Trackside Log for Sunday, October 29, 2006

The forecast called for rain but when I woke up the sun was shining. I decided to venture out for the Maple Leaf. Unfortunately the sun was gone when it arrived.

• 1013 Merritton - Via 97 east - AMTK 41

There was no indication of any more traffic and the clouds looked persistent so I returned home to catalogue slides.

Trackside Log for Sunday, October 15, 2006

When I woke this morning I thought I'd check out the day's Maple Leaf. I made my way to Merritton to wait. Just before it arrived bridge 6 was raised. Well, at least it would be easy to photograph.

• 1028 Merritton - Via 97 east - AMTK 41

I could see nice sunny skies to the south so I migrated to Port Robinson. As I approched I heard train 331 departing.

• 1045 Port Robinson - CN 331 west - CN 5638-CN 5789
• 1116 Welland - ITS switcher - Shaw no#-BNSF 9349-BNSF 9353

It was clearing nicely so I made my way back to Merritton to see train 327 again. It took quite a while because it stopped to close some doors on its train.

• 1312 Merritton - NS 327 west - UP 3911-UP 4670
• 1325 Merritton - CN 338 west - CN 5794-CN 2598-CN 2539

I was getting tired and felt like returning home so I obeyed my little voice and drove home.

Trackside Log for Thursday, October 12, 2006

Today I went to Merritton to see the Maple Leaf. It turned out to be a busy time. Trains 421 and 332 were both waiting for it with 422 not far off.

• 1018 Merritton - Via 97 east - AMTK 90
• 1023 Merritton - CN 332 west - CN 5380-CN 5377

Trains 332 and 421 met in front of me. Consequently I was unable to see train 421 well. I had to peer between train 332's autoracks.

• 1026 Merritton - CN 421 east - CN 5664-CN 24xx-CN 41xx
• 1036 Merritton - CN 422 west - CN 2400-GCFX 6075

After the rush I drove up to Welland Pipe to see if any of the BNSF SD70ACe's were around. No. I called it quits thereafter.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Today I took a quick break from work to head over to the Welland Pipe plant. ITS Rail is finishing BNSF SD70ACe's there and I hoped to be able to see something. As luck would have it, they were just bringing two shiny new engines into the plant.

• 1033 Welland - ITS Rail switcher - Shaw Pipe no#-BNSF 9362-BNSF 9351

Well, there wasn't much else I could do so I returned to work. My timing was perfect, I was only gone for 15 minutes.

Trackside Log for Monday, October 9, 2006

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving! It was another nice day so I headed to Niagara Falls to photograph the Maple Leaf at the station. While waiting I also took a shot of Via train 92 parked at the station.

• 1021 Niagara Falls - Via 92 west - VIA 915
• 1035 Niagara Falls - Via 97 east - AMTK 133

I had a chat with a bloke from England who was also photographing the Maple Leaf. Once it departed I drove to Fort Erie to see what was running. Before long train 564 arrived at Duff to lift track EE01.

• 1156 Duff (Fort Erie) - CN 564 east - CN 4143-CN 4116
• 1325 Fort Erie - NS 369 west - NS 8808-NS 2701
• 1401 Fort Erie - CP 257 west - CP 9804
• 1408 Fort Erie - NS 369 east - NS 2701-NS 8808

I was getting a bit restless so I left Fort Erie. En route to Welland I found Canadian Pacific job 1 returning to the yard.

• 1457 Welland - CP job 1 north - CP 3038-CP 3096

Oddly, I also discovered a shiny new parked BNSF SD70ACe.

• 1509 Cooks Mills - parked power - BNSF 9351

I heard Canadian National train 531 getting ready to leave Port Robinson so I moved to a new location.

• 1624 Cooks Mills - CN 531 east - CN 2652-CN 5377

The sky was starting to cloud up so I elected to call it a day.

Trackside Log for Sunday, October 8, 2006

Today was my family's thanksgiving get-together. Unfortunately the occassion was somewhat sombre this year because my grandfather passed away a few days earlier. Dinner was at my cousin's house near Flamborough so I decided to meander my way there via Copetown and Guelph Junction.

• 1230 Copetown - CN 390 east - WC 6497-GTW 5949
• 1252 Copetown - CN 393 west - CN 2621-CN 2541
• 1300 Copetown - Via 72 east - VIA 911
• 1303 Copetown - Via 73 west - VIA 6428

I didn't feel like hanging around at Copetown any longer so I left for Guelph Junction hoping Canadian Pacific would run at least one train.

• 1611 Guelph Junction - CP 198 east - CP 8536-SOO 6038

As soon as train 198 passed a signal went up for a westbound. I thought a nice photograph could be had at the Mountsburg Conservation Area. I waited for quite a while, but eventually it arrived.

