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This is a page dedicated to CN & VIA Trains operating within the Maritime Provinces in 2005. All pictures were taken by me, and details of said pictures are given in the descriptions under the photo tables. Enjoy the pictures!
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This was a planned railfanning trip to Windsor Junction, to get to know the area and check out possible railfanning locations for future shoots. The first shot is the Windsor Junction switcher, with GP38-2 4728. The next shot is CN Train 701, the loaded Gypsum train from Milford, bound for Wrights Cove and the National Gypsum marine loading facility with an SD75I on the head end. The next picture shows the loaded gyp train heading into the distance, about to enter the Dartmouth Sub. The 4th shot is VIA's train #15, with F40PH #6413 leading, passing at about 40MPH. The 5th and final picture is something I had never seen before...electric Switch machines, freshly delivered, but not yet installed on any switches. I'm not sure where they're going, as the switches on the mainline at the Junction are already electrified.
VIA Ocean Terminal, Fairview Yard & Rockingham Yard
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This trip was in preparation for my cousin's arrival...Peter & I went railfan-location-scouting....we spent the day looking for places to railfan and areas to get good shots from. We didn't plan on getting any pictures of trains, but we lucked out because I stopped at the station and figured I should see what the head end motive power was. And, after supper, on the way home, we caught 121 leaving the rock. Picture one is CN 5733 (SD75I) on the head end of train 121 as it arrives in the rock. The next picture is of Fairview yard, and the array of units present. Of main interest would be the CSX SD60...recently, a lot of CSX units have been seen in Fairview. The last picture is a shot I am rather fond of. I call it "The Future of Railfanning", and it's meant to be aimed at the fact that railroads are making it harder and harder for railfans to, well...railfan. They're putting up walls, fences and having more and more law enforcement on railfans. We're the best asset the railroads could have, but they choose to block us out. I fear this is how we may have to railfan soon...behind a chain-link fence. Or worse...behind Bars...
Windsor Junction, Rockingham Yard & Beaverbank Road
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This was most defiantly a planned trip with the sole idea of railfanning...hence, the abundance of pictures! Doesn't it figure though? The one I thought was the best was the most out of focus...even Photoshop couldn't save it. That'll teach me for not using a tripod! The first (of many) pictures are of CN 4721 switching cars on the WHRC interchange in Windsor Junction. This is a pretty well daily activity, and this train switches other industries along the line as well. The next picture is of VIA's westbound passenger service, with 6416 on the head end, rolling along about 45MPH. The speed limit through the Junction is 50, as it's a residential area. The next shot is of the WJ Switcher, with 4721 and 4726 starting to pull their train out. After watching this, Peter and I left for the hobby shop and some lunch. After lunch, we went to Mill Cove to capture the eastbound incoming 14. That's shown from an overpass in picture #4. Picture number 5 shows the motive power from the WJ Switcher sitting on the locomotive siding in Rockingham Yard. Moving to the next row, we see CN 5785 (SD75I) on the head end of 121 as it rolls into Rockingham to pick up more cars from HIT. You can see 4726 in the back ground. In picture 7, you finally get to see peter, as he posed beside the mile-marker of the Rock crossover...notice the rear unit on #121 is 4724, the usual GP38 switcher power from Rockingham Yard. It was dead in tow, and I assume was going somewhere for repairs that couldn't be done in Fairview. The last two pictures are pictures of container loads on 121. The first is a Canadian-Tire Container. Someone mentioned they didn't see them much anymore, and on this train alone, there were 17 marked as "Canadian Tire" and another 5 with just the reporting marks. The last picture is that of wheels on a bulk-head container. This is one I have never seen before...so I thought a picture was necessary. We chased 121 to Windsor Junction, but that shot came out very out of focus...121 went through the junction at about 36MPH and accelerating hard. There is a nasty hill from Bedford to Waverly, and trains tend to slow a lot on those hills. Passenger service can be back up to track speed quickly, as those F40's are built for speed, and have a short train, considering the horsepower. 121, however, have a lower HP/Ton ratio, and hence they can't be up to track speed as fast, but as they pass the junction, you can feel them pick up and go!
