Welcome aboard this year-long retrospective series celebrating my Fifty Years Trackside - watching trains and taking numbers. This is the Ninth in a year-long series celebrating those five decades - each month's post is a time capsule; a five-year slice of those fifty years. In the previous post, it was time trackside tracked from 2010 to 2015. This month, it's 2016-2020 with a little travelling, here and there.
Here's one of my favourite local trackside haunts - the Vista Drive Shoppers Drug Mart parking lot (below). I always hoped a railman-friendly building with an ample parking lot would be built here. And it was. But my similar optimistic hopes for a perpetual view east to Gardiners Road and Mi 178 Kingston Sub became overgrown with brush along CN's right-of way. The VIA view on July 30, 2017 was...upsetting.
I was making regular trips to Toronto - as I had since 2010 for IQMH committee meetings and slide assessments - and in June 2016, we finished our final day's work early. Unlike my colleagues who worked mere steps away from slogging back to their jobs on Toronto's Hospital Row, I had five hours before VIA No 48 would take me back to Kingston. Why not ride a GO train? I boarded the 1413 Lakeshore West departure, detraining at Aldershot, then catching the 1520 eastward departure back to Toronto Union in GO cab car 327.
On June 25, 2016 I had the rare pleasure of enjoying donuts' n' trains with my father-in-law in the new Country Style Donuts located in his apartment complex. Douglas could chop wood like a lumberjack, but he picked up a donut like it was made of crystal. We watched CN No 376 and two VIA trains during our 45-minute wait for Karen and my mother-in-law to return from an appointment. Their apartment had a perfect, fifth-floor westward view of the CN Kingston Sub near Mi 178.5 so I never passed up the chance to visit there. Douglas left us in August, 2017 but my mother-in-law still lives there at a spry 93!
A day later I was off to Brockville to meet CN hogger Chris de Vries trackside in his home town of Brockville. We caught VIA Nos 47, 64 and another westbound, and the CN local. A trip to Gravenhurst area to visit distant in-law cousins gave me a couple of hours trackside at Torrance, ON catching two CN freights - and a surprise lone Geep!
Karen was still a loyal customer of Ecstasy Crafts in Shannonville. I got in at least four visits to Belleville that summer and fall (top photo - trackside and out standing in my field on July 22, 2016). However, my railfanning style had changed. I rarely had or took the opportunity to sit by the tracks for hours, as I had in years past. Instead, I transitioned to PSR: Precision trackSide Railfanning, when I got wind of something special passing through town, such as:
- Potash unit trains to New Brunswick in February and March
- RDC testing on VIA No 66 (just missed it) in June
- Wind turbine trains in December - the special trains operated until 2022.
During a trip to Toronto on October 28, 2016, I had time after our IQMH meeting concluded to ride the UP Express to Pearson in UP 1002, after which I still spent 1530-1730 at the Skywalk: GO 46 trains, 5 VIA, 12 UP so 63 total movements - an average of one every two minutes. GO passengers at Union Station are absolutely absorbed by whatever is on their smartphones:
Black Friday was spent in Canada, watching CN No 377 (175 cars!), 373 and 369 and two VIAs.
Now produced by Rapido, unique and modern AZER (ex-SP) 40-foot hi-cube boxcars could be seen in ingot service, like AZER 77025 on CN No 376 on May 7 and AZER 77023-77060 and others on December 4.
CN trains were longer and fewer. VIA trains were many, but most were LRC consists. VIA started wrapping cars and locomotives for CANADA 150 (apparently selected for wrapping due to their worst-of-the-bunch paint). I went to see VIA 916, the first P42 (using white cab side numbers!) on February 4, but the unit had been assigned to VIA No 71 instead. I was fortunate to see wrapped Glenfraser through Belleville on February 11, 2017 during a day trip seeing five VIA and 4 CN. On the 90th anniversary of my Dad's birth I was at the Collins Bay marina to see CN No 121, 371, 368 and 305. I observed my first wrapped LRC cars on VIA No 41 on February 20, 2017. VIA 906 leads No 64 in May, 2017:
A family ski trip to Batawa ski hill (I don't ski, but I do apres-ski and I can watch trains) found me at Trenton Junction on February 22 photographing the Tri-County Agro Mart and VIA Nos 52/62, 51, 63, 64, 45 and 42 in the area and at Morningstar Road west of Trenton. I finally caught up to VIA 916 on No 655 at 0645 on March 4, 2017:
Around this time, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) held a free information session at a downtown hotel here. The first half of the evening was a synopsis of how wealthy and secure HOOPP was, while the second half described the rarity and benefits of having a defined-benefit pension plan, and its payments. Whaddya mean, I'm fully paid into my pension plan therefore I can retire at age 55 in two years? Sign. Me. Up.
On an IQMH trip to Toronto, another 1330 early wrap-up found me on an impromptu trip on GO's 1413 departure to Willowbrook. Upon detraining, I was off and walking miles around the perimeter of GO's Willowbrook maintenance facility and VIA's TMC on a sunny April afternoon. Returning eastward to Toronto aboard GO's 1621 eastward departure, I observed 22 movements on the Skywalk in 30 minutes: 16 GO, 4 UP and 2 VIA.
With the release of my fourth book on VIA (proof copy - above). Research and Recollections was an update published five years after my previous two volumes, I had the pleasure of making onboard deliveries - to uberVIAphile Tim Hayman on No 65 on April 15 and subsequent onboard deliveries to Tom Box, Mark Fidelak and Jordan McCallum.
The 'official' book launch was held at the Kingston VIA station on April 22, 2017, with special guests Steve Taylor of Gananoque, fellow Kingston railfans Logan Cadue (both, below) and Paul Hunter, and one of my brothers-in-law. Impressed that Dennis appeared in an apropos blue VIA T-shirt, I marvelled at the appropriateness of his sartorial selection, realizing only later that it was my own, long-lost one that had been included in a bag of 'lightly-'used' shirts we'd sent him. So that's where it went! There were seven VIA and one CN train to entertain us, plus six wrapped CANADA 150 LRC coaches.
I got serious about the choice of a scribbler to record trackside observations. A coil-bound 200-page one that lasted from May 5, 2017 to March 8, 2025!
A July 21, 2017 IQMH meeting allowed time to leave on the Lakeshore East GO 1343 departure to Oshawa, returning on the 1520 westward departure.
We drove to the Highway 41 crossing of CP's Belleville Sub on August 12, 2017 to catch the CP CANADA 150 train eastbound. An eclectic collection of heavyweights comprising CP's executive train fleet for Canada's 150th!
August 18 was a poignant time trackside, arriving at my in-laws' apartment with Country Style donuts (donuts again!) to find them perched like pigeons at the window. We caught the morning eastbound J-train with five CANADA 150 wraps as we waited for the transfer ambulance to take him to palliative care - his second-last day after 86 years. The next day I returned to the apartment to man it during preparations. VIA Nos 64, 65, 42, 47, 644, 645, 44 and CN No 518 and intermodal in three hours. Better days observing a Vista Drive/Bath Road traffic collision in June, 2016 (above).
A short trip to the Pennsylvania's Lancaster County included a trackside stop to see the Strasburg Railroad excursion train - video taken October 4, 2017.
October 30, 2017 found me aboard GO cab car 307 on the 1443 departure to Oshawa, returning at 1611 after a cold rainy visit, three VIA dnd two CN freights switching Oshawa. No 65 arrives in this YouTube video. This is one colourful ATM in Union Station, photographed on the way to the GO concourse.
VIA and GO trains under the always-under-construction Union Station trainshed. Each time I arrived in Toronto was a different route through the steps and concourse through plywood hoarding. A true rat race!
On December 28, 2017 I had a nice visit from Carberry, Manitoba's Matt Tolton. We were trackside 1345-1530. Afternoon VIA trains were running 45-60 minutes late. There were six, plus one CN freight. VIA was removing the CANADA 150 wraps and replacing them with 'the Future is on Board' green bands on LRC cars (below - March 28, 2018), and red and white 40 Ans/Years logos.
Railfanning trips now included deciding, denoting and designating - while still trackside - which digital photos would go for posting to various social media groups, videos to YouTube, to an upcoming blog post on time spent trackside, or for header photos for Trackside Treasure.
My in-laws held a girls' night (not as exciting as it sounds - card games) on April 23, 2018 over at my in-laws' apartment. I was off to the VIA station (!) from 1730-2030 during which time there were 10 VIA trains before one CN freight capped off the visit. Two days later, I heard a northbound CN No 518 when leaving the house to visit my Mom at Arbour Heights. Setting up there at Tanner Drive, I could see the approaching wayfreight behind Frontenac Mall, then hearing a 'whooosh'! Locos CN 4728-7025 left their train in the sag and entered the tream track ahead to run around and lift boxcar CNIS 413507, bad-ordered and sitting there in ignominy for months, remedied in 15 minutes.
