Trackside Log for Saturday, July 31, 2010

It had been a while since I'd last gone trackside outside of Niagara. I decided that morning to drive to the Canadian National Dundas Subdivision to see what might be running. I stopped at Copetown first and stayed long enough for a freight and the two morning VIA trains.

• 0830 Copetown - VIA 671 west - VIA 6404
• 0915 Copetown - CN 907 west - CN 5510-CN 2452
  

This train was a training run up to Paris West and back to Toronto. This was Canadian National's precautionary measure should the brakemen elect to strike.

• 0924 Copetown - VIA 70 east - VIA 903
  

Sadly the weather was getting cloudy and I felt a few sprinkles of rain. I soldiered on anyway and drove to Paris Junction for a change of scenery. The first train was the return trip of the training run consisting of empty centre beam flats.

• 1100 Paris Junction - CN 908 east - CN 5510-CN 2452
  
• 1104 Paris Junction - CN westbound - CN 5662-IC 1005-CN 5727
  

After two trains in the rain I migrated farther west to Princeton where first the mid-day VIA greeted me without rain.

• 1212 Princeton - VIA 72 east - VIA 910
  
• 1336 Princeton - CN 148 east - CN 2680-IC 2459
  

Just as train 148's power passed on the near track an westbound arrived behind it. Fortunately the hidden power wasn't terribly interesting.

• 1354 Copetown - VIA 73 west - VIA 6406
  

Hey! One of the rebuilt F40PH-2s! This was the first of these that I'd seen. The day wasn't sunny but at least there was some interesting motive power, even on VIA.

After the VIA train all was quiet so I strolled over to the Westway Feed Products building to photograph their trackmobile.

• 1434 Princeton - Westway Feed Products trackmobile
  

Not much was going on so I turned back east. I stopped at Paris Junction again and didn't need to wait long for a westbound signal.

• 1606 Paris Junction - CN 149 west - CN 5774-CN 2685-CN 5373
  

Nothing else was lined through so I continued to Brantford. Again, within a relatively short wait a signal was lit. This time it was an eastbound.

• 1647 Brantford - VIA 76 east - VIA 6404

Well it was raining when VIA 76 pulled into Brantford station so I just watched it pull by. Nothing else seemed imminent and the weather was decidedly less than ideal so Missy and I called it a day and drove to Binbrook to visit my family.

Trackside Log for Friday, July 30, 2010

Today it appeared that Canadian National train 421 would appear at Port Robinson at about lunch time. Since I had the availability I went out at lunch time to see if I could catch it. I drove to Port Robinson and discovered the train switching the yard. I decided to drive out to Buchner Road to wait for it. Before too very long I could hear its horns approaching.

• 1245 Cooks Mills - CN 421 east - CN 8852-CN 8024
  

After a photograph I turned around and headed back to work. The timing proved to be quite convenient.

I left work a bit early today and shortly after I arrived at home the distinct cacophony of ill-tuned horns emanated from the north. I took Missy down to River Road for a photograph.

• 1511 Fenwick - CP 246 south - SOO 6040-CP 9648
  

I honestly wasn't expecting any activity until dark on the Canadian Pacific Hamilton Subdivision. Now that trains 426 and 427 have been abolished there is generally no activity in the afternoon. But today a late 246 was a welcome change.

Trackside Log for Monday, July 26, 2010

I decided the previous week to take this Monday off as my "floater holiday." I didn't really have a plan for the day but the weather was supposed to be quite nice. When I got up in the morning I made up my mind to photograph the "Maple Leaf" somewhere. I got Missy and headed towards the Canadian National Grimsby Subdivision but made a stop at Port Robinson along the way. I was hoping to find Canadian National train 421. As I was heading along Allanport Road I saw the crossing activate in front of me. I'd found train 421. I reversed direction to Biggar Road and waited for the train to finish switching the yard.

• 0953 Port Robinson - CN 421 east - CN 2614-CN 8005
  

Now it was time to head for the Grimsby Subdivision. I was too late for St. Catharines so I drove on to Niagara Falls. I arrived with plenty of time. Quite a few passengers were waiting to embark for New York.

