Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Trackside Log for Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Once again tonight I had the scanner on while puttering about. A little after 1900 I heard a southbound announce the slow order between miles 39 and 36 of the Canadian Pacific Hamilton Subdivision. It was a beautiful evening so I drove over to River Road for a photograph. After a short wait I heard horns approaching. I waited some more but no more horns. OK, something's up. Without a scanner I was in the dark. I waited for a while longer but nothing.

Puzzled, I drove back north along the tracks until I got to Farr Street where I found the train stopped. I could just make out flashing lights on the opposite side of the train at the Canboro Road crossing. Not good. Train 426 hit something. I drove around and discovered that they had hit a car. Fire, ambulance and police were on the scene. The driver, who was the sole occupant, was lucky to have merely sustained a minor head wound. Extremely lucky.

  • 1938 Canboro Road, Fenwick (time of incident) - CP 426 south - CP 9622-CP 9515

After quite a while the train was released from the scene. The train began to pull at 2148.

  • 2150 Church Street, Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 9622-CP 9515

Monday, June 28, 2010

Trackside Log for Monday, June 28, 2010

I had just gotten up for the day when I heard a northbound Canadian Pacific train blowing for the many level crossings to the south. I figured I might as well go have a look before I took Missy for her walk. We dashed over to Farr Street to meet it.

  • 0803 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 9515-CP 9622-CP 9509-CP 8729

Then it was time for Missy's walk.

Later that evening I had the scanner on and could hear train 426 announcing the slow order between mile 39 and mile 36 of the Hamilton Subdivision. CEFX 1045 was leading so I got my camera and took Missy out to Chantler Road for a photograph. There had been roving storms all day and there were some large cumulonimbus clouds to the north. They made for a rather dramatic backdrop.

  • 1844 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CEFX 1045-CP 9500

Since the background looked so nice I decided to drive ahead and photograph the train again at River Road. I'm liking the 25 mph slow order here.

  • 1848 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CEFX 1045-CP 9500

Feeling rather satisfied with the photographs from the evening I drove back home.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Trackside Log for Sunday, June 27, 2010

Missy and I were at home relaxing with the scanner on this morning. Eventually I could hear train 254 south calling out mile boards so we drove down to River Road for a photograph. It was a very hazy, humid morning but there was plenty of light.

  • 0947 Fenwick - CP 254 south - CP 5750-SOO 6022-CP 5909

Missy and I returned home to putter about with the scanner on. After some vacuuming I heard another southbound announce the slow order between mile 26 and mile 23. Missy and I went over to Chantler Road for a photograph.

  • 1123 Fenwick - CP 246 south - CP 8625-CP 9636

After the train cleared we drove back home. Just as I was about to turn into my driveway I was rear-ended by a Pontiac Sunfire. Fortunately I was driving the Ranger. My only real damage was a mangled bumper.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Trackside Log for Saturday, June 26, 2010

I had just gotten up and was getting ready to take Missy for her walk this morning. I was interrupted by southbound horns so I preempted our walk with a quick drive to Chantler Road to see what it was.

  • 0749 Fenwick - CP 254 south - CP 8729-CP 9509-CP 8208

Canadian Pacific really has to do something about those old 9500 series AC4400CWs. CP 9509 was really grim. It was beyond grimy and an engine fire had done some significant paint damage. CP 8208 was set off in Welland Yard in trade for CP 8206.

After our walk I was still listening to the scanner and could hear Trillium Railway switching somewhere. It wasn't raining yet so I decided to see if I could find them. I drove past Feeder Yard just in time to see the train pop around the corner. Sometimes I have impeccable timing.

  • 0939 Feeder - Trillium Railway eastbound - TRRY 1859

I've been wanting to photograph the railway lift bridge over the old Welland Canal for a while so I figured, although it was cloudy and threatening rain, I may as well make it today. Unfortunately I chose a bad day for it. It turned out that a bicycle race was taking place around Dain City and Welland so traffic in the small community was snarled. I did manage to get to St. Clair Drive with plenty of time though.

  • 0956 Dain City - Trillium Railway eastbound - TRRY 1859

I followed the train into Welland but it was starting to rain so I abandoned the chase and drove back home with Missy.

After something to eat I heard train 246 south report the south siding switch Smithville returned to the normal position. The rain had stopped again so Missy and I walked up to the crossing for a look.

  • 1156 Fenwick - CP 246 south - CP 8735-CP 9825

Just as the train arrived it started to sprinkle again so we shuffled on back indoors.

After Missy's evening walk I was following along with the G20 summit protests in Toronto when I heard a Canadian Pacific southbound train call out the Boyle mile sign. I took Missy down to River Road for a photograph under the brightest skies I've seen all day.

  • 1759 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 9606-CP 9675

After the train pulled by we returned home for something to eat.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Trackside Log for Monday, June 21, 2010

I was at home with the scanner on this evening. The first local activity wouldn't make an appearance until quite late in the day. However, I figured I would take advantage of the summer solstice. There was still enough light available for a photograph although it was after 2030. Missy and I drove over to the Farr Street crossing where I was surprised to find the north side of the track brighter than the south. I've never photographed on the north side before. Then again, I've never taken a photograph that late in the day there either.

  • 2045 Fenwick - CP 247 north - CP 5612-CP 5833-STLH 5593-CP 5787

Wow. The sound of four SD40-2s accelerating out of the 25 mph speed restriction was awesome. It's a shame I don't get to hear that very often any more.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Trackside Log for Sunday, June 20, 2010

While out walking Missy this morning we were met by a southbound Canadian Pacific train at Farr Street.

