and was rewarded with the sight of VIA 1 in the distance through the blowing snow.


Another friendly VIA crew!


Here's a long shot as they went away. I'm really liking my Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS lens. It's much better than the Canon 75-300mm - well worth the extra hundred bucks.


After VIA passed, CN 106 started up again. I amused myself by taking this pan shot of CN 2252, the only DPU engine on the train. I liked how the snow went all streaky.


That was it for the noon meet... but I witnessed another meet later in the day. Next post!

404 on 4/04

I went out at noon Monday to shoot the Canadian. After a miserable rainy Sunday it was nice to be out in the bright sun. I set up just west of mile 10 at the Perimeter and I didn't have to wait long before VIA 1 came along.




You may know that VIA 6429 used to be the Telus unit. Here's the only time I saw it on the Canadian, back on October 19, 2009.

Now it's another refurbished unit. I think there are only two wrapped VIA engines left - Loto-Quebec 6414 and one Spiderman unit.

As you may have noticed in the video, VIA 1 called a "clear to stop" signal so they were set to stop at Diamond. I was quite surprised by this, so I jumped in the car and tried to get ahead of them. Unfortunately, due to the wet weather on Sunday the road was quite muddy and I couldn't get a decent speed on. They did stop briefly before Diamond before starting up again. I came abreast of them just west of Diamond and pulled over to get the going-away shot before they pulled away. I did notice that Strathcona Park was the trailing car.

Note the mud in the foreground!

I headed back through the mud at a more sedate pace. I heard CN 404 call a clear approach signal to Diamond, so I knew they would not be long. I set up to catch them at about mile 11 and here they are.

Matched GE ES44DC engines CN 2329 and 2339 provided the power.

It was nice to see CN 404 on 4/04!

Action at Carman Junction

Last Thursday (February 17) I went up to Wilkes Avenue to shoot the Canadian at noon. I shuttled around for a bit, trying to decide where to shoot it, and settled on Carman Junction. I hadn't shot right at the junction before.

Carman Junction is one of the many junctions in Winnipeg. This one is the junction between the CN Rivers subdivision and the CEMR Carman Subdivision. The CEMR line used to be a CN subdivision but was acquired by CEMR. In actuality the first 0.2 miles (the actual junction and the track across Wilkes Avenue) are still a CN subdivision and the rest is CEMR.

I set up just west of the CEMR track and waited for the Canadian to roll in. Here it is on the north track just passing through the signals at the junction.

VIA 6419 and refurb unit 6442 were pulling the usual winter consist of nine cars.

I had my old Canon S3 on the tripod for video.


I heard that CN 111 was going to be following VIA, so I waited around a bit for them to show up. They rolled by 10 minutes later at 12:31.

111 had CN 2253 leading and 8861 trailing, with 8803 as a DPU unit.

Sadly the batteries on the S3 didn't like the cold and were not cooperating for this train.

I like that spot!

A GE Kind of Day

I went up to Wilkes Avenue in Winnipeg to shoot the Hudson Bay on Tuesday. I did that, but first I saw a few CN trains... coincidentally with a preponderance of GE ES44DC engines.

First up was CN 304, shot just about at mile 10 on the CN Rivers subdivision. GE ES44DC CN 2221 led ex-BC Rail unit BCOL 4647 and a mixed bag of mostly paper products on the north track.


They passed CN 105, coming west on the south track. 105 was going slow because of track congestion further west. Of course 105 had an ES44DC on the point, CN 2275, but it had an ex-UP Dash 8 trailing, CN 2106.




I drove off before all 11,036 feet of train 105 rolled by. I drove around a bit looking for a nice spot to shoot VIA, and I was surprised to see eastbound headlights when I neared Carman Junction. This was a bit of a grab shot with no time to set the video camera up.

Naturally the leader of this train (CN 112) was a GE ES44DC, CN 2280, and the trailing unit was also a GE, CN 2307, running elephant-style.

After that, I did shoot the Hudson Bay and then headed out. That was enough GE for one day!

EDIT: Corrected second unit on train 304... it was not 4643, it was 4647.