Bedford Quarry, Rockingham Yard & Dartmouth Yard
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These shots were taken on my way to a movie-night and get-together at a good friend's house...David Othen had a group of railfanning friends over, and Peter & I decided to go railfanning before showing up, just to be sure we were dedicated railfans. The weather was crap! Overcast, rainy and damn cold! For the first shot, VIA 6410 leading #15 through Bedford Quarry, it was pouring and I had to walk through a ditch to get to the tripod, otherwise I had to walk about 150 feet down the road to get there the dry way. The nice thing about this kind of weather is I don't need to worry about the sun and shadows and such, and it makes the lime green on that Telus unit look brighter then it normally does! The second shot was taken in Dartmouth...CN 5617 (SD75I) and 5755 (SD70I) are the motive power on train 701 and 703. Since there was a strike at National Gyp going on, instead of leaving the units there, CN brings them down here. Shot #3 is CN4706 and 4719 (Both GP38-2's) pulling and pushing cars, for what I assume to be the next morning's train #307. This is a rather nice shot, as they proceed under one of Halifax's two suspension Bridges. The next shot is the same motive power, only farther down, towards the yard, picking up a cut of cars. The last shot of this row is a close-up of 4706. The engineer was talking to the conductor, who was on the rear of the train, and paused, looked at me and said "Justasec, Jimmy...I gotta smile for the camera-man!" Ohh the joy of a scanner! In the next row, we see 4706, 4719 and a Conrail auto rack heading out under the bridge. Each time they pulled ahead, the locomotives got farther and farther away from me, and closer to the bridge, prompting my moving to a new location. And, not surprisingly, as soon as I got the new location, they decided to back the whole train onto an empty siding, meaning they were no longer getting closer to the bridge and my new photo location. Though, I did get the last shot...notice the storm-damaged boat in the foreground. That is left over from Hurricane Juan, and from the looks of it, someone lives there. Poor guy.
Truro A-Yard & Bible Hill
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This wasn't totally intended to be a railfan outing...I was going to Truro to go to the Ex, hang out with my girlfriend, Jo (see the "Friends" album) and meet her parents. However, since Truro is about an hour and a half away, and gas was about $1.119 per Liter, I figured I might as well make the best of it and railfan a bit while I was there. We left early and went to the Truro A-Yard for some pictures. The Truro switcher was working in the yard and 307 was sitting on the lead waiting for the train inspection to be completed. That is where I got the first two shots. The first is of some coal being unloaded, and the second is a duo of GP38-2W's working the yard. Isn't it always my luck, but the weather was crap, again! I made the most of it, and decided to go to a Timmy's near the tracks to get a coffee and wait for 307. I was supposed to meet Jo and her parents at the VIA station on the other side of town at noon. No sooner had I pulled in, I heard #307 call RTC for clearance. Just then, all hell broke loose...rain came down in buckets!! I grabbed the camera and booted it up the side of the embankment (easily 75-degrees...near vertical) and stood trackside, in the rain, waiting for #307. Nothing. So, I walked back down that embankment, into Timmy's looking like a drown rat, and asked Peter if he heard anything on the scanner. No sooner had I said that then I looked up and saw headlights coming around the curve. I booted it back across the parking lot, up the embankment, and was a second too late to run across the tracks to get to the other side and get a good shot. So, I missed the shot I wanted, and got soaked in the process. Walked back to Timmy's, went to order a donut, looked at the clock, and realized it was 12:05 already! I was late! Damn! So, I went to leave, caught a glimpse of myself in the mirrored glass, realized my hair was a mess (soaking wet), so I ran to the bathroom, dried off, hopped in the car and raced across town. Got to the station 15 minutes late. We drove to the Exhibition, and spent some quality time with Jo. Then, we walked to a grade crossing 1.75 Miles from the Truro Station, where I got the 3rd shot. I didn't have a tri-pod, so the shot was blurred, but Photoshop cured most of that. That was 6418 on the point of 15...I missed 14 by mere minutes, several hours later.
