Autumn in Belleville, October 2016

As the leaves burned brightly in shades of orange: eye-popping papaya whip, astounding atomic tangerine, and the scintillating cinnabar of vermilion, we headed west to see what CN and VIA sere sending along the leaf-strewn CN Kingston Sub. Well, nothing upon my arrival at Belleville. Crickets chirped as I could almost hear the leaves turning among the churning chlorophyll trackside. But wait! 

At least two autumn shades were visible on the rails: TankTrain orange and TrailerTrail yellow! Ducking behind the well-stored well cars were about thirty TankTrain cars of oil for the Ontario Power Generation Lennox Generating Station eastward down the Kingston Sub at Bath. GATX cars with classic orange/white logo and very small logos. Lifted by Belleville-Kingston turn CN No 518, cuts of the stored cars were taken to Belleville, then east to Quebec for filling before returning west aboard CN No 321 and return to the plant with 518:

Egregiously engaging in some NoTrophy...just across Station Street which parallels CN's Belleville yard's south side, a slightly-overgrown spur leads to Soltex, formerly OMG on Dussek Street where six TEIX, NATX and CBTX tank cars were had been spotted by the Belleville yard crew.

Looking north from Station Street back to the yard; this is one of the few bits of trackage south of the Kingston Sub mainline:

Finally, VIA decided to burnish the rails, sending VIA No 43 Eng 6457 and four cars alongside Airport Parkway at 1013, past the entrance to the Belleville airport, former site of trackage south to the Point Anne cement plant and current site of Strawberry Farms. Look! Google maps still thinks it's double-track! Quinte, Mi 217 Kingston Sub. The crossing gates creak as they descend, but the bells don't ding and the air horn doesn't chime in. Quietest Quinte crossing ever!

Changing tracks as the colours change - check out that majestic, ruddy red maple at right (below). The switch heater awaits its time to shine...

VIA No 61 is next at 1032 with 6418-Poppy bearing 3473-3371-3348Ren-3327R-3344R:

An eastbound VIA hogger gives a friendly toot-toot to the borderline-bored blogger on this Youtube video: VIA No 52/62 with 6401-5 cars-6406-4 cars. But today is TGIF and F stands for Freight. I originally took this photo to see just what kind of freight consist was approaching, but I was perfectly pleased with the scintillating sway-back of the track profile here and kept the photo. It's CN No 305 Eng 2855 at 1115 with a cut of covered gondolas and tank cars on the head-end, submitted for your approval:

Judicious Jim Boyd-esque use of a trackside structure:

How much wood would a DPU push if a DPU could push wood? DP use seems to still be resulting in more than a healthy share of break-aparts, with CN No 368 splitting after the 118th car two nights ago due to a broken knuckle on CC 40124, one of those clapped-out carmine-coloured crappy scrap tie cars that CN insists on fully depreciating, daily dragging their derelict derrieres over the CN Kingston Sub drearily. Just like the IC and CN gons on the other side of fairly-new CN 3011:

Channelling Mark Perry, down at the station after crew change, departing at 1145:

With 122 cars, I was able to note the entire consist: lots of tank cars, auto racks near the tail end, and lumber, though no visible Irving. Channelling the Can Opener during the pull-by:

VIA is preparing for Remembrance Day again, re-applying poppies to Business Class cars for their annual campaign, as yet unannounced for 2016:

Stealer's Wheel had a hit with "Stuck in the Middle [with you] in 1973. I was channelling the 1970s (the 1970s called and they want their channel back!) when I paced CN 3085, the DPU on CN No 376 back into Kingston. "BAEX boxcars to the left of me, BAEX boxcars to the right, here I am, stuck in the mid-DPU". What would Joan BAEZ say? Probably something about diamonds and rust...

Watch for a Pop-up Post on the less-than-mundane freight cars I observed on these trains.

Running extra...

Toronto down one game to Cleveland in the ALCS. I channelled the Rogers Centre offering Trackside Treasure some advertising space. Here's what I'd do. Closed dome:

And open dome: