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.

Trackside Log for Monday, September 26, 2005

I was gettng ready for my trip to the prairies to see grain elevators and needed a break so I headed to mile 18 of the CN Grimsby Subdivision to record the defect detector there. I headed out for the Maple Leaf. I photographed 98 as it passed through the defect detector.

• 1844 Vineland - Via 98 west - AMTK 177

Well, that was fun. Via 95 was coming too, but I headed home becuase it was getting dark. It turns out that 95 was attacked by vandals weilding rocks at Parkdale in Hamilton. Morons.

Trackside Log for Sunday, September 25, 2005

Today I decided to head out to the CN Stamford Subdivision to record the defect detectors and maybe photograph something. The weather wasn't great, but hey, I had nothing better to do. I headed over to the first detector at mile 7.8. On my way there I heard that train 154 was stopped at bridge 6. Good news, I actually have a train on the way.

• 1350 Stevensville - CN 154 east - CN 2537

While waiting for train 154 to arrive I heard NS train 369 switching Fort Erie. After photographing 154 and recording the detector I headed to Fort Erie to see 369.

• 1409 Fort Erie - NS 369 east - NS 9175-NS 5340-NS 8697

While in Fort Erie I also heard that CN train 332 would be crossing the border from Buffalo so I figured to catch it too. Unfortunately they had train line problems and were delayed sorting themselves out. Eventually, with NS 369 and the newly arrived CN 330 east waiting, 332 crawled across the International Bridge.

• 1554 Fort Erie - CN 332 west - CN 5797

There is only one other detector on the Stamford Subdivision at mile 27.6 so I headed over to it to record 332 pass over it. First I had to find it, which wasn't too difficult. After that it was getting pretty cloudy and dark so I headed back home.

Trackside Log for Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Today before I left work Steve left a message on the Canadian Tire Blackberry that the Maple Leaf had a private car. So, I decided to head to somewhere around Niagara Falls to photograph it. I called up Via and they told me that train 98 was 20 minutes late. Well, apparently they made some of that time up at the border inspection, because as I pulled up to Clifton I heard them ask the dispatcher why they had a red signal at Clifton. Thus, Clifton was going to be where I photographed it.

• 1755 Clifton - Via 98 west - AMTK 177 with private car "Mount Vernon"

The "Mount Vernon" was built by Budd for the Union Pacific and named "Pacific Island". Later it became Amtrak.

Trackside Log for Sunday, September 18, 2005

This was the last day of Binbrook Fair so again I didn't have a lot of time to spend trackside. Today however I had a friend Sam with me. She took digital photos while I took slides. Again we just headed to Copetown.

• 1048 Copetown - CN 435 west - CN 5677-CN 5262-CN 7038
• 1053 Copetown - CN 148 east - CN 2629-CN 9619-CN 5546
• 1128 Copetown - CN 331 west - CN 2507-CN 5708

Of note with CN 2507 is that its cab has been repainted with a different number style.

• 1255 Copetown - Via 72 east - VIA 902
• 1258 Copetown - Via 73 west - VIA 6409/VIA 6421
• 1315 Copetown - CN 330 east - CN 2573-CN 2523
• 1336 Copetown - CN 393 west - CN 5632-CN 2506

We waited a while for 393 and found out why. It was really struggling up the escarpment. But it was time to head to the fair so off we went.

Trackside Log for Saturday, September 17, 2005

This was Binbrook Fair weekend so I couldn't hang out by the tracks for too long, but I headed out for the morning. Since I couldn't go too far I just headed to Copetown to see what was going on. There seems to be a pattern developing here.

• 0921 Copetown - Via 70 east - VIA 6431
• 0944 Copetown - CN 435 west - CN 2633-CN 2614-IC 6261-CN 7257-CN 234
• 1016 Copetown - CN 148 east - CN 2435-IC 3115-CN 5727
• 1131 Copetown - CN 392 east - CN 2559-CN 5633
• 1219 Copetown - CN 331 west - CN 2523-CN 2573

That was all the time I had so I headed to the fair.

Trackside Log for Sunday, September 11, 2005

I got a late start today after a late night yesterday but decided to head back to Copetown to see what CN was up to. It wasn't long before 148 arrived.

• 1214 Copetown - CN 148 east - CN 5727-CN 5674-CN 2648

The dispatcher told CN train 330 that it would follow Via train 72 from Copetown so 330 stopped at the Copetown West crossovers to wait for 72 to pass.

• 1254 Copetown - Via 72 east - VIA 919
• 1300 Copetown - CN 330 east - CN 2660-CN 2549
• 1302 Copetown - Via 73 west - VIA 6428/VIA 6425
• 1341 Copetown - CN 393 west - CN 2612-CN 5552-IC 6258

That was about all the time I had so I headed home. There was no word on any more pending trains so it seemed like a good time. I did hear from CN train 434 after I left but it was too late.

Trackside Log for Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Well there wasn't much railway activity tonight but I did hear the CP Hamilton subdivision detector at mile 18 go off. It turned out to be Job 3 returning to the yard so I photographed it there.

• 1657 Welland - CP Job 3 north - CP 3032

I followed the CN Stamford subdivision back home but nothing was happening there.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Today after work I headed over to CP's yard in Welland to see if anything was there. As luck would have it train 248 south was parked by the office. Unfortunately it was pointed east in the afternoon, so the light was pretty bad, but it had a Draper leading so I got a shot of it at least.

• 1718 Welland - CP 248 south - CP 9016-CP 5578-CP 5907

Not much else was going on so I headed over to CN to see what was happening there. I attempted to head through Dain City but the road was closed so I tried to take Highway 48 over to Townline Tunnel Road. No good, Townline Tunnel Road was closed too. Later I found out that a cyclist had been killed near the intersection down there. I took a very long route around and eventually wound up at CN where nothing was going on. I followed CN to Port Robinson where the Algomarine was heading downbound on the canal so I photographed it in Allanburg at Bridge 11. I didn't hear much else so I headed home.

Trackside Log for Monday, September 5, 2005

The forecast for today was for sun so I headed trackside to the CN Dundas subdivision around Copetown and Lynden. On the way there I heard that train 148 east would be passed by Via number 70. I decided to meet them at Copetown. After a short wait I could hear the sound of diesels climbing the Niagara Escarpment so I had a westbound as well.

• 0942 Copetown - Via 70 east - VIA 6416
• 0942 Copetown - CN 385 west - CN 2618-CN 5790-CN 7248-CN 279
• 0948 Copetown - CN 148 east - CN 2596-CN 5274-CN 2691

Next I headed to Lynden for a change of scenery. Along the way I just missed train 271 west. Oh well, it wasn't that interesting anyway.

• 1047 Lynden - CN 392 east - CN 9540-CN 5651
• 1120 Lynden - CN eastbound - CN 5527-CN 5745
• 1129 Lynden - CN 330 east - CN 2690-CN 2614

I started to meander back home and made my way to Copetown again.

• 1256 Copetown - Via 72 east - VIA 906
• 1302 Copetown - Via 73 west - VIA 6411 (Operation Lifesaver)/VIA 6425
• 1312 Copetown - CN 394 east - CN 5617-BNSF 7794-BNSF 5131

The second unit on 394 was a new BNSF Gevo with the ugly new logo. I just managed to squeak the train into the sunshine. Clouds were becoming a huge factor but I also got lucky with another two trains in sunshine.

• 1318 Copetown - CN 382 east - CN 5691-CN 5289-CN 2417
• 1326 Copetown - CN 435 west - CN 5703-CN 5759

Then the next westbound wasn't so lucky. I missed the sun by about thirty seconds.

• 1332 Copetown - CN westbound - CN 2577-CN 2429-DWP 5902

It was too bad I didn't get sun. I would have liked the DWP engine in nice light. However the next eastbound autorack train was in sun. Where are all the westbounds?

• 1351 Copetown - CN 278 east - CN 2686-BNSF 4540

At this point the clouds were getting annoying and I had people to visit so I headed home.

Trackside Log for Friday, September 2, 2005

This morning I got up with the plan to catch NS train 328. I headed out for 0900 since 328 often goes through St. Catharines before the Amtrak. This day however I needn't have worried since 328 was held by bridge six and then by a foreman. While waiting for 328 at Cambridge siding I heard a work train in Port Robinson. CN 9450 was dropping rail and then heading to Fort Erie to drop rail there.

• 1143 Carl Rd., Port Robinson - CN 905 east - CN 9450 (continuous welded rail train)

The track at Port Robinson is aligned north/south and by the time NS 328 showed up it would have been poorly lit so I headed over to Brookfield where the track runs east/west. Since train 905 was restricted to twenty miles per hour I figured I might as well photograph it again in Brookfield.

• 1205 Troup Rd., Brookfield - CN 905 east - CN 9450 (continuous welded rail train)

Eventually NS 328 was cleared through the St. Catharines area and on its way. I decided to change up the scenery and headed to Stevensville to photograph it.

• 1306 House Rd., Stevensville - NS 328 east - NS 4808-NS 1645

Earlier while waiting for train 905 in Port Robinson I heard Trillium blowing for the crossings while headed to St. Catharines so I figured I'd see if I could find them in town. While driving down Hartzell Road I noticed them on the old Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto track headed up to Thorold on the Town Line spur. So I turned around and headed back to Thorold to catch Trillium street running again.

• 1422 Town Line Rd. East, Thorold - Trillium switcher - TR 110
• 1432 Interlake Paper, Thorold - Trillium switcher - TR 110

After switching the Interlake Paper plant Trillium headed back toward Merritton.

• 1459 Town Line Rd., East, Thorold - Trillium switcher - TR 110

Successfully photographing the street running again was rewarding and I decided to head home.