I had some time on my hands at the end of a work visit to Moncton, New Brunswick, so I headed down to Hillsborough to the New Brunswick Railway Museum. The museum was closed, of course, it being out of season and also late Sunday night. I dug my tripod out and started taking photos. … Read more
Here are a few slides I’ve purchased recently off an online auction site. All of them depict CN diesel electric locomotives and were taken in the 1970s. I don’t know who any of the photographers were, unfortunately. The lead photo shows CN 7179 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on July 19, 1976. 7179 was one of 34 … Read more
There hasn’t been a train in Fredericton, New Brunswick since the spring of 1995. Both CN and CP lifted their rails from the city and today there are only a few traces of the railway left. The York Street train station is the most visible reminder that trains once ran in the City of Stately Elms, but there are one or two other traces if you know where to look.
The power of music is incredible. One song can change a bad moment into a good one. One song can speak for a generation. And, for me at least, a song can be a time machine, bringing me back to a particular moment in the past.
I didn’t always have a great relationship with my father, but I respect the hell out of him for his military service.
I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Bruce Chapman. I never met him, but I felt I knew him (somewhat) through his many contributions to Branchline magazine.
It’s hard to overstate the importance that the band Journey had in my teenage life. I lived and breathed the band, although I never saw them in concert. They were by far my most favourite band, and I was devastated when they broke up.
I had the pleasure of riding the Agawa Canyon Tour Train recently. I was working with Rail Travel Tours as a co-guide for almost 50 guests touring railway and other attractions in northern and western Ontario. For me, and I think many of our guests, the Agawa Canyon train was the highlight of the trip.
Sometimes I feel words stirring below the surface of my mind, little word minnows darting about, seeking to join together into sentences and paragraphs. Now and then a phrase jumps out, flashing silvery in the wan mind-light, before splashing down and wriggling under the surface again, leaving rippling rings of thought and inspiration. Over time, … Read more
VIA Rail provides passenger service between Sudbury and White River, Ontario using two or three self-propelled rail diesel cars (“RDCs”). This is classified as “remote service” and is intended to serve communities in this remote area with passenger service, since road access is sparse to non-existent.