Turning locomotives on the wye

Well after what seems like months on end of rain the sun finally came out through the clouds  today. It is the first time I've managed to make it to the waterfront rail yard in months as well and managed to catch CN 8884 exiting the wye on its way out of town. The photo was taken with a new 24.6 megapixel Sony A77 so I'd like to hear your comments on the unedited image......

National Film Board railroad videos

Iwas surfing the web this morning and found the following web page so I thought I'd add it to my blog.

National Film Board of Canada

Talk about a bad day!

If you thing your having a bad day.......take a look at these photos from Lloydminster yesterday. The driver is probably on his way to the unemployment office after the County Mountie finishes with him. Photos by unknown.

 

Container Train on the Skeena Subdivision

Well I finally managed to catch a container train along the Skeena just West of Esker's overpass early this evening on the way home after spending the day in Terrace. CN 2450, GE C40-8M (Dash 8-40CM) was leading IC 1002, EMD SD-70 through a wide sweeping left hand corner

Last turn before Terrace

CN 8895 and 2559 pull an empty coal train around the last curve on the Skeena subdivision before crossing the bridge over the Kalum River and enter Terrace.

8855 on the Tyee siding

Well I had to make a quick trip to Terrace for the day and managed to catch 8855 in the rear of a Westbound coal train with the red marker lights above the windshields . The train was waiting on the siding at Tyee.

Crossing the Skeena at Terrace

CN 2229 leads 2116 and 6019 across the Skeena River at Terrace, Sunday May 22 just after 11:00 pulling a string of tanks from Kitimat.

Two in the yard at Terrace, B.C.

CN 2320 and 8001 waiting for their next assignment at the yard in Terrace, B.C. May 21, 2011.

CN 5680 with 5630 on the waterfront

Saturday morning I managed to catch 5680 with 5630 idling in the Rupert rail yard after pulling the nights container train in under the cover of darkness.

Via Rail Skeena lead by 6443

Sunday morning Via 6443 passes by the public boat launch in Port Edward.

PRG 7305 working the elevator yard

Former CN 7305 GMD SW1200RS was working the Prince Rupert Grain elevator on Ridley Island early this morning in the rain. The locomotive had been leased from CN but was purchased after a derailment accident. Now rebuilt, crews use the locomotive to do the switching assignments in the rail yard pushing strings of loaded cars in to the electric car indexer to be offloaded.

CN 8964 in the early morning rain

6:30 A.M. CN 8964 and IC 1005 rest in the rain after completing their journey across the country with a string of container cars.

Stranger in a foreign land

6:30 this morning under a gray dismal sky I hit the rail yard with my camera in hand where I spotted CN 8964 with what I thought was a BC Rail Phantom blue unit in tow but to my surprise it was Illinois Central 1005 (EMD SD-70 BLT 09/95). The lighting conditions weren't the greatest in the light rain but I managed to get a few descent photos which I turned into the Black and White images you see here.

Westbound at Exstew on the Skeena Sub

CN 2527 and 5657 pass the CTC signal system at the East end of the Exstew siding under power on the Skeena subdivision April 22, 2011 just after 15:00pm.

BC Rail 4647 crew change at Quesnel

April 22, 2011 I caught 4647 during a crew change before continuing on to Prince George.

BC Rail 4647 South of Williams Lake

April 21, 2011 I managed to catch BC Rail 4647 leading CN 5518 & 5607 North between Lac La Hache and Williams Lake BC pulling a mixed freight load.

Eastbound Canadian Pacific empty coal train

Moments after a seeing a grain train on my side of the Thompson river an empty coal train passed by heading East towards Ashcroft on the far side of the river.

Westbound in the Thompson River Valley

Canadian Pacific 8716 leads a Westbound grain train between Ashcroft and Spences Bridge April 21 during the early afternoon hours during a sudden cloud burst.

Planes, Trains and Trucks?

I haven't had too many opportunities to do much railfaning lately but did manage to capture a few photos of CN 616-34 which is a rather unusual piece of MOW equipment. I spotted the unit in the early morning hours March 22 in Cache Creek, B.C. at the local A&W restaurant where the truck driver was tightening the hold down chain. The unit is a jet engine with a flared nozzle mated to a self propelled chassis used to melt/blow snow off tracks.

Taking a break!

After along trip across the continent pulling a container unit train locomotives 2614 and 5673 idle on the Rupert waterfront in the early morning hours of March 3, 2011.

CN 15007 15008 Track Evaluation Cars

While its been along time since I've posted anything due to a busy schedule at work and home. I have replaced my Sony A380 with a new Sony SLT A55 which is a huge setup on the 380. The weather has been typical North Coast, winter rains day after day with the occasional brief break in between squalls. I did manage to get out today and made my way to the waterfront where I caught up to CN 5287 with cars 15007 and 15008 parked idling in the rain. These cars are starting to make regular appearance in town. I have seen them 2 or 3 times over the past year. 15007 is a former 60' ballasted box car (CNA794704) built by Pullman Standard in January 1964. 15008 is a track geometry car converted from ex. Via 1802/CN 1802 "Cape Rosier" built by Pullman Standard in 1954.

Early morning start

Well this CN crew had a short Christmas holiday when their day started at 02:30 in Terrace on Boxing day. They pulled a mixed freight to Rupert where they split it up and sorted the cars into the correct order they had to go on to the rail barge at Pillsbury Point. Once the car are sorted a string of idler cars (bulkhead flat cars) is inserted between the locomotive and the cars that are being put on the barge (keeps the locomotive off the ramp). 2555 was the prime mover for the days work, gone are the days a geep or switcher was assigned the duties. While the train was being switched another crew on the Foss Marine tug was pushing the barge into its slip and bolting the rails that extend beyond the end of the ramp to the rails on the barge deck. They also attach winch cables to the barge that pull the barge tight to the ramp to keep it in place. The tug remains under power pushing the barge into the ramp during the loading procedure as a safety precaution.