Level Crossings I’ve Known and Loved – Mile 45.18 and Mile 44.78 Bala Sub

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Adam Walker

I got these shots at the Zephyr siding on the CN Bala sub during my last trip to the north country.  First, here is the north entrance to the siding.

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Here is the crossbuck and the signal shed at the crossing between the tracks and Zephyr Road.

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Someone has handwritten the crossing mileage on the door, but it is actually incorrect, reading 45.48 instead of 45.18.  I continued down the road and made the left hand turn onto York-Durham Line and stopped at the next crossing which is roughly the quarter point of the siding.  Here is the signal shed with the mile marker.

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Here is the view to the east

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And the view to the west.

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As you can tell, the siding extends through this crossing.  Zephyr is 6580 feet, which makes it roughly equivalent to those at Quaker, Pefferlaw and Smail, but its half the size of Brechin East, which crosses Highway 12 well to the north.  Do these sidings get a lot of action in these days of super trains with multiple units and DPU?  Finally, here is the crossbuck mileage marker.

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I love knowing where I have been, so I can both catalogue my journeys and know where to go back to when I’ve found somewhere I have enjoyed being.  This was a fun pair of crossings to shoot, so maybe next time I’ll be able to spend a bit more time and actually catch something here!

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Level Crossings I’ve Known And Loved – Mile 172.51, Havelock Sub

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Adam Walker

 

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As part of my adventure on April 9th, I shot the level crossing at mile 172.51 of the CP Havelock sub at the York-Durham Line just north of Highway 7. Here is the view to the east, towards Peterborough and Havelock.  The track conditions are not great, with many parts of this line limited to 10MPH.

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And the view to the west, towards Toronto.

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The telephone poles along the side of the track have clearly seen better days.  Perhaps there is hope for this line though; there is an effort to rehabilitate the track, increase freight and return passenger service.  It’s moving very slowly, but you can read about it here.

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A Quick One – Ballast On The Bala

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Adam Walker

I went out for coffee this afternoon and noticed that there were some CN ballast cars sitting on the old Leaside spur track just south of Oriole on the Bala sub.  I recall that they used this same track for keeping ballast cars a few years ago, before I was into shooting trains and just a casual observer of the track near my work place.  Here are a few shots from the side and above.

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There is obviously still a quantity of ballast in the cars, but some has been used since they were dropped there.  With the main being recently re-ballasted (is that the phrase?), I wonder if they’re going to drop some on the siding.  Maybe I’ll be lucky and catch them hauling these cars away one day.

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Mile 48.26, Bala Sub – Ravenshoe Road

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Adam Walker

I had April 9th off work and decided.to head north.  With the imminent arrival of my daughter, I didn’t want to travel too far away, so I used my friend Google Maps to find somewhere that was only about 45 minutes to an hour away and a route that could be traversed faster should the need arise.  I found my spot with the intersection of Ravenshoe Road and Park Road in Georgina, Ontario.

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As you can see, the tracks intersect both Ravenshoe and Park, creating a triangle shape and an interesting potential shooting location.  Google Street View (no, this post isn’t sponsored by Google) provided some advanced scouting on the spot and it looked like it would work if I stood on Park Road facing the tracks with the sun behind me from the east.  This meant it would be an early day for me, since I would be looking to get the northbound Northlander.  I left my house around 8:30am and, with a few missed turns, got up to my chosen spot about an hour later.  Here is the view to the south west, towards the crossing at Ravenshoe Road.

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And here’s the mile marker on the back of the crossbuck.

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I wandered back to my car and relaxed for a few minutes, listening to the scanner and trying to hear if anything other than 697 would go by.  I didn’t get any hints, but a nearby horn caused me to start and get ready for something to approach.  Sure enough, I could see some lights through the trees and the lights went off at the Park Road crossing.

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An intermodal freight led by Dash-9 2533.  Hey, who put their car there?  Oh, wait…

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Unmarked, Hanjin, Cosco and Yang Ming containers made up this very long consist.

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I was expecting some mid-train DPU action on this set, but it didn’t appear.  When the end of the train arrived, so did the DPU in the form of 2533’s cousin, 2536.  The Dash-9 was pushing hard on that big consist.

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As a side note, I caught their other cousin, 2532, last Father’s Day at the Pickering GO station.  UPDATE: Steve Boyko caught this same consist on April 7th.  You can see his shots here.

I went back to my car and rolled it closer to where I stood to shoot the CN freight.  I sat inside, waiting for the next train.  I expected that it would be the Northlander, but I wasn’t sure until I heard the detector go off again and announce that another train was en route.  The freight passed at 45 MPH; this train was moving at 60+, so I knew it would be the Northlander.  Sure enough, I heard the horn and the signals on the Ravenshoe crossing went off.

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1802 arrived, moving very quickly and pulling four passenger cars and the APU.

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I had heard that the ONR employees were posting the Ontario Northland Not For Sale signs on the locomotives; 1802 was no different:

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Check out Developing The North for more information on the fight against the divestment of ONTC.  Here’s some wider angles on 1802 as she went by.

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She hits the Park Road crossing.  Hey, there’s that car again!

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And, finally, off to her northern destinations.

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I wandered over to the Park Road crossing and got a few shots.  Here’s the crossbuck and a utility box.

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Here’s the north east view.  The signal in the distance was rapidly blinking red.

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And the south west view towards the crossing at Ravenshoe.

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I stuck around for a bit after the Northlander went by.  The detector went off again, saying something was coming at 12 MPH.  I heard a bit of chatter on the scanner about something coming; there was a bunch of track work going on, so I thought it might be the geometry car (wishful thinking).  I turned out to just be a work truck heading north to Pefferlaw.

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And that was that.  I really enjoyed this spot and I think it will look even better with some green in the summer.  I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to come back here at least once more before (or if) they shut down the Northlander service.  Perhaps showing up at an earlier time would allow me to catch the Canadian coming south, along with some more freight traffic.  Until next time!

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A Quick One–VIA 6428 at Liverpool

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Adam Walker

I had a bit of time on April 7th, so I ventured out to try and find something to shoot.  I chose to head into Pickering and stop at the GO station, as the scanner was giving me some good information.  I thought I might catch some freight movement, but I was only able to get some shots of a westbound VIA (train 641 from Ottawa).  This train was running a little behind schedule, so I had enough time to get into position to catch it.

I could see it approaching through the glass of the new walkway that crosses all the tracks and the 401.

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As it approached, I could see that it was VIA 6428 leading a six LRC consist.

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And nice and close, looking very reflective in the late morning sun.

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As a bonus, here’s two GO cab cars that went by while I was waiting.  Here’s 207, splitting the signals and it leads the hourly westbound.

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And here is 200, the grand daddy of all the cab cars, trailing the hourly eastbound.

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A Quick One – Bala Haircut

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Adam Walker

Something has happened south of Oriole on the CN Bala sub.  Here is a shot of 1809 coming south on March 26th. 

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And here’s a shot of the roughly the same angle on March 29th. 

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What’s the difference?  The first picture gives it away somewhat: crews had used the CAT machine and gone through to cut down a significant amount of brush from either side of the tracks.  I think this is because the foliage was getting very close to the tracks on either side.  It was getting very heavy in the summer, as you can see in this shot:

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As a bonus, here’s 1805 taken on the 29th as well.

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Still nice to see the classic GP38-2 out and about!  Hopefully she’ll be around for a while longer.

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Lindsay Model Train Show 2012

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Adam Walker

April approaches and that means one thing in the model train world: the Lindsay Model Train Show.  I visited last year and I had placed this year’s date in my calendar as soon as I saw the flyer for it last fall.

There were some different groups in attendance this year.  While its always nice to see the Pine Ridge, Miner Junction and others, I saw some new (to me) groups.  Triple Rail Modellers were there with their O scale layout.  It seemed to be transition era, with some old style diesel and steam power.

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The Midland District Railroad Club was also there.  They had a large layout, very much in progress, but still in good shape to show off.  They don’t seem to have an official website, but here is a general page containing where they meet and a contact email address.

