Railfan Stories

On April 26, 2024 a very rare train left Calgary, Alberta to make history.

Many railway customers only have one connection to “the outside world”. This is called a “captive shipper” and it basically means the customer has to deal with one particular railway to ship via rail, like it or not. Obviously the shipper would prefer to have options, and in some cases they have connections to more than one railway.

Every now and then, I like to stop by the Weston shops at the Canadian Pacific Kansas City shops in central Winnipeg and “take inventory”.

In mid March, I felt the urge to do a little railfanning before getting some groceries. After a bit of searching, I found an eastbound train on the Sprague subdivision.

I often struggle with a title for “railfan” posts like this. What new clever title can you place on a “I saw these trains” type of post?

In early February 2024, I went on a road trip to refresh my images of some Manitoba grain elevators. In general I revisit elevators every few years – and the ones closer to Winnipeg, more frequently – but there have been some elevators that I have only seen once. It was time to take some updated photos.

The last of the great streamliners rolls across this great land, carrying on a grand tradition started almost seventy years ago.

I visited my son in Kitchener, Ontario recently. I was there to see him, not to railfan, but since we are both railfans… well, trains happened.

Musings on a starry, starry night.