As soon as I walked out the door with Missy this morning I noticed the wail of horns emanating from the north. It was a hazy but bright morning so I took advantage of the opportune timing and drove over to Chantler Road for a photograph.
Then it was quickly back home to walk Missy and get ready for work.
I was relaxing at home this morning with the scanner on. Much of the morning saw Canadian Pacific train 255 switching Welland Yard. Eventually they departed the yard so Missy and I went to meet it. Since it was late morning and I couldn't get decent nose light anywhere I decided to use my zoom lens to photograph across the soya bean fields along Balfour Street just south of Webber Road.
I thought the photograph worked out rather well.
In the afternoon I decided to take Missy for a drive. She enjoys them. We took a circuitous route with Niagara Falls being the eventual destination. After passing through Welland, Port Colborne, Fort Erie and Chippawa we arrived at the VIA station in Niagara Falls. I timed it so that we would be able to greet the "Maple Leaf" if it was on time. Only a few minutes after we arrived I noticed the Canadian crew and Canada Customs at the station. We didn't have long to wait.
After my photographs Missy and I meandered our way back home. I noticed that both the old steel bridges at 11th Avenue Louth and 13th Avenue Louth had been removed. I'm glad I have a few photographs of and from them.
This morning a pair of trains bookended my walk with Missy. The first was train 255 which I was unable to photograph.
But just after our walk train 246 came to town for which I was able to get the camera out. I drove down to River Road for a nice sunny morning photograph.
Then I was off to get a few groceries before heading back home.
It was a fantastic cool August morning with sunny skies. As Missy and I were returning from our morning walk I could hear train 246 approaching town. We got back home and I was able to get my camera just as the crossing signals on Church Street were activated. I drove over to Chantler Road to have a look.
After a quick photograph I went back home to get ready for work. I like it when Canadian Pacific times the trains well for me. It's not a regular occurrence.
Today Missy got her vaccinations. On the way to the vet I swung by Canadian Pacific's Welland Yard. I was somewhat surprised to see train 246 parked at the yard office. I wasn't able to photograph it but it wasn't terribly exciting.
After seeing the train it was Vet time. Missy is great at the Vet and took her injections well. Good girl.
Shortly before I was to take Missy for her walk I once again heard horns in the distance. I determined they were from the north so I quickly made my way to Chantler Road to see what they belonged to.
The train turned out to be a later than normal 246. When I returned home Missy and I went on our evening walk. Very soon after our return I could again hear horns in the distance. This time, however, they were from the south. I dashed off to Farr Street to check out their source as well.
Missy and I were at home today. The morning was rather wet from the rain over night. I turned the scanner on mostly out of curiosity. By late morning the rain had stopped and I heard a southbound call out the slow order between mile 39 and mile 36 of the Hamilton Subdivision. The weather had brightened up a bit and I needed to go out for milk so I took Missy over to Chantler Road to see.
After watching train 246 roll by we acquired the milk and went back home.
In the early evening I was working with some of my old trackside information when I heard train 254 announce the slow order between mile 39 and mile 36. The weather was clearing up a bit and there was adequate light so I took Missy over to Chantler Road for a photograph.
Hokey smokes! It had been just over two years since I'd last seen a Canadian Pacific SD90MAC on the Hamilton Subdivision. Since this was a rare event I used the 25 mph slow order to my advantage and drove ahead to River Road to photograph the train again.
And with that I returned home for the evening. Actually, it had been about the busiest weekend on the southern half of the Hamilton Subdivision in a long time.
Addendum: CP 9143 continued east to Taylor Yard in Taylor, Pennsylvania. It was then lifted by the Delaware-Lackawanna and delivered to Steamtown for Railfest on September 4th and 5th.
Missy and I were relaxing at home in the morning. As often happens living next to the railway tracks we heard horns approaching. This morning they were approaching from the south. We walked behind my property for a photograph.
After we walked back home I turned on the scanner and subsequently heard train 255 meet train 246 in Smithville. Once again Missy was excited about going for a walk so we strolled down to the Foss Road crossing to see the second train of the morning.
It's a pretty rare morning to have two trains in daylight on the Hamilton Subdivision.
As it was approaching evening I was watching the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode of Lost Continent when the scanner chirped up. Train 254 was reporting the south siding switch Smithville restored to the normal position. Although it was getting dark and beginning to rain I thought I'd take a drive over to Boyle to see it.
It was pretty dark considering I had to expose it at ISO 1600 but I thought the gloomy mood of the photograph was interesting so I posted it anyway. It's been quite a while since I'd seen three trains on the Hamilton Subdivision in the daylight.
This morning while getting ready for work I once again heard the sound of horns north of town. I quickly retrieved my camera, got Missy into the truck, and drove to River Road for a look at train 246 since it's normally the only daylight through train on the south end of the Hamilton Subdivision these days.
After the relatively long train passed by I returned home and continued my preparation for work.
As I was leaving for work today I heard train 246 approaching. I figured I would have enough time for a photograph on the way so I got my camera and stopped at the Chantler Road crossing.
The second unit, CP 9782, is a movie star. It still wears the stripes applied to its plow from when it was repainted for the movie "Unstoppable" in the autumn of 2009. After my quick photographs I headed into work for the day.
