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Number of images: 104
Total gold: 627
Number of comments recieved : 172
Number of comments posted : 135
Total views: 193245

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Mark MacCauley's 104 photos on Railpictures.ca:

<b>Oxy Vinyls</b>. Big business in Niagara these days is the Oxy Vinyls Canada plant in Thorold. Built originally in 1957 the plant has been expanded 7 times since then and it’s Canada’s largest (and only) vinyl resin producer (All these facts are per the <a href="http://niagaracaer.com/member-companies/oxy-vinyls" target="_blank">Niagara Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC) website,</a>by the way). The facility is busy enough to have its own switcher which can be seen outside the confines of the property as shown by <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/times-have-changed-and-oxy-vinyls-of-port-robinson-has-a-new-switcher-in-service-this-is-what-i-caught-working-over-the-noon-hour-today-april-22nd" target="_blank">Arnold Mooneys shot </a> and also inside the plant as shown by <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/so-after-this-ltex-unit-came-to-the-fence-only-to-retreat-back-into-the-plant-i-waited-to-see-if-they-would-switch-anything-using-my-telephoto-and-some-elevation-i-was-able-to-capture-this-angle-o" target="_blank">Steve Host’s angle</a>. With all the changes around here it was nice to have been around during the chance run down the Chemical Spur, as this is noremally handeled by 564 at night, I believe.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	05/05/2020
Location:	Thorald
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 14 Favourites

<b>Unit Tank Train on the Humberstone....</b> Well, sorta but not really haha. The Humberstone spur is a six mile stretch of track extending from <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=40058" target="_blank">CN Yagar</a> down to the <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=40077" target="_blank">Vale plant</a> in Port Colburne. This little unsuspecting spur packs quite a punch with the 6-axel power handling all the movements for some time now. This neat operation was first brought to light with James Knotts capture of a <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/running-as-563-crex-1516-and-cn-3019-are-pictured-on-the-macey-spur-just-outside-of-the-vale-facility-in-port-colborne-the-crew-is-switching-ends-for-the-return-trip-to-port-rob-which-provided-an-o" target="_blank">big CREX lessor about to head back to Yagar</a> after serving Vale. Even before this you had cool stuff like <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=40170" target="_blank">CP switching Vale as captured by Michael Klauck </a>.<br> <br>

After spending a day in Niagara seeing what was going on, we watched 562 leave Port Robbinson with two chlorine cars on the tail end. After dropping everything but those two cars in Southern Yard, the crew called up the RTC for a “clearance to pass stop at Yagar”, the smoking gun for a Humberstone run. In this shot, CN 2200 and 8001 rolls around what used to be the west leg of the Yagar wye, onto the original Cayuga sub (Air Line) right of way, as I believe. On this particular day, 562 with 8000+ horsepower up front and about 263 tonnes on the drawbar has this one well in hand unless I missed a 20% ruling grade somewhere on the Humberstone.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	02/21/2020
Location:	Port Colburne
Province:	Ontario

13 Comments | 21 Favourites

<b>Railfan's worst nightmare.</b> I've heard on multiple occasions that open doors on the front of an engine is a photographers worst nightmare. I never understood this. I don't prefer it, and it certainly doesn't enhance the shot, but I've never minded it to the extend that some fellow railfans do. To me its a reminds me of the rough and tough "get it done" adage that railroading embodies at times; "We don't have air conditioning, so we'll make our own".... Maybe I' just crazy, but I'll let you be the judge of that. <br><br>
Another thing I've heard on multiple occasions is how confusing and annoying Hamilton's streets can be. Many of the roads downtown and in the industrial area are one-way, which can make it tricky to get around quickly. However, driving home from work the one day, I realize I could make an asset out of this. With Wellington being a one-way street southbound, I knew the train would cut off the traffic providing the open view seen above. I like that you can still see <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=40525" target="_blank">P&H in the background (the lead to which also crosses Wellington St)</a>, a subtle reminder that I'm standing just outside Hamilton's industrious North End.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	09/21/2019
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

9 Comments | 18 Favourites

<b>Test of Time.</b> I'm not sure if this is just me, but whenever I'm in Niagara, I can't shake the feeling that things are not what they once were. Sad to say, a few of the industrial icons are gone; John Deere in Dan City and the Thorold paper plant are a few I can think of off the top of my head. Although this may sound gloomy, some things have changed for the better, ie. the Welland Canal realignment. Times have changed, and the railway spaghetti bowl that is Niagara makes this obvious. <br><br>

Despite all this change, I was surprised to learn that at the time of my photo above, the looming steel plant in the background, Atlas Steel, had just turned 100 years old (under multiple owners, mind you). For the great majority of that 100 years, they produced specialty steels for domestic and international markets up until the early 2000s when they closed for several years. The recent details seem to be a bit fuzzy, but after exchanging ownership a few more times it seems they started producing here again as evident by <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/fire-and-ice-at-atlas-steel-at-0709-hrs-the-belly-of-the-beast-at-atlas-steel-erupts-in-a-fiery-glow-a-stark-contrast-to-the-cool-blue-atmosphere-of-surrounding-welland-ontario-photograph-ta" target="_blank">Ryan Gaynor's fantastic shot at this location.</a> <br><br>

This was not the first time this location had been covered here, as shown by my copy of
<a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/when-the-thb-ceased-to-be-in-1987-the-house-cleaning-began-road-power-was-absorbed-by-parent-cpr-while-switchers-faded-away-to-oblivion-thb-51-is-on-the-property-of-osr-at-salford-on" target="_blank">Arnold Mooney's shot of the TH&B scrap line</a> in 1988 which, taken 30 years and one month before my shot above (I was wondering which railfans footprints I was standing in when I took the shot...!). I even wished for Trillium to run their (hideous) MP-15 cab forward on a cloudy day, just so I could get my shot as close to Arnolds shot as possible.... Truth be told, the likeness between the two shots is purely accidental and it was only seeing Arnold's shot on the home page highlight reel that pushed me to submit it. This probably isn't the first and surely won't be the last time I cover one of your shots Arnold. You cover Niagara very well and I'm hoping to recreate some of those angles one day, but intentionally this time!

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Trillium Railway
Date:	12/18/2018
Location:	Welland
Province:	Ontario

6 Comments | 15 Favourites

<b>Flat-switching among the freighters.</b> Throughout the summer of 2019, the GMD-1 siege into Hamilton was followed closely by many. With the help of a fellow Hamiltonian and keen observational skills, I was able to lock down the schedule of the 1600 yard crew. I quickly learned that Tuesday and Fridays were reserved for Eastport. Knowing this, I made it my mission to try and get CN North of Strathern while the days were still long. Not knowing their routine here, there was a lot of guess work that went into this. There are two places to run around cars at Eastport so I wasn’t sure if this angle would even be possible. I parked on the side of Eastport Drive (wide shoulders so not too dangerous…) on a hunch that ended up paying off. I’m glad this area is seemingly more accessible with the CN schedule. It’s one of the few seldom shot areas in Hamilton, which is a shame because it’s one of the most photogenic, <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=37163" target="_blank">as proven here by James Knott.</a> <p><p>
When I was doing this, a nice surprise came when I saw the background before me, courtesy of Algoma and Dofasco. In many ways I find it just as interesting as the GMD-1 subject matter. On the left side (or should I say “port side”…) is the 730’ self-unloader, the long John D. Leitch. Which is, I believe, the (or one of the) last forward cabin ship in Algoma’s fleet. Built in April 1967 in St. Catherine’s, a mere 33 kilometers from where I was standing when I took this shot. I’d shoot it without the trains to be honest. A complete contrast to this Canadian made classic is the <i>new kid on the dock</i>: the 740’ Algoma Equinox unloading at Dofasco on the right. This ship was built 2013 in China (11,386 km away for comparison) and was sailed half way around the world to begin hauling freight on the Great Lakes. This was the first of a many Equinox Class ships built for Algoma and making this the latest and greatest generation of ships operating in Algoma’s fleet.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	09/13/2019
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

15 Comments | 34 Favourites

<p>Since CN's take over of the Guelph sub, 542 has tied down in Guelph a few times. On one occasion, I believe 542 was in Guelph latter then normal, meaning they were trapped and unable to switch-back across the Grimsby Sub and onto the Fergus Spur due to all the rush hour GO trains <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=36901" target="_blank">(shown here)</a>. On another occasion 542 was required to stay in Guelph overnight to allow the track inspection train to go down the Fergus Spur, for the second time in eight months <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/testing-the-branches-for-the-first-time-cn-1501-is-southbound-on-the-former-cnr-fergus-subdivision-railiners-rdcs-would-have-plied-this-line-until-sometime-in-the-1960s-by-1969-railiners-oper" target="_blank">(I think this was the first time it went down the spur, but you get the point)</a>. On that occasion 542 tied down very similar to <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/and-heres-part-22-after-work-i-discovered-that-both-gexr-locals-were-running-a-few-hours-late-and-after-photographing-580-on-the-former-cn-fergus-sub-i-heard-gexr-582-just-down-the-street-here" target="_blank">this shot</a>, only facing east not west (proves this happened on GEXR as well).
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And with that long-winded history, I'll get to the shot at hand. After a few days back in Guelph, I was riding along (in my automobile) and found an outlawed 542. I'm not sure of the situation but when driving past Alma Street earlier I noticed a track crew seemingly fixing the only switch leading to the Fergus Spur. 542 normally parks the power in Preston (on the Fergus Spur) over night <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=36852" target="_blank">(as shown by Marcus Stevens' nice night shot here)</a>. If my suspicion is correct and that switch was not useable then 542 would've been trapped north of the Guelph Sub for the night. The truck which pulled up during my shot to survey the situation belongs to the owner of the property. He asked me a few questions concerning the train parked next to his private crossing and didn't seem too pleased that it was there. Didn't seem to mind me, or the other railfan, which was fortunate (and surprising) for us. h
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On a bit of a side tangent, a quick search revealed 7068 had been in the area here for most of the last decade. I shot this "old faithful" figure in <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/cn-7068-and-4721-are-switching-cars-at-the-cncp-interchange" target="_blank">London in 2012</a>, whereas (to show a few examples) it was in <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/main-page/after-finishing-derailment-cleanup-duties-cn-559s-power-a-pair-of-geeps-with-7068-trailing-pass-sister-units-off-cn-578-parked-in-malport-yard" target="_blank">Malport Yard in 2007</a>, in 2008 is was loaned to SOR for at least a day (shown in James Gardners neat and foreshadow-ie shots <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/rlk-1755-cn-7068-cn-7076-leading-an-eastbound-extra-over-the-grand-river-in-caledonia-on" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/an-sor-extra-from-brantford-consisting-of-cn-7076-cn-7068-and-rlk-1755-passing-through-hagersville-with-46-cars" target="_blank">hear)</a>, it was an <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/laying-down-enough-smoke-to-make-any-epa-inspector-curious-cn-7069-and-7068-clear-their-throats-as-the-accelerate-eastward-through-cn-snake-the-engines-are-returning-to-oakville-yard-after-deliverin" target="_blank">Aldershot or Oakville unit in 2012</a>, an <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/cn-l-55431-24-is-slowly-accelerating-out-of-oakville-with-cn-7068-and-cn-4121-easily-handling-the-4400-feet-of-traffic-for-aldershot-on-track-2-go-917-wastes-no-time-getting-underway-with-a-train-l" target="_blank">Oakville unit in 2015</a>, then <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/cn-l55031-09-with-cn-4125-cn-7068-and-cn-4710-shoving-on-the-tail-end-of-cn-m38531-09-385-has-cn-8853-bcol-4613-and-cn-2426-up-front-with-174-cars" target="_blank">back to Aldershot in 2017</a> and I think it's been <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/on-may-5-2019-cn-568-ran-to-stratford-then-upon-return-to-kitchener-did-a-run-down-to-the-interchange-to-drop-off-the-cars-from-stratford-the-northbound-run-in-the-springsummer-evening-offers-som" target="_blank">on and off the Guelph sub ever since then</a>. But I digress, I found that was interesting, but I realize now not everyone might!</p>

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	01/08/2020
Location:	Guelph
Province:	Ontario

8 Comments | 20 Favourites

<b>Nothing runs like a Deere.</b> Yet, some days, nothing runs on time.... CN took over operations of the Guelph Sub from GEXR a few months prior to this shot being taken, and over the first few months 431 would be delayed leaving MacMillan on multiple occasions, pushing operations into the favorable daylight hours. <br><br>
On this day, I was moving out of my house in Guelph. After a late start to my day, few other contributing members (big thanks goes out to them!) of this site informed me they were chasing a daylight 431 which was on the Halton sub, west bound and down. Quickly deeming I was too "tired" to chase, I opted for the "sit and wait" strategy. After hearing the train was clear of Georgetown (about 40-60 minutes from Guelph by rail) I drove to Alma Street, Timmies in hand, set up here and waited amongst the birds, bushes and dog walkers. I remember having to wait longer then I thought, which was annoying since I was not prepared for the bitterly cold wind that was unusual (and frankly unwelcome) for later April. After seeing it was one big GE with 50-60 cars, if memory serves, made sense the assault on the Acton hill would've been a bit slower then normal. With new updates from the aforementioned buddies giving chase, I knew the train was close. <br><br>
What happened next was probably one of the more humorous displays of railfanning I've witnessed to date. I could see/hear the crossing get activated on Edinburg Street (background of the shot above). And just as the nose of the ex-ATSF GE came into view, two railfans ran into view from out of nowhere, just in time to get their shots. After clearing the crossing, they disappeared back to the chase vehicle. Then as 431 approached Alma Street (in the foreground), two different railfans come into view just in time for a shot, as evident by the railfan in action on the right side of my shot above! After couple of quick waves to them, laughing the entire time at the train paparazzi that had just taken over midtown Guelph, I fired off the shot above just in time for a fortunate mid-strength sucker hole. <br><br>
This humorous story aside, the reason this shot recently came to mind for me is, after passing Alma Street, I discovered that this angle is no longer possible. Metrolinx has put up a slew of fences in Guelph recently including along the well known <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/well-as-kent-brockman-in-the-simpsons-once-capitulated-during-an-alien-invasion-on-the-simpsons-i-for-one-welcome-our-new-railway-overlords-and-i-guess-i-feel-the-same-way-the-goderich-exeter">Kent Street.</a> I'm happy to see that a few other Guelph railfans have used this angle, including Jacob Patterson with the <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/thanksgiving-weekend-was-warm-this-year-and-here-is-431-headed-back-to-its-home-terminal-of-stratford-passing-through-ex-cn-guelph-jct-not-much-for-fall-colours-this-year-maybe-next">same train under GEXR</a> as well as Steve Host <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=24171">reflecting on this location as well</a>.
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Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	04/28/2019
Location:	Guelph
Province:	Ontario

10 Comments | 12 Favourites

<b>STELCO.</b> The essence of Steeltown railroading is right here. Stelco has been producing steel off and on for over 100 years here, with Dofasco right there for pretty much that same amount of time. Although the steelmaking is not as it once was at Stelco, the company is doing well. In the past few months, <a href="https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9600204-new-30-million-steel-processing-facility-opens-at-stelco-in-hamilton/" target="_blank">new annealing furnises were</a> installed, diversifying Stelco's product line, and a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/steel-stelco-bains-strategic-innovation-1.5246814" target="_blank">$50 million grant </a> follow by a <a href="https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9678558-stelco-shares-up-slightly-following-100-million-loan/" target="_blank">$100 million load</a> was recently secured from the federal government for modernization and capital investment. Although tough times are actively falling on Stelco, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/stelco-loss-1.5359086" target="_blank">with no profit made in Q3 2019</a>, the company is still extremely progress oriented, and the future still look bright.
<br>
<br>
The companies efforts seem to have been noticed from the railways perspective too. Thought the summer there was consistently 20-40 cars on property, which were switched in/out at least a few times a week. It's been a while since I've known CP to work Stelco, however. consistently I've seen <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=36583" target="_blank">CN handle all the </a>traffic, <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/to-be-able-to-do-this-again-i-was-such-a-novice-and-i-could-have-done-so-much-better-with-better-equipment-but-at-least-i-was-there-the-unicorn-of-the-southern-ontario-railway-was-all-three-rl" target="_blank">prior to that SOR</a> and, nearly a decade ago, <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/at-us-steel-hamilton-works-formerly-stelco-a-cp-rail-kinnear-belt-job-is-backing-into-the-sprawling-steelmaking-facility-with-a-large-cut-of-empty-gondolas-these-cars-are-destined-to-be-filled-with" target="_blank">CP shared the traffic with SOR</a>. Aside from the railways, the ever elusive <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/switcher-84-poses-outside-of-us-steels-hamilton-works-on-a-cold-january-morning" target="_blank">Stelco </a><a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/us-steel-had-recently-purchased-stelco-but-not-much-has-changed-at-the-hamilton-works-on-this-summer-day-remote-control-sw900-stelco-84-is-switching-gondolas-in-the-main-inboundoutbound-yard-al" target="_blank">switcher(s) </a> have evaded my viewfinder here, and my do so permanently depending on how the traffic evolves. Here, TH-31 (I think) leaves the Stelco Spur (I'm guessing) with just over a half-dozen loads after arriving lite power. I believe this instance was the first time CP has gone to Stelco in years, or at least for this crew. I heard on the scanner the crew asking the train master for directions to Stelco after, one can only assume, Google Maps let them down.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	12/21/2019
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 21 Favourites

