Railfan Stories

Stories about railfanning – trip reports and so forth. Any time I’m trackside and writing about it, it’ll be here.

Riding the Budd Cars – Sudbury to Chapleau

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I had the opportunity to experience the VIA Rail service between Sudbury and White River, Ontario recently. This isolated and remote passenger trip uses two or three Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) to serve remote areas between the two end points. It’s a little bit of an oddball service, but it has persisted to this day.

Riding Portuguese Rails

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Interior of a Portuguese railway station

My wife and I traveled to Portugal in May 2022. Portugal was one of those countries that are a little off the European tourist beaten path, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. All I really knew about Portugal was that it wasn’t Spain and they don’t speak Spanish. Our plan was to fly into … Read more

Go East, Old Man

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Train crossing a bridge, reflected in the river below

When does one actually become “old”, anyway? I’m almost 56 and I don’t feel old. I guess I’m not “there” yet, although it’s quite a stretch to call me middle-aged.

GOIng Home

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GO Transit locomotive in Toronto's Union Station

I was in the Kitchener-Waterloo area recently, spending a few days with my son and his wife. I had hoped to take the train to Kitchener when I arrived at Pearson, but Air Canada made sure we landed too late for that to work. Fortunately the return Kitchener-to-Pearson trip was successful.

Walking, With Rails

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Long distance view of a railway siding with bumpy track

I woke up at 5 AM one morning, laid in bed for a while, and decided to get up. It was a gorgeous morning outside but I didn’t feel like going to shoot trains. I rarely do, these days. Instead, I chose to reframe it as walking in the wilderness, near train tracks. That appealed … Read more