Encounter at Beach Junction

VIA 1 passing through Beach Junction

I decided to capture the Labour Day VIA Rail "Canadian"... but I didn't want to go out to Dugald or Anola like I had been doing. I wanted to try something... different.

As I scrolled through Google Maps, following the route of VIA 1, I found the highway overpass near Beach Junction and the north entrance to CN's Symington Yard. This overpass is where the 4-lane Lagimodiere Boulevard crosses over the two-track CN Redditt subdivision.

Looking at the satellite view, I saw that the shoulders on each side were really wide - more than a lane's worth - so I was not very concerned about safety from the cars zooming by at 80+ km/hr. You have to watch that with overpasses - some of them have very little space between the cars and the guard rails. Safety first!

There's no place to park on the overpass, but there are side streets nearby, and I don't mind walking a bit.

My alarm went off at 6:03 AM on Monday morning, and I hopped out of bed and checked VIA's web site to see where VIA 1 was. It was approaching Elma, supposedly an hour away from Winnipeg, so I had lots of time. I quickly dressed and grabbed my Lowepro SlingShot 102 AW and hit the road. I normally bring my AmazonBasics camera bag, but since I knew I was going to be away from my car for an extended period, a small camera bag seemed more appropriate.

Waiting for the sun to rise

Within 20 minutes, I was "on station". It was a chilly 8 degrees Celsius, and I was glad I wore a light coat. I was wishing I had brought my gloves, too!

The First Train

I noted there was an east-facing CN train stopped just west of the overpass, just before Panet Road. These days, CN's trains pause a bit as they wait for their turn to enter a yard or proceed farther down the line. That's the curse of having so much traffic...

Eventually that train started to roll forward, and I took a few photos as they rolled under me and proceeded into Symington Yard.

CN 2438 and 2023

It was a nice cowl leader - a Dash-8!

After nine minutes, the tail end passed me and they curved around into the yard.

Round the bend

It was not long before the second train came along... and the third.

The Second and Third Trains

I saw a train coming out of Symington Yard, led by CN 2951. I decided I would shoot video, to show the train squealing around the curve and onto the main line.

I was glad I brought my monopod, as I could record the train easily without too much camera shake or strain on my arms. As I kept recording, I heard another train behind me, and after about 4m 45s after I started recording, CN 2596 East rolled past on the north track and went into the yard.

It was really cool to see the two trains passing on the curve. They almost looked like model trains!

The Fourth Train, and a Friend

CN 8833 East

It was a container train, crossing over from the north to the south track - and carrying on past the yard.

Just before this train showed up, I received a message from Mark Perry. In the past few weeks, Mark and I have both gone out to photograph VIA 1 coming into the city, both in the same area, but we never ran into each other. It's been amusing, really. Anyway, he messaged me asking if I was out shooting VIA. I replied and told him where I was, and he said he'd be there shortly.

Note the track curving off to the left in the photo above. That's the CEMR Pine Falls subdivision, leading to their yard on Day Street. The Central Manitoba Railway runs down that track onto CN and then into Symington to interchange cars with CN. They also continue west on the Redditt and then the Rivers sub to get to the CEMR Carman subdivision.

Here's a black-and-white photo, in homage to Mark, who likes black and white photos.

Black and white rules!

This was definitely "cowl day", with two cowl units on this train - CN 2418 and BC Rail 4601.

BC Rail 4601 and a CN cowl unit!

Mark drove by while the train was going by, and parked nearby. He walked up to the other side of the overpass and photographed the train going away.

Mark and the "going away" angle

There was a hot air balloon nearby. It would have been a great morning for going up!

CN and the hot air balloon

We had about a 25 minute wait for VIA 1 to arrive.

Mark is a great railway photographer. His photos and articles have been published in a number of books, and magazines such as TRAINS. I admire his work and his photographic style. I keep urging him to write a book but so far, he's not interested. I'll keep trying!

VIA 1

It's coming right for us

The "Canadian" came around the corner out of Transcona yard and started down the straight section.

I took a few overhead shots, then switched to the sun side.

The problem with shooting into the sun... dark nose

I suppose I could have stayed and kept shooting "head on" - I do like head on photos - but I had visualized the shot I wanted before I came to that location, and I wanted to get it.

Here it is.

The side glint

Three locomotives, four domes, stainless steel... I feel very lucky to be able to see this train.

Some day I want to ride this train

The only problem with this location is that the "going away" shot is no good... you can't sprint across four lanes of traffic and jump the giant gap in the middle between the pairs of lanes. Not safely, anyway.

Not a good "going away" photo

After VIA passed, Mark and I both packed up our gear and headed out. I had family stuff to do and Mark had to get to work!

Post Game Analysis

Overall, I was very pleased with that location. I feel it has a lot of potential for overhead shots, which are certainly in short supply in the Winnipeg area. You can see signals to the west, which are very helpful for knowing when a train is coming. Parking is available at the mall or nearby side streets.

The only downsides I see are that you can't switch sides easily, and you are definitely in the public eye when you're up on the overpass in such a high traffic area.

I'll probably be back!

It was great to see Mark again and finally meet up after a few inadvertent joint VIA photo sessions.

See Also

• 10 Questions for Mark Perry
• Drama at Diamond
• 150 Canadian Railfans that Inspire Me

Drama At Diamond

Diamond Darkened Dome Drama?

Mark Perry and I both photographed at Diamond one day last week, so with his permission I thought I'd share our stories together. His text is in italics and the post title came from Mark.

Mark: Wow, whoever says Winnipeg is boring for railways is crazy!

I had in mind a shot of the tail end of VIA 1 leaving the city this afternoon so I headed west. Stopped in at St. James Jct for a quick look, BNSF sitting there waiting to get into Fort Rouge, a southbound CP Altona WF coming, CN 101 heading west, what to do?

I had a brief look but did not do any shooting. Instead I jump back in the truck and head west following Q101. Guy is going like hell, his head end beats me to Diamond (sadly no Mayor around today).

Steve: I was itching to get out and shoot some trains. I checked the VIA Rail tracker and saw that VIA 1 was on time, so I hopped in my car and headed to Diamond outside Winnipeg. As I approached Wilkes Avenue from the south, I saw a westbound CN intermodal train also heading toward Diamond.

I was able to get in front of it pretty easily and decided to catch it "splitting the signals" just west of Diamond. That was CN 101 in its typical 1+1+1 configuration with CN 2851 / 3018 / 3118.

CN 101 with the air conditioning on, splitting the east-facing signals at Diamond.

There is a railfan standing on the CP crossing in a silver car shooting, he wants to shoot the tailend DP unit going over the diamond. Hell I'm going to ruin his shot, so I slam on the brakes so I don't wreck his shot!

As I positioned myself to shoot the trailing unit crossing the diamond, I saw a truck driving up and it sure looked like I was going to get skunked. Thankfully it was Mark Perry and he paused long enough for me to snap the crossing.

My photo of CN 3118 trailing on train 101 at Diamond. The shadow of Mark's truck is visible at far right!

Soon the steel diamond stops hammering with 700 wheels and I see it's Steve Boyko! First words out of his mouth are "I hear a horn, I think the CP is coming!" Sure enough here comes a GP38-2 and a GP20ECO and a string of empty hoppers headed south to Elm Creek.

I agree that the first words I said to Mark probably were about the CP horn I heard as CN 101 was passing. Sure enough, there were headlights on the CP Glenboro sub but the train stopped a long way away.

Well what to do? Head west for my tail end shot of #1 or shoot the CP coming across the diamond? 

Well maybe the CP is going across first so I can bag him and then head west.

No sooner did I think that, here comes #1's headlight on the north track, okay we stay put at the Diamond.

The next train up was VIA 1 and I shot the "Canadian" splitting the east facing signals. The train had four deadhead cars on the head end with Kootenay Park on the rear.

VIA 1 at Diamond

Steve shoots the head end as I shoot the tail end.

VIA 1 heading west out of Winnipeg. Mark Perry photo.

5 minutes later the CP pounds the diamond and heads south.

CP 3063 has the green light to cross the diamond. Mark Perry photo.

Next was CP, with a Geep and an Eco unit (3063 / 2220) pulling some grain mtys for elevators along the line.

Same train, different photographer. :)

I took a few shots as they rolled on past, then Mark and I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Good times.

It was -1C and sunny in the city, it was still -1C at Diamond but the Mayor asked for winds and they were out there in FULL FORCE. No time for chit-chat, we were freezing our balls off and off to home we went...

Danger, Will Robinson!

Time to say our goodbyes

See Also

• 10 Questions for Mark Perry
• Diamond Is My Best Friend
• Crossing At Diamond

10 Questions For Mark Perry

Railroad magazine used to have a regular feature highlighting an "Interesting Railfan". I thought I would run a similar series with some railfans who have agreed to participate. I'm asking each railfan 10 questions, some standard and some customized for the particular person. I hope you enjoy it.

