Pop-up Post: Two Days in March 2025, Day Two

After spending Day One near Gananoque Junction after capturing VIA No 60/50, the first of two doublavays at Bayridge Drive overpass, I headed slightly east on Day Two to capture VIA No 60/50 from the Sir John A Macdonald overpass near Mi 175 CN Kingston Sub (top photo).

0953 EB - VIA No 60/50 Sets 11 and 24 Youtube video link. It was a cold one-hour wait - trains from Toronto were late due to a Metrolinx trackwork detour (see below). I then headed to Mi 174 at Queens East, at the site of the former CN-CP interchange. 

On the north side of the mainline was formerly Queens 1 with a lead to the interchange, lifted in the 1990s. Now an expanse of ballast, a few tie remnants and invading brush, (which I had ample time to tame), I tried to include the old-timey westward-facing Queens East signal gantry in many of my photos. These signals are bound to be replaced, some year. One of the signal targets was loose and could be heard banging when the wind came up.

1052 WB - VIA No 643 Set 13:

 

1103 EB - CN No 372 2934-midtrain DPU 3976 ex-Citirail:

1124 WB - CN No 271 all (empty) auto racks, all the time 8843-8901:

1138 WB - VIA No 63 (unphotographed) 910-3463-3467-3341-3350F(uture)-3312R(en).

1235 WB - CN No 305 2949-midtrain DPU 2872:

1321 EB - VIA No 62/52 Sets 2/10:

VIA No 62/52 Youtube video link 2'20" late due to Newmarket/York Sub Metrolinx detour around 'three sides of the square'. One hour late leaving, took 1.5 hours to reach the Kingston Sub, schedule had been adjusted to accommodate the detour, but still! All I know is that minutes before I left home that morning, it said "expected to depart on time"!

These trains seen from the south side of the mainline at Queens East Mi 174 CN Kingston Sub:

1327 WB - VIA No 65 913-3478-3455-3342-3356F-3351F, 40(years)-3355F.

[1350 - wellness check from CN Police constable, who dryly noted this location is usually frequented by mentally distraught people, or family of the unhoused living nearby.]

1410 EB - VIA No 40 6411-3470-3465-3368(hand-painted blue)-3350?F-3369:

1416 WB - VIA No 53 Set 7 (unphotographed).

1441 WB - VIA No 47 917-3472-3371-3309R-33xx-3338F (unphotographed).

1450 EB - No 64 6440-3460-345?-3352-33xxF-3336:

Driving home via the Kingston VIA station, CN No 306 came out of the setting sun.

1635 EB - CN No 306 3108(CN100) - midtrain DPU 3919 ex-Citirail:

a large cut of Parrish & Heimbecker covered hoppers:

Day Three really didn't get off the ground. It was sunny but cold, and our grandsons were arriving for an afternoon visit, so I did not find myself trackside. However, this bonus pop-up post shows freight cars from the first two days!

Running extra...

I published this April 23 update on VIA's case in the Quebec Superior Court:

The Superior Court of Quebec has chosen not to intervene and grant an interlocutory injunction against CN. The Court's decision says that Transport Canada, as the authority responsible for rail safety in Canada, is best-positioned to decide this matter. VIA's CEO shared the outcome, and VIA does not view this as a loss. In fact the main legal case - a request for permanent injunction - is still ongoing. In the course of the legal process in Quebec, VIA  and Transport Canada (TC) were able to obtain key information from CN that had been previously unshared. These new insights will significantly support VIA's ongoing discussions with TC and CN. VIA claims that CN's latest data confirms that none of VIA's trains are detected at crossings any differently than other trains operating in the Corridor. VIA's General Counsel is reviewing the Court's decision and evaluating next steps in the legal, operational and administrative avenues.

YouTube recommendations:

• Thanks to Jim Lowe for this YouTube recommendation from Gatineau, QC. So many models I recognize and remember!
• I met Greg Wiggins at both of my OVAR presentations. A very humble and quiet guy modelling what I used to model, only much, much better.
• Yet another Youtube trip on the Canadian! Here's Part One and Part Two. Just like Day Three, Part Two gets truncated.

First past the post...

Jesse McLaughlin kindly updated me with OS's from all across America and as far east as Belleville as VIA's Venture Set 29 was delivered this past Wednesday. The first daylight delivery through Kingston since Set 11 was delivered back in December, 2023! Jesse also sent screenshots from various Virtual Railfan webcams along the route as the power changed from UP 6916 to CN 8918!