  • 0930 Fenwick - CP 254 south - CP 8700-CP 9587

When we got back home I turned on the scanner and could hear the train switching Welland Yard. It was hot but otherwise quite a nice day so I took Missy over to Brookfield for a photograph of the train entering the Canadian National Stamford Subdivision.

  • 1101 Brookfield - CP 254 east - CP 8700-CP 9587

The clouds were giving a valiant chase of the train, but somehow I got very lucky and the locomotives were in sunlight. After the photos we returned home for lunch.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Trackside Log for Saturday, June 19, 2010

Once again I was at home with Missy listening to the scanner in the background. I heard Canadian Pacific train T31 (a.k.a. Job 3) ask permission from the Canadian National DS dispatcher to enter the Stamford Subdivision and lift interchange traffic from Southern Yard. Although the day was somewhat overcast I drove over to Brookfield anyway because I hadn't photographed anything there for a long time.

  • 1026 Brookfield - CP T31 east (Job 3) - CP 8206-CP 8250

My next goal was to photograph T31 back on the Canadian Pacific Hamilton Subdivision. I headed to the Miller Road bridge for an aerial view.

  • 1037 Brookfield - CP T31 north (Job 3) - CP 8206-CP 8250

With my mission accomplished Missy and I returned home.

While eating lunch the defect detector at mile 27.8 went off so Missy and I zipped over to Chantler Road to see what it was.

  • 1247 Fenwick - CP 254 south - CEFX 1036-CP 9537

After the nice surprise of the leased leader we returned home.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Trackside Log for Friday, June 18, 2010

I was just getting ready to take Missy for her evening walk when the scanner chirped up with a southbound Canadian Pacific train calling out the Boyle mile board. Since it was such a nice day I took Missy over to Chantler Road for a photograph.

  • 1729 Fenwick - CP 254 south - CP 8543-SOO 6046

It's a pretty rare event when I see train 254.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Trackside Log for Tuesday, June 15, 2010

This evening I was working with some GIS data when once again I heard southbound horns approaching town. Since it was such a nice evening I collected my camera and drove Missy down to River Road to have a look.

  • 1936 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 9651-CP 9707

It wasn't an overly interesting train but the weather was nice. Besides, Missy enjoys these little excursions.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Trackside Log for Sunday, June 13, 2010

Missy and I were watching a bit of the Germany-Australia world cup game when I heard on the scanner train 426 south report a siding switch in Smithville returned to normal. Well, it wasn't raining any more so I thought I might go take a photograph at Chantler Road again. So off Missy and I went. Of note was that the speed restriction had been raised back up to 25 mph.

  • 1543 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 8722-CP 5749

Amid the train was the heavy flat car QTTX 131037 with parts of an auto shredder built by Wendt Corp. After the train I took Missy back home for her evening walk.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Trackside Log for Saturday, June 12, 2010

Missy and I were relaxing at home on a rather muggy day. I had the scanner on in the background and heard CP 9530 north obtain a clearance from Brookfield to Welland Yard. After a while, having missed the subsequent clearance, I heard the train approaching so Missy and I walked up to the Church Street crossing to see it.

  • 1212 Fenwick - CP 427 north - CP 9530-CP 9634

Northbound trains at noon don't look great for photography, but I figured I'd take a shot anyway.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Trackside Log for Friday, June 11, 2010

Tonight I had the scanner on. There was no activity on either Canadian Pacific or Canadian National for most of the evening. Finally during the encroaching twilight Canadian Pacific train 426 called out the mile board at Boyle. Missy and I walked up to the Church Street crossing to watch it.

  • 2102 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 9655-CP 9520-CP 5833

After watching it pass by we walked back home.

Monday, June 07, 2010

Trackside Log for Monday, June 7, 2010

I had just gotten home when I heard the familiar sound of southbound horns approaching town. I figured I'd take a chance with the partly cloudy skies and go for a photograph. While waiting at Chantler Road luck was with me and a fairly large clear patch of sky welcomed train 426.

  • 1632 Fenwick - CP 426 south - CP 8780-SOO 6033

With trains still trundling along at 10 mph it took quite a while to get to me.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Trackside Log for Saturday, June 5, 2010

Missy and I slept in a bit today. When we finally got up I turned on the scanner just in time to hear that Canadian Pacific train 246 was nearby. Since there was sunshine I went out for a photograph before the clouds moved in. I headed to Chantler Road once again.

  • 0952 Fenwick - CP 246 south - CP 8853-CP 8808

Within the last week the slow order between mile 23 and mile 26 of the Hamilton Subdivision had been dropped to 10 mph. Since I could easily drive out ahead of the train I headed over to the Highway 58 bridge in Welland for another photograph.

  • 1023 Welland - CP 246 south - CP 8853-CP 8808

After dodging the clouds for a photograph I returned home to take Missy for her walk.

Friday, June 04, 2010

Trackside Log for Friday, June 4, 2010

After work today I turned on the scanner while I relaxed for a bit before taking Missy for her walk. Shortly before I was to take her out I heard train 426 south report that they were approaching Boyle. I got my camera and headed to Sumbler Road for a quick photograph.

  • 1800 Fenwick - CP 8609-CITX 3078-CP 6034

Well, what do you know? The last two engines were the power for train 255 from the prior day. Then I took Missy for her walk before the rain arrived.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Trackside Log for Thursday, June 3, 2010

So today I was out walking Missy around the block. I got part way out when I heard horns from the south. I didn't bring my camera but the timing was perfect to see it at the Farr Street crossing.

  • 1845 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 6034-CITX 3078

The train was solid empty grain hoppers.