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The Nottawasaga Model Railway Club was also there.  I overheard someone say that they are one of the only clubs to allow kids to operate on their layout.  Good on them!

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They also had an intriguing component on their layout: a mirror.  It added a neat little angle to the “end” of the line.  This SOO caboose looks doubly good in the reflection (Aside from the crud on the mirror).

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Those are the highlights of the show.  I picked up another locomotive, which will become part of the Walker Leasing Company engines that will run in New Falkenburg, the tentative name I’ve given my basement layout.  My wife came with me on this venture and we went out to Hobart’s for lunch.  Philly Steak with cajun chicken soup for me.  Beef dip sandwich and fries for her.  Yum!

On the way out of town, we stopped at the rail park.  They have made some improvements since last year!  Where once there were these poor souls…

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There is now this!

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Great work by the town and the volunteers to fix them up and give them a nice coat of paint.  The boarded up windows don’t look nearly as shabby now and it gives the park so much more life.  Hanging onto old equipment doesn’t have to mean decay, like the TEE Northlander equipment in North Bay.  Anyway, once I was finished shooting the stuff in the park, I got back to the car and we went home.  Another great trip to Lindsay!

As a special note, the Ontario government has announced that they are divesting themselves of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, which includes selling the Ontario Northland freight rail operation and shutting down the Northlander train service.  My own love of the Northlander aside, this is a tragedy and needs to be stopped before it is too late.  Ontario Northland provides transportation for students, workers and patients from the North to Southern Ontario in a comfortable, environmentally friendly fashion.  Replacing this service with “enhanced” bus service is not an option and will only serve to put further strain on already stretched northern highways. 

Please call and/or write to your MP and MPP and tell them that this is wrong.  There is a Facebook group for general information and a local MPP has issued a formal petition that needs to be signed and mailed to his office.  Out of province readers, any support you might lend would be appreciated as well.

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A Quick One–Plug Hat Again, Naturally

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Adam Walker

The same day I chased the train on the Havelock sub, I ended up back at Plug Hat Road.  I just enjoy being there really, so any time I can make it to that spot is okay with me.  When I got there, I decided I would push myself a bit further than I had before.  My last trek there saw me go a bit down the path that is to the left of the York sub (when facing south from the Plug Hat Road bridge).  This time, I went all the way to the end of the path to the edge of the Belleville sub.

Now, my understanding is this area is publicly owned park land.  There are signs on the other side that say that area is a preserve and that no trespassing is allowed; no such signage exists on the other side and I believe that I am in the right in being able to be where I was.  Legality aside, here’s the view of the Plug Hat Road bridge from the end of the path.  The CN York sub is the track to the left.

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For reference, here’s a shot of the other direction.  I’m standing near the pole by the bridge.

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From where I was standing, I shot to the east and got a view of the level crossing at Beare Road.

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And to the west, across the bridge.

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I didn’t know what to expect (as was the trend for that day), so I was glad when my ears picked up the sound of the level crossing at Beare Road.  A train horn blew and I saw that at least one big engine was coming towards me.  I backed off a good distance and got ready to shoot.

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CP 9357 arrived, with 8787 (both ES44ACs) right behind.

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Clearly I’m on the wrong side to catch them in the right light.  An interest note, however, is that the ground on the other side of the Belleville sub drops off significantly and basically drops down directly onto the York sub.  I think, if I ever wanted to shoot the other side, I might have to cross the bridge and go to the west.  Sounds like a bit more danger than I’m interested in right now.  Maybe when I’m feeling more adventurous, I’ll try and find some paths that take me to some better vantage points.  The big bridge in north Pickering has always been intriguing; maybe I’ll try that one the next time I’m in the mood for CP…

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A Quick One–Out of the Fog

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Adam Walker

I got my hair cut on March 17th and, since I was right there, I decided to go over to the Harwood Avenue overpass and wait for something to come by.  I didn’t have to wait long, as a westbound VIA was just leaving Oshawa (according to the VIA website) when I got to the top of the bridge.  It was a very grey day and there was quite a bit of fog and mist in the air.

