Trackside Log for Tuesday, October 4, 2005

This was the last day of my trip to western Canada. I headed back from Revelstoke to Calgary. Along the way I found a few trains. The morning was pretty quiet on the Mountain Subdivision but things picked up a bit around noon.

• 1153 MDT Glenogle, British Columbia - CP 101 west - CP 9543-CP 8501
• 1221 MDT Glenogle, British Columbia - Rocky Mountaineer westbound - RMR 8011-RMR 8014
• 1253 MDT Field, British Columbia - CP parked power - CEFX 1052-CP 9120-CP 9718
• 1253 MDT Field, British Columbia - CP parked power - CP 9639-CP 9534

I didn't have a whole lot of time left to make it to Calgary for my flight so I didn't have a chance to stop for the other three trains I knew were near me on my drive back. So, back to Calgary airport I went to drop off the rental car and head home. I would have lilked to have stayed longer.

Trackside Log for Monday, October 3, 2005

This day I headed from Calgary to Revelstoke, British Columbia along the CP Laggan and Mountain Subdivisions. I headed out in dark, miserable weather hoping it would clear up at least partially.

• 0839 MDT Exshaw, Alberta - CP local - CP 3035-CP 1125-CP 3101
• 0848 MDT Exshaw, Alberta - CP 607 west - CP 9811-CP 9553/CP 8617 (DPU)

While photographing these two trains I learned from the dispatcher that the Royal Canadian Pacific train was headed west along with several other trains. I was going to have to photograph it somewhere. First up though was a grain train. And wonder of wonders the weather was brightening up.

• 1057 MDT Field, British Columbia - CP westbound - CP 8531-CP 9627-CEFX 1056/CEFX 1031 (DPU)
• 1137 MDT Field, British Columbia - CP westbound - CP 8531-CP 9627-CEFX 1056/CEFX 1031 (DPU)
• 1300 MDT Field, British Columbia - CP westbound RCP - CP 3084-CP 1401
• 1330 MDT Ottertail, British Columbia - CP westbound RCP - CP 3084-CP 1401
• 1424 MDT Glenogle, British Columbia - CP westbound RCP - CP 3084-CP 1401
• 1526 MDT Glenogle, British Columbia - CP westbound - CP 8531-CP 9627-CEFX 1056/CEFX 1031 (DPU)
• 1556 MDT Glengole, British Columbia - Rocky Mountaineer Railtours eastbound - RMR 8011-RMR 8014
• 1633 MDT Glenogle, British Columbia - CP 607 west - CP 9811-CP 9553/CP 8617 (DPU) (photo)
• 1735 PDT Flat Creek, British Columbia - CP eastbound - CP 9147-CP 9129
• 1757 PDT Flat Creek, British Colubmia - CP westbound coal - CP 9652-CP 8522/CP 9716 (DPU)

It was getting very dark so I headed into Revelstoke where I would spend the night. I got some food and headed over to the yard to see what showed up.

The following were parked in the yard when I arrived.

• 1845 PDT Revelstoke, British Columbia - CP RCP - CP 3084-CP 1401
• 1845 PDT Revelstoke, British Columbia - CP power - CP 6034

Then the trains started showing up.

• 1932 PDT Revelstoke, British Columbia - CP westbound coal load - CP 9652-CP 8522/CP 9716 (DPU)
• 1958 PDT Revelstoke, British Columbia - CP 362 eastbound grain empty - CP 8639-CP 9812

Train 362 only had one working unit and picked one up east of Revelstoke.

• 2011 PDT Revelstoke, British Columbia - CP 821 westbound coal load - CP 9836-CP 8576/CP 9722 (DPU)
• 2030 PDT Revelstoke, British Columbia - CP 208 eastbound intermodal - CP 9808-CP 8549/CP 9581 (DPU)
• 2044 PDT Revelstoke, British Columbia - CP westbound grain load - CP 8531-CEFX 1056/CEFX 1031 (DPU)

The grain train dropped its second unit in Moberly. At this point I was done my food and headed to the hotel for the night.

Trackside Log for Saturday, October 1, 2005

This was the last day of the elevator portion of my trip. I was headed back to Calgary although my trip was not over since I'd be taking a two day trip to Revelstoke and back. However, for this day I managed to find one train. I followed the CN Rosetown and Oyen Subdivisions back to Calgary. I spent the better part of a day following this line and only heard from one train all day. I managed to photograph it in Kindersley.

• 1055 CST Kindersley, Saskatchewan - CN 114 east - CN 5556-BCOL 754

And that was it. Not a very exciting day.

Trackside Log for Friday, September 30, 2005

Then on day three of my elevator search I managed to find a few more trains. The first was on the CN Aberdeen Subdivision which is not high on traffic.

• 1110 CST Watson, Saskatchewan - CN 415 west - CN 9461-BCOL 4652

This was an interesting train so I chased it west and photographed it again.

• 1133 CST Englefeld, Saskatchewan - CN 415 west - CN 9461-BCOL 4652

After searching for more elevators I heard some trains on the nearby CP Wynyard Subdivision. I headed down to try to catch a GP38-2 which I ultimately missed. Actually, had I stayed in Wadena I would have seen it. Little did I know that it was actually going to work the branch line. Doh! While on the CP Wynyard Subdivision I heard that a second local was working on the same branch. Double doh!!! Oh well, I did find out that there was a westbound on the Wynyard subdivision so I went to find it and chase it.

• 1530 CST Sheho, Saskatchewan - CP 103 west - CEFX 1033-CP 9501
• 1603 CST Tuffnell, Saskatchewan - CP 103 west - CEFX 1033-CP 9501
• 1630 CST Foam Lake, Saskatchewan - CP 103 west - CEFX 1033-CP 9501

After that excitement I continued looking for elevators all the way back to Saskatoon.

Trackside Log for Thursday, September 29, 2005

This was day two of my prairie elevator extravaganza. I managed to see some trains this day. The first was a local switching one of the large concrete elevators in Rosetown, Saskatchewan.

• 1354 CST Rosetown, Saskatchewan - CN local - CN 4781-CN 4797-CN 4791

Later in the day I wound up in Unity which is on CN's mainline. I saw two trains there.

• 1738 CST Unity, Saskatchewan - CN westbound - CN 5704-NS 6637
• 1837 CST Unity, Saskatchewan - CN eastbound - CN 2535-CN 5603

At that point it was getting very dark so I headed to the hotel in Saskatoon.

Trackside Log for Wednesday, September 28, 2005

This was a trip to the Canadian prairies primarily to photograph the remaining grain elevators. Any trains I ran across were a bonus. This day I only found one train.

• 1030 MDT Bassano, Alberta - CP westbound - CP 9140

I was just passing through Bassano to start following the abandoned portion of the Canadian Pacific Empress subdivision. As luck would have it I saw headlights when I looked down the track.