The Maroon and the Military

Sunday, May 3rd was a very exciting time in the Winnipeg area for the railfans in the area. There were not one, not two, but three Canadian Pacific Railway “heritage” units in town during the day! Also, it was a lovely day and the three all came through in daylight. A railfan’s delight!

The three units were:

1. Maroon and gold CP 7016 leading CP train 100 east through Winnipeg;
2. Maroon and gold CP 7017 on the tail end of a grain train in the CP Winnipeg yard; and
3. “Army Arid Regions” CP 7021 leading CP train 119 west through Winnipeg.

I went out to photograph CP 7016 and many other railfans went out as well. Many of them agreed to share their photos here so we can all enjoy the photos and see what talented photographers we have in the area.

CP 7016

The fun started with maroon and gold CP 7016 leading hotshot container train CP 100 east across our fine province. Tyler Kowalski was on the road recording this train and CP 7021 during the day. He started his railfanning near Oak Lake, in the western half of the province, catching 7016 with some soft morning light on the nose.

Farther east, Jim Burnside was set up near Poplar Point (between Portage la Prairie and Marquette) to record CP 100 rolling past a few hours later.

A few minutes after that, Brad Hein caught CP 7016 leading train CP 100 at Marquette as it rolled toward Winnipeg. The CP Carberry subdivision is a racetrack between Marquette and Winnipeg and it is difficult to overtake any intermodal trains along there. The best you can do is observe the speed limit and be patient, and you should catch up again after Rosser, 15 miles or so later.

Meanwhile… I arrived at the CP main line and saw nothing going on. I didn’t really know where CP 100 was, but I was pretty sure that it hadn’t passed yet. I decided to head west toward Marquette to intercept the train. I intended to set up some video and put my drone in the air to record the train.

A few minutes later, I was driving 50 km/hr through Rosser when I spotted container cars heading west on the CP line. I may have said a few choice words. I executed a U-turn and set off in pursuit. Sure enough, there was a maroon and gold unit leading the train!

As I drove as fast as I legally could toward the east, I passed a vehicle parked on the side of the road. I didn’t recognize him but he was clearly a railfan. I gave him a couple of toots on the horn and carried on past the Viterra grain elevator. I would have liked to photograph there but I didn’t think I would have time to set up the video equipment before the train arrived.

The railfan was Brad Hein and this is his photo from that location:

I ended up at mile 8.1 and pulled off the road. I ran around, putting equipment down and readying for the shot. Seconds later, CP 7016 came rolling through.

If you look way in the distance on the left, you’ll see the grain elevator that Brad included in his shot.

That was basically it for me – I was busy for the rest of the day, but many other people were out for the plethora of CP heritage units.

Brad stopped and captured me photographing CP 8610, the trailing unit. That’s the nose of my car on the far right. We had a good chat before I headed home.

Here’s my video:

CP 100 paused briefly in the Winnipeg yard for a crew change, and maybe a sip of fuel, before continuing east with its containers full of… well, who knows?

Mark Perry and Jack Hykaway both captured the train on their way out. I believe this is near Lagimodiere Boulevard in Winnipeg.

CP 7017

Several railfans found CP 7017 sitting in the Canadian Pacific yard in downtown Winnipeg at the tail end of a grain train. Tyler’s photo shows it’s not a leader, because the sun shade is fully down over the windows. I like Jack’s photo below because it gives context to where 7017 was. I’ve photographed pretty much exactly the same angle!

The unit was still sitting in Winnipeg a day later. It’s possible the grain train wasn’t required, or there was an issue with 7017, although I think if it had a problem it would be moved to the shop for attention.

The real star of the day was military unit CP 7021.

CP 7021

Everyone wanted to see the military unit, CP 7021. This locomotive is decorated for “arid regions”, which I guess is code for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jack Hykaway’s remote camera recorded it coming into Winnipeg. I’m not sure of the exact location – hard to tell from this photo – but I think it was close to Jim’s photo below.

Jim Burnside photographed it at Manson coming into Winnipeg. Manson is where VIA used to change between CP and CN, back when VIA Rail actually ran on both CN and CP tracks.

The train paused briefly in the CP yard in downtown Winnipeg, then hurried westward. The railfans were ready and the sunset light was great!

Mark Perry caught it leaving CP Makwa by the Viterra grain elevator – the same one that Brad Hein shot the eastbound at.

Brad was farther west, photographing and recording the train passing the west end of the Marquette siding.

Tyler Kowalski kept roaming the roads late in the day, heading west and leapfrogging the train as it rolled through prairie towns and cities. He got a nice overhead shot in Portage la Prairie from the Tupper Street overpass. The ex CP station is just in frame on the right side.

Shadows loom as last light paints CP 7021 at an S curve near Sidney, Manitoba, almost 40 miles west of Portage la Prairie.

Last shot of the night belongs to Kaitlyn Amanda McMurdo – apologies for misspelling your first name in the copyright notice below – who has started contributing to our little railfan group on Facebook. Welcome!

That was the end of the CP heritage trio for that day. Thanks to everyone for allowing me to post their great photos.

Just One More Thing

• Chasing the Maroon, my first heritage unit
• CP 7021 + CP 7017 video by “The Winnipeg Railfan”