Trackside Log for Saturday, March 31, 2007

Once again the weather forecast bore no semblance of reality. The anticipated sunny morning was very overcast. I wanted to get out so I headed for Fort Erie to meet up with train 339. En route I heard that train 331 was leaving Duff so I intercepted it.

• 1009 Stevensville - CN 331 west - CN 5421-IC 6256-CN 8023

Upon arrival at Fort Erie I grabbed some food before checking out train 339 who was switching.

• 1039 Fort Erie - CN 339 east - CN 2221-CN 2524-CN 5457

Next I decided to photograph train 331 again. I departed for Merritton to wait for it to finish its work at Port Robinson.

• 1147 Merritton - CN 331 west - CN 5421-IC 6256-CN 8023

At that point I felt like going home, so I did. While relaxing around home I heard Canadian Pacific train 255 working Welland yard. When they got their clearance to proceed north I zipped out to see it.

• 1505 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 8839-CEFX 3171-CEFX 7108

It turned out to be a nice colourful consist of red, blue and green. I even lucked out as the sun was coming out.

Trackside Log for Thursday, March 29, 2007

I had my French class after work at Niagara College in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Before I left work I checked what ships were in the canal.  The Atlantic Superior was going to be at Lock 1 before class so I decided to go see it.  However, on the way I heard the Trillium guys get permission from the Canadian National NI dispatcher to cross the Grimsby Subdivision.  I thought it would be nice to photograph them somewhere in Thorold and picked a nice spot alongside the canal.

• 1745 Thorold - Trillium southbound - TR 110

After photographing the S-13 I drove to Lock 1 to see the Atlantic Superior.  As I arrived it was just entering the lock.  Unfortunately that doesn't yield any decent photographic angles so I crossed the canal and drove to the college.  I'll have to try again on its next voyage.

Trackside Log for Wednesday, March 28, 2007

When I got home after work I set about some tasks that needed doing. At around 1700 or so a surprise southbound passed behind my house. It was quite short and I had no idea what it was. I turned on the scanner and heard it switching the yard in Welland. Evidently it was a Welland turn. It's the first I've heard. Eventually they finished in Welland and turned back north so I ventured out to take a look.

• 1931 Fenwick - CP Welland turn north - STLH 5593-CP 5868

While waiting I heard the train also talk with a train 427 which is also new. It was getting very dark so I went back home for some food.

Trackside Log for Sunday, March 25, 2007

I spent the morning at home working on various projects including the addition of more photos to the Randy Masales collection. I had the scanner on and listened to train 255 get a clearance out of Welland yard. I hadn't photographed at Boyle for a while so I chose that location.

• 1249 Boyle - CP 255 north - CP 8771-CP 9821

After the photograph I returned home. During the five minutes it took to drive back the sun started to come out. Figures.

Trackside Log for Saturday, March 24, 2007

It was a miserable day in Niagara and I spent much of the day at home working at setting up a new server. However, I needed to get some groceries and heard that Canadian Pacific train 256 was on its way. After getting the food I heard the distant sound of horns and decided to see the train even though it was quite misty.

• 1457 Fenwick - CP 256 south - CP 9824-CP 8574

After the photo I went back home to put away the food and post the photo. A while later, while relaxing at home, I heard train 255 get its clearance to proceed north. I figured I had just enough light to get a digital photo. My 100 ISO slides were out of the question.

• 1902 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 8735-CP 8832-CP 5616

Yeah, it was pretty dark, but the photo worked out not too bad all things considered. After the excitement I figured I could use a pizza.

Trackside Log for Friday, March 23, 2007

Today I was driving home from work early so I could concentrate on some documentation when I heard Canadian Pacific train 255 get a clearance out of Welland yard. I stopped at home to pick up my camera and then headed trackside to photograph it.

• 1443 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 9638-CP 8534

After the photos I headed home to get to work.

