Confessions of a Train Geek

I was railfanning outside Regina in August 2008 and took a few photos of the Viterra grain elevator at Pense, Saskatchewan.

Of course, we all know that grain elevators look best with a train in front of them, so...

Labels: elevator, grain, saskatchewan

When I was out on February 3, I took some shots of the grain elevator in Dugald, Manitoba, a little east of Winnipeg on the CN Reddit subdivision. It does not look like this elevator is still in production.

You can see that the Manitoba Pool / Agricore logo was removed.

There is quite a bit of information on the elevator here. This elevator was built in 1949 shortly after the tragic Dugald train accident.

Labels: elevator, grain, manitoba

I mentioned I had shot a CEMR train near Sanford, MB. After the train went by, I took some shots of the elevator itself.

As you can see from the next picture, the elevator is active and has its own siding.

Labels: elevator, grain, manitoba

The kids and I went over to the east side of Winnipeg late Wednesday afternoon. I wanted to take pictures of the grain elevator in Dugald, and I was hoping a train would come by when I was there. No train came by, so I went up to see what was happening with CP.

There was nothing visible when I got to Day Street, so I looked in the CEMR yard. I saw CEMR 4013 looking as bad as she did back in October 2009, now with a tarp half off the back end. ANY 5232 and ex-CP 5396 were there as well. CP 3027 and CP 1127 were idling together in CP's North Transcona yard.

Back at Day Street, a headlight was visible to the west. It turned out to be CP 114, rolling out with CP 9729 on the head end and CP 9527 as the DPU unit. It was 4:50 PM and the sun was quickly setting.


After that, we headed toward home. I saw CN 5557 and CN 8863 at the head of a train in Symington Yard when we passed. Funny to see an old unit like 5557 leading.

The sun was a red ball near the horizon, but with a weird flame-like distortion above it. I had to stop and take a picture. Prairie sunsets are often quite beautiful.

Labels: 1127, 114, 3027, 5557, 8863, 9729, cn, cp, winnipeg

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I went up to St. James Junction to shoot the Canadian today, and as often happens, I got a bonus train.

When I arrived at the Junction, I saw BNSF was waiting to leave their yard. The caboose was on the head end of a series of cars, and the power was somewhere at the other end. They were close enough to Taylor Avenue to trigger the crossing bells, so their ringing provided a background to my train watching.

A CN westbound freight rolled by at 12:15 on the south track. CN 2256 and 5648 headed up a set of empty centerbeam flats, followed by a long string of container cars.


I see a lot of ES44DC units in Winnipeg, but 2256 rang a bell for some reason. Looking in my railway sightings database, I see I saw that unit back on October 23, 2009 on another westbound freight. I've seen CN 5648 before too, back on August 21, 2009.

Anyway, enough nostalgia. The Canadian came along at 12:26, close to 15 minutes late.

The complete consist: five-eyed VIA 6418, VIA 6404, VIA 8605, VIA 8117, VIA 8502, VIA 8414 Palliser, VIA 8326 Franklin Manor, VIA 8338 Rogers Manor, VIA 8336 Monck Manor, VIA 8219 Chateau Montcalm, VIA 8710 Prince Albert Park.

After the Canadian passed, BNSF did not seem like they were going to head out anytime soon, so that was the end of train watching for me.

Labels: 2256, 5648, 6418, canadian, cn, via, winnipeg

mygirl22ward posted a video of a CP freight with CP 4563 and 4573 (trailing CP 5627) in Grand Rapids, Michigan in September 1994. CP 4563 definitely looked the worse for wear here.

Labels: 4563, cp, michigan

I went out to shoot the Canadian on Saturday (Jan 30) and got more than I had hoped for.

My kids and I went out in search of the Canadian. I decided to head up to Wilkes Avenue by the Perimeter and shoot it there before heading into town. We arrived a bit early, so I figured I would head west to Diamond to get some of that nice prairie sky. As I approached Diamond (where CP crosses CN) I saw an eastbound intermodal train coming on the north track at 12:09. I pulled over. I could see only one unit on the head end, meaning there had to be a DPU unit somewhere in the train.

As the head end passed me, the train started slowing and eventually came to a stop with the trailing engine (CN 2258) just west of me.


As the CN train was slowing, I heard a series of horn blasts from the north. After a bit of thought, I realized it could mean only one thing - a CP train on the Glenboro subdivision! The Glenboro sub does not get much traffic these days, and in fact CP intends to abandon some of it.

Once the CN train stopped, I raced to the actual diamond to see CP 3106 and 3116 waiting at the light in the distance.


They were waiting for the Canadian, which rolled past at 12:24, right on time.


Right after the Canadian passed, the CP train proceeded across the diamond and continued south.

By then my shooting hand and my toes were frozen, so it was time to go. It was nice to see the diamond get some use!

Labels: 2282, 3106, 3116, 6440, canadian, cn, cp, via, winnipeg