• 1032 Niagara Falls - Via 97/Amtrak 64 east - AMTK 142
  

Missy was getting pretty tired so after a few photographs of the "Maple Leaf" we headed back toward home. The lift bridge was up at Allanport so I took a detour down to the Townline Tunnel and through Dain City where I stumbled upon Trillium Railway running some cars into Feeder Yard. I stopped long enough for a photograph at Townline Road.

• 1144 Dain City - Trillium Railway westbound - TRRY 1859
  

I continued my trek homeward past the Canadian Pacific's Welland Yard where the only activity was a maintenance of way crew. After some minor detours around paving crews at Chantler Road and Church Street we arrived home where Missy passed out for the afternoon.

That night I walked Missy down to the Church Street crossing before bed and watched train 254 pass by in the dark.

• 2317 Fenwick - CP 254 south - CP 8531-CP 8607

Waiting in Welland Yard to head north was train 247. Just before I went to bed it passed through town.

• 2358 Fenwick - CP 247 north - CP 8554-CP 9509

Then it was bed time. I only took one day off so it was back to work in the morning.

Trackside Log for Saturday, July 24, 2010

Missy let me sleep in this morning. She's such a good dog. When we were finally getting ready for our morning walk I heard horns outside. I got my camera and took Missy outside to discover they belonged to a northbound. We drove over to Farr Street to view a very long train 255.

• 0923 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 9759-CP 9598-CP 5787
  

When we returned home we set off on our walk. Very soon after our return some more horns were blowing, this time from the north. Once again I collected Missy and my camera and set out for a photograph.

• 1016 Fenwick - CP 246 south - CP 9643-CP 9572
  

What do you know? Canadian Pacific was actually running trains complimentary to my schedule for a change.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, July 20, 2010

I was getting ready for work this morning and noticed faint horns approaching. I had enough time to spare so I dashed out with Missy for a photograph. Skies were generally overcast but there was sunshine poking through intermittently. Luck was with me and the sun shone full force when train 246 got to Chantler Road.

• 0848 Fenwick - CP 246 south - CP 9840-CP 9823
  

After the train cleared I dropped Missy back home and headed to work.

Trackside Log for Monday, July 19, 2010

This is just a note to mark that Canadian Pacific trains 426 and 427 were cancelled effective this day. Trains 254 and 255 will be handling the traffic.

That brings the number of through trains on the Hamilton Subdivision down to four.

• 246 - Toronto to Buffalo (CSX)
• 247 - Buffalo (CSX) to Toronto
• 254 - Toronto to Binghamton (via NS Southern Tier as train 38T)
• 255 - Binghamton to Toronto (via NS Southern Tier as train 39T)

Trackside Log for Saturday, July 17, 2010

It had been a while since the last entry. Canadian Pacific hadn't been very cooperative with my schedule so I didn't get to see any of the trains passing behind my house. However, today was much better. No sooner had I returned home from running a couple errands when I heard a train inform the Canadian Pacific Hamilton Subdivision dispatcher that they were at Boyle. Missy and I headed to where I figured the light would be reasonably good: River Road.

• 1422 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 6016-SOO 6054
  

It was turning into a rather hot day so Missy and I went back home to the cooler indoors.

Trackside Log for Thursday, July 8, 2010

While out walking Missy tonight train 426 south rumbled through town. During the walk we just heard the train. It wasn't until later that I found out what the locomotive consist was.

• 1715 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 9675-CP 6043

After our walk I drove over to Kirbi and Tony's place to conduct some loader work for them. On my way past Welland Yard I found the train beginning to switch.

• 1750 Welland - CP 426 south - CP 9675-CP 6043

Upon nightfall, having completed the loader work, I headed back home and noticed that train 426 was parked in Welland Yard.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, July 6, 2010

It was already a hot, humid day and it wasn't even 0900 yet. This is the weather that I loathe. I'll take a brisk winter day any time. Anyway, I had just walked out the door with Missy for our walk when I was greeted with horns from the north. I turned around, got my camera and we drove over to Chantler Road for a quick photograph before we departed on our walk.

• 0823 Fenwick - CP 246 south - CP 9620-CP 9629
  

After 246 rolled by we drove back home and went for our customary 1.5 mile walk.

That evening I was relaxing at home watching "The Manchurian Candidate" (the original Sinatra version) when I heard some rather odd sounding horns passing behind my house. Turns out it was a rail grinding train.

