The Prairie Dog Central Railway has been a Manitoba success story. Over the past 52 years, they have preserved and operated steam engine #3, the oldest operating coal fired steam engine in North America. This book is their story. The Prairie Dog Central Railway operates steam and diesel hauled excursion trains between Inkster Junction and … Read more
Here are three slides showing the Salem & Hillsborough Railroad in operation in the 1980s and 1990s. The S&H was a tourist railway that operated from 1984 to 2004 in the Hillsborough area south of Moncton, New Brunswick. I had the pleasure of volunteering for the railway in the last few years of its operation. … Read more
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
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
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.
As I get older, my sleep is less regular and more interrupted. I hear that’s pretty normal for us “old folks” but it’s a bit frustrating. Recently I woke up at about 4 AM, and it was clear that I wasn’t going to get back to sleep. The night before, I had been considering going … Read more
I recently reviewed the excellent book When Trains Ruled the Kootenays (RMB, 2022) by Terry Gainer. You can read my review here. Please enjoy this 10 page excerpt, provided by the publisher. THE BATTLE BEGINS: RAILS TO THE WEST KOOTENAYS Daniel Chase Corbin built the first American railway into the Kootenays. Fully cognizant of the … Read more
I haven’t really been interested in railfanning for the past year or so. I’m not feeling it. For someone who has been actively railfanning for over 20 years (yikes), it’s been more than a little unsettling to feel this way. As I mentioned in my Let’s Talk post, I think I’m depressed. I am taking … Read more
Terry Gainer has done it again with another great story of trains in British Columbia. This time he focused on southeastern BC and the fight between CP and the Great Northern Railway for control of the area. British Columbia always felt isolated at the west end of the continent as a colony of the Empire. … Read more
I’m not good at celebrating successes.
As a Canadian I am turned off by self-aggrandizement. We aren’t the boasting types, in general. Quiet and self-confident, that’s us.