Travelling aboard Train #1 "The Canadian"

I have recently returned from a fabulous trip aboard our country's premier passenger train, "The Canadian". Our family travelled by train in a westward direction and flew home via the airline industry. I hope you will enjoy some of the train related pictures I will be sharing with you. As the schedule board in Toronto's Union Station clearly states, "The Canadian" from Toronto to Vancouver is Train#1.

Some of the images I like taking are those "artsy" types that demonstrate that "other side" of railroading. This next image of the VIA stepstool is but one example of this type of photography. Indeed, the bright yellow stool seems to be inviting us along on the trip...so, I guess that it's an "All Aboard" for a trip across this vast nation!

Before we get to far along on our trip, let's take a closer look at just the diesel brutes that will be hauling the 22 car set across the nation. Yes, this trio of F40Ph's is more than enough power to handle our train given their rating of 3000 HP a piece! This shot was taken in Capreol, Ontario.

As we travel through the Canadian Shield, I found myself enjoying the luxury of the Park Car on the tail end of the train. The park car is one of four dome cars on this train with the only difference being its location at the rear and the inclusion of a fabulous lounge for first class passengers. The park car offers you the opportunity of shooting images from the tail of the train through straight glass (unlike the curved plexiglass located up in the domes) and the glass is naturally "bug-free"! This scene shows a bridge we have just crossed looking back down the tracks somewhere in Northern Ontario.

Here is an image of the park car taken "Waterton Park" at Capreol just outside of Sudbury. Note the stainless steel shell. These cars are over fifty years old and continue to offer rail enthusiasts a comfortable and unique rail experience.

I will continue to post excerpts from my travels in up-coming editions, so log on frequently so as not to miss the updates!

The Ottawa Central's RS18's

While railfanning on a Sunday afternoon in late July, some of the boys in the Friday Night Group came upon the Ottawa Central conducting interchange at Coteau Jct.

The 1838 is leading two other brethren Alcos as the train arrives the station track at Coteau. He'll be waiting for clearance to back up and head into the yard lead to tie onto his traffic for the day.

The 1824 is in the middle of the pack today, sandwiched between a black and a red unit of Alco's. Having the sun in the southeast at this time of morning certainly aids me with my angles in photographing these "black" diesels...perhaps the most difficult of locomotive colours to shoot!

The train has tied onto its consist and has crossed over the mains as it readies to head to Glen Robertson and up the branch to Hawksbury. We hustle into our cars to the road crossing beside the river where we catch the lead unit, an ex-CP re-lettered in OC identification marks.

Having just crossed the CP double tracked mainline, I lens the 1846 as it pounds the crossing in this tiny little hamlet.

Note the new lettering applied to the unit in this classic "going away" shot. I don't think the paint crew fully lined up the "O" with the "C". Oh well...as long as the unit performs its duties, that's all the railroad would expect!

As I "widen" the shot, the lead Alco puts on its display that all Alcos are famous for...that plume of black smoke.

It's a rather short train on this day...perhaps due to it being a Sunday. There are only about six cars returning to the Glen, although a much longer consist came down to Coteau with this crew.

Now, here's sometihing you don't see all too often trackside anymore. Yes, a van! This caboose was repainted in the Taurus blue colours of the Ontario L'Orignal line a few years earlier. It is called the "Millenium".

I hope you enjoyed sharing in my "Alco fun" on a Sunday! Cheers, Mike

Ottawa's O-Train crosses the Rideau River

Recently, Ottawa has enjoyed the services of a north-south commuter route ferrying passengers from the southend of the city near to the urban center. Two trains are in service running at 15 minute intervals. One particular railfan spot I enjoy is Rideau River crossing beside Carleton University.


The scene above is taken from the south side of the river with the early morning sunlight rising from the east to our right. That's Dunton Tower, the largest building on the university campus in the background.


I want a closer-up shot, so I wait a few minutes for the other train...zoom in and snap away! One thing is for certain, with the short interval, railfanning this train is easy as pie!

