“Wanna race?”
That was the last thing I expected a railway conductor to say, but there it was.
It was a hot weekend. Winnipeg was in an early June heat wave and I figured I’d better get my bike ride in before the day really heated up. I set out from my home and biked through southern and southeast Winnipeg until I reached CN’s Symington Yard, a good 15 km or so from home.
I spent a few minutes on the Fermor Avenue / Trans-Canada Highway overpass at the southeast end of the yard. It was hot already (almost 30C) so I didn’t linger long.
Unfortunately, there is a concrete barricade in the middle of Fermor at this location, so in order to get home, I had to basically exit the highway, go under the overpass and go back up an on-ramp to head the other way.
While I was doing this, CN 2837 came rolling out of the yard, light engine, and paused under the overpass. I snapped a quick photo with my phone, then continued biking under the overpass, passing the locomotive.
I gave a wave to the engineer, and when I reached the other end of the locomotive, I saw that there were two crew on the platform – the conductor and a trainee (in a green vest). The conductor and I waved at each other.
Just then the locomotive started moving backward, and the conductor said, “wanna race?”
I laughed, and said, “sure, I think I’ll win.”
I stood on the pedals and started accelerating. The locomotive also accelerated but I had a lot less mass to move – and a lot less horsepower!
The conductor made a motion like he was paddling furiously to speed things up. I laughed again and sped off, going up the ramp.
Thanks, whoever you are – you made my day.