Mark Perry is a professional railroader and a long-time railfan. His work has appeared in several places, including Greg McDonnell's great book Wheat Kings. Mark was kind enough to agree to be the third in this series (see all).

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

53 years old, father of two boys, born and raised in Winnipeg MB, work for CN as a locomotive engineer, been there 36 years.

2. What do you like to photograph besides trains?

Pretty much any subject that catches my eye, but I do shoot a lot of Ukrainian Churches across the Prairies.

3. Where’s your favourite place to railfan?

Anything on the prairies in Canada and the USA

4. If you could railfan anywhere, anytime, where and when would it be?

India, early morning or late evening in the summer.

5. What’s your favourite railway?

Nothing in particular but I do like shortlines and industrials the best.

GWWD and sunflowers. Photo by Mark Perry

6. When you were still shooting film, did you shoot slides or film? Why?

35mm slide film, either Kodachrome or Fujichrome. It was way better than grainy print film.

7. Did you ever experiment with video?

No, not really, maybe a little bit on my cell phone. I do not even know how to shoot video with my Nikon DSLR’s!!!

8. What’s the one thing you would recommend to any budding railfan?

If you can and you are safe to do so, always get closer to a subject. As well use a tripod for a large lens and never be afraid to try something different.  Everyone can shoot a "Plain Jane" photo, but it’s that one killer different image that always stands out in peoples' minds.

9. Does working for a railroad diminish or increase your interest in photographing trains?

I’m not sure. Working for the railway certainly got me opportunities to take photos that otherwise were unobtainable.

10. Do you have any projects you’re working on or planning for?

A story for Kalmbach’s annual LOCOMOTIVE magazine and scanning the Peter Cox slide collection.

You can find Mark at:

• His Flickr page
• His 2013 "365 project"
• His slide shows

Thanks, Mark! Follow this link to see more "10 Questions" posts.

The CN Christmas Train

I mentioned that CN was running a Christmas train in Winnipeg this year. Well, here it is.

This train was organized by local CN people and will visit Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Edmonton to carry CN employees and their families. Funds raised will benefit local charities. The Winnipeg runs raised $11,000 for the Christmas Cheer Board!

Mark Perry posted some photos in the RailsMBSK Facebook group. You have to be a Facebook member to see them.

The train had E9 CN 103 providing head-end power, four rented VIA coaches, and CN 8925 did the heavy lifting.

I almost missed this train. It was scheduled to run from Symington Yard in Winnipeg out to Diamond on the CN Rivers subdivision and back, twice a night. I went up to Carman Junction to wait for the train. Fortunately I had my scanner with me and I heard CN 8925 mention they were at Waverley - a few miles east of my location. I hotfooted it (OK, drove) over to Waverley Street and I found them just west of the road, waiting for CN 315 to pass. They had to wait for 315 because it was crossing over from the south to the north track in front of them. Once 315 went by, they headed west back to Symington and that's where I filmed them.

CN 5735 was the lead engine of 315 and that was the night photo I was processing earlier.

Taylor Woolston also caught the train, a day later than I did.

PS time is running out to buy a train calendar or grain elevator calendar in time for Christmas!

Photos of New NB Southern Slugs

Railway photographer Mark Perry photographed two of the CN slugs purchased by NB Southern in Winnipeg and gave me permission to post them here. Thanks, Mark!

By the way, Mark has some great photos up on Flickr and a book. Check them out!



Note the raised headlights on ex-CN 269, absent on 501. As I said before, the 2xx series slugs seem to be used for road service and industrial switching, not for humpyard work, so they need visible headlights for crossings.



You can read about the slugs that NB Southern purchased.

Distributed Railfanning

Remember I posted that I saw the Hudson Bay yesterday? Well, it turns out that two other Manitoba railfans saw the same train, farther along the line.

Mark Perry saw it next in Dauphin, MB, still on time.

Next, Clayton Chaloner saw it in Grandview, MB in fading light.

Here is the video I took of the train in Winnipeg.


For some reason, this reminds me of the July 2006 VIA detour on the Napadogan sub. I had shot the westbound Ocean in Moncton, not realizing it was about to detour over the Napadogan subdivision due to a derailment in St. Noel, Quebec. My good friend Peter Gough shot it in McGivney. It's always interesting to see other railfans' shots of the same train you saw in different locations.