The 2018 CP Holiday Train

Every year, Canadian Pacific Railway runs its Holiday Train across Canada and the USA to support local food banks. This is its 20th year of operation. It actually runs two trains, one through Canada and the other through the US.

I try to catch it every year, with varying success. I caught it in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. I’ve been trying to vary the locations I photograph it at, so it isn’t the “same old train, same old location”. In 2017 I photographed it in daylight in Portage la Prairie. This year, I decided to photograph it in Whitemouth instead of Winnipeg.

This post originally appeared at https://www.traingeek.ca/wp/2018-cp-holiday-train/ and is not approved for copying to any other site.

About the Train

Traditionally the train has one locomotive, several boxcars, a stage car, and passenger cars on the rear. The boxcars show the words “Canadian Pacific Holiday Train” – one word per boxcar – as well as winter scenes. The passenger cars are from CP’s fleet and carry the performers and staff. I believe there is a generator car in the train as well to provide power for all of the lights.

Whitemouth

The town of Whitemouth is located a bit over an hour east of Winnipeg. It’s about 60 km from the Ontario border, and is on the CP Keewatin subdivision, part of CP’s main line through Manitoba. I’ve been through Whitemouth before and I noted how open the area was around the tracks through town. I thought it would be a great place to photograph the Holiday Train.

There’s a caboose on display in Whitemouth, if you’re in the area.

CP 437189 in Whitemouth, MB, April 2017.

Incoming

I set out from Winnipeg just after 5 PM. I wanted to photograph the train as it rolled into Whitemouth at 6:45 PM, so that gave me a bit of time to set up. I drove straight east from Winnipeg along highway 15 toward Elma. This parallels the CN Redditt subdivision in places, but I didn’t see any trains there.

At Elma, I turned north on highway 11 and drove to where it intersects highway 44, which goes east through the Whiteshell to the Ontario border. I had scouted the area using Google Maps and I found a small crossing just north of that intersection that looked promising. From the satellite view, I didn’t see any trees or buildings obstructing the view of the train.

I drove over the crossing, turned my car around, and parked it at the side of the road. I set up my tripod, then went back into my car to wait and stay warm.

At about 6:46 PM, CP 2249 came rolling along, towing a bright neon train.

The CP Holiday Train near Whitemouth, MB

As the train was approaching, a pickup truck came up the road behind my car. I was afraid they were going to pull up to the crossing and totally get in my shot. Thankfully, they stopped before they passed my car, and killed their headlights. I gave them a wave of appreciation!

For those who are interested, I was shooting with a shutter speed of 1/40 seconds, aperture f/2.8 and ISO 6400. Yes, that’s right, ISO 6400. I’ve never used that before, but I had to go that high to get a half decent shutter speed. I would have liked to go faster than 1/40s, but it was super dark with no lights around and an overcast sky.

My Canon 77D is so much better at high ISO settings than my old T1i was, one of the main reasons why I bought the 77D this spring.

In Whitemouth

After the train passed, I drove into Whitemouth. The fire department was out in full force, directing traffic and routing people to parking spots. Thank you!

I parked and walked toward the train. Most people were down toward the tail end of the train, watching the show. You can see from the photos that the train was very visible, and the lack of lights around it really made it “pop”.

CP 2249 with the Holiday Train in Whitemouth, Manitoba.

CP 2249 is one of the two “ECO” rebuilds pulling the Holiday Trains. The other is CP 2246, which must be pulling the American version of the train.

I walked down toward the show, taking a few photos along the way. I took this panorama with my iPhone.

The Show

The train carries its own staff and performers along with it, and they perform at each stop in a converted boxcar with drop-down doors on the side. It makes it easy to set up a stage quickly, do the show, then fold it up and move on to the next stop. Since they often perform four shows a day, you need to be quick!

