The book “Streamliners: Locomotives and Trains in the Age of Speed and Style” by Brian Solomon is a great overview of streamlined trains, from early examples like the UP M-10000 through the California Zephyr and beyond. Streamliners is up to the usual quality that I have come to expect from Brian Solomon books – well-researched, … Read more
Everybody’s railfanning for the weekendEverybody wants heritage unitsEverybody’s goin’ down to tracksideEverybody needs a million likes, oh – What Loverboy might have written if they were railfans This weekend, I had several opportunities to railfan. I spent them on the CN Rivers subdivision, and I’ll share the results with you. Friday Evening I went out … Read more
I’ve been wanting to fly my drone near some grain elevators in western Manitoba for a while now. Followers of this blog may have noted that I’ve recorded some aerial views of elevators like Barnsley and Elie, but I haven’t been back to western Manitoba for “vator fanning” since my two day trip in 2014. … Read more
On Labour Day, 2019, I went out in the morning with the intention of catching a few trains along the CN Rivers subdivision. I only had a couple of hours so I decided on the Rivers to maximize my chances of seeing a train (or two). As I drove around the Perimeter Highway, I saw … Read more
My friend Jason Paul Sailer was in Winnipeg in July on vacation. You may remember that I toured the CP Stirling subdivision with him in 2016 and went rail/elevator fanning over Christmas 2018. First Try I picked him up before 6 AM to get the sunrise photos. We started out on the CN Redditt subdivision. … 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
Here are some trains I saw during two days of railfanning in early April 2019. I was out on April 2 and April 6. Keep an eye on the amount of snow on the ground! It’s surprising how much it varied by location and by day. April 2 On April 2 I was out along … Read more
The book “Barns of Western Canada: An Illustrated Century” by Bob Hainstock is a great review of many of the most interesting barns in the area. The photos are great and the captions really tell the story. I’m not really a “barn guy” but I do see a lot of barns while I am driving … Read more
It was a frosty and foggy morning when I set out from Winnipeg in search of trains. The date was March 17, 2019 and I had a few hours to get some trains and maybe fly my (relatively new) drone. As soon as I stepped out of my house, I saw the fog and I … Read more
Monday, August 5 was a holiday here in Manitoba. It was Terry Fox Day, a provincial holiday to honour the heroic runner who attempted to run across Canada in 1980. See below for more information on Terry. I noticed that VIA 2, the eastbound Canadian, was late again and was set to depart Winnipeg shortly … Read more