Previous month: 11.05 || Index || 01.06: Next month
Images: These pictures are not censored for quality. What one person considers a bad or useless picture may be exactly what someone else is looking for. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.
Videos: These videos are very big, which is why railfanning videos are so rare on line. As long as Windows Media Player says "Connecting" it is working, even it if appears to be taking a very long time. It says "Connecting" until it has finished downloading the video. Please be patient. If you are unable to play these videos with Windows Media player, a problem which exists with some versions of Media Player and (sometimes) with Internet Explorer versions lower than 6, I strongly recommend the use of Quicktime if it is available. If you are using Linux, mplayer needs to be told that the videos have a bit depth of 16 (-bpp 16) to work.
Filenames refer to location, date (dd.mm.yy), and camera-assigned four digit id number.
Top photos from December, 2005
The month in review...
| December 1st, 2005 | I went to see what was on CP #424 at Guelph Junction, then caught #394 with BNSF leaders and some other less interesting trains at Scotch Block in the afternoon. | |
| ||
| Guelph Junction, Ontario | (map) Technically Campbellville, Guelph Junction is the junction of the Guelph Junction Railway -- currently serviced by OSR -- the CP Hamilton sub, and the CP Galt sub. It is between Milton and Galt on the CP Galt sub. | |
| 17 images | No videos | Marks: CP CPAA ETTX GATX HS SSW TTGX UTCX UTLX |
| Scotch Block, Ontario | (map) Scotch Block is an excellent photography location at mp 30.0 CN Halton sub, between Milton and Georgetown. | |
| 120 images | 4 videos | Marks: ACFX ATSF BN BNSF CABX CN CNA CNIS CP CRDX CSXT DWC GATX GPLX GTW GVDX IC JRSX MEC MMA NAHX NATX NCIX NDYX OCPX ONT PROX QGRY RBOX RS SRY SSAM TBOX TCSZ TIMX UNPX UTCX UTLX WC |
| December 2nd, 2005 | CN had a curious development over night. Two NS run-through trains, both designated CN #784, were seen on the Dundas sub. The first one went down the Hagersville sub to Nanticoke late the night of December 1st. The second parked at about 10:30 am at Paris Junction and was still there as of this writing. I went to Paris to see it, and also saw CN #271, #148, #330, VIA #72 and #73, and CN #435. VIA #85 had 916 tonight, and I caught it at 23:45, completing my VIA P42dc roster! | |
| ||
| Guelph, Ontario | (map) The city of Guelph is my home town and is just East of Kitchener-Waterloo on the GEXR Guelph sub, and the Ontario Southland Railway/Guelph Junction Railway track, the other end of which is at Guelph Junction. | |
| 9 images | 1 videos | Marks: VIA |
| Paris, Ontario | (map) Paris is just West of Brantford on the CN Dundas sub and was once the site of the junction between the Dundas sub and the completely defunct Drumbo sub that connected Paris and Stratford. There's also a large trestle in Paris. | |
| 100 images | 4 videos | Marks: ADMX ATSF CABX CEFX CN CNA CNLX CR DTTX FEC GATX GFSX GTW IC NW PROX SOU TTGX UELX UP UTLX VIA WC |
| December 3rd, 2005 | Jay saw CP #424 go by Woodstock with an SD90/43MAC on it, so I took the opportunity to go down to Galt station and experiment with the various manual modes on my new camera. | |
| ||
| Cambridge, Ontario | (map) Cambridge is the home of Babcock and Wilcox, Toyota, the CP Waterloo sub, the CP Galt sub, the CN ex-Fergus sub and a lot of trains. | |
| 71 images | 1 videos | Marks: ACFX ATW BNSF CGLX CP GAMX GATX MILW NATX NCHX PCN RBMN SOU STLH UP |
| December 4th, 2005 | CN #784 was seen still sitting at Paris last night, so I went there to see if I could possibly get shots of it meeting the morning NS trains. When I got there, I found it was gone, but it had been replaced by a CN #785 on the other side of Paris Junction pointed westward. That train left a couple of hours later and, together with more foreign power (the norm now on CN around here) and a dimensional on CN #331 made for a good, if quiet, day. Oh, and I saw the CP Holiday Train! | |
| ||
| Bayview Junction, Ontario | (map) This is where the CN Oakville, CN Grimsby, and CN Dundas subdivisions meet at a great big wye, beside which is the CP Hamilton sub. This location encompasses CN Bayview Junction, Hamilton West, and Hamilton Junction. | |
| 32 images | 1 videos | Marks: CP |
| Flamborough, Ontario | (map) This is a community at the top of the Hamilton sub between Waterdown and Guelph Junction. It is technically part of Hamilton, as a result of the amalgamations. | |
| 16 images | 1 videos | Marks: CP |
| Paris, Ontario | (map) Paris is just West of Brantford on the CN Dundas sub and was once the site of the junction between the Dundas sub and the completely defunct Drumbo sub that connected Paris and Stratford. There's also a large trestle in Paris. | |
| 266 images | 9 videos | Marks: ACFX ADMX AEX AGCX AMCX AMOX ARIX BNSF CELX CGTX CN CNA CNIS CR CRDX CSXT CUOH DBCX DBUX DCBX DOWX ELS FTTX GATX GCCX GFSX GTW HPIX IC ICG IPBX ITLX KRL NCIX NDYX NOKL NS NW ONT OTTX PLEX PLMX PPU PSPX QTTX RTCX SOU TCMX TR UTCX UTLX VIA WC |
| December 5th, 2005 | I couldn't resist another shot at the CP Holiday Train. I shot it at 48.04 Galt sub going about 50 miles per hour. | |
| ||
| Puslinch, Ontario | (map) This community straddles highway 401 from West of Guelph Junction to Killean on the CP Galt sub. | |
| 26 images | 1 videos | Marks: CP |
| December 8th, 2005 | CN #394 had a BNSF GEVO leading, CP #159 had CP 5911 leading, CN #271 had an ex-SP tunnel motor trailing, and OSR had ex-BCR 646 leading on the GJR. I could only see one of them and had to choose. CN #394 won. | |
| ||
| Scotch Block, Ontario | (map) Scotch Block is an excellent photography location at mp 30.0 CN Halton sub, between Milton and Georgetown. | |
| 55 images | 3 videos | Marks: AGPX BNSF CN CNW DWC FINX FMLX GATX HCSX HPIX IC ICG JRSX NREX OTTX SLR TBOX TCMX XOMX |
| December 9th, 2005 | I heard CN #411 with BNSF 9808 (Executive scheme) leading coming up to the Humber and took advantage of the opportunity, catching it at the siding at Speyside in failing light. | |
| ||
| Speyside, Ontario | (map) Speyside is a small community with a siding on the CN Halton sub, between Milton and Georgetown, just North (East, in track terms) of Scotch Block. | |
| 24 images | 1 videos | Marks: BNSF CGTX CNA GATX PROX |
| December 10th, 2005 | Laura and I got up rather early to go see the morning 'rush' on the CP Mactier sub outside Vaughan Intermodal Terminal, encouraged along by a mailing list message suggesting CP #106 would have an ES44AC GEVO leading. We also knew CP #230 had CP 5863, the last large multimark I needed from CP's active fleet. As we were getting ready to go, we heard CP #230 get its clearance to Hamilton and so we went to Guelph Junction to see it before it left. We saw it there but it was still too dark to shoot it, so we went to Hamilton West and waited for it there, where we saw NS #327 and CN #392. We then worked our way toward Vaughan, catching CN #399 and #385 around Milton. We finally got to VIT but never did see CP #106 -- it was still not in the area by the time we left. We did, however, see CP #103 and #105 both with SD90s and the former with a different ES44AC GEVO leading than we headed out expecting. To finish it off, we shot OBRY doing excursions at Inglewood on the way home. | |
| ||
| Bayview Junction, Ontario | (map) This is where the CN Oakville, CN Grimsby, and CN Dundas subdivisions meet at a great big wye, beside which is the CP Hamilton sub. This location encompasses CN Bayview Junction, Hamilton West, and Hamilton Junction. | |
| 44 images | 2 videos | Marks: ATW CN CP CRIX CSXT GTW IC NS NYC |
| Inglewood, Ontario | (map) Inglewood is a town in the middle of the OBRY's trackage between Orangeville and Brampton, and is a key location for most OBRY excursions. | |
| 9 images | 1 videos | Marks: CCGX |
| Mansewood, Ontario | (map) Mansewood is a nice open spot with nowhere really good to park near the tracks. It is immediately North of Milton and South of Scotch Block on the CN Halton sub. | |
| 12 images | 1 videos | Marks: AMCX CN GCFX HLMX ITLX WAGX |
| Milton, Ontario | (map) This is where the CN Halton and the CP Galt subs cross eachother, though there is no junction. | |
| 32 images | 1 videos | Marks: ACFX AMGX ATGX BNSF CN CRDX GPLX GTW HHCX IC ICG MWSX OTTX RACX RRRX SLR SP TZPR XOMX |
| Vaughan, Ontario | (map) Vaughan is just South of Bolton on the CP Mactier sub and is host to CP's Vaughan Intermodal Terminal. | |
| 95 images | 5 videos | Marks: AEX BRAX BTTX CEFX CGCX CP CPWX DTTX GCCX GROX HPJX IMCX LAFX NAHX NS PROX SOO |
| December 15th, 2005 | NS #328 was reported to have 2 NS GEVOs still in primer as only power. This I could not pass up. I got my 18th and 19th GEVOs at Paris Junction on this snowy morning. In the afternoon we shot GEXR #432 at Rockwood in a pretty good snow storm. | |
| ||
| Paris, Ontario | (map) Paris is just West of Brantford on the CN Dundas sub and was once the site of the junction between the Dundas sub and the completely defunct Drumbo sub that connected Paris and Stratford. There's also a large trestle in Paris. | |
| 63 images | 5 videos | Marks: ACTX CLC CN CR CSXT GATX NATX NS NW PAL TSE VIA |
| Rockwood, Ontario | (map) The town of Rockwood is between Guelph and Georgetown on the GEXR Guelph sub. | |
| 34 images | 1 videos | Marks: CN CNWX CPCX CRDX ECUX GEXR GLNX IC KCS PPGX RLK SM UTCX VSRR WCCL WLO |
| December 17th, 2005 | On our way to visit my family, we stopped at Coteau for a few hours, venturing twice up to De Beaujeu's diamond for CP trains. We saw an eastbound with CN 2205, CN #327 with 2 CSX units, #149 with a BNSF, a westbound with ONT 2105, CP #107 with a DPU, and CN #538 switching with the slug leading. After that, we went for lunch and subsequently saw the CN TankTrain heading West and a Loram rail grinder heading East through Montreal, but got no pictures of either. | |
| ||
| Beaujeu, Quebec | (map) De Beaujeu is the site of the Via Alexandria sub and CP Winchester sub Beaujeu diamond and connecting track, a few minutes North of Coteau. | |
| 41 images | 2 videos | Marks: CP CRLE DTTX SOO VIA |
| Côteau, Quebec | (map) Coteau is the junction of the CN Valleyfield sub which connects the CN Kingston sub to the CSX Montreal sub, the CN Kingston sub, and the CN Alexandria sub to Ottawa. It is just a few minutes East of the Ontario/Quebec border, just off exit 12 of highway 20. | |
| 226 images | 9 videos | Marks: ACFX ADMX AGCX AOK ATSF BAR BCOL BLE BN BNSF BRAN CABX CEFX CLC CN CNA CNIS CNW CNWX CP CSXT DBCX DBUX DTTX DWC ETTX GATX GTW HCSX HLMX IC MDW NADX NAHX NAR NDYX NRLX NS NW ONT PPGX PROX RRRX RS SAUX SHPX SKNX SLGG SSW TBOX TCMX TTGX TTPX UMPX UTCX VIA WC YARR |
| December 20th, 2005 | On our way South, we stopped to shoot QGRY's Job 27 on the Lachute sub. We caught it with 2 units and 5 cars. | |
| ||
| Ste-Thérèse, Quebec | (map) This was the site of a GM car factory that manufactured the Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird until the end of 2003. It has since been torn down, though there is still a large CP yard there that interchanges between them and the QGRY. It also houses several Montreal transit commuter trains. | |
| 15 images | 1 videos | Marks: NCHX QGRY |
| December 21st, 2005 | We got up in Bangor a little later than we'd have liked and headed up to Brownville Junction to see what we could find. We just missed MMA 8569, a freshly painted MMA unit, heading into the shops at Derby, but caught 2 MMA F40s and a variety of other interesting trains including NBSR over the course of the day in the area. We also met two area railfans who guided us through the day, and without whom we would not have caught much of what we saw, so thanks Kevin and Matt! | |
|
| ||
| Brownville, Maine | (map) Brownville has a frequently used wye for the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic between their Derby shops and Brownville Junction. | |
| 45 images | 1 videos | Marks: ACFX BAR CBRY CDAC CP CPAA HS MMA NOKL |
| Brownville Junction, Maine | (map) Brownville Junction is its own town near Brownville, hosting an MMA yard and tracks heading out every which way. New Brunswick Southern, officially called Eeastern Maine Railway in that area, interchanges with MMA at this yard. | |
| 75 images | 3 videos | Marks: BAR CDAC CP GATX GNWR LVRC MMA MWCX NBSR NOKL RTMX SLC VB YKR |
| Derby, Maine | (map) Derby and Milo are sister towns on either side of a river on the MMA line, hosting the Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic Derby shops near Brownville Junction and about 40 minutes North of Bangor. | |
| 9 images | No videos | Marks: BAR NOKL |
| Hermon, Maine | (map) Hermon is just South-West of Bangor and hosts the MMA Northern Maine Junction with the Guilford as well as MMA's RTC and offices. | |
| 24 images | No videos | Marks: CDAC GATX MMA NBSR |
| Millinocket, Maine | (map) Millinocket is about 30 miles North of Brownville Junction, just West of Interstate 95 and an hour North of Bangor. | |
| 48 images | 2 videos | Marks: BAR CDAC GATX IATR MMA NOKL PLMX RTMX YKR |
| Milo, Maine | (map) Milo and Derby are sister towns on either side of a river on the MMA line, hosting the Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic Derby shops near Brownville Junction and about 40 minutesNorth of Bangor. | |
| 11 images | No videos | Marks: BAR CDAC GATX MMA YKR |
| West Seboeis, Maine | (map) West Seboeis is between Millinocket and Brownville Junction on the MMA Millinocket sub. | |
| 17 images | 1 videos | Marks: BAR CDAC IATR MMA NOKL PLMX |
| December 22nd, 2005 | We slept in Lewiston, Maine with the intention of catching St. Lawrence and Atlantic's only daytime train we could be sure existed the next morning. We caught it and an MEC train at Danville Junction, and pondered how to shoot at the Lewiston Junction locomotive facility. Once we caught the SLR train we headed to eastern New Hampshire to see if we could catch the New Hampshire North Coast's gravel train, which we did - at Sanbornville. | |
| ||
| Danville, Maine | (map) Danville Junction and Lewiston Junction are near the Maine city of Lewiston. Danville Junction is the Junction of the Maine Central (Guilford) and the St. Lawrence and Atlantic (SLR). Lewiston Junction is the site of SLR's main locomotive shops. | |
| 92 images | 5 videos | Marks: BMS EEC FGLK GATX LLPX MEC MSDR SLR SLRX SRLX ST TR |
| Sanbornville, New Hampshire | (map) Sanbornville is the first town South of the New Hampshire Northcoast's gravel pit, 38 miles North of Rollinsford, New Hampshire, where the NHN connects to Guilford. | |
| 52 images | 2 videos | Marks: HLCX NHN |
| December 23rd, 2005 | We spent the night with a friend in rural New Hampshire and got going late in the morning, working our way West toward Vermont. On the way, we stumbled upon a tourist railway, though not operating at the moment, in Meredith. We proceeded on to White River Junction and headed South along the NECR Palmer sub, stopping to check on the Concord and Claremont, to Bellows Falls where we watched an HLCX-painted Vermont Rail locomotive switch a handful of cars from VTR trackage onto NECR trackage. | |
| ||
| Bellows Falls, Vermont | (map) Vermont Rail System member Green Mountain Railway meets the NECR at Bellows Falls. There is purported to be a GMRS Alco RS-1 here, as well. It is directly across the river from North Walpole, New Hampshire. | |
| 127 images | 7 videos | Marks: ATGX ATW CGTX CRDX DME FURX GATX GMRC HATX HLCX LAFX NATX NS SHPX SLC VTR WVCX |
| Claremont, New Hampshire | (map) Claremont is the junction and interchange of the NECR and the Concord and Claremont Railroad (CCRR), between North Walpole, New Hampshire, and White River Junction, Vermont. | |
| 8 images | No videos | Marks: CCRR CDHX CNRX |
| Meredith, New Hampshire | (map) Meredith hosts the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad and is situated fairly far from any other rail lines in central New Hampshire. | |
| 43 images | No videos | Marks: BM LRBX MEC |
| North Walpole, New Hampshire | (map) The Vermont Rail Systems Green Mountain Railway terminates here. The NECR and the GMRC both cross the Connecticut River at North Walpole from Bellows Falls, Vermont. | |
| 13 images | No videos | Marks: GMRC VTR |
| December 26th, 2005 | In spite of being a lousy day out, I wanted to get out of the house. At 05:15 I heard the detector at mile 116 go off and just had to investigate. I watched 2 units run light through town and then went back to bed. NECR #324, normally through Brattleboro in the middle of the night, passed through at around 11:30, Amtrak #56 at 12:30 and Guilford's EDWJ (East Deerfield-White River Junction) went through at about 15:30. | |
| ||
| Brattleboro, Vermont | (map) This town is on the New England Central Railway track near the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont borders. | |
| 120 images | 3 videos | Marks: AMTK BAR BCOL BNSF CN CNA CNIS CNLX CPAA CRDX CSXT CSYX CVC DMM FLIX FURX GATX GMRC GNWR GSCX GTW IC MEC MMA MP NAHX NATX NECR PTLX RBOX RMGX RRRX SLGG SLR SRY ST TILX TLDX UP UTLX WCCL WRSX |
| December 27th, 2005 | Someone on the NECR list indicated that the Vermonter would have a cab car instead of a second unit, so I made an extra effort to make sure I caught it, after having missed the morning freight thanks to family obligations. | |
| ||
| Brattleboro, Vermont | (map) This town is on the New England Central Railway track near the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont borders. | |
| 66 images | 2 videos | Marks: AMTK CNA CNLX CSYX FLIX FURX GATX GMRC GNWR MEC NATX NOKL PROX RCOX RRRX SHPX ST TILX TTZX UTLX |
| Vernon, Vermont | (map) Vernon is directly on the border with Northfield, Mass and has the NECR Palmer sub and its detector at mile 116. | |
| 37 images | 1 videos | Marks: CSYX FLIX GATX GMRC MEC NOKL PROX RCOX SHPX ST UTLX |
| December 28th, 2005 | I went after NECR's Southbound, hoping to shoot it at the bridge in Miller's Falls I accomplished this, but somehow accidentally put my camera into Manual mode instead of Aperture Priority, and didn't notice... causing a number of washed out pictures (originals here). I ran them through a histogram equalisation and they look less (or at least differently) awful, and will figure out what to do with them and the originals when I get home. I then went to Greenfield, hoping to catch EDWJ, which ran unusually early, and rushed back to Brattleboro to catch it there (where it ended up sitting for 2 hours waiting for permission to proceed. I guess it doesn't pay to be early!) | |
| ||
| Brattleboro, Vermont | (map) This town is on the New England Central Railway track near the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont borders. | |
| 116 images | 2 videos | Marks: ACFX ADMX ATW BAR BCOL BNSF CEFX CN CNA CRDX CRLE CSXT FURX GATX GMRC GNWR IC ICG MEC MMA NATX NECR RBOX RRRX SHPX SLGG SLR UTLX |
| Greenfield, Massachusetts | (map) Greenfield hosts a junction of two Guilford lines at a city park just West of East Deerfield yard. | |
| 11 images | No videos | Marks: ST |
| Miller's Falls, Massachusetts | (map) Between Northfield and Turner's Falls, Miller's Falls has another junction of the NECR and Guilford rail systems. | |
| 24 images | No videos | Marks: ACFX CNA CSXT FURX NECR RRRX SHPX UTLX |
| December 29th, 2005 | Leaving Brattleboro for home in a nasty rain storm, we caught one last NECR train heading through town with 4 NECR units. | |
| ||
| Brattleboro, Vermont | (map) This town is on the New England Central Railway track near the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont borders. | |
| 65 images | 1 videos | Marks: ACFX ATW BAR BCOL BNSF CEFX CN CSXT CVC FURX GATX GNWR INTX MMA NATX NCIX NECR NOKL SHPX SLR SRY TBOX TILX TR TTZX UTLX WCRC WCTR WRSX |
| December 30th, 2005 | We slept in Schenectady, New York on our way home, hoping to wake up to find some Deleware and Hudson (CP) trains in the area. We did find one, parked inaccessibly in the distance. We found the overpass of the CSX and the D&H trackage at South Schenectady, shooting one manifest freight at a nearby grade crossing on the CSX. We then proceeded along our main goal of getting home, stopping at Utica to see (kind of) the NYSW and at Geneva to see the Finger Lakes Railway before stopping at Lyons to see some CSX trains before hitting the road as bad weather rolled in. On our way to Geneva, we passed a Finger Lakes train going the other way through Woodstock, New York, and pursued it West to nearby Seneca Falls. Its EOT sounds different from most and broadcasts on 160.205, so we didn't recognise it until we saw the train pass. CSX, for its part, mostly gave us intermodal trains with big GEs for power, reminding me somewhat eerily of CP! This concluded are 2 week travelling adventure ostensibly to see family for the holidays. | |
| ||
| Lyons, New York | (map) Lyons is a few miles South of Geneva, New York, linked by an NS track from the town's ex-Conrail CSX main line to the Finger Lakes Railway. | |
| 44 images | 3 videos | Marks: AMTK BNSF CO CRLE CSXT FEC RTTX TTEX |
| Schenectady, New York | (map) Schenectady is adjacent to New York State capital Albany and is crawling with train tracks owned by the D&H (CP), CSX, and Springfield Terminal (Guilford) -- and people. | |
| 30 images | 1 videos | Marks: AEX CEFX CNW CSXT EPIX FURX GPLX HLCX JTSX LISX MHFX NCUX ORTX SIRX SRIX WW YARR |
| Seneca Falls, New York | (map) Seneca Falls is between Geneva and Syracuse, New York on the Finger Lakes Railway. | |
| 23 images | 1 videos | Marks: ASHX CSXT FGLK NS SMNX SOU TKEN |
| Utica, New York | (map) Utica is the home of the New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railway shops, a scenic railway, the CSX, and at least one more shortline operator, situated about an hour West of Albany. | |
| 47 images | 1 videos | Marks: ADCX BAR CP CRLE CSXT DLW DLWR DTTX FEC IAIS NYC NYSW RTTX SP |
| December 31st, 2005 | Acting on a tip from further up the line, we mobilised for an interesting leader on London Pickup, making for a very nice conclusion to 2005... | |
| ||
| Ayr, Ontario | (map) Ayr is between Wolverton and Cambridge on the CP Galt sub and houses a small backtrack yard and the Ayr Pit Spur. | |
| 16 images | 1 videos | Marks: CP CSXT ETTX OSRX SBD |
| Cambridge, Ontario | (map) Cambridge is the home of Babcock and Wilcox, Toyota, the CP Waterloo sub, the CP Galt sub, the CN ex-Fergus sub and a lot of trains. | |
| 37 images | 1 videos | Marks: CP ETTX OSRX SHPX SOO STLH TR |
| Puslinch, Ontario | (map) This community straddles highway 401 from West of Guelph Junction to Killean on the CP Galt sub. | |
| 17 images | 1 videos | Marks: CP OSRX SHPX TR |