Trackside Log for Sunday, April 26, 2009

It was a cool, damp, cloudy morning and not long after I got up I heard horns approaching from the south.  I figured, "Why not take a photograph anyway."  So I picked up my D80 and walked to the crossing up the road.

• 0916 Fenwick - CP 427 north - CP 9537-CP 8792 (photo)

After watching the train pass I walked back home to sort out my day.  While working on my website I heard train 426 give a track release from Vinemount to the Hamilton Subdivision dispatcher.  When they called out the mile sign at Boyle I walked to Foss Road for a photograph.

• 1444 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 9824-CP 9503 (photo)

I chuckled when I noticed that 9824 still retains its Christmas lights from the Holiday Train.

Trackside Log for Sunday, April 19, 2009

Once again I was at home indexing photographs.  When you put it off they really pile up on you.  Again, I had the scanner on and in the afternoon heard train 426 south approaching town.

• 1348 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 9829-CP 8831

Train 426's opposite, train 427, had arrived at Welland Yard earlier and departed northward as soon as train 426 arrived.

• 1411 Fenwick - CP 427 north - CP 9520-CP 8549 (photo)

And that was the extent of trains in daylight on the Canadian Pacific Hamilton Subdivision for the day.  After darkness fell a further three trains blew through town.

Trackside Log for Saturday, April 18, 2009

I spent much of the day indexing slides.  I turned on the scanner in the morning but the Canadian Pacific Hamilton Subdivision was completely silent until a little before 1900.  Now that the sun was gone a southbound was on its way.  I decided to walk over to the tracks to see it anyway.

• 1911 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 8549-CP 9520 (photo)

As railfan law dictates, I heard the dispatcher talking to a northbound approaching as well.  It would be well and truly dark when train 247 north got here.

Trackside Log for Saturday, April 11, 2009

Shortly after I got up this morning I could hear an approaching Canadian Pacific train.  I didn't have enough time to go out to see it but watched it pass from the window.  I was surprised to see a pair of CEFX AC4400s for motive power.  It turned out that the train was 254 with no work at Welland.  If I was going to photograph it, I'd have to drive ahead and it wouldn't be easy.  I got my gear and headed out.  My first attempt was for House Road.  As I crossed Point Abino Road I could see 254's headlights not far away.  At least I was ahead of it, but not by much.  The light angle at House Road wasn't to my liking yet so I continued on to Fort Erie where I knew the light angle would be much better.  I only needed to wait about five minutes before 254 came around the bend.

• 0940 Fort Erie - CP 254 east - CEFX 1048-CEFX 1026

After several photographs I returned home to work on my website.  After a while the Hamilton Subdivision dispatcher issued a clearance to a northbound out of Welland yard with a "do not proceed" instruction.  I went down the street to photograph the southbound.

• 1350 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 8833-CP 8780

I waited for the northbound to pass over the defect detector at mile 18.3 and then headed out for a photograph of it.

• 1430 Fenwick - CP 247 north - CP 8643-CP 9524-SOO 6027-CP 8798

And that was it for daylight trains for Canadian Pacific.  It was a good Saturday.

Trackside Log for Friday, April 10, 2009

Today was Good Friday and I was at home relaxing a bit while indexing photographs. I had the scanner on and heard Canadian Pacific train 426 call out Boyle mile sign late in the morning. I drove over to Sumbler Road for a photograph.

• 1138 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 9524-CP 8643

I was very low on fuel so after a photograph I went to fuel up and then returned home.

Trackside Log for Sunday, April 5, 2009

I was at home today working with some of my photographs.  In the morning a northbound passed by with an AC4400, SD40-2, AC4400, AC4400 combination.  I didn't have enough warning to get trackside though.  After the northbound I turned on the scanner.  Nothing much happened until the afternoon when I heard Canadian Pacific engine 8815 call out the slow order the other side of Smithville.  I drove over to Sumbler Road for a photograph in the nice sunshine.

• 1420 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 8815-CP 8798

And that was it for daylight trains on the Hamilton Subdivision.

Trackside Log for Saturday, April 4, 2009

Today began with me recovering my Windows computer. Somehow the registry had become corrupted and it was behaving badly. I decided to rebuild from a backup. Anyway, while working on this I heard horns approaching and decided I needed a break. I grabbed the camera and dashed over to Sumbler Road.

• 1307 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 8879-CP 9814 (photo)

After the photos I drove to the fuel station for, well, fuel and then returned home.

Trackside Log for Thursday, April 2, 2009

I was working with some of my photographs when I heard Canadian Pacific train 426 call out Smithville mile board.  I figured why not go photograph it.  I drove down to River Road to have a look.

• 1817 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 8879

The sky was starting to cloud over but there was just enough sunshine to make the picture interesting.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, March 31, 2009

No sooner had I gotten home from work today when I heard train horns approaching. I grabbed my camera and dashed over to Farr Street to take a photograph across the field.

• 1703 Fenwick - CP 427 north - CP 8790-CP 9573

I haven't had much luck seeing trains after work in a while, so this was nice to see. Soon after a light power northbound ran by but I didn't hear it in time to photograph it.

• 1725 Fenwick - CP work 3097 north - CP 3097-CP 3042

So I waited to see if it would return from Smithville before it got dark.  It did.

• 1845 Fenwick - CP work 3042 south - CP 3042-CP 3097

There wasn't a lot of light left, but certainly enough.  The train returned with a single pipe flat car.  Not bad for after work.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Today was the day after Sam and I returned after our trip to the Montreal St. Patrick's Day Parade. Our entire plan for the day was to relax which we mostly accomplished by playing Lego Batman on the Xbox 360. Very nice. The weather was quite nice so I turned the scanner on. Canadian Pacific held off running a train until late afternoon, but at least it was something.

• 1643 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 8643-CP 8750-CP 3042

The 3042 was to be dropped off in Welland yard. A northbound was also soon to follow, but I decided to just listen to it pass behind my house.