Railfanning with Michael Berry, Part 3

Michael Berry and I went railfanning on Saturday September 3rd. Michael is from Montreal and wanted to experience Winnipeg's railfan scene. In part 1 we went to CN's Diamond and in part 2 we visited the Prairie Dog Central Railway. This is the third and last part of the story.

After we finished photographing the Prairie Dog Central's steam train, we drove back down the Perimeter Highway toward CN's main line. We wanted to catch VIA's Canadian out there and we didn't have a lot of time.

However, we were hungry.

Wizard Needs Food, Badly

Am I the only one here who played Gauntlet?

We stopped at the Tim Horton's near the raceway on Portage Avenue to grab a quick sandwich... so we thought. The lineup wasn't long but the service was quite slow... so slow that we had to ask if our orders had been forgotten. We were reassured that they hadn't.

Michael was checking the VIA web site on his phone and noted that VIA 1 hadn't left the Winnipeg station. Note that due to some quirk on VIA's site, you can't see VIA 1's status using their normal web site but you can see it on the mobile site. It's https://tsimobile.viarail.ca/ and it's important to include the "s" in https.

Eventually our food came, and we raced back to my car and hit the road. As we approached the CN Rivers subdivision, we saw a westbound intermodal train. We crossed over the train - thank you overpass - then set off in pursuit. It was clear that we weren't going to catch up to the head end, but the train had a DPU on the rear, facing the sun, so it was worth chasing to get that. We caught up to it just before Diamond and we bailed out to get the shot.

Trailing but still a worthwhile shot!

We hopped back in and chased it for a few more kilometres, to try to get it on the curve at mile 16. I like this photo because it shows the super elevation at the curve.

CN 2938, taking the turn

We left off the chase here. On our way back to Diamond we ran into Brian, the "Mayor of Diamond", and his girlfriend Deanne. I need her to convince my wife to accompany me on more railfan trips! ;)

After a brief chat with His Honour, we set up a little east of Diamond to get VIA 1 in the wide open spaces.

CN had other plans, though, and sent CN 347 along first.

CN 347

This train is an interesting one, certainly one of the most recognizable CN freights in the Winnipeg area. It always has a lot of empty centerbeam flatcars on it, empties going back to British Columbia for more lumber loads.

This CN 347 had CN 8924 and CN 5695 for power, followed by... nothing but centerbeam flats.

Grab a chair!

I noticed two discarded lawn chairs nearby and stood them up as props for this train. Something different...

Michael was a little closer to the tracks... though not as close as this might indicate.

Getting the shot

Empty car after empty car rolled by, seemingly without end. After what seemed like forever, but was actually only 3 1/2 minutes, the end of the train passed.

Finally, the end of CN 347

After that, things were quiet for a few minutes, until the next train came along...

The Canadian

VIA 1

Here's one little chair for one of you, and a bigger chair for two more to curl up in. For someone who likes to rock, a rocking chair in the middle. - The Friendly Giant

This was a good summer length train, two locomotives and 23 cars. It wasn't going as fast as I would have expected.

I was very happy with the going-away shot. Glacier Park was beautiful in the early afternoon sun.

One of the few trains that looks better leaving than coming

Railpictures.net liked it. They also liked Michael's version of the same shot.

Michael was listening on his scanner and he heard them call a "Clear to Stop" signal. I urged him to jump in the car and we set off in hot pursuit.

Normally you can't chase VIA 1 as it is rolling along at 60 MPH or greater, but with a "Clear to Stop" indication, they would not be going too fast. We hurtled along the dirt road, observing the speed limit, and overtook the train within a couple of miles. We jumped out to get the second series of photos.

VIA 6452 on the open prairie

There was a friendly table in the Acadian diner!

Friendly waves and intense focus

I found it interesting to contrast Michael's shot choices with mine. In general we never stood beside each other and took the same photo. He seems to prefer a more head-on approach whereas I like the wide open vista photos. Maybe it's a city versus prairie perspective?