Amherst Station & Tantramar Marsh
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This, again, wasn't a railfanning trip exactly. This point of this trip was to meet up with a guy I knew from Moncton who had some rail-related parts I wanted. In return, I had some money he desired. I figured that, since Jo was going to be at her grandparents in Wentworth, and we were passing near Wentworth, we might as well pick her up. That way, I get to see her for a day, and we avoid the rather expensive toll road through Folly Mountain. So, we picked up Jo in Wentworth at noon and were at the East-end of the VIA Amherst platform at 1PM. VIA #14 was due at 1300, but NBEC has a half-dozen slow orders in effect which make 14 late more often then not. This instance wasn't too bad...only about 40 minutes. I've seen them nearly 5 hours late into Halifax before! Anyhow, VIA #14 with 6424 on the lead is the first shot. I knew from the scanner that 307 and 14 were meeting in Springhill Junction, so Jo, Peter and I waited around the platform for 307 to arrive. That's the second picture; photo shopped a bit to lighten it up. I was on the wrong side of the tracks, but didn't think it would make as big a difference as it did. Then, we hit the maps, trying to figure out the easiest way to get a shot I wanted on Tantramar marsh. When we finally figured it out, we headed out that way and after finding a suitable place, crawled up the embankment and crossed the tracks to a mudflat on the other side, to get a good shot. That's the 3rd one in the set. Those are the only pictures I took that day...not a whole lot of action in Amherst. On the way home, we dropped Jo off and caught both 121 and 703, however, they were both after dark and shooting them would have been pointless.
Waverly, Windsor Junction, Bedford Quarry and Halterm
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October 29th was a Saturday after I'd been off school for a week...stupid sickness. Anyhow, I'd been following the progress of VIA 6420, an F40 with a third experimental light, for a week or so. She was leading 15 out of Halifax on the 29th, so Peter and I decided to head down that way, catch some trains, and kick back for a day. Fools for luck we were!
701 Showed up at 1PM with 5720 and 5783, both SD75I's. That would be the first picture above. The hotbox scanner said it was 3 degrees...I'd believe it! I got the shot I wanted, and hopped in the car. Realizing it was 1:01, I headed off towards WJ at a slightly raised velocity. 6420 and 6409, both F40PH's, were leading a train of a dozen-or-so stainless Steel cars at 47 MPH, passing us at 1:07PM, inside the Wye at WJ. Still holding a nippy 3 Degrees outside. That would be the second shot in the above table...sorry for the blurred view, but I blame the A/F on the Digital Camera.
eventually, about 2PM, CN 2611, a Dash9-44CW showed up. It was leading the 4-unit consist. Following it was SD50F #5456. Then, there was a CSX unit (SD50?) #8665, followed by CN 2735, another Dash9-44CW, bringing up the rear. The train was long...I would guess around 10 thousand feet long. It passed WJ at 2:05 at 40MPH with an ambient temperature of 5 Degrees. This is the 3rd picture in the above table...
Peter and I went to Fairview to see what was going on, where was saw what would eventually become 121's motive power...2583, 2410 and 2578. A pair of Dash9-44CW's on either side of a Dash8-40CM. As we were there, 4721, a GP38-2, took a cut of cars down the HOTRock. This was around 3:45PM.
Within 30 seconds of my arrival at Bedford Quarry, the F40's blasted out of the woods. I got a picture of the lead units, which turns out to be picture #4 in the above table. Operation Lifesaver #6411, as well as 6416 (both F40PH's) lead 18 Rencars and YOHO (picture #5) past at 4:25.
After this, we headed down towards Marginal Road to see some trains. At about 5:30, we found the first Shipments from EMDI of the broad gauge Brazilian CVRD North SD70Ms 701-724. There is a single picture here, #7, but more are posted in another section of the website, titled "Brazilian SD70M Exports". Please Click HERE for the rest of the shots.
VIA 14 drove past me at about 5:35, and I got a nice shot of 6411 moving all of 5 MPH, about 5 feet away from me. That would be picture #6. I also got a shot of the park car. As I was getting ready to leave, I spotted Picture #8. There were 8 spots like this, surprisingly enough orientated in such a way it looked like a locomotive sat there and spun, presumably for a LONG time!
#121 left Rockingham at 9:05 with 4633 feet, 77 cars (68 loads) and a bit better then 4700 tons.
VIA Veteran Train
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VIA Rail Canada operated a Veterans Train this year, 2005, The Year of the Veteran. The Westbound Train #15 Ocean Departed Halifax on the 9th of November, arriving in Montreal the morning of the 10th. Veterans were ushered across the platform to several reserved cars on a train bound for Ottawa. Veterans were given good rates in Hotels, or were given dirt-cheap room and board in the old Barracks. On November 12th, the Veterans were ushered back onto the train from Ottawa to Montreal, where they did another cross-platform transfer back onto VIA's Eastbound Ocean, #14. The Veteran's Special arrived back in Halifax on the 13th of November, and the Veteran's were welcomed with a red-carpet and the Stadacona Band playing inside the station greeted more then 300 Veterans off the train, as well as many others in the crowds in the station. Many tears were shed during this trip, and it won't soon be forgotten by the people involved, the Veterans who took part, or the railfans that photographed. MANY more pictures, as well as a wealth of information and my personal message to Veteran's is available HERE for your reading pleasure.
