steveMy friend Jason Paul Sailer was in Winnipeg in July on vacation. You may remember that I toured the CP Stirling subdivision with him in 2016 and went rail/elevator fanning over Christmas 2018. First Try I picked him up before 6 AM to get the sunrise photos. We started out on the CN Redditt subdivision. … Read more
One day early in August, I opened my email to see an invitation from blog reader and commentor Sheldon Hildebrandt. They were starting to harvest wheat and he was wondering if I’d like to ride along in the combine. He knew my interest in grain elevators, and this is where the grain comes from! I … Read more
Here are some trains I saw during two days of railfanning in early April 2019. I was out on April 2 and April 6. Keep an eye on the amount of snow on the ground! It’s surprising how much it varied by location and by day. April 2 On April 2 I was out along … Read more
The book “Barns of Western Canada: An Illustrated Century” by Bob Hainstock is a great review of many of the most interesting barns in the area. The photos are great and the captions really tell the story. I’m not really a “barn guy” but I do see a lot of barns while I am driving … Read more
It was a frosty and foggy morning when I set out from Winnipeg in search of trains. The date was March 17, 2019 and I had a few hours to get some trains and maybe fly my (relatively new) drone. As soon as I stepped out of my house, I saw the fog and I … Read more
Monday, August 5 was a holiday here in Manitoba. It was Terry Fox Day, a provincial holiday to honour the heroic runner who attempted to run across Canada in 1980. See below for more information on Terry. I noticed that VIA 2, the eastbound Canadian, was late again and was set to depart Winnipeg shortly … Read more
Most of my railfan posts tend to be long stories of what I saw when I was out railfanning. Sometimes, though, I just see a train while we’re out doing something else. I thought I’d share a few of those here… call them “short stories” instead of novels or novellas. A Real Branch Line Train … Read more
I went up to the Prairie Dog Central early Saturday morning (August 3). I wanted to make a donation to help support the PDC and its operations, so I arranged to meet with the General Manager, Paul Newsome. We ended up sitting in the office with Jeff Livingstone, the Operations Manager, and I (re)joined the … Read more
The book “Speedway to Sunshine” by Seth H. Bramson is an unabashed love letter to the Florida East Coast Railway. The author is the railway’s biggest fan and makes no bones about it. I bought the hardcover version of this book at a local book sale for $3. This is far outside of my normal … Read more
I never regret getting up early to take photos. Whether I’m on vacation or at home, getting those early photos is worth losing a bit of sleep. I’m a big fan of sunrise photography. We were in Europe recently on a family trip – that’s a post or two in the future – and we … Read more