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| UNPX/Procor 320004 |
In my two trips in
Part 1 and
Part 2 previously posted, I profiled the prolific plethora of passenger and freight trains I observed at Kingston's VIA station on two successive, shivering Saturdays. Since I'm a freight car fan, I'm always watchful for the interesting ones - in what are becoming increasingly boring single-commodity freight trains or manifest freights comprising lease-fleet cars. I had some success. The cars I photographed are minimally-captioned and shown in chronological order, with the train number listed for the first on each train.
CN No 372 is one of my favourite daily freights - the January 31 version (above) and February 7 version (below):
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| WFRX 383996 and ITFX/ITLX coil cars |
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| BNSF Swoosh covered hopper 422628 |
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| BN covered hopper 461534 |
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| CN136667 'heritage fleet' gondola with scrap tie load |
February 7's CN No 305:
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| AEX 5118 covered hopper minimally-lettered 'organic corn' |
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| COER 804870 all-aluminum assonance |
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| CN flats with imported rail from Halifax heading to Transcona |
It's interesting that with all the talk about a flashy new ALTO line to be built, and whether there would be buy-Canadian rules, the Minister of Transport had to soberly admit to the parliamentary transportation committee that steel rails are no longer produced within Canada's borders.
CN No 276:
CN No 271:
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| 'Patchwork' repanelled auto rack |
Running extra...
Ever heard the expression, "I'd give my eye teeth for that..."? Well, one of the American Hughes brothers did just that when intercepting former Kingston Frontenac Sam Bennett's stick during the Olympic gold medal game. He seemed happy to have made the sacrifice. It's not always just blood, sweat and tears. This photo makes it look like the injured Sidney 'Sid the Kid' Crosby took it all in from a comfortable spot on the ice.
First past the post...
Analyst Kevin Bieksa put forward defenceman Cale Makar's name for the tournament MVP, while Elliotte Friedman stuck with the easy choice, Connor "Wind Him Up and Watch Him Skate" McDavid.
CN No 271:
6 comments:
That yellow hopper reminds me of the old Chessie System covered hoppers with the cat in the centre of the car. I miss old Chessie these days! Nothing to look at on the side of cars anymore.
Eric, after the U.S. Hockey team, save five members, showed up at the White House and Trump's "performace" at the Capitol last evening, I feel more than a bit ashamed for rooting for them. On an other "off topic" item, the link to a trains.com piece on the VIA hearing in Ottawa this week has me wondering why they had it. Ok, VIA needs improvement, no question, but no mention of CN, the Venture shunt issues or much else apparently. This goes into my "When In Doubt, Do Nothing" file. Yikes. https://www.trains.com/pro/passenger/intercity/via-gets-little-attention-in-parliamentary-hearing/
There's not a lot, Michael. In fact, the most colourful and varied artwork is the graffiti. It would be interesting to know the lineage of a particular car, and if any leftover original/subsequent paint scheme exists. There are a few interesting ones out there, but one has to look very diligently for them!
Thanks for your comment,
Eric
Hi Joseph,
The SOTU made for a great drinking game here in Canada. Every time something was repeated or key phrases trotted out. Cheaper than betting on them as many chose to. The men's hockey team win and appearance were both equally unsettling, though the women's team is going to the WH 'later'. If at all.
The parliamentary hearing morphed from One of the topics on the agenda of the House of Commons transport
committee for its meeting this Wednesday is "Improving VIA Rail's
Safety and Customer Service". Witnesses for VIA were to be Mathieu Paquette, Lead Executive/Graham Blackwell, Vice-President, Mechanical Operations and Asset Management/ Marie-Flore Ducrot, Vice-President, Customer Experience and Network Operations. At some point the invitees changed to the Minister and three of his senior staff. Several ports executives were on the Zoom call, so I think there was little chance of any meaningful discussion of VIA. Perhaps at a future meeting. As usual, I find TRAINS missed the point in their article, not including the full context and giving a bit of a slant on the story. Firecrown is not well-regarded in Canada now, due to discontinuance of shipping Model Railroader (and TRAINS?) up here.
Thanks for your comment,
Eric
Erick, Amtrak has just thrown in the towel on replacing the Superliners with bi-levels. Apparently ADA requirements for lifts killed them. Link to Amtrak press release below. I have seen several renderings of VIA proposals for long distance replacement. Probably will not happen, but the cost for both might come down if they cooperate. Thoughts and apologies for O/T as I have no other way of contacting you, I think. https://media.amtrak.com/2026/02/amtrak-announces-new-and-improved-long-distance-fleet-replacement-strategy/
I just heard that change of plans today, Joseph. If there is one recurring problem with the Ventures, it's the wheelchair lifts. And that's only from platform to first-level height, never mind a second level like a Superliner. If you ever want to email, feel free at mile179kingstonATyahooDOTca.
Thanks,
Eric
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