Sunday, February 10, 2013

Trackside Log for Sunday, February 10, 2013

It was a stunning sunny day in Fenwick thanks to a fresh layer of snow. I left the scanner on and ventured out to see a couple of the day's trains.

  • 1411 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 9520-CP 8882
  • 1524 Fenwick - CP 254 south - CP 8847-CP 9526

Although I haven't done much this year, I really do enjoy photography in the snow. I'm quite pleased with these winter photographs.

Thursday, February 07, 2013

Trackside Log for Thursday, February 7, 2013

This morning I was just about to get my day going when I heard an unusual sounding horn approaching from the south. I noticed the day before that maintenance of way crews had dropped off some brand new ties. My guess was that the approaching train was this.

  • 0812 Fenwick - CP northbound MOW - Brandt Peterbilt hi-rail

My guess proved to be accurate. I don't often see the hi-rail trucks pulling rail cars, so I was pleased to photograph this one.

Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Trackside Log for Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year.

After spending a nice New Year's Eve with my family I returned home for New Year's Day. I wasn't expecting much, but I turned the scanner on at home anyway. Luck was with me and the Hamilton Turn made an appearance in town. I waited for its northward return trip for a photograph in the excellent sun drenched, snowy landscape.

  • 1317 Fenwick - CP 541 north - CP 9014-CP 5910

I was lucky with the clouds floating through the sky. Just after this photograph one interfered with the sun.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Trackside Log for Saturday, December 15, 2012

Today was unexpectedly a busy day for the Canadian Pacific's Hamilton Subdivision. First up was the Hamilton Turn, train 540 south, headed toward Welland Yard. At the same time empty ethanol train 641 north was pulling into the yard.

  • 1000 Fenwick - CP 540 south - CP 5978-ICE 6420-CP 5964
  • 1012 Welland - CP 641 north - CP 5941-DME 6200-DME 6365-ICE 6453
  • 1015 Welland - CP 540 south - CP 5978-ICE 6420-CP 5964

It took several hours for both train 641 and train 540 to switch Welland Yard. The plan was that both trains would be combined for the journey north to Kinnear Yard. During this activity train 255 north waited at Brookfield from about 1000 until train 641/541 departed at about 1300.

  • 1313 Fenwick - CP 641/541 north - CP 5941-DME 6200-DME 6365-ICE 6453-CP 5964-ICE 6420-CP 5978

Train 246 was also delayed at Vinemount from about 1030 until 1330 when the empty ethanol train met it. Eventually it made it to Fenwick.

  • 1416 Fenwick - CP 246 south - CP 9623-CP 85xx-CP 9556-CP 6050

During the confusion in Welland Yard it was announced that an empty wind turbine train was also getting ready to depart the yard. After train 246 pulled in, it was able to leave. It tripped the detector at 270 axles.

  • 1458 Fenwick - CP DIM005 north (empty wind turbine train) - CP 9594

This wasn't a very efficient day for the Hamilton Subdivision. Two trains were parked for three hours each and an empty ethanol train had to wait for a local to switch the yard. Train 255 finally passed through Fenwick at approximately 1600 after working the yard.

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Trackside Log for Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Today Sam was going to be visiting with her friend in Syracuse. Since they were going to be spending their time engaged in knitting interests, I decided to leave them to their own devices and find someplace trackside to see what CSX as doing. The weather wasn't great, but it was relaxing. It took quite a while before anything rolled down the tracks, but eventually a quick trio arrived.

  • 1306 Jordan, NY - Amtrak 63 west - AMTK 110
  • 1312 Jordan, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 7693
  • 1323 Jordan, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 5331-CSXT 5225

Just after the third train passed by I got a call from Sam asking me to meet her at her friend's house. That signalled the end of my time trackside. By the time we departed Syracuse for home it was dark.

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Trackside log for Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Sam asked me along on a short trip to Syracuse, New York to visit a friend. The idea was to drive leisurely there with a few photographic diversions. I decided to follow the Falls Road line in search of anything interesting. In Medina we encountered the Medina Railroad Museum and their New York Central painted E8s and former Waterloo-St. Jacobs passenger equipment.

  • 1157 Medina, NY - power - RPCX 4068-RPCX 4080 with coaches RPCX 5735, RPCX 2143 and RPCX 761

Next we headed back toward the CSX mainline and had some time to park trackside to wait for any traffic that might be in the area.

  • 1414 Churchville, NY - Amtrak 64 east - AMTK 110
  • 1428 Churchville, NY - Amtrak 63 west - AMTK 43
  • 1458 Churchville, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 5377-CSXT 860

The weather was getting darker and we were due in Syracuse for about 1700 so after the intermodal train we drove straight to our destination.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Trackside Log for Thursday, November 22, 2012

Today I had the scanner on in the background and heard a clearance for an SD40-2 to depart Welland Yard for Kinnear Yard. I decided, since catching SD40-2s is quite difficult any more, to drive over to Farr Street to have a look.

  • 1142 Fenwick - CP 541 north - CP 5945-CP 6079-CP 5957

I was a little amused to see a trio of SD40-2s with a single covered hopper in tow. Mind you, they accelerated very quickly out of the slow order in Fenwick.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Trackside Log for Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Tonight was even foggier than yesterday. I decided to continue my experimental dark fog photography. Once again I had both trains 254 and 247 as subjects. The first train, Canadian Pacific 254 south, didn't work out as well as I'd hoped but my photograph of train 247 north was more interesting.

  • 2313 Fenwick - CP 254 south - CP 9641-CP AC4400CW
  • 2346 Fenwick - CP 247 north - CP 8802-CP AC4400CW-CP AC4400CW-CP ES44AC

Framing photographs in this much fog was mostly guesswork. I really didn't know if I had the camera pointed correctly or not. At least, thanks to the artificial horizon function, I knew the camera would be level.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Trackside Log for Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Tonight there was a bit of fog around town so I got to thinking what the scene would look like with a train illuminating it under those conditions. Since trains 254 and 247 usually meet in Welland Yard at night, I waited for them to approach town before driving over to Sumbler Road with Missy to experiment.

  • 2305 Fenwick - CP 254 south - CP 9735-CP AC4400CW
  • 2330 Fenwick - CP 247 north - CP 9662-CEFX AC4400CW

I think the results are interesting.

Friday, November 09, 2012

Trackside Log for Friday, November 9, 2011

Today I happened to hear horns approaching town so I walked over to the Canadian Pacific Hamilton Subdivision to see what it was.

  • 1337 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 9764-CP 8750-CP 5642-CP 5957-CP 5996

I was somewhat surprised to see the three SD40-2s that I'd photographed in Waterdown earlier in the week.