After VIA 1 passed for the second time, we jumped back in the car and chased it for a few more kilometres. We came to the highway 424 crossing - with a stop sign - and I decided that would be it for the chase. We bailed out once more and I shot video at the crossing while Michael took some more photos.

That was the Canadian.

Over the Hump

We left Diamond after that, and as I was driving back toward where Michael was staying, we decided to take a few minutes to visit the hump at Symington Yard. This hump is one of the few hump yards still operating in Canada (CP's Winnipeg hump shut down several years ago) and there are usually three sets of power either at work or ready for work. This day was no exception.

A set with CN 7522 / 7511 was on the hump itself.

CN 7522 / 7511 on the hump in Symington Yard

Another set with CN 7500 / 7513 was sitting to the side.

CN 7500 / 7513 in Symington Yard

The third set was pushing cars over the hump. This was the set that Michael was really looking for, the one with three SD40-2 units! CN 6015 / 6005 / 6012 and 225 were well down toward Navin.

Slug and three SD40-2 units... what could be better?

While we were looking at the hump set, CN 3047 was pulling south/east out of the yard. We believe this was train CN 438.

CN 3047 leaving Symington

That was the end of our time together, and I dropped Michael off to meet up with his family and I headed home to my own family. Railfanning is fun but family is way more important!

Summary

We saw 7 trains over 6 hours, which is pretty good, I think. I hope Michael was pleased with his Diamond experience and I look forward to see more photos from him from this trip and from his normal Montreal railfanning! Thanks for reading and thank you Michael for the company and the experience.


Further reading:

• 10 Questions with Michael Berry
• Hump Yard Dogs
• Michael's Railpictures.net profile
• Back to part 1

Railfanning with Michael Berry, Part 2

Michael Berry and I went railfanning on Saturday September 3rd. Michael is from Montreal and wanted to experience Winnipeg's railfan scene. In part 1 we went to CN's Diamond.

Prairie Dog - this way!

The Prairie Dog Central

Michael and I left Diamond and headed north on the Perimeter Highway to see the Prairie Dog Central's steam train depart. They have numerous excursions from their station and each trip has a theme. You can always see what's coming up by going to https://tickets.pdcrailway.com/ and they even indicate whether it will be steam or diesel pulling the train.

This time it was a steam train, good old #3 ready to haul the ancient coaches to Grosse Isle and back. They had a long train this trip, with the normal four coaches 104-107, combine 103, the caboose, and even bunk car #110 behind the locomotive for some reason.

The Prairie Dog Central steam train

They have to have a "buffer car" between the steam locomotive and any passenger car, but normally the combine (seen above behind the water tank) provides that function as it doesn't carry passengers. I saw from other photos taken this day that the steam engine and #110 were turned together on the wye in Grosse Isle, so maybe the caboose was occupied and they needed 110 as the buffer when they headed back from Grosse Isle.

While we were waiting for the train to leave, we photographed some of the other equipment in the yard.

VLSX 5232

The PDC acquired ex CN SD40 #5232 from the Central Manitoba Railway in the spring of 2015. At that time it was in a faded CN "sergeant stripe" scheme. It was repainted this summer into a classy black and white scheme and this was the first time I had seen it in its new.. "colours" isn't the right word... in its new paint scheme.

VLSX 5232 in Winnipeg

It's now VLSX 5232, labelled for Prairie Rail Solutions, which is the freight arm of the Prairie Dog Central and handles car storage and other railway services. Both the PDC and PRS are owned by the Vintage Locomotive Society, which is where the VLSX reporting mark comes from.

I immediately thought it looked like the New Brunswick East Coast SD40 locomotives' scheme. Here's a comparison:

Comparing PRS 5232 to CFMG 6907

Both are ex CN SD40s. NBEC/CFMG removed the snow shields behind the cab and made some changes to the filters and doors to try to reduce snow ingress into the body. You can also see that 5232 still has her class lights above the number boards while 6907 did not.

For comparison, here's CCGX 5232 in July 2014.

CCGX 5232 in Winnipeg

By the way, the fine print under the cab window of 5232 says "Prairie Rail Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Vintage Locomotive Society Inc. Operators of the Prairie Dog Central Railway".

