I was just about to take Missy to Welland for some photography and a walk along the Welland Canal when I heard a train approaching from the south. The new plan was to walk back to the tracks for a photograph of the northbound before the drive to Welland.
What we saw was the yard power taking a pair of pipe loads to Cappco in Smithville.
I had learned that one of the Amtrak 40th anniversary P42s was to be on the "Maple Leaf" this morning. I decided to drive to Niagara Falls to photograph it at the station.
In my opinion a P42 looks rather good in that old Amtrak paint scheme. I wouldn't mind seeing more just like it.
While the "Maple Leaf" prepared to cross the border into New York I took some photographs of VIA train 92 waiting for departure. I hadn't photographed it with Renaissance cars before.
Today I was heading to work after an appointment on the 9th Concession Walpole. Since the Southern Ontario Railway's Garnet Yard was nearby on the 8th Concession Walpole I chose that route. My timing was about perfect. They were in the process of splitting up les trois amis to take two separate trains south.
Once CEFX 2014 coupled onto the freight for Lake Erie Steel it pulled out of the yard and headed to Nanticoke.
Not long after CEFX 2014 vacated Garnet the second train with traffic for the Esso refinery departed for Nanticoke.
Once the activity had abated I continued the short drive to work.
Today I had the scanner on while driving home from work. While driving through Wellandport I heard a southbound led by a Soo Line SD60 obtain a clearance from Smithville to Brookfield. I had plenty of time to get home, collect Missy and my camera, and drive to River Road for a photograph.
Not long afterward the local to Smithville returned as well.
Soon after that the sun was setting. It's starting to get dark very early now.
Once again Sam and I awoke at the Comfort Inn in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After breakfast we began our journey back to Ontario. As is often the case with me, it wasn't a direct journey. After stopping in Dexter for apple cider and fresh doughnuts our route took us to Hell. For about twenty years I've been talking about visiting Hell, Michigan. Today I checked that off my "to do list".
After stopping for a bit in Durand, finding nothing parked in the yard, and nothing moving on the Grand Trunk Western, we drove eastward to Port Huron. The only stop of note was in Lapeer where I photographed the Lapeer Industrial Railroad's 65 ton engine.
Next it was on to Port Huron where I photographed the Grand Republic in the St. Clair River. We spent an hour on the Blue Water Bridge and ate supper at Swiss Chalet before driving back home. It wasn't the most successful day of photography, but it was pleasant.
Yesterday Sam and I drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan so Sam could visit the Fiber Show. I was tagging along for company and a little road trip. After breakfast at the Comfort Inn I dropped Sam off at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds and started to explore. My first destination was Adrian to see the Adrian & Blissfield Railroad. Upon arrival I found one of their GP9s parked beside a playground.
Nothing else was visible in town and the former Wabash tracks were all quiet so I followed the Adrian & Blissfield to its other namesake. Here I found two more GP9s, the Old Road Dinner Train cars, and a variety of other rolling stock.
After the photographs I continued my exploration. I followed the Adrian & Blissfield to Riga and their connection with the Indiana & Ohio. Nothing interesting was there so I then followed the Indiana & Ohio to Diann and their connection with the Ann Arbor Railroad where I found a tower and parked interchange traffic. Again with no activity present I followed the Ann Arbor north to the connection with Norfolk Southern in Milan. As I was crossing the former Wabash tracks I noticed a green signal for a westbound. I picked a decent location in town and waited.
I decided now that the sun angle had moved around to head back to the Adrian & Blissfield again since there wasn't much other activity to be seen. Once again I found the GP9 next to the playground in Adrian.
And then back to Blissfield for another look at the rusty 1755.
It was now approaching the time I agreed to pick Sam back up from the expo so I made my way back north to Ann Arbor. Sam enjoyed the show and I enjoyed exploring some of southern Michigan.
I was outside with Missy this morning when a northbound rolled through town. It was train 247 with the power from yesterday's trains 246 and 626.