With the sun still rising, this shot is backlit.  I'm now standing below a tree on the north bank of the river on the university campus to grab this artsy shot with the leaves framing the train.
For the model railroaders out there, this bridge would be a fabulous scratchbuild making use of girders of different sizes and designs.
To see the other side of the bridge, I had to wait until the afternoon for the proper light conditions to snap these shots.
I'm now back on the south side of the river looking north. This train will shortly arrive the Carleton University station where it will meet its outhbound counterpart.
The three unit diesel set certainly looks handsome in Canada's two official colours.
This tighter shot catches the northbound's counterpart just a few short minutes later.

This picture offers an interesting study in bridge piers. Stone on the bottom and poured concrete above.
The river's flow is to the right where the Rideau will soon enter into the larger Ottawa River. The term "Rideau" is a French word for "curtain" and the water from the Rideau falls into the Ottawa in a beautiful waterfalls which appeared to look like a curtain to early explorers.
My final shot for this posting has the western sun illuminating the western flanks of the bridge with a southbound train heading to the "South Keys" station terminus.
The final span of the bridge crosses the bike path. Ottawa is noted for being a "bicycle friendly" city...offering specialty maps for cyclists. The O-Train allows cyclists to board with their bicycle in tow!

The bright red trio stands out against the cloudy sky. Note also the rust streaks on the bridge and its piers.
A visit to Ottawa isn't complete without a ride on Ottawa's beautiful O'Train.
Cheers, Mike

The Shay in Action

Our nation's National Museum of Science and Technology is situated in my neighbourhood. Every Wednesday and Saturday, a group of very dedicated individuals works hard to restore railroad equipment. In the summertime, they take a little time away from their work to have some fun running the equipment!

This restored Shay spent most of its working life on Vancouver Island. The museum acquired the steam locomotive...put many hundreds of hours of restoration into her...and now the staff can enjoy hauling visitors along the length of line on the perimeter of the museum's property.

Having travelled the length of the line, the train is undertaking a "backup" move to the small station located on the grass near the entrance to the museum. That's a Canadian Pacific caboose in the middle and a Thurso Nation RR coach on the rear. When you get time to visit Ottawa, a tour of the Museum of Science and Technology should be on your itinerary!

VIA Rail passenger service

I had railfanned VIA Rail the day before and was impressed with their "on-time" schedule. Seeing as today was another sunny one, I decided to head trackside again to shoot the same two trains as yesterday...at similar locations but with different perspectives and camera angles.

This first image shows VIA train #44 having pierced the Pleasant Park road crossing...inbound to the Ottawa terminus from Toronto. I'm standing just beside the bicycle path that has its own set of signals as well. I had managed to snag the train and keep the "red over red" aspect in the image to the right. Yes, model railroad friends, look at the rail...it's brown in appearance...rust actually!

I knew I'd have 20 minutes before VIA train #47 would be departing Ottawa for Toronto, so I figured I'd bike over to the Smyth Road rail overpass. I had enough time to park my bike and scale the hill and set up for this shot.

It's now 4:55 and the train is only a few minutes into its journey. The sun is still relatively high in the sky and it's certainly brightening up the front of this FP40H locomotive. Yes, that bright yellow on its snoot is highly visible for safety reasons. Thank you again for sharing with me another few minutes on my bike trackside!

Cheers, Mike

Railfanning Around Ottawa

Now that I've purchased a digital camera, I'm having tons of fun heading out trackside to snap shots of the local trains in and around my area of Ottawa. There's a railroad crossing just 10 minutes by bike from my house...as well as a bike path crossing...yes...Ottawa is very bicycle friendly! Before heading out, I check the VIA Rail website for the schedule of trains and off I go.

Typically, an inbound train arrives Ottawa and shortly thereafter an outbound departs. There is usually a twenty minute interval, so I don't have to wait too long for the next train.

It's Monday, August the 8th. The first photograph above shows inbound train #44 approaching the Pleasant Park road crossing. Those buildings in the background are located near Billings Bridge shopping plaza. The sun was on my right...pretty good phot conditions!

The second image is of outbound train #47. This train is only three or four minutes out of the station and it is approaching the bike path crossing. I'm standing right beside the bicycle path. The time is just before five o'clock in the late afternoon.

Both these trains were right on schedule! I also appreciate the fact that different diesel units were on the headend of the two trains. I hope you've enjoyed my first post to my new railfanning weblog!

Cheers, Mike Hamer