The Grey Cup Train, Part 2

Following on my last post about the Grey Cup train, here are some photos of the interior and the festivities outside.

As I said previously, baggage car VIA 8615 had displays showing the history of (Canadian) football and equipment. The next car was provided by Canadian Pacific, CP 103, and contained displays about the Grey Cup game itself, including an extensive set of Grey Cup rings. This is Henry Burris' ring from the Calgary Stampeders' 2008 victory over Montreal.


Nearby was a ring from the Saskatchewan Roughriders from their 2007 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Photographing these was challenging because they were behind plexiglass, which is becoming quite scratched. This is Kent Austin's ring, who won the Grey Cup twice as a quarterback (SK, BC) and once as the head coach (SK).


There is a spot in the car for the Grey Cup to sit in, but as I said before, it was not on the train at this time.


The next car was another Canadian Pacific car, CP 104.


This car had displays for all of the current CFL teams. I tried to explain to this guy that he and his nephew were wearing jerseys for the wrong sport but he was having none of it.


Our Roughrider family had to pose at the Saskatchewan display.


At the end of the car, we faced this obstacle. No entry into the diner for us!


Here is the exterior of VIA 8412 / KENT. This is as far as we were permitted to go to photograph, so I did not get any photos of VIA 8502 or VIA 8208 / CHATEAU DOLLIER.


They did do a nice job decorating the cars.


Back outside the station, there was still a long line waiting to see the train. Note the Canadian Human Rights Museum in the background, still under construction.


We wandered around the displays for a while. Telus had a Fan Cup there, and there were hot dogs for sale, a football toss, a tackling area, and of course the Grey Cup.


We joined the line for the Cup and after about 15 minutes, we had our turn.


Thanks to the CFL, to VIA Rail, to Rona, and all the other sponsors for supporting this great train and display as it travels across Canada. Look out Halifax, the train is coming to see you next!

The Grey Cup Train, Part 1

On Saturday, October 6, I took my kids to Union Station in Winnipeg to see the Grey Cup train. It was scheduled to be open for viewing from 11 AM to 4 PM. We parked at 10;30 and the line was already quite long.


At 11 sharp they opened the gates and we started shuffling along. By 11:07 we were crossing under the entrance archway. They had quite a greeting party out.


The Winnipeg Blue Bombers cheerleaders were doing a great job welcoming everyone.




We lined up inside the station. As we slowly made our way through the station, VIA was calling passengers to board the westbound Canadian. It took until 11:43 until we climbed the inactive escalator to see the Grey Cup train on track 3. Here's VIA 6445 proudly at the head of the train.


You may remember that VIA 6445 was the lead engine on the Coors Light train too.


VIA 6445 was one of the last refurbished engines for VIA. I had expected that it would not be refurbished until after this gig, but it is obvious that it is a refurbished engine. In fact, you can see that they applied the Grey Cup decals right over the refurbished logos.


You can see the refurbished colours on the rear of the engine.


The next car was VIA 8615, and that's where we boarded.


Here's a sneak peek of what was in the car. VIA 8615 had an excellent display of the history of football, especially Canadian football.


On part 2 of this I will continue on through the two CP cars and then out to the Grey Cup itself, which was not actually on the train!

PS: Here's a great series of photos of the Grey Cup train when it was in Vancouver.

Grammar extra: Nothing drives me crazy more online than people using "sneak peak". This is wrong. It is SNEAK PEEK. Grrrr.


READ PART TWO

The Grey Cup Train Approaches

The Grey Cup train has been heading east for several days. The train has been traveling on Canadian Pacific Railway tracks and therefore had a CPR engine on the head end, CP 8711. The complete consist was:

• CP 8711
• VIA 6445
• VIA 8615
• CP 103
• CP 104
• VIA 8412 Kent
• VIA 8502 Skyline
• VIA 8208 Chateau Dollier

It arrived in Minnedosa, Manitoba on Wednesday, October 3 and John Longhurst was there to record it. His blog entry is here. Here's one photo from his blog entry.

