Autumn at Mile 179, October 2020

I found myself trackside for a couple of hours on Monday, October 27th. The fall colours have been especially vivid this year, and I wanted to capture the remaining colours near Mi 179 Kingston Sub at Vista Drive and Bath Road. The rain has caused them to wane and the wind has caused them to wind down. Access here is along Bath Road, with complimentary parking provided by Shoppers Drug Mart, and trackside access across the five lanes of Bath Road. Trains listed by time/direction/train #/power...

1000 W CN No 148 5682-2110-2547. This looked like CN No 148, the daily bonded Halifax-Chicago import-export intermodal land-cruiser. Not a single CN or domestic trucking container. Lots of MSC. Some people say intermodal trains are dishwater-dull. I don't necessarily agree. I totally agree! But I try to counter that notion by doing my dangedest to find something, anything of interest in those endless shoeboxes on wheels! Here's lovely BRAN 2921, a bright blue 3-pak:

1051 W VIA No 643 appeared with 914L[ove the way]-four LRC cars-6416L (video capture below). The Mi 170 scanner, trains contacting foreman with Rule 42 limits Mi 174-178, foreman at Ernestown requesting track time (repeatedly unsuccessfully) and trains calling mileboard at Mi 185 were all audible in the autumn air. This crew wondered whether the RTC (whose lexicon included "sweet, beauty, hundred percent") had remembered to line them to the south at Ernestown, so they wouldn't have to back in to their Napanee station stop today!

1118 E VIA No 62/52 6418-3465-3329Future-3342-2 LRC cars-917-904L-2 LRC cars-3348-918L. This was a race with the eastbound CN No 376 that was coming through on the north track. This speedster made it with two minutes to spare:

A 'mating pair' of P42's. VIA 917 is one of only four non-wrapped:

1120 E CN No 376 2257-BCOL 4608 ended up stopping at Queens until 1200. Prior to that, here it comes peeping through the undergrowth. Most of the morning had been cloud-fuddled, but the sun tried to peek through around this time. Check out that second unit!

There's a lot of chatter right now about CN heritage units: BCR, IC, GTW, WC and many, many more are being repainted in US shops for a rumoured celebration in Montreal of CN's 25th year of going privately-owned. ("We're celebrating going public at $2.25 a share, 25 years ago!") So far at least five have gone east along the Kingston Sub. Not having seen any, I'm going to settle for BCOL 4608 (also top photo) as a heritage unit!

These long, combination-door boxcars have long been a favourite. They're showing their age and won't be in forest product service forever. This one escaped the carman with its open door. Hoboes? Watch for an upcoming post on these panoramic performers, these coniferous cornucopias, these evergreen eldoradoes, delivering fat, fircone futures! Two examples: CN 598161-598221:

The exception proves the rule. Repainted WC 20497 has no logo, just CN's website address:

1200 W: VIA No 63: 6402L-four LRC cars at 84 mph, as I photographically pan through the pines. (Another Monty Python reference about pining for the fjords? Beautiful plumage!)

1213 W: CN No 369 3197-9531. This train had been watching at Queens waiting for Nos 63 and 376 to clear. Finally, the Aboriginal logo unit appears, leading another 'heritage unit':

CN 9531, one of hundreds of GP40-2 L(W)'s formerly operating in pairs and trios along the Kingston Sub when introduced, now relegated to yard or roadswitcher duty. Likely heading for a shop date, 9531 wears the CN North America scheme introduced in 1992:

10 auto racks at the head-end, including this painted pink lady:

Newly-painted pressure-unloading covered hopper FURX 894209:

BCOL 730871 - green car with green load of lumber from  Materiaux Blanchet, a green producer in Amos, QC:

Cars heading for Redpath: cylindricals LATX (formerly NAHX) 455861, LATX (formerly CGMX) 7033 and 7061 (below), LATX 455441, and EAMX 1905 (new kid on the block, along with sometime WFRX cars) at far right:

DPU 3049, sandwiched between the Redpath cars and 20 auto racks:

HESX 43, 89-foot yellow flat car and AEQX 141 with aluminum byproducts:

Forest products pool cars include Norfolk Southern hi-cubes like NS 469585, followed by two Union Pacific covered hoppers on the tail-end. With that, it was time to head home for fresh-made pumpkin scones!

Running extra:

By the time you read this, we may be sitting atop the world's newest banana republic as special forces storm the Oval Office, gun-toting gumchewers patrol the streets for some non-specific reason, and pollsters don't touch their predictions with ten-foot....well, you get the idea. God Bless America. 

Turn it up!

My newest book is currently being printed. Excellent, responsive local service from Kingston's Allan Graphics! Stay tuned for more information to follow here on Trackside Treasure!