One evening this past May, I had the itch to get trackside and see some trains. I decided to head east and try my luck on the CP Emerson and CN Sprague subdivisions in the southeast area of Winnipeg. As I rolled across the CP Emerson subdivision where it crosses the south Perimeter Highway, I … Read more
My original train blog was called “Confessions of a Train Geek“. I chose that name because I’d been using the “traingeek” handle for several years prior to starting the blog in 2005. Since then, I’ve used the same “geek” handle for several places. I occasionally post at [Confessions of a] Model Train Geek, I wrote … Read more
We often look for some deep meaning in things that we experience. It’s tempting to think that there is a larger plan behind world events, personal events, tragedies, even songs.
Many railfans are also railway modelers – and vice versa. I’d say the overlap is probably 90% between the two groups.
Sometimes you’re the windshieldSometimes you’re the bugSometimes it all comes together babySometimes you’re just a fool in love “The Bug”, Mary Chapin Carpenter I really like the song “Passionate Kisses” by Mary Chapin Carpenter. It’s very catchy. I ended up buying her album “Come On Come On” and enjoying that too. There’s a lot of … Read more
The Grand Trunk Western railroad started as the American arm of the Grand Trunk Railway. It became a subsidiary of the Canadian National Railways when the GTR was combined with the former Canadian Northern, the Intercolonial Railway and others by the Canadian government. In 1971 CN formed an American corporation, the Grand Trunk Corporation, to … Read more
Steve was restless. He was never the type to be content sitting at home, day after day. He’s not that patient. Every now and then, he had to do something. Steve’s father George was like that, but on overdrive. George was never content to sit still, often visiting someone for only ten or fifteen minutes … Read more
Every now and then I like to drop in at the south end of CN’s Symington Yard in Winnipeg to see what’s going on at the hump yard. There’s almost always at least one train being pushed over the hump and sometimes two trains at once. CN usually has three hump sets in the area … Read more
I really enjoyed our family vacation in Banff. It’s such a beautiful location. However, Banff doesn’t have canola. This bright yellow crop has become a very popular plant for western farmers to grow alongside or in place of the traditional wheat fields. Canola was bred from rapeseed, but it is called canola (CANada, Oil, Low … Read more
I haven’t been railfanning a lot since we returned from Banff. I think it’s a combination of my renewed interest in bicycling and a general lack of interest in the trains around here after seeing some great mountain scenery. It’s not something to feel guilty about. Railfanning is a hobby and it shouldn’t feel like … Read more