Anyway, tangent over - for now.

Other Equipment

ex Virginia Central #1238

We photographed the two ex Virginia Central steam engines that are stored at the PDC (ex CP 1238 and 1246). These came to Winnipeg back in September 2015 and have remained at the PDC since.

ex Virginia Central #1246, power car and ex BNSF 1685

I don't know what the plans are for these locomotives. The PDC does not own them.

You can see the freshly painted "genset car" #111 and ex BNSF 1685 in the row as well.

PDC's main diesel, #4138, was sitting out at the other end of the shops.

The high hood GP9s... ex BNSF 1685 and PDC 4138

As 11 AM approached, people started lining up to board the train. Tickets indicate which car you are on and the seat you're assigned to. If you go to their ticket site you can pick which coach and which seat you want... assuming it isn't already taken. It's pretty slick! They used to link out to Ticketmaster but I see their ticketing is now fully integrated with their web site. Nice work.

The crew did some final oiling of the locomotive before the trip to Grosse Isle.

Oiling the locomotive

The platform was emptied as people found seats, and there were only a few stragglers left on the platform when we took our final shots before getting ready for the pursuit.

The Prairie Dog Central at the Inkster Junction station

Smoking It Up

They made some serious smoke before getting under way!

Smokin' it up

The PDC's line goes north-south, and since we were shooting at 11 AM, the sun was right on the rear of the train, and high. This made head-on or near head-on shots impossible as they would have been terribly backlit. For example, even with heavy editing this photo isn't great:

Smo-o-o-ke on the prairie / a fire in the boiler

A Short Chase

We chased the train from the Inkster Junction station to the Perimeter Highway. That's a short chase - 4.5 km (2.8 miles) - but there's a dirt road paralleling the track and the train doesn't go very fast, so we were able to stop three times to shoot the train. I elected to shoot video.

Here's the train leaving the station. Lots of wind noise. :(

Round 2 - no crossing = no whistle here:


Round 3 - I elected to shoot this at the Lilyfield spur. The track in front is the track CN uses to service the nearby Paterson grain elevator.

Round 3.5 :) - we saw it was approaching the highway crossing and Michael wanted to catch it crossing there, so I stopped the car at the bend near the crossing and Michael jumped out to get the shot. I stayed by the car and photographed him photographing the train!

Michael at left capturing the ancient train with the modern crossing

That was it for us, as we had to get back to Diamond to get the VIA Rail Canadian. No rest for the wicked!

Bye for now!

Up Next

I'll wrap up this three-part series with a few CN trains at Diamond, along with VIA Rail's flagship Canadian, finally... with a little bonus action at the CN Symington hump yard.

NEXT POST

Back to part 1

Railfanning With Michael Berry, Part 1

Michael Berry at Diamond

Montreal railfan Michael Berry was in Winnipeg in late August / early September, visiting family with his wife and baby daughter.

He had been in touch with me prior to the trip, looking for some tips on railfanning locations, and we arranged to get together to railfan the Diamond area sometime during his visit.

The Plan

Sunrise near Dugald

Michael wanted to railfan the "famous" Diamond on the CN Rivers subdivision. We Winnipeg railfans often talk about Diamond on the RailsMBSK Facebook group and joke that one of the local railfans is the "mayor" if Diamond, as he is often found there, observing trains with his girlfriend.

Diamond is a good location because it has a lot of trains, it has wide open prairie and it's close to the city... and sometimes CP shows up for a cameo.

He also wanted to photograph the VIA Rail Canadian, which leaves Winnipeg at 11:45 AM (if it's on time) on Monday, Thursday and Saturday during the summer.

A "nice to have" for him was to photograph the Prairie Dog Central tourist train, which had a few departures at 11 AM... and the Central Manitoba Railway (CEMR) if it happened to be around.

Sunrise

Dugald - the start of a glorious day

We arranged for me to pick him up at 07:45 on Saturday September 3rd. I was up bright and early and decided to head out a bit early and catch the sunrise (and maybe the VIA Rail Canadian) at Dugald just east of Winnipeg.

The sunrise was pretty.

I was running a bit short of time but I saw the green signal indicating an eastbound was approaching. I drove just east of Dugald and saw a headlight approaching, so I decided to risk being a few minutes late picking Michael up to get the train. I figured Michael would understand.

CN 111 approaching Dugald

This was CN 2815 and 2927 leading train CN 111. I shot the DPU unit, CN 2821, at the highway crossing then headed into the city to pick Michael up.

Diamond

Old Diamond sign

I picked Michael up, exchanged pleasantries then we hit the road for Diamond. We crossed over a few empty tracks on the way around the Perimeter Highway before arriving at the CN Rivers subdivision. Everything was quiet there, so we took a brief detour over to the Assiniboine River to photograph the CP bridge there.

CP bridge over the Assiniboine River

We returned to Diamond to wait for a train... any train. The nice thing about the CN Rivers subdivision is that you don't have to wait hours for a train. We had arrived at Diamond by about 08:30 and our first train was at 09:30. It looked a bit... familiar.

We meet again, Mr. Bond.

CN 2815 and 2927 leading a container train... hey, that's the CN 111 I saw two hours before! I imagine they stopped in Transcona for a crew change and maybe some fuel, then carried on west to pass me again.

Since I keep talking about Diamond, I might as well show you the actual diamond... here's the DPU locomotive CN 2821 crossing the CP Glenboro subdivision.

CN 2821 crossing the diamond at Diamond

In about 15 minutes, another train came along. Fortunately this one came from the west, so the morning light was much better on this train. Michael positioned himself closer to the actual diamond than I did, and you can see his photo on Railpictures.net.

Here's mine, showing CN 318 splitting the east-facing signals.

CN 8893 and 2140 leading train 318 past Diamond

CN 8893 and CN 2140 were leading a longish manifest train. I amused myself by photographing a few of the freight cars, including these centerbeam flatcars carrying Tolko wrapped lumber.

Tolko, soon not to be made in The Pas

Tolko is topical because they've announced they are closing their mill in The Pas, Manitoba. They are the major employer in the town but unfortunately they haven't been able to make a go of it.

We waited for a while after CN 318 passed, hoping for another train, but nothing showed up except for another railfan. We chatted with him for a while but it was time to head up to the Prairie Dog Central for the 11 AM departure of the steam train.

That's in the next post... featuring the steam train, of course, more steam engines, and repainted ex CN 5232.

NEXT POST

10 Questions for Michael Berry

This series is modeled after the "Interesting Railfan" series in Railroad magazine from years ago. I'm asking each railfan 10 questions, some standard and some customized for the particular person. I hope you enjoy it. (See all in the series)

Michael Berry is a railfan based in Montreal. His photos have been published in several magazines and he is very active in social media. He's also a new father!

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Me on CP 9733 on display at
Exporail, July 24 2011

I grew up in Montreal West, which had and still has numerous CN and CP lines passing through it. The house I grew up in was just a block north of CN’s busy Montreal subdivision and a 5 minute walk from the AMT (ex-CP) Montreal West station, so I’ve seen and heard trains all of my life.

I’ve also taken AMT commuter trains off and on since I was a teenager (I currently commute to work on the AMT from Lasalle to downtown Montreal). On top of my passion for trains, I also have a huge passion for music (Rock, Soul, Blues, Country, etc.) and have a CD collection in the hundreds. I even work in the music industry, working in the licensing department of Stingray (http://www.stingray.com).

I’ve been married since 2012 to a woman whose father is an ex-CP employee. Our first vacation was to Train Festival 2009, I proposed to her at Exporail and our honeymoon was at Conway Scenic Railroad, so trains are an important part of our relationship!

2. Why do you like trains?

That is a good question, one I can’t completely answer! Growing up in Montreal West with trains everywhere, I have to assume it kind of rubbed off on me. I’m also a history buff, so that might be a factor as well, as railways have such a fascinating history (I have hundreds of railway books in my collection, as well as even more magazines, timetables, etc).