Trackside Log for Monday, March 19, 2007

It was the day after the excellent St. Patrick's Day Parade in Montreal and time to head back to Ontario. We said our goodbye's to Ken, Sam picked up some smoked meat, and we were off. Once again we stopped at Coteau on the way by. This time the Ottawa Central was there with three RS-18's but my timing was off and we couldn't photograph them in the yard. However, as before, a Canadian National eastbound was on the way.

• 1242 Coteau, Quebec - CN eastbound - CN 8013-CN 5387-IC 6060

We also stopped by Dalhousie, Quebec where there is a very interesting Canadian Pacific water tower. The weather was getting very dark though and I didn't feel like sticking around for any trains. Following a long drive we were back home after a great weekend.

Trackside Log for Friday, March 16, 2007

I was in Montreal for the St. Patrick's Day Parade and Sam and I were looking for something to do for the morning.  I thought it would be nice to head down to Farnham and see what the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic was up to.  Sam was game for an adventure so we set off.  When I got to Farnham a northbound was just getting a clearance.  I headed to Cowansville to intercept it.

• 1143 Cowansville, Quebec - MMA northbound - MMA 8583

We then paced it back to Farnham.

• 1156 Brigham, Quebec - MMA northbound - MMA 8583
• 1205 Farnham, Quebec - MMA northbound - MMA 8583

After having lunch at a local eatery we dropped by the yard again to see if anything else had shown up.  As luck would have it a painted B39-8 was now present.

• 1259 Farnham, Quebec - MMA power - MMA 8569
• 1304 Farnham, Quebec - MMA power - MMA 227

We were to meet up with Ken in Montreal for the afternoon so we returned north.

Trackside Log for Thursday, March 15, 2007

Today Sam and I were driving to Montreal for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. We decided to take our time and make a few stops along the way. We were headed for her parents' place near Brighton so I took the opportunity to stop along the parallel Canadian National Kingston Subdivision and the Canadian Pacific Belleville Subdivision to see what might show up. As luck would have it we just missed a couple trains, but we wound up with one straggler.

• 1303 Brighton, Ontario - CP 153 west - CP 9528-CP 9726

After lunch with Sam's parents we continued our trek. I wanted to stop by Coteau to see what might be there. The Ottawa Central was not to be seen, but a Canadian National train was just pulling in.

• 1820 Coteau, Quebec - CN eastbound - CN 5751-IC 6000-CN 5349
• 1822 Coteau, Quebec - CN yard power - CN 6007

It was getting pretty dark when we left to meet Ken in Verdun. I was happy to see a couple trains along the way.

Trackside Log for Sunday, March 4, 2007

The morning was quite sunny so I attempted to photograph something in it. As luck would have it, Canadian Pacific was rather busy. Three trains were all in Welland. I decided that the two southbounds were the attractive options. I'd forego train 135 north.

• 0939 Welland - CP 256 south - CP 8829-CP 9823-CP 9639
• 0952 Welland - CP 254 south - CP 9581-CP 9563

Since I was near Canadian National's Southern Yard I drove by to see if there was anything of interest there. Luck was with me. A tiny bit of sun was left for me to photograph a pair of UK JT42CWRM's.

• 1014 Welland - EMD export power - EMDX EU06-EMDX EU07

Just as I finished the last shot I ran out of sunshine. Good timing, eh? Then I returned home feeling pretty satisfied. I had the scanner on at home and eventually heard train 255 north get a clearance out of Welland. It was getting dark but I figured I could get a couple shots in.

• 1740 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 5735-CP 5836-CP 9003

The train was creeping because they only had a clearance up to mile 27 (this is mile 26). I drove ahead to shoot it again. I don't get to see SD40-2 consists much any more so I figured it was worthwhile.

• 1749 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 5735-CP 5836-CP 9003

It was really getting dark by that point but I got some photos.

Trackside Log for Saturday, March 3, 2007

This afternoon I had been updating my site with some more of Randy's photos when I heard Canadian Pacific train 255 reporting the siding switches in Welland to the dispatcher. I decided to go photograph the train.

• 1655 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 8654-CP 8827

My sister was coming for a visit so I headed back home to post my log entry and wait for her arrival.