Friday, August 12, 2011

Morning Trains

CN 8911 and train 112 at Diamond

I spent some time in the morning of July 27 near Diamond, just west of Winnipeg. I've been there a lot recently because I like the area. It's wide open so there is little to get between my lens and the train. Also, there is not much car traffic out there. Finally, the train crews have to call the signals approaching Diamond so I hear them on the scanner well before I see them.

The first train I saw was CN 112, with CN 8911 on the head end and CN 8814 pushing on the rear. The top photo shows them passing the east-facing signals just east of the CN-CP diamond.

CN 8911 in Winnipeg

Right after the train passed, I ran up to the private crossing to shoot CN 8814 going away. Note the lit red marker lights.

CN 8814 pushing on a train

About half an hour later, train CN 782 came along. This featured two Dash-8 units, CN 2429 and CN 2432. For this one, I shot from the north side of the tracks for a different perspective. Since it was cloudy, the sun was not an issue.
CN 2429 in Winnipeg

After about another half an hour, a westbound train came, CN 111 featuring CN 8904 and CN 8856 on the head end and IC 2715 as a DPU engine.
Closeup of IC 2715's number

About an hour later, I headed east on Wilkes Avenue but stumbled across this westbound freight train. Three Dash-9 engines were the power: CN 2650, CN 2503 and CN 2671.
CN 2650 in Winnipeg

But wait... there's more! I also shot an eastbound freight just west of St. James Junction. This one had ex-BC Rail Dash-8 BCOL 4643 leading, with SD75I CN 5792 trailing.
Ex BC Rail engine BCOL 4643 in Winnipeg

Five trains in just over 2 hours was good enough for me!

2 comments:

Saintjohnrailfan said...

BCOL 4643 and CN 5792 were on CN 305 out of Moncton that I shot on July 31st. Good part day of train catching, I'd say.

Canadian Train Geek said...

Funny how 4643 and 5792 stuck together all the way to Winnipeg!