CN No 369 and CN No 376, December 2015

CN train No 369 happened by my local Shoppers Drug Mart parking lot on Saturday, December 12 at 1235. Led by CN 3019 which was followed by prim PHLX 108 - still ungraffiti'd. This small but eye-catching PHLX covered hopper fleet is part of my Classic Canadian Freight Car series - post links are in the right sidebar for your viewing pleasure! Check out the recently-added S&C supports for that leanin' pole!

As 2015 (my self-proclaimed Year of Photographing the Mundane) draws to a close, I decided to focus on yet another mundane freight train. You might argue that since these cars caught my eye, they are perhaps less mundane than they ought to be. You might wonder where the closeup is of that basic, black, boring UTLX tank car ahead of the brightly-coloured, eye candy NCLX car? This only proves my inability to be truly focused on the truly mundane. Perhaps in 2016 I can employ even more mundanity, or mundanaciousness, or mundaneity! Gotta have a goal. There is definitely room for improvement.

Ex-DuPont Sclair covered hopper NCLX 46548 (above and below). Watch for an upcoming CCFC series Sclair post! It's followed by HPJX ingot cars which replaced the CN 618xxx-series. Watch for another upcoming CCFC series post! Dang, more work!

Ex-BN, now WC 33068 scrap tie car, solidly sandwiched between B&LE brothers:

Former inky IC hoppers 101987 and 365324 now in scrap tie service:

Not so easy being green...HLMX Ex-C&NW 43117 lone hopper car:

MWCX 200439 covered gon in the company of MWCX 200391 and RGCX 700533:

Diligent DPU 2821 totes GNRR 7312 with round ingots:

For awhile, former auto-parts service NS hi-cube boxcars like 469378 have been running with TBOX in an assigned pool.

And on the tail-end?

I'm so sick and tired of cabooseless trains! Let's jazz things up. Here's a retro bit of train tail-end punctuation, brought to you by CN 79532 in December, 1978 (above). CN No 376 passed the same spot as CN No 369 above, on December 20 at 1215. Power 8938-2310:

Mauled Marine Industries tie car CN 91008:

Agrium covered hopper SHQX 3747:

Richardson International agribusiness! TRGX 854622, one of four on this train:

TRGX 854497:

TRGX 854456 and 854646:

Grainy Government of Canada CNWX no longer! NDYX 814368:

Western warrior double-door boxcar SP 247290:

CN/GTW steely single-cover coil car 187894:

Ex-CP ATW 317113 bulkhead flat car with sheet steel load:

DPU 2306 keeping LAFX cement covered hopper 60081 company:

ACFX 66424 with two sisters including 66467. These are actually the most mundane cars out there. Plain jane, and signature cars for CN Nos 376/377 heading to the Montreal area:

Running extra...

Hoping your Christmas was festive! Ours was gratuitously green on the outside. This is the seventh post for December - a corpulent, cornucopia-like crescendo of retro and present-day (especially present-day) railfanning which has led to a year-end largesse. Don't worry, I'll get back to the once-a-week posting schedule if 2016 saps my enthusiasm. (Spoiler alert - both you and I know it won't!!) A happy, prosperous and trail-filled 2016 to all Trackside Treasure readers!

As much as I like getting mail, I have enjoyed the Christmas e-greetings from Facebook friends, Trackside Treasure readers and assorted rail nuts. If you missed them, I placed the plethora of fantastically festive e-cards here. 

Christmas couch-time has led to simmering surge of draft posts! Classic Canadian freight cars: DuPont Sclair, CN flatside, Alcan Produits Chimiques, and SLR extended-height boxcars. Interesting freight train topics: GO Transit bilevels in freight consists, Nova Scotia gypsum shipments to Ontario. Derailments at Millhaven in 1999 and Kingston in 2005, and dimensional movements with LNAL 340320 and KWUX 10. Miscellaneous topics: ACI labels and VIA hat-checks await the press of the 'Publish' button! And here's a teaser - one that's easy to articulate: