VIA's Canadian at Kingston, June-July 1982

From 1981 to 1985, VIA's Canadian operated between Toronto and Montreal over CN's Kingston Sub. My Dad's Kodak 126 Instamatic snapped me and a couple such consists in June and July, 1982. On July 14, the consist was led by strobe-equipped 6537-6623-6871-613-Union Club-5627-3225-5487-5534-123-3230-505-5704-Champlain-Chateau Brule-Chateau Bienville-Cabot Manor-Banff Park. Due to my Dad's fascination with seeing the Canadian up-close in Kingston, we're able to examine this consist before and after the day shown!

BEFORE:

Westbound at 1945 on June 25: 6782-6622-6770-607-3224-5617-5587-5584-123-505-5744-Champlain-Chateau Denonville-Chateau Bienville-Cabot Manor-Banff Park.

Westbound at 1939 on July 6: 6778-6625-6541-613-5647-5534-5487-123-3230-505-5704-Champlain-Chateau Brule-Chateau Bienville-Cabot Manor-Banff Park. 

AFTER:

Westbound at 1950 on July 28: 6537-6637-6632-613-5487-5585-5576-123-3205-505-5701-Champlain-Chateau Lasalle-Chateau Brule-Cabot Manor-Banff Park.

Eastbound at 1150 on August 5: 6524-6621-6612-613-Saint James's Club-5603-33225-5533-5626-5576-123-3208-505-5701-Chateau Lasalle-Chateau Brule-Cabot Manor-Banff Park.

Skyline 505 (above and below). Just recently, another Skyline, 8501 was at Kingston.

Likely Chateau Brule:

Banff Park brings up the markers as the train continues east to Montreal:

Thirteen minutes later, a westbound behind 6793-6612 arrives:

On June 26, 1982 I was arriving back in Kingston after a trip aboard VIA to Portage la Prairie. Consist: 6786-6866-6613-601-Union Club-5647-3225-5541-118-122-517-5738-1368-Chateau Rouville ( my car Roomette 4)-Chateau Dollard-Jarvis Manor-Prince Albert Park. Arriving on time at 1145:

Sis alongside Skyline 517:

Reception beside Dayniter 5738. Me with Portage la Prairie sweats, Sam Sonite and Popsicle Pete knapsack in front of an unusual (for this train in this era) ex-CN diner 1368 trails.

Prince Albert Park brings up the markers as the train heads for Montreal:

This is likely the Canadian westbound at 1944 on July 23, the same day my Dad photographed the LRC-hauled Canadian, also at Mi 184 Kingston Sub. Consist: 6529-6637-6632-9664-3231-5595-5439-120-118-3224-513-5718-Palliser-Chateau Montcalm-Chateau Cadillac-Hearne Manor-Tweedsmuir Park:

Thanks, Dad!

Running extra...

We smell a rat! A company called Big Dawg has taken part of Rapido Trains' F40PH-2D body and added a bump to produce an F40PH-3. Catty! Facebookers are having a bird! The good news is, Rapido's F40PH-3 is now a cat out of the bag, while Big Dawg is in the model railroaders' doghouse. Cage match? So far, Rapido has only released a salmon scheme: 

Just think...if that salmon-coloured unit had a GM 567-power plant option on the DCC controller, and it was used on a layout during a night operation session, that could be a SALMON-CHANTED EVENING!!

Don't ever think your layout is too small to host the ubiquitous barge/car float operation. This modeller didn't:

My Dad's Photos, Spadina 1982

On a warm, sunny July 21, 1982 my Dad and I took the morning RDC to Toronto for a day in the city. It's been five years since I blogged about the visit - from my perspective. This post features the visit to Spadina through the viewfinder of my Dad's Kodak 126-format Instamatic! 

The highlight of the trip was mogging around VIA's Spadina shops. Having been there a time or two before, I knew we could make an enjoyable visit to this sacred site, which in a few years would be superseded by the sliding-ceilinged Skydome. For now, there was no overt security, no fences, no closed-circuit TV cameras. Just a release form signed, ladders to climb, photos to take, memories to make. Cab visits to a VIA FPA4 (above) and ONR FP7A 1502 (below) included unpaid cab cleaning by the kibbitzing Kingstonians. Those leftover train orders were now obsolete anyway!

Having had hardhats handed to us, the bonedomes kept us from looking like boneheads if we hit our head on those short cab door openings, as well as providing a sliver of shady sun shelter! MLWs are being hostled, including 6770-6775 and 6870. Check out those tiny VIA number prefixes! The two cab-units will soon head to the turntable. Out of the cabs, I'm notepad-in-hand. My Dad's album notes: "We visited the roundhouse tracks at C.N. Spadina after getting permission and the use of hard hats. We were aboard some of the units."

We found the two RDC-1's that had transported us to Toronto that morning, 6117-6111. My Dad's notes: "Eric and I went to Toronto on RDC at 7:00 a.m., Kingston 6117, 6111. We visited CN Tower and then toured CN (Via) roundhouse and tracks."

A white plastic Ontario Northland trash bag made a handy train order-tote: Four RDC's  lead visually to the turntable, where the FPA4 spinnerama is about to begin!

An FPB4-FPA4 go round-about. Modelling hint - check the oil-soaked cinder and gravel ground covering, random hoses and escaping steam. Lithe light towers tower over all.

FPA4's 6775-6770 now ride the 'table:

Now it's 6782's turn. Literally.

My dad captioned this in-cab photo as "From engineer's seat. Installation for sanding diesel units is just beyond the Spadina overpass". Notes: "I was in the cabs of 6541, 6773 and [CN] 8512" - this is likely 6773:

Cab-unit profile, future VIA book creator profile, two towers:

Heading back to downtown. A brace of Railiners are arrayed before us, with 6205, 6135 (ex-CP 9072), 6117, 6207 and 6104 visible, the latter showing its distinctive 'white' above-window band! Look sharp in the background and you'll see CN baggage cars 70604-70605, longtime Spadina denizens wearing early CNR paint.

And a parting shot of the cab-unit ready tracks, with 6769 front and centre. Easily-spotted on the adjacent ready track is CN FPB4 6867, still wearing its CN stripes:

We returned to Kingston on a modern LRC consist departing Toronto Union at 1758: 6906-3338-3340-3302-3343. At Belleville, we passed CN switchers 1293-1306 and caboose 79525 as we had in the morning. A memorable day in Toronto! Thanks, Dad!

Running extra...

Wond'ring whose song that is on the Amazon Prime dog commercial? Would you have guessed Lee Marvin?

That 'Straight Outta Compton' meme theme got me creating some: 

Freight Cars at Belleville, November 2015

Having christened this The Year of Photographing the Mundane, I'd like to present some rolling stock photos taken during our recent visit to the Quinte Region, more specifically Shannonville and Belleville. Similar to my recent Covered Hopper Cornucopia post, there's nothing really special or unique about these cars. They're entirely representative of what's rolling by on CN's Kingston Sub these days, largely unremarked and unphotographed. Until now...

The eastbound intermodal that arrived just as I did was plowing east (top photo) and included a CP three-pack with CN containers, CP 523198 (above), and a Kleysen Transportation Solutions box single-stacked:

Feeling reflective, I tried to angle the frame just right to get both the actual double-stacks and their reflection in my van's hood surface. I'll admit this angle is a little more other-worldly than it is mundane!

CN No 376 was arriving at Elmwood Drive for a crew change. Choose your preferred animal analogy: Fish in a Barrel or Sitting Duck. Either way, these cars were easy targets! Ferric chloride for municipal water is what Eaglebrook tank car EAGX 20001 does best:

Sheet steel scene-stealers! This bulkhead flat has had its bulkheads shortened, perhaps to save tare weight to allow more steel to be loaded? TTGX 84879:

Giving a Green Light to Innovation, Southern Railway (now Norfolk Southern-owned) bulkhead flats are also carrying sheet steel.

SOU  116175 (above) and SOU 116103 (below):

Once in a while, (well, twice in this post) CP rolling stock shows up here on CN. This is covered hopper CP Rail/SOO 116048:

Brown and flatsided, BNSF 428966 is only minimally-graffiti'd:

Old-school, with logo, CGTX 18490 is likely carrying pitch. Notice the surviving CGTX logo and reporting marks lettering. Not often seen these days:

CN No 518 arrives from the Bath Spur, hauling eleven diminutive LAFX, ADLX, BNBX, CEFX and TILX cement covered hopper cars such as LAFX 60160 followed by CEFX 96485:

Running extra...

As Christmas approaches, greetings of the season to all Trackside Treasure's loyal readers! I trust your Christmas preparations are still proceeding. There's lots of time left! Don't stress. I certainly don't, though my wife says there's really nothing that I have to do. I just show up. 

As do CN section forces, carmen and Geep 4121 on my HO-scale Vancouver Wharves layout. They're all working together to load the Golden Nativity Scene aboard a depressed-centre flat car for display in a nearby Vancouver park! Do you see what I see? Perhaps you would like to hear what I hear, here.

Autumn in Belleville, November 2015

Back on September 19, I'd visited Shannonville and Belleville on CN's busy Kingston Sub. Back there again on Saturday, November 28 At 1145, snow-blasted CN 2920 leads CN train No 305 with mid-train DPU 3016. As I arrived at the east end of Belleville yard, this eastbound intermodal is reflected in the shiny hood of my Dodge Grand Caravan, at 0955 at a private crossing:

The tail-end of the intermodal trailingly transits a tangent track. Beyond the signal gantry, the CP bridge over CN near Shannonville Road looms on the horizon:

On the north side of Belleville yard, just east of and across from the station, here's a view of stored tank cars, covered hoppers and well cars beyond the well-lit ladder track: 

VIA No 61 Eng 6401 with four following cars Facebook friend and fellow bus-fan Richard Sun aboard arrives at Belleville, beyond a tangle of loose rails and a brightly-painted hydrant:

Station stop:

After the station stop, VIA No 61 accelerates as it crosses the Moira River bridge:

CN C40-8W's 2015 (formerly C&NW 8516 and UP 9038) and 2109 (formerly UP 9073 and C&NW 8562) idly idle at the yard office. Later in the afternoon, they'd power CN No 517 to Toronto.

Second-hand, ex-US RR power, back-to-back! Idling video link. 

Parked along Airport Parkway, I had a bead on CN No 376 arriving for a crew change at Atkins Road/Elmwood Drive at 1045. Power is CN 2840-3032 with about 160 cars and DPU 2812:

Modern CN road power. Try to find a CN Kingston Sub train with more than two head-end units!

Pup-tent assembly on the roof of 3032!

Crew change is underway:

DPU helps lift the train east towards Kingston after the slack was bunched:

Another eastbound - VIA No 62/52 at 1103: 6443-3469Ren-3313-3301-3364-4105-915-4006-4100-4101-4110-4102:

Shortly thereafter - this ain't no road freight! CN No 518 creakily arrives with 4130-4135, 11 covered hoppers, and 11 tank cars from Bath Lafarge and Millhaven Coco respectively:

Here's a video of the arrival of 518.

Heading slowly into the yard. Very slowly.

Another view of 305 (also top photo) that I met upon departure eastward for Shannonville*, Napanee and Kingston. *90 cents-per-litre gas awaits! 

Running extra...

The City of Kingston will finally complete the southernmost, as-yet uncompleted (yellow on the map below) segment of the K&P Trail, which is the former right-of-way of the Kingston & Pembroke (actually only went as far as Renfrew) and later CP Rail: