Trains En Passant
I’ve always loved playing chess. When I was in school, I joined the chess club. I used to check chess books out of the library and study them. Spassky, Fischer, Lasker, Kasparov… names I knew well.
Railfan Stories
Stories about railfanning – trip reports and so forth. Any time I’m trackside and writing about it, it’ll be here.
A Long Sprint
I recently had to made a quick road trip to Toronto. I’m not going to go into the reason for the trip, but I wanted to share a few observations and images from the run. It took me 36 hours and 30 minutes to drive to Toronto, and 35 hours and 25 minutes to drive … Read more
Out and Back on the Canadian
Well, I did it – I rode the VIA Rail Canadian to Sioux Lookout, Ontario and back to Winnipeg. It was a good trip and I’m glad I did it. The trip wasn’t without its anxiety-inducing moments, due to late trains… read on.
Foreign Power Afternoon
Late afternoon. Mid-October, last year. A lovely day for train watching. Right off the bat, a CP train appeared, heading south on the Emerson sub. A chase revealed a train waiting in the siding at Grande Pointe for the southbound train. The southbound train rolled to the south siding switch, which was against them. The … Read more
Churchill – Part 3 – Keewatin Railway
One of the days I was in The Pas area, I took a side trip to observe the Keewatin Railway Company mixed service from The Pas to Pukatawagan.
Churchill – Part 2 – Railfanning the Line
Recently I had the opportunity to take the Winnipeg to Churchill line on VIA. This is part 2 of 3, focusing on railfanning this line.
Churchill – Part 1 – Connection to the South
The first of three guest posts on David McCormack’s recent trip to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. The VIA Rail service to Churchill runs twice weekly between Winnipeg to The Pas to Churchill and once a week only between The Pas and Churchill. The total journey time for the entire line is approximately 45 hours (assuming no delays).
Fallen Flags in April
I always like to see “fallen flag” rail cars in a train. A fallen flag is a rail car or locomotive still decorated for a railway that doesn’t exist any more. Examples below include the Chicago & Northwestern, SOO Line, Burlington Northern, and the Milwaukee Road. These were railways that went bankrupt or were merged … Read more
Orange You Glad You Stayed Out?
After a productive CN night photography session, and some sunrise shots of CP and CN, I returned to the CP main line. I had a tip that Canadian Pacific’s orange “Every Child Matters” locomotive was on its way into Winnipeg. I hadn’t seen this locomotive before, so I decided to go catch it. I stopped … Read more
A CN Intermission
After all the aurora fun earlier in the morning, I ended up at Marquette on the CP main line. I decided to head south to Elie, on the CN main line.