CP 8711 and the Grey Cup train. Photo by John Longhurst.

It carried on to Portage la Prairie on Thursday, October 4 (a very blustery day) and Manny Jacob recorded it in great detail here and here. He got the shot I would have tried to get, the VIA Rail Canadian passing the Grey Cup train.

The Canadian passes the Grey Cup train. Photo by Manny Jacob.

Here's an excellent pacing video of the train between Red Deer and Calgary.

The train is open to the public at Union Station in Winnipeg on Saturday October 6 from 11 AM to 4 PM. I plan on being there for some of the festivities. Here's the complete list of stops. From Winnipeg the train apparently will be going directly to Halifax, Nova Scotia while the Cup will travel to Newfoundland before going to Nova Scotia.

What a Contrast

Here are two VIA trains from this week, and what a contrast between them!

First up was VIA 693 aka the Hudson Bay on Tuesday. We have some pretty nice autumn colours this year, and you can see them as VIA 6452 approached Shaftesbury Boulevard on its way out of town.


There was a brush fire a bit south of the tracks and the VIA crew were warned about the lack of visibility. The fire had been burning for a few days and Tuesday's high winds were not helping.


Fast forward to Thursday noon and it was snowing! The whole day was miserable with mixed snow and rain. I only shot the Canadian because I had to go out for an errand.


What a difference two days made.


Epilogue: The Grey Cup train was in Portage la Prairie today and hopefully the weather was a bit nicer there. John at the CP Rail Manitoba and Minnesota Sub blog caught the train in Minnedosa, and I plan on seeing it Saturday morning.

News On IRSI

The CBC is reporting that a deal has been struck to get some VIA railcars finished at the former IRSI facility in Moncton, New Brunswick.

14 railcars will be refurbished over the next 19 months. These 14 include 4 RDCs and 10 LRC cars. The work will be overseen by CAD Railway Industries, who certainly have the expertise required, given that they have been refurbishing VIA's locomotives.

IRSI will remain in receivership and the province will not recover its $20.5 million investment in the company and the VIA Rail project since it began in May 2009.

Wendell Lemon noted that there are 12 LRC cars (3303, 3310, 3320, 3321, 3326, 3327, 3330, 3332, 3345, 3362, 3452 and 3461) and 6 RDCs (6105, 6208, 6217, 6219, 6250 and 6251) in the shop at the moment. Presumably two of the LRC cars and two of the RDCs can be moved to another facility (CAD's?) to be completed. Thanks toWendell for this detailed information.

The whole thing is a darn shame for IRSI, for VIA Rail, for the province and especially for the workers. Hopefully some of them can get some work for the next year and a half.

Chaleur Update

This LaPresse article indicates that the VIA Chaleur Montreal-Gaspé train will not be going to Gaspé at all this year. There is a new provincial government in Quebec, and although the previous Liberal government promised $17 million to repair the bridges between New Carlisle and Gaspé, it remains to be seen if the new Parti-Québécois government will honour that commitment.

You may remember that it has been since mid-December 2011 that VIA went to Gaspé, and only since May 20 2012 that VIA has been going to New Carlisle.

The article has a lovely photo by Gilles Gagné showing a flatcar with a wind turbine blade (with an RS-18 peeking out behind it) and one of the SFG passenger cars destined for a future tourist train.

Beyond VIA Rail, other customers waiting to use the line are the wind turbine manufacturer in Gaspé and the aforementioned tourist train meant to partner with cruise ships.

Currently, VIA turns on the wye at New Carlisle, as shown in this great video by J.A. Berthelot. See my photo sequence of the same maneuver from a few years ago.


Be sure to check out J.A.'s other videos featuring trains from the Gaspé.