The Canadian train is featuring three-time Juno winner Terri Clark along with Sierra Noble and Kelly Prescott. I’m not a country music fan, but I’ve definitely heard of Terri. The American train has the Sam Roberts Band and JoJo Mason. Sam Roberts’ Where Have All The Good People Gone is on my phone right now.

When I reached the stage area, Terri Clark was performing and she was putting on a great show.

Departure

I wandered up to the head end again, took a few photos, and headed for my car. I wanted to be ready for the departure. As I neared my car, I heard the engine bell start and the engineer gave a few toots as the train got underway. Perfect.

I set up the tripod and recorded the train’s departure from Whitemouth. My camera wouldn’t auto focus so I switched the lens to manual and focused using these techniques.

Getting out of town was difficult – so many cars! It took close to 30 minutes to leave. While I was waiting in line, a westbound freight train rolled through town. Maybe I should have sat trackside until the cars cleared out…

Video

Here’s my video of the train, including its arrival in Whitemouth, some views of the train, and its departure toward Winnipeg.

Donate

The Holiday Train runs to raise funds and collect food for local food banks. I had forgotten to bring food, so I made a cash donation on site instead. You can make a donation too – visit Foods Bank Canada to make a donation.

Elie, Manitoba

On my way to Newton, I stopped in Elie to see if any trains were around. I took a quick photo of the former train station, which is now a private residence. I had heard it was refurbished and indeed it looks like it has new windows, a new roof, and the chimney was removed. Compare it with my photo from April 2010.

Moving on, I photographed the Elie grain elevator outside of town.

A Quick Aside

Many of my blog posts have been reposted, without permission, on an Australian site called “Railpage” (railpage.com.au). I’ve tried many ways of contacting them to ask them to remove the sixty-odd posts that I found there. If they ever remove them, I’ll come back and remove this. Otherwise, Railpage stinks and I will keep this in the hope that it will prevent them from copying this post. Moving on.

Newton

I drove to Oakville – a larger town just east of Newton – then drove on the road paralleling the tracks toward Newton. There was an oil train stopped between the two towns that I ignored. I was on a mission, remember?

I drove through Newton without seeing the portal. Continuing west, I saw another stopped train. This one was a container train, with leased locomotive CREX 1511 beautifully lit on the rear.

I haven’t photographed a Citirail (CREX) unit leading yet. I still haven’t, but this one on the rear, facing the rising sun, was pretty close.

As the tail end locomotive, it was unoccupied.

It was pretty cold outside – about -19C with a bit of wind – so I didn’t linger. As I walked back to my car, the train started moving west. I picked up the pace and chucked my gear into the car, then gave chase.

I hoped to cut it off at or near Portage la Prairie. Fortunately, I was able to get well ahead of it and saw it as I got on the bypass highway around Portage.

A New Perspective

I had long wanted to photograph a train from the overpass over the tracks, and this was my chance. I pulled off the highway and ran up the shoulder to get this photo of CN 3091 West passing yet another stopped train.

I am pretty pleased with that photo.

Here’s a closeup of CN 3091 rolling past.

I didn’t take any video as I didn’t have time to set up the tripod. Also, it was cold and I didn’t want to linger out there. I knew what the tail end locomotive was, since I had just photographed it!

I got back in my car and continued around on the bypass highway, back on to the Trans-Canada Highway heading east. I thought I might be able to spot the portal from that side.

I think I saw it as I drove over the Assiniboine River, but it was a long way away.

Soon I was back at the Newton exit, so I took that to circle back again. I spotted a train coming from the east, so I set up at the curve in Newton. I like this location, especially for westbound trains.

Train #1 on the Curve

There aren’t many curves on the CN main line between Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie, so you take advantage of them when you have them!

A little more "head on" — A little more “head on”

The train wasn’t exactly zooming through the curve. Note the superelevation in the tracks that causes the train to bank through the curve.

Gotta love that side light!

Here’s the video of CN 2315 West.

I retreated to my car after the head end passed, and sat there while the video camera (my Canon T1i) recorded the rest of the train. Discretion is the better part of valour!

Once the train passed, I left Newton in search of the portal again. I found this unauthorized but neat modification of a town sign.

However, I did not find the portal. I was scratching my head, trying to figure out why I couldn’t find a giant structure here. There were a lot of trees around, but still… this is the prairies.

Anyway, I ended up back in Newton in time for another westbound train.

Train #2 on the Curve

Another container train… such “variety” 😉

Here’s the going-away version of the train.

This was precisely the same scenario – shoot the train as it rounded the bend, then cower in the car while the video records.

I was running out of time, and I still hadn’t found the portal. I resolved to give it up and do some more research at home. I packed up my gear yet again. As I was driving over the crossing, I looked west and saw an eastbound train!

Likely this was the train that I saw earlier outside Portage la Prairie, from the overpass.

I decided to beat it to Oakville to record it passing the grain elevator there. I didn’t have a lot of time but I had enough to set up the tripod for the video, and grab a few quick shots as the train zoomed through town.

Oakville, Manitoba

I wasn’t very impressed by the “coming” shot – pretty pedestrian – but the “going away” shot was better, in my opinion.

Train photos are better with grain elevators in them.

Here’s the video.

That was good.

Once the train passed, I headed east on the Trans-Canada Highway toward home.

I did a little time estimating in my head and decided that I did have time to grab the train passing the Elie grain elevator. You might recall I photographed it at sunrise at the start of this day.

Elie, Again

I set up at a closed railway crossing to get the train as it passed the squarish ex Manitoba Pool grain elevator.

That was nice. There’s nothing like sweet morning light on the nose of a train.

Naturally… there’s video.

I was getting pretty good at packing my gear up! Since it was so cold, I was taking precautions to avoid getting condensation on (or worse, in) my camera. I took the camera bag out of the car, unzipped it, and left it outside while I did my shooting. When I was done, the gear went back into the bag, I zipped it up, and put it in the car. That kept the camera gear cold and didn’t expose it to the warm air inside the car.

Bonus Train

Just... one... more... train... — Just… one… more… train…

I estimated that I had a few extra minutes, so I took the “long” way by cutting up to the CN Rivers sub through Headingley instead of staying on the Trans-Canada Highway. This paid off as I saw a westbound oil train as I approached the road crossing. I got there about a minute before the train did, so I was able to photograph new CN 3809 on the head end.

Aboriginal Affairs logo on CN 3809

All of the new GE locos on CN sport the Aboriginal Affairs logo on the nose. This symbolizes CN’s relations with Canada’s First Nations. The feather is a common First Nations symbol, the inukshuk is for the Arctic peoples, and the infinity sign is a Métis symbol.

On the tail end of this oil train was another Citirail unit, CREX 1518.

CREX 1518 on the tail end of an oil train.

So my morning began and ended with a Citirail unit. I can appreciate a pair of CREX bookends!

Reloading

Even though I failed in my mission to find the portal, I did photograph several trains in some nice settings, so it’s a partial win in my books.

I talked to a few CN engineers and I now know where the portal is. It’s basically here (Google Maps) just on the east side of the Assiniboine River, where the two tracks converge to one to cross the river. It looks like the area is accessible by road both to the north and to the south of the track.

Time for another mission!

Just One More Thing

Christmas Ornaments by Bettina and Mark Wong

If you’re looking for something a little different for holiday gift-giving, consider some of these great ornaments from B-Line Design aka Bettina and Mark Wong. These fine metal ornaments are fantastic and reasonably priced.

My wife and I have seen Mark at the local Christmas craft show for the past three years. He’s a super nice guy, very friendly and knowledgeable, and obviously he and his wife are very talented. They live in British Columbia but travel around to various shows around this time. Their email is bmwong@xplornet.com if you want to reach them. I don’t get anything for mentioning them, except a warm feeling knowing that others appreciate their work!

November 20, 2018November 20, 2018

The GWWD’s 44 Tonner on the Move

At Symington Road outside Winnipeg — The GWWD at Symington Road outside Winnipeg

The Greater Winnipeg Water District (GWWD) railway is a pretty unique little railway. It was built to service the aqueduct supplying water from Shoal Lake to Winnipeg. The railway was completed in 1915 and has served the city since then. It used to carry passengers along the 102 mile route, but it has not done so for many years.

Today the GWWD exists solely for Winnipeg’s water system. It brings chemicals to the water treatment centre at Deacon’s Corner in southeast Winnipeg, and material and people out along the aqueduct to the end of the line at Shoal Lake. It also hauls waste back from Shoal Lake.

The railway has an interchange with CN. It used to have an interchange with CP, but it has been out of service for several years.

Locomotives of the GWWD

Over the years the GWWD have used GE 44 ton locomotives, MLW RS-23s and S-13s for power. Today GWWD 200 and 202 – both RS-23s – are the primary power.

They sold off their small locomotives years ago, but in 2016 or 2017 they acquired GWWD 100, a GE 44 ton locomotive built in June 1946. The intent was to leave it out at the water intake at Waugh, but it blew a traction motor and has been laid up since then. They also acquired “Chip II”, a GE 45 tonner ballasted to 60 tons, but I’m not sure that has run at all.

GWWD's "Chip II" in Winnipeg. — GWWD’s “Chip II” in Winnipeg.

A Quick Aside

Many of my blog posts have been reposted, without permission, on an Australian site called “Railpage” (railpage.com.au). I’ve contacted them and asked them to remove the sixty-odd posts that I found there. Hopefully they do remove them, and if so, I’ll come back and remove this. Otherwise, Railpage sucks. Moving on.

GWWD 100 on the Move

I heard that the GWWD had fixed #100 and was taking it and a few tank cars to the water treatment plant at Deacon’s Corner at the edge of the city. I made some time to get out and photograph it.

I went out to near Deacon’s Corner and saw there was still snow on the rails, so it was clear they hadn’t reached that section yet. I didn’t see them along the stretch of track through Symington Yard either. I drove toward their yard on Plinguet Street and found them just crossing Dawson Road. They were pulling two tank cars.

I set up to record them crossing Dugald Road. In the distance, I saw them stop and one crew member dismounted. I thought he was protecting the movement across the CN-GWWD diamond, but instead the crewperson threw a switch and it was clear #100 was turning on the wye near Lafarge.

I took some photos from the road, then went back to Dugald Road to wait for them. They put their tiny train back together again and headed up the line toward Deacon’s Corner. As they approached, I was taking shots with my telephoto lens… until the camera’s card was full.

Dang it.

This card had thousands of photos, from my trip to Barcelona in September to now. I knew they were all on my computer, but I had avoided reformatting the card to keep another copy of the photos around “just in case”. Unfortunately for me, my spare card was in my car a fair distance away and I would miss the shot if I ran back to get the card. There was really only one choice.

I reformatted the card on the spot and started shooting “from scratch”. I lost the few photos at Lafarge, but I felt this was a better choice because I wouldn’t have lost the shot.

Moral of the story: reformat frequently.

Anyway, here’s an “approach” photo of #100 pulling two cars, after I reformatted the card.

The friendly crew gave me a wave as they passed. They were not going very fast at all.

GWWD "going away" shot — GWWD “going away” shot

Once they passed, I gathered up my gear and sprinted back to my car to get to the next spot. I knew I wasn’t going to beat them to the Panet Road crossing, but I figured I could get to the next one, Holden Street. I did manage that, without much trouble at all.

They ended up stopping just short of Holden Street. The next road crossing was highway 59, a busy road, and then they would encounter the triple diamond crossing with CN. Normally GWWD has to wait for the CN dispatcher to give them permission to cross, and it might be a while!

A container train was rolling through the diamond, so they had to wait. That gave me time to reposition to the other side of Symington Yard to capture them after they crossed the triple diamond at Beach Junction, and another diamond with CN at an industrial spur.

I thought about getting them at Plessis Road, on the east side of Symington Yard, but that’s a busy street and the angles aren’t that great anyway. I elected to carry on to Symington Road, a gravel road that crosses the GWWD line. I had plenty of time before they came along.

Before the train came, this GWWD hi-railer went past.

I imagine it was a track foreman and crew inspecting the track before the train came through.

I was using three cameras here – my Canon 77D for the long telephoto shots, the Canon T1i on a tripod for video, and my iPhone 6 for the wide shots. Just a little juggling! 😉

After they passed me, I carried on toward the next crossing, Murdock Road. En route, I stopped to photograph the little train crossing the prairie. That’s the Malteurop plant in the background in Transcona.

At Murdock Road, I decided to shoot video handheld. Once they passed, I switched my T1i camera to stills and took a few “going away” shots.

Heading to Deacon's Corner — Heading to Deacon’s Corner

That’s the Deacon’s Corner plant in the distance at the far right of the photo.

I elected not to try to get them at the Perimeter Highway crossing, as I felt I couldn’t get there in time without driving beside the track on a sketchy road, or going the long way around. I was satisfied with the photos I had.

I’ve put a video together showing three different locations – heavily edited so you don’t have to wait too long for the train to pass by!

Thanks for reading!

Books on the GWWD

If you’re looking for a good book on the Greater Winnipeg Water District railway, there is none better than the late Peter Lacey’s “The Muskeg Limited“. This hardcover book covers the first 80 years of the GWWD. Recommended.

Hit the Road

I woke up, used the washroom, threw on some clothes and hit the road. It was very foggy that morning, which is highly unusual for a city surrounded by prairie! I was practically rubbing my hands together with glee in anticipation.

The CP Emerson subdivision runs north-south through Winnipeg, and it’s located about three kilometres east of my house. I can hear trains blowing their horns for crossings from my living room, but sadly I can’t see them.

As I drove through the railway crossing on the Perimeter Highway that morning, I glanced north and saw headlights. Train!

First Train

I quickly exited and got trackside. I wanted to be sure to include a bit of fog, so I composed the scene, fired off a test shot, and the train was upon me.

CP 8641 was leading an oil train south on the Emerson subdivision. Given the relatively low light at 6:17 AM, I had set my Canon 77D to ISO 800, f/4.5 and a shutter speed of 1/160s. In retrospect the shutter speed was a bit slow and the train blurred just a bit.

The train went by quickly, with CP 8534 bringing up the rear a mere 2 minutes later.

I continued on my way around the Perimeter, heading toward the east-west Dugald Road that parallels the CN Redditt subdivision that the “Canadian” was coming in on. I pulled over briefly to check VIA Rail’s app to see where VIA 1 was. I decided I had enough time to get to the east side of Dugald and set up there.

Dugald

I took a moment to photograph the Dugald grain elevator at 6:37 AM before continuing east out of town.

I don’t know how many times I have photographed that elevator, but there’s always room on my hard drive for one or two more!

The Waiting Game

There's track out there somewhere — There’s track out there somewhere

There’s a quiet railway crossing not far east of Dugald that is a favourite of mine. You get good visibility in both directions and there aren’t any clanging crossing bells for videos, just a set of crossbucks. I arrived there at 6:45 AM.

It was foggy there too, with grey fog to the west and lovely golden, diffused light to the east. Magic!

I took time to smell photograph the flowers. I do love sunflowers.

Heeeere’s VIA!

At 6:52 AM, the west-facing signal lit up, red, indicating that a train was in the block. It had to be VIA! I double checked my camera settings, turned the video camera on, and waited.

Two minutes later, I saw headlights emerging from the golden fog as the “Canadian” hurtled toward me. I popped off a number of photos using my telephoto lens. The lead photo of this post was my favourite. This is one of the approach photos.

Standing a safe distance back, I made a few photographs of Canada’s flagship train zooming by. That train looks great in any light!

“Laurentide Park” was on the tail end. I wanted to include the sunflowers in the shot, and I managed to shoehorn them in behind the train.

There was no chance of catching that train, so I took a moment to appreciate the beautiful light, the beautiful morning, and my good fortune to live in a place and have a life where I could experience this. Then I packed up!

Here’s the video.

SunSET

That evening, we went camping! We went to the beautiful Whiteshell region of Manitoba, near the Ontario border. We set up our trailer in Opapiskaw campground, and at 9:19 PM I enjoyed the other end of the beautiful daylight – sunset over a little inlet a few steps away from the campground.

Blessings. I count them, and they are many.

Just One More Thing

I made a sunrise and sunset train playlist. It’s a compilation of all my train videos at either sunrise or sunset. Go watch it!

October 28, 2018October 27, 2018

Mighty Trains Season 2

I’ve been watching season 2 of the show Mighty Trains and so far it has been really enjoyable to watch.

Episode 1

The first episode featured Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer cruise train. Host Teddy Wilson traveled on two of the “Rocky” trains – from Vancouver to Banff and from Jasper to Vancouver. The show did a good job of featuring the on-board experience, the experience from the locomotive cab, and the preparation for the trip itself.

Rocky Mountaineer passengers, Jasper, AB.

The photography (cinematography?) is excellent. They show the view from the cab, from the train, the railfan’s trackside view; but the best views are from helicopter! Seeing the Rocky go over the bridge at Cisco was pretty special.

I was worried it would be a little corny when viewed with a railfan’s eye, and there is a bit of that, but in general it is interesting even when you understand railways and their operation. There wasn’t a lot of made-up drama – the worst was a balky air-conditioning unit on one coach and having to sit in a siding for a couple of freight trains.

Episode 2

Steam engine powering Tren Crucero – from Mighty Trains S2 E2

Episode 2 featured Ecuador’s Tren Crucero, luxury cruise trains in that tiny South American country. There are actually two trains – the “Train of Wonders” from Quito to Guayaquil, and the “Train to the Clouds” from Guayaquil to Ecuador’s capital Quito, high in the Andes Mountains.

Tren Crucero (meaning “Cruise Train”) is a narrow gauge train, revived in 2013 after heavy rains in 1982 and in the 1990s destroyed much of Ecuador’s rail network. The government invested the equivalent of $280 million to restore railway operations.

The train is hauled by a steam engine for a portion of the route, and by diesels for the mountainous portions. It has four coaches, carrying only 50 passengers, and provides a luxury cruise experience. Tickets cost a minimum of about USD $1,700 per person for a four day trip.

Here’s a promo video from Ecuador’s Ministry of Tourism. It’s in Spanish but you can turn auto translate on if you want English closed captions.

It was very interesting to learn about Ecuador’s rail system and this train in particular. I liked how they described the locomotive’s sanding system in detail, and how it provides “grip” for the train’s journey on steep grades.

The show spent a lot of time showing railway maintenance, from track inspection through brush control and rail maintenance. Apparently Ecuador has a lot of problems with people stealing the fishplates and other portions of the track infrastructure to sell for the metal. They are also replacing some wooden ties with concrete ones to better withstand the heat and humidity .

Future Episodes

In the four upcoming episodes, Teddy will ride trains in New Zealand, India, Sweden and Spain.

Production is underway on a third season of Mighty Trains right now.

How to Watch

Episodes are broadcast Sundays at 7 PM Eastern time on the Discovery Canada channel on most cable networks.

You can also view the episodes on their web site.

First, CN

As I approached the CN Rivers subdivision on my way north, I spotted an eastbound CN train. I took a few minutes to photograph faded CN 5772 and CN 5720 leading a container train.

I used to see those SD75I units all the time in Saint John, New Brunswick. It’s nice to see them still out earning their keep.

On to CP

Again I saw a train as I approached the tracks. This time it was an eastbound CP train on the CP Carberry subdivision. A little driving found me in position to grab CP 8144 East. This might have been train CP 100.

That train had CP 8745 mid-train, and blue leased unit CEFX 1049 was bringing up the rear.

I parked off the highway on a side road – often called a “grid road” because prairie roads are laid out on a 1-mile wide grid – near “CP Makwa”, just west of the Perimeter Highway. Every now and then I would take a look at the signals facing west to see if they were A) lit or B) showing green.

The Portage Rocket

I did notice red-lit signals, and it turned out to be a westbound train. CP 2297 was rocketing along toward Portage la Prairie with its train of refrigerated cars for McCain and Simplot and hoppers for Richardson Pioneer. CP used to keep a locomotive in Portage for these local customers, but in the past few years they just run the train out to Portage to serve them, and then it comes back to Winnipeg.

There is double track from this point east to the CP yard in Winnipeg. They were on the south track, coming onto single track for the run west.

That was exciting, but unfortunately it meant there would be no business train for a while, as 2297 would be occupying the single track west of me!

It took 50 minutes. They must have met at Meadows or Marquette.

Making an Entrance

There was a glimmer of light as the sun struggled to shine through the overcast skies. I took my tripod over to the “sun” side of the tracks and leveled it, then I locked my Canon T1i on and confirmed the horizon was more or less level. I know my tripod has a level indicator on it but it is never really that accurate.

While I waited for the train to get “in range”, a pickup truck pulled up to the crossing. The driver turned out to be Felix Lesiuk, a local railfan and occasional contributor of train photos to the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club blog. Here an example of his work.

He happened to be driving by and saw I was waiting for a train. Felix has a bit of “railfan luck” as he happened to drive by the recent CP derailment in Rosser not long after it happened, and captured some great photos, which he graciously gave permission for me to show.

Anyway, we worked out where we were going to stand so we didn’t get in each other’s shots, and went to work as the train passed by. Here’s the video, with a lot of clicking noises as we both fired off some frames.

Those three “F” units looked pretty sweet.

CP 4107 "going away" — CP 4107 “going away”

The train had refurbished “F” unit CP 1401 followed by CP 4106 and CP 4107. The irony of these “CP” units is that they were all originally CN units.

All too quickly, they were past us and taking the south track into Winnipeg. I believe the train was empty, and the dark observation car seemed to confirm that.

Felix and I stood and chatted for a few minutes after the train went by, then he went west and I went east (and south) toward home.

One More Train

On my way down, I noted an eastbound CN train, so I had to exit and grab it – since it was there, you know.

The train had boxy CP 8016 leading, and “black widow” IC 1020 trailing.

It was a good few hours of trackside time!

Just One More Thing

I just finished reading the book “Ancillary Sword” by Ann Leckie. It’s the second book in her Imperial Radch trilogy. Good book, not as good as “Ancillary Justice” but still well worth reading. I’ve downloaded the third, “Ancillary Mercy“, and will be reading it digitally… a new experience for me. These are military science fiction books, leaning toward the social / interpersonal “soft” science. Think C.J. Cherryh more than David Drake. Recommended.

(these links are affiliate links, meaning I earn a small commission if you purchase something by following them, at no extra cost to you)

About the Train

Whitemouth

Incoming

In Whitemouth

The Show

Departure

Video

Donate

See Also

Elie, Manitoba

A Quick Aside

Newton

A New Perspective

Train #1 on the Curve

Oakville, Manitoba

Elie, Again

Bonus Train

Reloading

Just One More Thing

Locomotives of the GWWD

A Quick Aside

GWWD 100 on the Move

Books on the GWWD

Other GWWD Posts

See Also

Hit the Road

First Train

Dugald

The Waiting Game

Heeeere’s VIA!

SunSET

Just One More Thing

Episode 1

Episode 2

Future Episodes

How to Watch

See Also

First, CN

On to CP

The Portage Rocket

Making an Entrance

One More Train

Related Posts

Just One More Thing