This summer, there was a call for artists at the tourism site in St. Thomas, Ontario. That in itself isn’t unusual, but the call was for artists to paint on existing railway boxcars. There was a bit of a hue and cry from railfans about this, including me. It was explained that these were outside … Read more
Well, it’s that time again – time for the year-end roundup. 2019 is almost over. What went on in 2019 for me? Well – plenty! Grain Elevators The biggest news was the death of the Sanford, MB grain elevator, as seen above. I was there to document it – along with a lot of other … Read more
Introduction My friend David Othen passed away in September 2016 after a short battle with lung cancer. He and his wife Pat were very kind to me when we were all volunteering at the Salem and Hillsborough Railroad, and David and I corresponded over the years with exchanges of information and photos. For your information, … Read more
Fellow blogger Eric Gagnon wrote an editorial on reader engagement and social media versus blogging. He was inspired by Chris and Connie’s Facebook post about declining engagement at BIGDoer’s web site and Facebook page. C&C have noted that their traffic is strong, in terms of page views, but the number of comments on their site … 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
On June 6, 1919, 100 years ago, the Canadian National Railways was incorporated. 100 years later, CN, as it is now known, continues to move trains across the country. CN is shipping a specially decorated and equipped set of containers across the continent to celebrate this – see their web site for details. Matt Landry … Read more
I posted a photo of a VIA Rail “Canadian” train to Instagram recently that featured the three locomotives on the head end. It sparked a discussion about the rarity of seeing more than two locomotives on the “Canadian”, even though its train length can often exceed 20 cars in the summer. I dug my sightings … Read more
In May 2018, CN awarded a contract to Duos Technologies to provide four Rail Inspection Portals (rip®) around Winnipeg, Manitoba to perform automated inspection of passing trains. These portals incorporate high speed cameras and thermal imaging to inspect rail cars at speeds up to 70 MPH (110 km/hr). These portals are now in operation, and … Read more
I’ve always thought that photos are for sharing. I’ve never seen the point of taking a photo, then keeping the negative (or digital file) to yourself and never showing it to others. If that’s your thing, great. It’s everyone’s choice, but my choice is to share. Sometimes, though, sharing can backfire. Here are a few … Read more
I think one of the best tools for a railfan photographer is a zoom lens. With a zoom lens (aka a telephoto lens), you can get a vastly different perspective than you can with a wide angle lens. The “reach” of a zoom means you can isolate the subject from a cluttered background, or photograph … Read more