A Glimpse of the Essex Terminal Railway

I was in southern Ontario again last week and spent a bit of time one evening looking for signs of the Essex Terminal Railway. The ETR is a shortline that runs between Windsor and Amherstburg, Ontario. The Essex Terminal Railway theoretically runs from a point on the VIA (former CN) Chatham subdivision through to mile 19.50 after Amherstburg. The interchange with VIA is out of service, so it really starts at the Ford plant in Windsor at mile 0.25. They have a detailed history on their web site.

I visited their home area at mile 1.50. There is a four-stall engine house, a smallish yard and a concrete water tower there, as well as two cabooses ETR 1600 and ETR 1610. "No Trespassing" signs are prominent.


The engine house is the large white building in the background. I took this shot over a chain-link fence. Like I said, there are many "No Trespassing" signs and I did not want to trespass.


This was shot from Lincoln Road. If you want to go here, set your GPS to 1600 Lincoln Road in Windsor and it will take you right here.

Here's a somewhat side shot of ETL 1610. I know it says ETR on the side but the Essex Terminal Railway's reporting mark is ETL.


I did not see any locomotives at their home area. Perhaps some were in the engine house but there was no way to look in.

I drove down to Amherstburg to have a look around, and on the way I stopped at the large complex south of Windsor that includes Morterm, Ltd., a company that transloads between rail, truck and ship, as well as an ADM Limited grain elevator and other customers.

ETL #105 was sitting just outside Morterm and the port area. This engine is either an SW9 or an SW1200, depending on which source you look at.


The Essex Terminal Railway lists a complete roster on their site. In addition to #105, they have two GP9s, an SW14 and an SW1500. They also own a steam engine, an 0-6-0 built in 1923 that is resident in St. Thomas, Ontario and is undergoing restoration by the Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society.

They serve about 15 customers in Windsor and on the line between Windsor and Amherstburg. In Amherstburg they serve a BP site as well as Don Hearn and Sons Ltd., a freight shipper. The Trackside Guide lists four Alco locomotives for them and I believe I spotted #317, an S-3 built in 1953.


This is a much better photo of it. Note the baggage car behind it (again, better photo), former CP 4769.

I also saw this little old switcher at the ADM grain elevator south of Windsor, also served by the Essex Terminal Railway. This is a 25-ton Plymouth engine.

Again, here's a much better photo of the engine.

Myles Roach has a great album of Windsor railway photos.

Another Passenger Car for the NB Southern

The New Brunswick Southern Railway is getting another passenger car. "Table car" #508 was in Moncton, New Brunswick on Saturday evening, having arrived on CN 474 from Joffre Quebec where it has been since September 26.

#508 was originally built by the Canadian Car and Foundry company for CN as a coach. It was rebuilt into a 60-seat table car and was owned by the New York Susquehanna and Western. One end has a little snack bar area and it looks like it would be perfect for serving snacks on a little excursion.

I found this listing showing the car was listed for $33,300 and was sold. Judging by the photo of the shiny car, it seems to have weathered quite a bit before being sold again by Ozark Mountain Railcar to NB Southern.

This album (by Ozark Mountain Railcar, apparently) has some very detailed photos of #508. Here are a few samples.







Thanks to Ron Pelletier, JP Veilleux and Mike R for the sightings, and to Steve Hunter for the detailed information on #508.

The End of the Northlander

The Northlander made its last run on Friday, September 28. The Ontario Northland Transport Commission terminated the train, ending 110 years of history.

I won't get into the politics of the decision, given that I am not very familiar with them. Instead I will share a few photos and video that railfans took of this event.

The last Northlander had engines 1809 and 1800 leading power car 202, coaches 604, 615, 612, 606, 600 and 702 through Bracebridge, Ontario and apparently dropped a couple of coaches before arriving at Union Station in Toronto.

There were articles by the CBC and The Star covering the event. Stephen Gardiner posted a few photos on Flickr.

Here are some videos on YouTube. First, from TEHTRAKS111.


Next, this long video from RPS19 of the train in Bracebridge.


Here is the northbound #697 in Thornhill, the last northbound train.


EDIT: Corrected caption for the last video.

BNSF Tenant Raising Concerns

Some residents of Winnipeg are concerned about eight new storage tanks that sprung up in the BNSF Manitoba yard. According to this article, "property owners were given no notice" that these tanks would be built. The article goes on to say that a city councillor has asked various departments in the city to investigate to see if any zoning bylaws were violated, although the article says that railways are federally regulated. Of course the article also claims that "rail corridors are located on Crown land", which is patently false.

I had a look at them last week and took these photos. I would say they probably should have been painted before being erected, but they are not a huge eyesore in my opinion and they are not so large that they dominate the neighbourhood. Have a look at this shot of the BNSF yard, with the engine house at the left and the tanks on the right.


The tanks were erected by Fort Distributors, a shipper leasing space in the BNSF yard. It looks like the company sells road de-icing chemicals as well as magnesium chloride for dust control.

Don't Try This At Home

I was out with my son and we spotted a CN crew working the Fort Garry industrial area. This is by the former Manitoba Sugar plant. GP9 CN 7044 and GMD1 CN 1405 were shuttling some cars around on and off the main line, under the tender care of the CN crew with their remote control devices. While we were waiting and I was photographing, a deer came running into the field by the tracks, intent on crossing over. Unfortunately, the train was in the way. After a minute or so, the deer ran under the train car. Fortunately the train had stopped for a minute and the deer made it safely.

Don't ever do this. Trains can move at any time in any direction.


Here's one of my favourite engine types, a GMD1.

Grenfell, Saskatchewan

I had always wanted to photograph the elevator in Grenfell, Saskatchewan, and last month I was able to do so. I arranged to stop there on our way to Regina and I spent about 10 minutes photographing the rail area.



The elevator is quite a handsome structure, with fresh paint and it is obviously well maintained.


At one point there was a Saskatchewan Pool elevator in Grenfell, but it has been replaced by a concrete Viterrra structure outside town.


Here's another view of the Viterra structure, taken from the highway a few days later.


Check out this cool postcard I found at the Saskatchewan Archival Information Network site, showing at least six elevators in Grenfell.

Oh, when I was in Grenfell I saw two CP SD40-2 engines idling away, coupled up to a spreader. I guess they were part of a work train but there was noone in sight.


Thanks for reading!

VIA Plus One

On September 20 I went out to shoot the Canadian. It had been a "long" time since I last saw VIA 1 and I wanted to correct that. When I drove out Wilkes Avenue, I could see their headlights in my side mirror so I knew I had to be quick. I parked on the shoulder near Shaftesbury Boulevard and took the shot. Fortunately they were not going terribly fast.


I also processed this as black and white with a slightly different crop, just for the heck of it. Over on Google+ I asked which people liked more and most chose the colour version.


Here's the going away shot.


Since it was so bright, I shot at 1/800s shutter speed so everything is nice and sharp. I've found in the past that I did not set the shutter speed fast enough and I would get a tiny bit of blur, especially with the fast passenger trains. I also set my camera to center focus instead of using all of the focus points, and I think it helps avoid the "focus hunt" that dooms some shots.

After the Canadian ambled past, I hopped into my car and chased them. I easily overtook them before the Perimeter and proceeded out on the gravel road. Unfortunately for me, someone had dumped some new gravel on the road and it made it treacherous to drive more than about 60 km/hr there (limit: 90) so I decided I had to take my next shot quickly. I went onto Hall Road and took video there.


After that I chased on after them but they did not stop at Diamond, so there was no catching them. I saw fellow railfan Brian S. out there, so we had a good chat about train shows, idiot railfans and Eric Gagnon's upcoming book. Soon enough, a westbound CN container train came into view so we shot that too.


CN 2676 splits the westbound signals at mile 14.4. CN 8022 was in the middle of the train and CN 2281 was on the rear.

Buh-bye!