Railways from Ottawa and beyond
After hearing so many stories of life in rural Northern Ontario from my father, you'd think I'd get sick of them. But I don't. (Note: There was some confusion and errors on my part about what power pulled the transcons for CP in the 1950s and 1960s. Thanks to Eric Gagnon for setting me straight! That's why I ask the experts.) He told me a story the other day of growing up in Chapleau, Ont., where…
It's always a nice feeling when I remember I have a bunch of railway photos from last year that I still haven't shared yet. This week, I recalled a batch of photos I had taken in Sarnia and elsewhere that had not yet made it into a post. So here are some lost photos from my wanderings in the past year, as well as from this past spring. Resting on an early November morning under a big Southwestern…
After the school year was through, my family headed out of town to Toronto to do some touristy things. While there, I was able to sit trackside for a little while, taking in the continuous movement of trains in and out of Union Station, most of them GO Trains as well as the Union Pearson Express. This time around, my family decided to stay at a hotel near the airport and commute into the downtown…
In late June, I was told by a friend that CN was using two Iowa Northern-painted geeps as power for local operations. Naturally, with so little to see in Ottawa from a freight train perspective, I was excited. Even better, CN's weekly freight west, Train 589, was operating on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, which is a holiday for Quebec workers like me. My first plan was to camp out trackside along the…
Summer is about to officially begin. My daughters are finished with their schooling and my family's thoughts are turning to time off, trips, visits to family and other leisurely pursuits. With that in mind, I am going to park all activities on this blog for the coming week. But not before sharing this quick shot captured yesterday (June 24) at Fallowfield Station. This might be the biggest rail…
In the first two posts about the former CN Renfrew Subdivision, I explored the rail line's creation as an important link between Western Canada and Eastern Canada. The line, as originally conceived, was meant to handle prairie grain at Depot Harbour on Georgian Bay and move it east. The same goes for timber harvested in Algonquin Park, which the railway's owner, John Rudolphus Booth, also…
I've had a few appointments in and around the city recently, which has given me opportunities to check out some railway spots that I don't always get to see that often. On one my jaunts into the city's east end, I was able to swing by the main Via Rail train station, as well as the Canada Science and Technology Museum. When I went to the museum, I saw this sight, as volunteers with the Bytown…
In part I of this topic , I covered off the history of the Renfrew Subdivision trackage, which once extended from Ottawa all the way to Depot Harbour (Parry Sound) on Georgian Bay. The line, built by John Rudolphus Booth in the late 1800s, was a resource line at the beginning, carrying western grain from Georgian Bay and timber from Algonquin Park all the way to Montreal or Vermont, where Booth's…
To most railway enthusiasts in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, what was once the CN Renfrew Subdivision is now technically Nylene Canada's Renfrew Spur. The track hosts one train a week, delivering tank cars of caprolactum to Nylene Canada's plant in Arnprior. CN 589 crosses March Road in 2021 en route to Arnprior. The weekly train is the last vestige of a long history of operations on the former…
I received an email recently from a friend who is celebrating a milestone in his online writings, which got me to thinking about my little corner of the internet, the Beachburg Sub. With this post, I have reached 490 posts, meaning I'm closing in on that magical milestone of 500. On April 30, 2013, I posted my first entry on this blog . I was a fairly new father at that point, not to mention a…
The recent news that Metrolinx is once again extending its GO Train service to Stratford, Ont ., well west of Kitchener-Waterloo, got me to thinking about Ottawa's beleaguered rail transit service. My thought was, if GO Trains can regularly operate between Toronto as far west as Stratford, what's preventing Metrolinx from applying the same logic to Ottawa? A shot of an evening GO Train making its…
I've written a lot this year about how I have changed my approach to watching trains, writing about trains and photographing trains. Quite frankly, I'm doing this because I find myself bored with what's out there. Ottawa is essentially a dead zone for railfanning. I find most fans in this city dedicate themselves to the Arnprior Turn, a short train that services Nylene Canada and sometimes Kott…
