Monday, October 31, 2011

Trackside Log for Monday, October 31, 2011

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.

  • 1644 Fenwick - CP northbound - CP 8212-CP 8200

What we saw was the yard power taking a pair of pipe loads to Cappco in Smithville.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Trackside Log for Saturday, October 29, 2011

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.

  • 1018 Niagara Falls - VIA 97 east - AMTK 145

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.

  • 1027 Niagara Falls - VIA 92 west - VIA 917

Friday, October 28, 2011

Trackside Log for Friday, October 28, 2011

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.

  • 1111 Garnet - SOR southbound - CEFX 2014

Once CEFX 2014 coupled onto the freight for Lake Erie Steel it pulled out of the yard and headed to Nanticoke.

  • 1115 Garnet - SOR southbound - CEFX 2014

Not long after CEFX 2014 vacated Garnet the second train with traffic for the Esso refinery departed for Nanticoke.

  • 1123 Garnet - SOR southbound - CEFX 2006-CEFX 2019

Once the activity had abated I continued the short drive to work.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Trackside Log for Monday, October 24, 2011

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.

  • 1734 Fenwick - CP 626 south - SOO 6044-ICE 6449-ICE 6444-CEFX 3164

Not long afterward the local to Smithville returned as well.

  • 1740 Fenwick - CP southbound - CP 8200-CP 8212

Soon after that the sun was setting. It's starting to get dark very early now.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Trackside Log for Sunday, October 23, 2011

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.

  • 1449 Lapeer, MI - Lapeer Industrial power - LIRR 5

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.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Trackside Log for Saturday, October 22, 2011

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.

  • 1103 Adrian, MI - Adrian & Blissfield power - ADBF 1759

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.

  • 1136 Blissfield, MI - Adrian & Blissfield power - ADBF 1751
  • 1138 Blissfield, MI - Adrian & Blissfield power - ADBF 1755
  • 1145 Blissfield, MI - Adrian & Blissfield station
  • 1147 Blissfield, MI - Old Road Dinner Train cars

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.

  • 1341 Milan, MI - NS westbound - NS 8905-NS 9335

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.

  • 1431 Adrian, MI - Adrian & Blissfield power - ADBF 1759

And then back to Blissfield for another look at the rusty 1755.

  • 1455 Blissfield, MI - Adrian & Blissfield power - ADBF 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.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Trackside Log for Sunday, October 16, 2011

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.

  • 1045 Fenwick - CP 247 north - CP 8883-CP 8879-CEFX 3120-CITX 3071-CITX 3079-CP 5964

Then in the evening when I took Missy out for her walk the second loaded ethanol train of the weekend passed by.

  • 1730 Fenwick - CP 626 south - CP 8824-ICE 6411-SOO 6062

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Trackside Log for Saturday, October 15, 2011

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.

  • 0851 Fenwick - CP 626 south - CP 5964-CITX 3079-CITX 3071-CEFX 3120

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.

  • 0917 Welland - CP 626 south - CP 5964-CITX 3079-CITX 3071-CEFX 3120

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.

  • 1433 Fenwick - CP 246 south - CP 8883-CP 8879

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Trackside Log for Thursday, October 13, 2011

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.

  • 0913 Garnet - SOR 596 south - CEFX 2019-CEFX 2006-CEFX 2014

Monday, October 10, 2011

Trackside Log for Monday, October 10, 2011

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.

  • 0951 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 8871-CP 6034

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Trackside Log for Sunday, October 9, 2011

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.

  • 1046 Niagara Falls - VIA 97 east - AMTK 117

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."

  • 1054 Niagara Falls - VIA 97 east - AMTK 117

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.

  • 1126 Allanburg - CN 421 east - CN 8840-IC 2719-CN 5704

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.

  • 1216 Brookfield - CN 421 east - CN 8840-IC 2719

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.

  • 1235 Welland - CP 246 south - CP 9532-CP 9610

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.

Saturday, October 08, 2011

Trackside Log for Saturday, October 8, 2011

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.

  • 0804 Fenwick - CP 247 north - CP 5917-HLCX 8176-DME 6068-CP 6034

Friday, October 07, 2011

Trackside Log for Friday, October 7, 2011

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.

  • 0855 Dunkirk, NY - CSX westbound - CSXT 5309-CSXT 8073
  • 0900 Dunkirk, NY - CSX power - UP 6950

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.

  • 1042 Westfield, NY - CSX westbound - CSXT 5411-CSXT 477 (video)
  • 1047 Westfield, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 4719-CSXT 4766-CSXT 7829
  • 1056 Westfield, NY - CSX K385 west - CSXT 4827-CSXT 4789 (video)
  • 1108 Westfield, NY - CSX Q380 east - CSXT 5361-CSXT 7578
  • 1113 Westfield, NY - CSX westbound - CSXT 5309-CSXT 8073

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.

  • 1156 Westfield, NY - NS 316 east - NS 9607-NS 8954
  • 1242 Westfield, NY - CSX Q227 west - CSXT 8343-CSXT 8098 (video)
  • 1308 Westfield, NY - NS 15M west - NS 9197-NS 6777-NS 6539
  • 1316 Westfield, NY - North Gale Street crossing with numbered tracks
  • 1322 Westfield, NY - NS 287 west - NS 9327
  • 1336 Westfield, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 7684-CSXT 614
  • 1337 Westfield, NY - NS 916 east (rail train) - NS 6112-NS 9428
  • 1501 Westfield, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 5005-CSXT 8725
  • 1520 Westfield, NY - NS 205 west - NS 9417-NS 9504
  • 1525 Westfield, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 5470-CSXT 7511
  • 1535 Westfield, NY - NS 309 west - NS 7586-NS 9030
  • 1541 Westfield, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 8714-CSXT 5200
  • 1550 Westfield, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 5347-CSXT 8541
  • 1559 Westfield, NY - CSX westbound - CSXT 4756-CSXT 4849-CSXT 696
  • 1603 Westfield, NY - NS 14T east - NS 8887
  • 1616 Westfield, NY - NS 22K east - BNSF 4740-NS 9918-NS 8416

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.

  • 1700 Brocton, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 5449-CSXT 7522
  • 1710 Brocton, NY - CSX westbound - CSXT 7318-CSXT 7596
  • 1728 Brocton, NY - NS 206 east - NS 9913-NS 7547
  • 1734 Brocton, NY - CSX westbound - CSXT 724-CSXT 7906-CSXT 7678

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.