Another girls' night on May 15, another trip to the station. There were 13 VIA and 3 CN freights, including CN 4728-7023 slowly coasting 28 cars of new ties into Queens track 4 before returning to Belleville light power.
Our first grandchild was born on May 24, 2018. Shortly thereafter I was lucky to babysit him one afternoon while Andrew and Caitie were at a wedding. The bus went by on its usual route past our house, and singing 'Wheels on the Bus' to him, I know he became a transit fan! On May 25, my grinning graphic designer delivered the very first copies of my fifth and sixth books, containing my Western Canadian railfanning and grain elevator photos and research. It was a pleasure to create these books on my laptop during my breaks at work! I wondered if one volume would outsell the other but their uptake was one-to-one.
Matt Tolton visited again, albeit during warmer weather on July 13, 2018 from 1730 to 2030, watching eight VIA (including non-stop Nos 646 and 68) and three CN freights with your humble blogger.
July 22, 2018 found me delayed in Parham, ON by a passing CP freight on our way to O'Reilly Lake campground to visit in-laws. Desperate to have us join them with our own (unpurchased!) trailer, three generations worked on me, saying I could drive back to Parham from the campground sometimes to watch trains. Do the math: six CP freights daily spread over 24 hours. That's one train every four hours? The trailer remained unpurchased.
Fellow blogger Chris Mears visited on Friday, October 5. That saved Chris from a few hours' time spent in Cornwall for work. We closed down Panera Bread before heading for more coffee at McDonald's. A great visit discussing all things photo, model, and of course blogging. Wot? No photos were taken?
At the end of 2018, after my final IQMH committee meeting, a penultimate (for me) slide assessment was also scheduled. Being done early on Tuesday, December 11, I decided to travel to north to check our CN's MacMillan Yard. Riding the extended TTC subway to Vaughan, it was a one-mile walk west along a drifty, busy Highway 7 to the overpass over the yard. Six freights bracketed a warmup stop at a nearby Coffee Time I'd passed while walking there. That was after an earlier visit to Tim Hortons!
I made use of Kingston's new Railfan Walking Trail in 2019: January 17, February 23*, March 23, April 16 and August 16. Hey, we paid for it! And nobody likes an ungrateful taxpayer-railfan. The destination was always Collins Bay's Tim Hortons. The view of Lake Ontario over a chest-level wooden railing coffee rest was hard to beat.
Fellow documentarian Dave and I at the retirement party hosted by Erika and Dustin on March 23, 2019. Freedom 55 had happened just days earlier. I was enjoying two-day weeks at work when each day was either a Monday or a Friday!
March 27, 2019 was my first day as a newly-minted retiree! How to celebrate the occasion? By driving to the VIA station and picking up our printed tickets for our trip west, catching two VIA and one CN train while doing so! We made the trip to Edmonton aboard VIA Rail in June, 2019. All the trips I've made to western Canada aboard VIA Rail were missing one thing - a travelling companion! In 2019, Karen and I had been married for 32 years, and I was planning to retire, so it seemed to make sense to plan a trip together. My reading told me that retirees did most of their travelling in the first five years of retirement, after all. Karen wanted to see more of the mountains and I just wanted to ride in a sleeper again. We settled on a trip to visit relatives in Edmonton and Vernon BC, combined with seeing the mountains. I'd been gradually accumulating VIA Preference points while travelling between Kingston and Toronto. This sweet sojourn would be even sweeter if it could be made using points! Though there weren't enough to cover fare and accommodation for two all the way, the savvy VIA reservation agent broke the trip into four legs. With that bit of creativity, the points covered all but one of our legs. Success! Skyline Selfie:
Dining our way west:
No station? No problem. During our driving stop to a real horse-ridin' ranch in Valemount, BC:
A final IQMH slide assessment was scheduled to begin on my 'official' retirement date. April Fool's! With the hotel booked already, I had time on April 3 to ride the TTC. For hours. All day. I sampled 17 segments on four modes.
