July 16th, 2005
Laura and I went up to Sarnia to meet Steve, Brian, Christopher, and Shaun for a day of chasing CSX #725, the CP run-through on the Sarnia sub. We chased it to Chatham and then went on to Blenheim to see it and then caught CN #435 going through the wig-wag at Tilbury, where we met Ian. In the midst of it we caught a CP meet at Kent Bridge and CN #396 and VIA #78 at Creditville on the way home. The only disappointment of the day was not actually seeing any CSX power working, as #725 is a CP-powered train. It rained the entire day, but stopped just on time for just long enough to shoot every time we wanted to. Thanks, weather.
Blenheim, Ontario
(map) Blenheim is South-East of Chatham and just South of the Canada Southern (CASO) sub with only two remaining industries.
September 17th, 2005
CSX ran a Blenheim extra out of Chatham and Steve gave me enough warning to get to it. Not entirely sure what to expect, Laura and I headed to Chatham and chased the Blenheim extra to Blenheim. We watched it switch for a while before running out of time and heading for home.
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CSX's Blenheim extra enters the Northern limits of the town of Blenheim.
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CSX Blenheim extra comes off the Sarnia sub onto the West leg of the Blenheim sub wye.
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CSX Blenheim extra backs across a street while switching in Blenheim.
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CSX Blenheim extra backs up on the second track with a different cut of cars.