• 2210 Fenwick - CP southbound rail grinder - RG 311

The train wasn't grinding. They ran to Welland Yard and parked for the night.

Trackside Log for Saturday, July 3, 2010

Today I was at home puttering about again. It was a rather nice day again so I left the scanner on in the background. At about 1230 I heard a southbound call out the Boyle mile board. I went up to the Church Street crossing to take a look.

• 1245 Fenwick - CP 246 south - CEFX 1039-CP 9676

Train 426 met train 247 north at Welland Yard. It didn't take very long for the northbound to get to my back yard.

• 1317 Fenwick - CP 247 north - CP 5909-SOO 6022-CP 5750

After watching the train pass behind my house and fending off the bug hordes I went back home to work on my notes. Later on in the afternoon train 426 spoke up and delivered a track release at mile 35 of the Hamilton Subdivision. Since the train was a mere nine miles away I took Missy down to Sumbler Road for a photograph.

• 1632 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 5951-CITX 3070-STLH 5593
  

After Missy was finished howling along with 5951's horn we headed home for our walk.

Trackside Log for Friday, July 2, 2010

Today I had a few errands to run before getting to work. It was a nice sunny morning again so I swung by Trillium Railway's Feeder Yard to see if they were lifting their traffic for the day. Sure enough, I could hear the Alco prime mover behind the trees so I made my way over to St. Clair Avenue in Dain City to photograph them crossing the old lift bridge again. I only had to wait about five minutes

• 0927 Dain City - Trillium Railway eastbound - TRRY 110
  

I was headed into Welland and so was the train so I stopped for another photograph of the train crossing the bridge into Welland. Beneath the bridge is the Canadian Pacific Hamilton Subdivision and Townline Tunnel Road. Both lead down into a pair of tunnels under the Welland Canal to the east.

• 0931 Welland - Trillium Railway northbound - TRRY 110
  

After the photograph I was off running errands. Photographing Trillium only took about 15 minutes out of my morning. Not bad.

Trackside Log for Thursday, July 1, 2010

Happy Canada Day!

This morning, after Missy's walk, I was at home working on the computer with the scanner on in the background. Before very long I heard Canadian Pacific Job 2 announce it was entering the main track in Welland with "three hot empties" for International Minerals & Chemical Corporation in Port Maitland. It was a sunny morning so I decided to take Missy over to the former Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo's Dunnville Subdivision to see it.

To get to Port Maitland these days Canadian Pacific travels west along the former New York Central's Canada Division (later Canadian National's CaSo Subdivision). At E&O Junction, the former crossing of the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo's Dunnville Subdivision and the New York Central, Canadian Pacific turns south onto the original routing to Port Maitland. Since it was morning and the sun would be directly behind the train on the CaSo portion I drove directly to Wabash Crossing near Moulton Station for the first photograph. Wabash Crossing is the location of the former interlocking between the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo's Dunnville Subdivision and the Wabash and Canadian National's Cayuga Subdivision. The northbound interlocking signal still remains although it is inactive.

• 1011 Wabash Crossing (Moulton Station) - CP Job 2 south - CP 8208-CP 8250
  

Next we drove ahead to catch the train running through the east end of Dunnville. Not far from this location was yet another crossing with Canadian National's now abandoned Dunnville Subdivision. It didn't take long for Job 2 to arrive at Main Street.

• 1034 Dunnville - CP Job 2 south - CP 8208-CP 8250
  

The tracks are inaccessible from the Main Street crossing in Dunnville to the former Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo yard in Port Maitland so we drove straight to the yard. After a short wait Job 2 arrived and set off their three cars.

• 1058 Port Maitland (south end of yard) - CP Job 2 south - CP 8208-CP 8250
  

After picking up the necessary paperwork the crew changed ends and moved to the north end of the yard to lift two cars for transfer back to Welland Yard.

• 1110 Port Maitland (north end of yard) - CP Job 2 north - CP 8250-CP 8208
  

After following the train for most of the morning Missy and I returned home for lunch. It's hard to predict what traffic will be like on a holiday so I left the scanner on. In the afternoon I heard a southbound call out the Smithville mile board so I took Missy out for a little walk down to the Foss Road crossing for a photograph.

• 1430 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CEFX 1039-CP 9676
  

When the short train passed by we walked back home.