I was still making book deliveries - to CN's Chris Furman and VIA's Chris Diddy. That summer of 2019 VIA was debuting its latest bright yellow marketing brand: la vie qu'on aime/love the way. CN was celebrating its 100th with less imagined red cigar-band on longhand CN 100.
'love the way/la vie qu'on aime' September 14, 2019 (above) and CN100 September 1, 2019:
Refurbished VIA HEP2 cars were emerging from CAD in Lachine with an aqua window band for Economy and grey for Business Class. I christened this the D&H scheme. An unusual cargo - a former Canadian Army Centurion tank - made its way from the CFB Cornwallis museum in Nova Scotia to Langley BC. Tankfully, I was able to catch the special load on CN No 305 on November 3, 2019.
My mother-in-law spent several days in hospital from Nov. 6-10, 2019. While on standby, I headed trackside. We once again celebrated Black Friday in Syracuse no November 29, 2019 catching only two Amtrak trains.
It was suggested that I bring three sets of outdoor clothing to Belleville on December 2, 2019. All my notoriety had landed me a panelist role on The Platforum Podcast with luminaries Jason 'Train In His Basement' Shron, Jordan 'Hollywood' McCallum, host Bob 'The Effect' Fallowfield and talented video producer Barry Silverthorn. Split into three YouTube videos, this was a great opportunity to talk trains trackside in the Great White North. Thirteen VIA and four CN freights based us as we blabbed from 1040-1550. Passing by the outdoor 'set' aboard VIA back on April 1, 2019
I was able to catch two leased CN 'Bluebirds' on the Cataraqui Spur on a snowy January 8, 2020. Bluebirds seen switching Invista during a return from Kingston historical research at Queen's University Archives from the bus on August 12, 2019 (below). Though always wanting to visit the Archives, and having worked right across the street for three decades and only visiting once, I made a point of combining my continuing sunroom-patient-piano-playin' volunteer time with archival research thereafter. I was able to amass digital images of photo prints, negatives and documents for my Kingston's Hanley Spur blog and subsequent two books on Kingston history.
CN's suboptimal Cat Spur trackage claimed No 518 on Wednesday, March 4, 2020 as it backed its train to the lakeside Invest plant, derailing three MGRX loaded covered hoppers at the Bath Road crossing. Three weeks later, three empty bathtub scrap gondolas did the same thing. Both notifications came to my via my son and his cellphone!
In the middle of March, Karen and I spent some time at a secluded, wintry cabin. We watched YouTube videos that showed the world slowly shutting down. The pandemic would even affect trains, most notably VIA Rail and a sudden paucity of passengers!
Thanks for being aboard this year-long train of thought as we retrace, remember, and yes, wallow in nostalgia these fifty years trackside. Watch for an upcoming final instalment covering time trackside from 2021-2026.
Running extra...
If you have any photos of the rather obscure, hidden Calgary VIA station, please contact Calgary railway historian Alec Hamilton. Alec's Calgary rail history website is chock-full of interesting Cowtown material, and Alec's Palliser Square Photo Archive just went live a few days ago. I remember venturing into the station during my trips aboard VIA in 1980 and 1981. It's hard to believe a city Calgary's size has no intercity rail service today!
Alec's inquiry got me going to the ol' dusty archives where I found two photos taken in the subterranean station by my Uncle Wilf Schellenberg. I was preparing to depart (near midnight!) Calgary on a two-plus hours-late No 2 for Toronto thence Kingston on September 3, 1981. These photos are decidedly candid, undocumentary shots but they show the yellow-and-white plastic waiting-room seating quite well. My Aunt Rosemary engagingly entitled the back of the prints "The Well Organized Traveller" (above) and, "Please be good, Eric" (below). That's my orange Popsicle Pete premium free backpack that only took collecting 700 Popsicle wrappers to receive! Imagine a 17 year-old kid taking a train solo from Kingston to Winnipeg, then this kind pair staying up until midnight to make sure I got pointed the right direction home, again crossing our vast country on one's own!
First past the post...
We hear a lot about 'passion' and 'passion projects', especially in a society and online world where are a lot of people viewing and commenting, but perhaps not so many passionate doers actually executing! When we discover a treasure trove of material that someone has carefully curated (think Alec Hamilton!) we enter the world that person has meticulously created. But that person didn't just create it for themselves. Equal parts passion and generosity - sharing with others what they have found and not just hiding it under their own bushel. A very positive thing to do!
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