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I could vaguely see the lights in the distance, but they didn’t seem to be moving.  Then something very cool happened.  One set of lights…

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Became two sets of lights!

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I realize you can see a bit of the other train in the first photo, but these are very cropped down and I couldn’t really tell from standing on the bridge what was going on.  On a clear day, this would have been an easy two shot with my big zoom lens.  That day, it was a wait and see sort of situation.  The train on the north track (left hand side) would turn out to be the VIA I was waiting for.

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This was a Toronto bound train from Ottawa, with three LRC and one stainless steel car, led by F40 6407.  I caught 6407 leading the Canadian earlier this year and as part of the Canadian in October.  After it passed, I waited for the next train to come by.  I assumed it was a freight and was proven correct.  It was led by CN 2410, a Dash-8 with the number boards above the windows painted on. 

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And 2132, another Dash-8 who’s number boards I can’t speak to since I couldn’t get an angle on them.

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A few interesting cars on this one.  A whole row of hoppers with a DJJ logo on their side.  This belongs to the David J. Joseph Company, a group that deals in scrap metals.

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Close to that in the consist was this old timer from the old Santa Fe.

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The back half of the consist was all auto racks, which was kind of boring, so I started back to my car.  Nothing else interesting happened while I was there, so I headed home.  A conveniently timed quick one!

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East Scarborough Chase

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Adam Walker

I went out on March 10th with the intent to find something, but no actual game plan in mind.  I considered going up to Church Street, to finally catch that elusive train at that spot.  I changed my mind though, when I heard that a CN freight would be coming up the York sub, westbound.  I headed for Plug Hat Road, but found the train passing under the bridge as I drove over.  I went in pursuit, but established fairly quickly that it was too far ahead of me to catch it properly.  However, while driving west along Steeles Avenue and tracking that CN freight I spotted something unusual as I approached Ninth Line: a north-south moving freight.  The only track that runs that angle in the area is the rarely used Havelock subdivision.  Awesome!  My guess was confirmed when I approached Staines Road and a slow moving freight was crossing Steeles.  Time for a chase! 

Here’s where it all began.  The green is my car, the red is the Havelock sub.

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I went down Staines in hopes of cutting it off somewhere to the south.  Unfortunately, Staines curves to the east before there are any cross streets that connect it back to the west.  Consulting the map on my phone, the closest connector was Seasons Drive.  I took a right and followed it along until it intersected with Oasis Blvd, which turned into McNicoll Ave. 

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I got to the level crossing in time to catch the very end of the consist.  As you can see, I’m a ways back from it.

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Once the train cleared, I tried to get ahead of it again.  I continued on McNicoll until Tapscott, then made a left and headed south. 

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Again, I was behind it, but I was making up ground.  I got a few more shots of the consist this time.

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When it cleared, my next choice was clear: I had to intercept it at the entrance to the Agincourt yard.  I went south on Tapscott, west on Finch and then south on Markham and into a small plaza that looked directly at the tracks of the Havelock sub.

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I drove right to the back and, at the risk of getting yelled at by some business owners, I jumped out of my car in time to grab the locomotives as they eased into the yard.  The consist was led by GP38-2 3038 and 3066, with GP9 8238 sandwiched in between.

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Based on some photos from railpictures.net, this consist has been serving the Havelock sub for a few weeks now.  I got back in my car as a guy came out of one of the stores to casually throw something away while giving me the stink eye.  I drove to the other side of the lot, parked, then walked up to Finch and up the bridge overlooking the yard.  A few highlights – a switcher/GP9 pair in the yard.  There were a few sprinkled about.

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Another couple of pairs, along with the dead line.  You can vaguely see a SOO painted engine at the very right end.

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And that was that.  I found a short cut when I was walking back to my car, which saved me a good five minutes.  I won’t share it here, as I don’t want to encourage any potential trespassing (even though it was not through CP land).  It was nice to get engaged in a chase and I’m glad I finally got to see some actual trains on the Havelock sub; I never thought I would!  Now, one of my next projects has to be staking out a spot and catching one from a much more picturesque view point.

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