Windsor Junction
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Well...all my sources indicated that, despite the weather, today would be a good trip. There was supposed to be a BNSF GP60M in war bonnet paint arriving on CN148. Normally, it would be in at or slightly before daybreak this time of year. However, she was running late, and I figured this would be a good chance to get out and see one of few GP60's left on the BNSF roster. Well...got to WJ in time to see #15 come through, with 6420 on the point. We'd been there since early morning (I took the day off school) and were just about to leave (I was soaking wet...what else is new?) when I heard "VIA #15 has Clear-to-stop at Kinsac East", followed moments later by "VIA #15 has a Stop at Kinsac West"...I instantly thought to myself that they were putting #15 on the siding, but what for? 701 is short enough to take the siding...whatever train it is would have to be more then 3553-feet long, the clearance length of Kinsac Siding. Instant thought springs to mine...148!...I grabbed the camera and booted to a small rise. The scanner cracked "CN 148 has clear on Approach to WJ"...just then, the horn blew. I lined the shot up. The GP60M would be the third unit. The trio came around the corner, and I was devastated to see nothing but CN red and black. I realigned the shot, and pulled off the second shot in the table above. Drove home, and found out that the GP60M had been removed from the consist in Moncton, as it wasn't needed in Fairview.
Windsor Junction
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Railfanning the day after my birthday...what more could I ask for?! I met up with Vaughn and Andrew Underwood in Windsor Junction on yet another crappy, rainy day...well...it wasn't all rain, there WAS some snow and ice mixed in there too, just for good measure. But anyhow...as we were driving to WJ, we passed the WHRC guys...I tooted the car horn, they tooted their 3 chimes. Got to WJ and Vaughn was already there. Underwood showed up shortly thereafter, and after a while, we decided that standing in the rain was a bad idea, so we piled into the Malibu. Underwood had to leave, so Vaughn and I decided to stay and shoot #15. Those are the three pictures shown in the above table. I used the shot of #15 as my Christmas greeting card this year, and for almost a month, the same picture could be seen on the homepage. The WHRC pictures can be seen in the Shortlines section.
Mantua, Rockingham, Fairview & Hantsport
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This was an interesting day, to say the least! Ric E-mailed me the night before, wanting to know about the WHRC freight. I told him that it wasn't going out, he said OK. Next morning at 9:30, I got a call from Ric on his cell phone, asking if I wanted to come railfanning with him and Will. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent...there are NO innocent! By 9:45 I was in the car, leaving the driveway with Ric and Will already making themselves known. We headed off to Mantua, and found the gyp train arriving with empties. We got some pictures, and then had a group meeting...do we wait around the W&H and watch them, or haul off into Halifax and see trains. Well, we decided that Rockingham would work for us, so off we went. There, we found 120 yarding its train, having arrived moments earlier. Notice the smashed ditch light, which is hard to make out in these pictures. The one that showed it off well didn't come out well. Dead camera, more on that later. Anyhow, Ric and Will had to be at Jon's house by early afternoon, and after convincing them to let me tag along, we left for Hantsport. It was in Hantsport where Will proved, yet again, that perhaps a Saturn Wagon isn't the best vehicle when it comes to backing over snow banks. Then, upon Ric's nagging, we left to go down to the curve outside Hantsport to see the train leave. He was sure they were going to pull out right away. Half an hour later, freezing our butts off in Snow banks, the train appears from Hantsport. We got the picture we wanted, and decided to leave for Jon's place. It was after leaving Hantsport where one of my favorite quotes of the day occurred (there were better, but they'd either be inappropriate or too long to type)...long story short, Ric was talking, Will simply replied "Shut up, I'm busy"....Ric poked fun at that, and Will said "Shut up, I'm busy...I'm on something hard, black and slippery..." But, I guess one really needs to have been there, or know Ric and Will rather well. The pictures of the WHRC trains are in the Shortlines section.
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