• 1730 Mountsburg - CP 153 west - CP 9575-CP 9648

After the westbound it was time for dinner.

Trackside Log for Thursday, October 5, 2006

This was the last day of my Saskatchewan elevator trip with Sam. We left Wadena and followed several rail lines. It wasn't long before we found a Canadian Pacific train on the Tisdale Subdivision.

• 0950 CST south of Nora, SK - CP southbound - CP 3070-CP 3085-CP 3123-CP 3061

A few hours and a couple subdivisions later we were photographing the elevators at Lake Lenore on Canadian National's Saint Brieux Subdivision when we heard a northbound on the way. A grain tramp was stopping to drop cars at the Pioneer elevator.

• 1231 CST Lake Lenore, SK - CN northbound grain tramp - CN 5536-CN 5624

After running the Saint Brieux Subdivision we concluded our elevator hunt. We had some time to kill before meeting Matt for dinner in Saskatoon so I decided to see if we could find some trains. While driving south toward the mainlines the Canadian Pacific dispatcher mentioned that several trains were converging on Lanigan. Well, I was sold.

• 1435 CST Lanigan, SK - CP eastbound - CP 5922-CP 5953
• 1555 CST Lanigan, SK - CP 541 west - CP 3103-CP 5602
• 1623 CST Lanigan, SK - CP 670 west - CP 9751-CP 5392
• 1651 CST Plunkett, SK - CP westbound - CP 6037-CP 3124

I was happy to see train 670 since it is an interesting unit train. It was getting on so we drove back to Saskatoon where we got a room at the Best Western and met Matt for dinner. It was a great trip and I was sad it was over.

Trackside Log for Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Today Sam and I continued our trek across Saskatchewan searching for grain elevators. We followed rails the entire day but didn't find any trains until the afternoon in Canora. The power from yesterday's train 885 was parked there with some other locomotives.

• 1535 CST Canora, SK - CN power - CN 8023-CN 5673
• 1535 CST Canora, SK - CN power - CN 2427
• 1535 CST Canora, SK - CN power - CN 4795

Grain train 853 left Canora while I was photographing the parked power so we decided to give chase.

• 1613 CST Buchanan, SK - CN 853 west - CN 9581-CN 5786-CN 5557
• 1634 CST Rama, SK - CN 853 west - CN 9581-CN 5786-CN 5557
• 1649 CST Invermay, SK - CN 853 west - CN 9581-CN 5786-CN 5557
• 1717 CST Kuroki, SK - CN 853 west - CN 9581-CN 5786-CN 5557

The sun was getting low and it was getting late so we called it quits. We decided to stay the night in Wadena.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, October 3, 2006

This morning Sam and I departed north from Tisdale, Saskatchewan searching for elevators. While following the Canadian Pacific Tisdale Subdivision we discovered a southbound. We chased back to photograph it.

• 0805 CST north of Tisdale, SK - CP southbound - CP 3070-CP 3085-CP 3123-CP 3061

We continued our quest for elevators that eventually led us to Arborfield on Thunder Rail.

• 1231 CST Arborfield, SK - Thunder Rail power - Thunder Rail 2004

We continued our eastward trek toward Hudson Bay where we found a Canadian National southbound switching. We also heard talk of a northbound grain train on the way.

• 1508 CST Hudson Bay, SK - CN 420 south - CN 2427-CN 5557
• 1547 CST Hudson Bay, SK - CN 885 north - CN 5673-CN 8023

Further travels took us to Preeceville but no more trains were to be found.

Trackside Log for Monday, October 2, 2006

Sam and I were back on the road hunting for grain elevators around Saskatchewan. We spent the entire day following rail lines but didn't see a train until the very end. While photographing the elevator in Eldersley we noticed a train switching the Pioneer inland terminal east of town. We waited for it to finish switching so we could photograph it at Eldersley elevator.

• 1743 CST Eldersley, SK - CN westbound - CN 5536-CN 5624

We decided to stay the night in Tisdale so we chased the train back.

• 1801 CST east of Tisdale, SK - CN westbound - CN 5536-CN 5624

The light was waning so we checked into a motel for the evening.

Trackside Log for Sunday, October 1, 2006

This was day two of my elevator trip in Saskatchewan. I started in Shellbrook where I discovered a Carlton Trail northbound parked just out of town on the Blaine Lake Subdivision.

• 0949 CST Shellbrook, SK - Carlton Trail northbound - HBR 2508-HLCX 9522-HLCX 9647

A crew had just arrived to take the train north to Meadow Lake. I drove ahead to photograph it again on the Big River Subdivision.

• 1025 CST Shellbrook, SK - Carlton Trail northbound - HBR 2508-HLCX 9522-HLCX 9647

The rest of the day was spent driving across the prairies photographing elevators and stations.