I’m not trackside often these days, but my impression is that rail traffic is down. CPKC traffic has always been a bit sparse around Winnipeg, but on the CN Rivers subdivision, the wait between trains seems to be longer than it normally is.
Still, there are trains to be seen.
I went out early one Sunday morning to see what I could see as the sun came up.
CN
After a long wait, this CN westbound came rolling out of Winnipeg. I photographed it at mile 15 while the sun was still below the horizon.
CN 2938 was on the head end, with CN 2257 bringing up the rear, pushing those Hapag-Lloyd containers toward the west coast.
It was pretty clear from the signals that nothing was coming soon, so I drove north to the CPKC main line.
CPKC
Luck was with me there, as I saw a train leaving Winnipeg. It turned out to be the regular early morning westbound train; they stopped to drop some cars off at the Paterson grain elevator.
By this time, the sun was cresting the horizon.
The conductor rode the “lead” locomotive as they returned to their train.
The motley collection of locomotives rejoined the train, the conductor connected the air and knocked the handbrakes off, and they were ready to go… almost.
As I walked back to my car, the conductor relined the switch for the main line, and put the derail back on the Paterson spur.
Soon I was at the west end of the Makwa siding, waiting for the train to roll past.
This is exactly where Jason and I were a few weeks ago.
As the train approached, the skies opened up and it started raining. I grabbed a couple of quick shots, then retreated to my car and headed home.
It was a good start to the day.