While I have been interested in trains since I was a kid, the bug really bit me in 2005, about the same time I got my first digital camera. I’ve been taking photos on a very regular basis since then.

3. Where’s your favourite place to railfan?

It’s hard for me to pick just one place. The Peel Basin near downtown Montreal is a nice location that I can go to on the way to work which allows for photos of a wide range of passenger trains with the skyline of downtown Montreal as a backdrop.

AMTK 68 by the Peel Basin, Montreal, July 17 2015

The Angrignon overpass over CN’s Montreal sub near Lasalle, Qc is a great spot (albeit somewhat difficult to access) which offers a nice vantage spot for eastbounds in the morning and westbounds in the afternoon.

CN 528 seen from the Angrignon overpass, Montreal, June 22 2014

Finally, I visit Exporail (The Canadian Railway Museum) very often, roughly once a month.

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

I’d have to go with Montreal in the mid to late 1950’s. You had a fantastic mix of steam and diesel, as well as locomotives from CN, CP, New York Central, Boston & Maine and Delaware Hudson.

A close second (and not in Canada, but close) would be the Rutland Railroad’s island-hopping line through Lake Champlain, whenever I drive through that area I can’t believe a railroad built a line there.

5. What’s your favourite railway?

My favourite railway is CP, the history and the allure of ‘the world’s greatest transportation system’ has always meant a lot to me, and there’s hometown pride in the fact that CP was based out of Montreal for 110 years. That being said, I photograph CN trains much more often than I shoot CP trains because CN runs a lot more trains in Montreal than CP does.

6. You’re very active on Railpictures.net. What are your best tips on how to get your photos approved there?

Before I answer that, I’d like to say that while getting photos approved by railpictures.net is sometimes a frustrating process (you know it! - Ed), the screening process has really helped make me a better photographer and a better editor of my photos (considering I didn’t edit them at all before!).

Montreal West station, November 8 2012

If you want to start getting photos accepted on their site, start with the basics, i.e. a sunny, 3/4 wedge shot where the train is not cut off. Also make sure that the photo is properly exposed. You don’t necessarily need a fancy editing program. I do all my editing in Iphoto, with simple things like adding contrast, leveling, sharpening, etc.

Finally, get used to your photos being rejected, probably a lot at the beginning. Don’t take this personally. Even I still get some of photos rejected. Most of the time the rejections are legitimate and fixing the photo will improve it.

7. What’s your workflow for processing and sharing your photos?

Well I’m not a patient person in general, so I’m impatient to upload my photos almost as soon as I get home and then share them on a number of sites. I often have more photos edited and ready to be uploaded then I want to upload in a day, so I have various folders with photos that are edited and ready to, but not yet uploaded. I upload to Flickr, railpictures.net, railpictures.ca and trainorders.com very often.

CP 133 at Dorval, June 9 2014

8. What gear do you use when railfanning?

I try to keep it relatively basic, I only have one camera body (a Nikon D5100) and an all-in-one lens (a Sigma 18-250 mm) and a scanner (Uniden BC125AT). I’ll usually have the latest copy of the Canadian Trackside Guide, some extra batteries and a meal/snacks with me depending on how long I think I’ll be gone.

9. What recommendations would you give to the beginning railfan to improve their photos?

Master the basics first - shoot the train with the sun at your back, don’t cut the train off if you can, make sure your shutter speed is fast enough to ‘stop’ the train. Once you have the basics, you can try more adventurous locations, angles, etc.

CN 368 on the CN Lac St-Jean sub, March 24 2014

10. How’s life with the new addition to the family?

It’s unbelievably great! My wife and I are so happy to have a healthy baby girl and we are both anxious to bring her to Exporail once the weather warms up!

Thanks, Michael, and best wishes to you, your wife and daughter! Remember that kids are great railfan companions...

You can find Michael at:

• Michael on Flickr
• Michael on RailPictures.NET
• Michael on Railpictures.ca

View all in the 10 Questions series