This week, as I had a day off following Easter, I decided to head out and get some train photos in Ottawa, which I haven't done in a little while. True to my evolving approach to railway photos, I thought of some new perspectives to showcase trains as part of the landscape. My first thought was to get a shot of a Venture trainset going over the Rideau River on the Beachburg Sub rail bridge. I have…
I've been trying to put into words what it is that I have been trying to do with my rail photography recently, but I think I've fallen short. That was until I read the comments to my last post when a few fellow railfans commented and the words came to mind. So thanks to Steve and J.D. And here is how I came to clarify my new approach to rail photography. It started with a memory of what my…
Railways are as much a part of Canada's landscape as they are of the country's history. The same can be said for a number of countries. This week, I am busy working on my house, which needs some TLC, but I had a moment Wednesday afternoon when I took my children out for a drive. We encountered a Via Rail corridor train making its final last few kilometres east from Fallowfield Station toward…
Last summer, I was in Stratford to visit family and take in a show at the Stratford Festival. While there, I was able to carve out some time at the town's train yard to capture some images of the local freight operations. With a little help from those who are familiar with CN and the Goderich Exeter Railway's moves, I was able to catch several freight trains and some yard action. Here's a post…
Recently, I was able to get out and capture some winter images in the city's east end on a bitterly cold day in early February. In my last post, I shared some images of the Bytown Railway Society's equipment parked outside the Canada Museum of Science and Technology . While I was in the area, I paid a visit to the Ottawa Via Rail station to see if there was anything interesting to capture. The…
I finally made it out to capture some winter railroading shots last weekend and it brought to mind a comic strip. I recall Calvin and Hobbes peering down from a high hill, wondering why they are about to hurdle themselves down the precipice in a wagon. I asked myself a similar question this past weekend, as I braved the -30 C conditions to get a few winter railroad images. In between the frostbite…
It's been more than 15 years since I've lived in Kitchener, which seems crazy to me. When I moved there to take a job with the local newspaper, I never intended to move back to Ottawa, but things happen. I have fond memories of my years in KW, but I do regret never pursuing rail photography there, like I had in the past. Right before I was laid off at the newspaper and forced to return to Ottawa,…
This past year, most of my rail photography came from outside Ottawa, which was partially out of necessity. I am always on the lookout for new spots in the city to take photographs, but there's only so many images of Via Rail trains I can share from here. I will admit that I have not been out taking photographs in Ottawa in quite some time, mostly due to schedules and other commitments. But,…
Recently, I shared some photos and thoughts about GO Train service in Kitchener, where Metrolinx has enjoyed success with its Kitchener-Union Station service. I was camped out on an overpass this past summer to capture the morning run of Train 3962 eastbound for Union Station. That train was being led by 559, one of GO's old F59PH locomotives, a reliable warhorse that was built by the old…
Being a railway enthusiast sure is different these days. I am not going to go down the road of saying everything was better when I was young. It wasn't. Some things I found were better while other things were not. But I will say this. Railways have taken on a sameness, for lack of a better term, and it's really affected my enjoyment of rail photography. Again, I won't say that things aren't what…
It's time to guide this train into the station, take the siding and park it until the new year. I'm grateful for another year of being able to share my interest in railways with everyone who chose to drop by this blog. A special thanks to my friends who leave a message, give me an idea or steer me in the right direction when I hit a dead end in my railway research. A lot has happened in the past…
I once had a conversation with my former parish's priest when I was struggling mentally and he said something that changed my life. He asked me a few questions. Did you ever wonder what a miracle it was, he asked, that you walk into a room, flick a switch and light magically appears? Or when you go to the sink, you pull a faucet and clean water appears? He asked me a series of questions like these…
After a recent trip home to see family in November, I took Via Rail's Train 84 east from Sarnia Station to Toronto on November 24. A great deal has changed since I last took this train. I would estimate it has been 26 years. And I have to say the experience was a little disappointing. I mean no disrespect to the excellent crew who took care of the passengers on the train. They are great…