Then in the evening when I took Missy out for her walk the second loaded ethanol train of the weekend passed by.
This morning was windy, cool, and cloudy but I turned the scanner on to listen for activity on the Canadian Pacific Hamilton Subdivision. Before very long a southbound arrived in town so I took Missy to River Road for a photograph.
The train stopped at River Road to wait for permission over the next crossing which was being replaced. I decided to drive to the south end of Welland Yard for a second photograph.
That afternoon I heard train 246 approaching and decided to take Missy to Sumbler Road to have a look. It was grey and overcast but only raining slightly.
From a purely photographic point of view shortline railways can get a little boring. Their motive power is quite static so one tends to photograph the same locomotives frequently. This morning I was passing by the Southern Ontario Railway in Garnet on my way to work and noticed the fuel truck arriving. I decided a scene of the fuel truck alongside les trois amis was interesting enough that I would pause for a photograph.
It was Thanksgiving morning and I wasn't planning to do very much. I did turn on the scanner when I got up and after a while heard train 255 obtain a clearance out of Welland Yard. I took Missy for a look.
This morning I decided to go to Niagara Falls to see the "Maple Leaf" since it had been quite a long time. I took Missy down to the Victoria Avenue overpass and waited. The train arrived a half hour late having been delayed by a ship at the Welland Canal.
After photographing the train passing by a very sad looking Canadian National yard I drove to the VIA station for a couple more photographs. This is when I noticed that AMTK 117 is quite the "bondo buggy."
Next Missy and I started to head for home. When I arrived at Clifton I saw Canadian National train 421 entering the Stamford Subdivision. The new plan was to drive to Allanburg to photograph it since one can easily beat a train between the two locations.
Train 421 always sets off traffic in Port Robinson so I had plenty of time to drive ahead to photograph it again. I chose Brookfield for my next destination. Normally the train also sets off a locomotive so I expected the CN 5704 to be missing.
Having now photographed the train twice I drove home with a side trip to Canadian Pacific's Welland Yard. My timing at Phillips Road was uncanny. Just as I drove over the crossing I could see a southbound departing.
What was originally intended to be a short jaunt to Niagara Falls to see the "Maple Leaf" turned into a bit of a tour of Niagara. Fortunate timing can be quite entertaining.
This morning as Missy and I were getting up train 246 south rolled through town. I just listened to the train since the sun wasn't quite up yet. But when I turned the scanner a little later on I heard train 247 obtain a clearance to proceed north out of Welland Yard. Now that the sun was high enough I took Missy over the Chantler Road for a photograph.
It was the beginning of the Thanksgiving Day long weekend in Canada. It was to be a beautiful weekend so I elected to take the Friday off. My chosen activity for a fantastic sunny day was to drive over the border and visit Westfield, New York and the former New York Central and Nickel Plate Road tracks. After a relatively straight forward border crossing my first stop was in Dunkirk to see if anything was around. What I found was a parked Union Pacific and a CSX train switching. The CSX train took off on me, but I was easily able to photograph the Union Pacific.
A local was working the east end of the yard in Dunkirk, but I couldn't see it easily. With little other activity in town I made the short drive to my destination, Westfield. I grabbed a quick breakfast from McDonalds and headed for the little railfan park at North Gale Street. Then I waited. Nothing moved for over an hour but then it got busy.
As quickly as the traffic picked up, so too did it taper off. It was another ¾ of an hour before the next train, a Norfolk Southern. It was 1½ hours for the next CSX train.
Throughout the afternoon a series of locals arrived and kept the boredom away with some conversation. But the day was getting on so I bid them adieu and began the journey home. Along the way I made one last stop trackside in Brocton where I managed to see a few more trains.
After the quick rush of trains things seemed to die down a bit again. This time I drove back to Interstate 90 and straight home. Other than a rather slow afternoon on CSX it was a great day with beautiful weather and more Norfolk Southern trains than I'm accustomed to.