Today Marcus met me at my house and we headed toward New York for a day out along the rails. After a smooth border crossing at the Peace Bridge we made our first stop at Sturgeon Point Road in Angola, New York. No sooner had we arrived when we heard horns approaching from the west.
After the quick trio of trains we continued west until we noticed a coal train parked at Dunkirk.
After a few photographs we continued on to Westfield and the railfan park there. When we pulled around the corner we could see a CSX westbound with a BNSF lead engine parked just down the track. We quickly determined the train was waiting for some eastbounds because track one was out of service.
While waiting for the next eastbound Marcus and I took a couple telephoto pictures of the parked train.
After which the last eastbound arrived and our westbound was able to leave.
Things appeared to quiet down a little so we continued west. At Ripley, New York we discovered another parked westbound. This was in part the reason for the single track running of the Buffalo Line. We later discovered that track work was under way on the same track in North East, Pennsylvania.
While photographing the parked train the westbound Q377 we photographed at Angola caught up with us.
It wasn't moving very quickly so we pursued it to Bort Road in North East for another photograph.
Here the train slowed even more so we decided to attempt a photograph at the former New York Central station in North East before getting lunch. We made it with plenty of time to spare.
After picking up lunch from Subway we drove back to Bort Road to eat and wait for more action including the first Norfolk Southern train of the day. Photographs of Norfolk Southern at Bort Road are fabulous now that the telegraph poles have been removed.
Our parked train from Ripley snuck by behind the CSX intermodal train so we attempted to drive ahead of it again. Unfortunately it parked once again and never made it to us again. However, we managed to see another few trains at Smedley Street.
The day was getting on so we started to head back east again. As we were heading down Route 20 we found another parked westbound train at Station Road in State Line, New York.
After an eastbound arrived we travelled east back into Ripley to discover still another parked westbound.
Continuing on we ducked back over to the railfan park in Westfield to see if anything else might be parked there. There wasn't but there was an eastbound arriving.
Unfortunately the train was directly back-lit so I just watched it pass by. As we drove through Dunkirk again we noticed that the gates to the NRG hydro generating plant were open. As luck would have it the two UP AC4400s we photographed earlier were now pushing coal hoppers into the plant. We stopped to photograph the action at Brooks Avenue.
Our final stop of the day was in Blasdell, New York. As we drove over the CSX tracks we could see that nothing was pending. We continued over to the Norfolk Southern and noticed a signal for an eastbound. As we turned parked to get into position for a photograph train 310 arrived.
We then returned to CSX to wait for any activity that may have arisen. Apparently that was going to be the day's lull time. Nothing showed up for over a half hour so Marcus and I called it a day. We headed back into Ontario. Other than the stifling heat and humidity I had no complaints. It was a very productive day.
I had the scanner on in the background again while puttering about at home. For the majority of the day absolutely nothing was said on the Canadian Pacific Hamilton Subdivision. However, in the later afternoon I heard the dispatcher deliver a clearance to train 246 south from Kinnear to Smithville. At least I'd be able to see a train in daylight. I was outside working on a few things with an ear perked until just before 1700. At the sound of horns I drove over to Sumbler Road for a picture.
Then I returned home to take Missy for her afternoon walk.
I was at home relaxing with Missy and had the scanner on in the background. Since the cancellation of train 426 I wasn't expecting anything to show up on the Hamilton Subdivision before dark. I was flabbergasted when a southbound called out the slow order near Smithville. I looked outside and guessed there might actually be enough light for a photograph by the time the train got to River Road which is about the most open location around.
I was losing light fast but the train arrived with barely enough light for a photograph at ISO 400. When I turned around the sun was sitting at the horizon.
Tonight I took Missy out before bed and heard train 247 approaching from the south. We took a quick walk up to the crossing to watch it roll by in the dark.
After the rather short train passed we returned home for bed.
I woke up rather early this morning - unnecessarily so. When I heard some horns approaching I got myself out of bed. Canadian Pacific doesn't run many daylight trains over the southern half of the Hamilton Subdivision these days so I take what I can get. Missy and I drove to River Road to see a very small train 246.
Missy and I returned home for our walk and then I headed to work.
I was planning to visit my family in Binbrook in the afternoon and decided to take Missy trackside for the day beforehand. As we did the previous Saturday we drove to the Canadian National Dundas Subdivision starting in Copetown and ending in Princeton. This time we arrived in Copetown in time to see VIA train 70 first.
Not a great deal was happening and I really intended to spend more time farther west so we continued on to Brantford where we arrived at the station just as an eastbound was arriving. No time for a photograph but at least we could watch it pass by.
We continued farther west to Paris and missed train 908, the instructional train, at Hardy (in Brantford). Oh well. At Paris Junction I noticed that the cars in storage had been moved around a bit and a Detroit & Toledo Shore Line coil car was at the east end of the line. I took a few photographs of it while waiting for an eastbound to arrive.
Then things got quiet again. Missy and I moved west to Princeton and waited there for some more traffic.
By the time the last eastbound passed by the clouds were getting very frustrating. The afternoon was getting on so I decided to head for Binbrook and my family. I managed to miss a westbound at Paris West. Oh well.