<b>Insert catchy heading here.</b> This is a shot where there really isn't anything more than meets the eye, so I'm struggling to try and intriguingly write about it...
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The facts are the 0800 job, with a cumbersome cut of gondolas for MANA and coils for Stelco, backs into Parkland fuels early on a weekday morning. With the recent time change, there really isn't much time to shoot in daylight in the evenings. So it was nice to have a chance to "get stopped by" a train on the way into work in the early morning sunlight.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	11/06/2019
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

7 Comments | 14 Favourites

<b>Something to look twice at...</b> In a train consisting solely of plastic pellet hopper cars (and two old soul MLW's), a 1920's era CP caboose tends to stand out a bit. Most day's on the OSR are like stepping into a time capsule. But today OSR put the Guelph Railway Historical Associations (GHRA) restored and newly painted caboose on the tail end of their local and acted like the last 70 years didn't happen. Was a sight to see for sure.
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The purpose of this move was to place the caboose on display in downtown Guelph for Rail Safety Day. In the weeks leading up to this, a lot of time and effort was put into the caboose by the members of the GHRA. This included repainting pretty much all the exterior and sprucing up the interior, not to mention volunteering at the event itself. The photo above doesn't give it justice for how good the caboose really looks, job exceedingly well done gents!

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Ontario Southland
Date:	09/27/2019
Location:	Guelph
Province:	Ontario

5 Comments | 18 Favourites

<b><i>Local Access. </i></b>Hamilton can be a confusing place to railfan. If not in the yard at Stuart Street, the multiple jobs can be hard to find among the hundreds of industries. This makes me very thankful that the Hamilton city planners considered this, deciding to put an arrow indicating where the 1600 "Parkdale-Strathearne local" would show up. I parked my car where the arrow pointed and wasn't even 5 minutes later a train showed up. Good value for my tax dollars here... <br><br>CN 1437 and 7046 back there 40+ car train under Nicola Tesla Blvd down towards Stratherne yard. I've heard crews reference this as the Firestone Spur which I'd love to get some background on if anyone has any. American Iron and Metal makes up the majority of the traffic for Stratherne, and dominates rail buisness in this area of the north end. The 1600 job can often bring more the 20 cars for AIM in a single trip, sometimes on all 5 days of the week. AIM itself can have 90 on property, which includes Strathearne yard which AIM has access too. Although the steel production in Hamilton is not what it used to be, places like AIM show how Hamiltons "Steeltown" nickname is still very applicable.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	09/23/2019
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

9 Comments | 11 Favourites

<b>Smile for the camera.</b> After hearing 244 came into London with leading foreign power, we raced over to Wolverton area for a brief chase, milking the event for all it's worth. Hot on the heals of of CP 254, 244 waited until he was done his work at the east end of Wolverton. They then dropped off 55 racks on the south siding, seen here notching up to clear a switch after dropping off the conductor.<br>The 2 hour delay at London to pick up a yard unit meant by the time this shot was taken the sun was high and to the side. Fortunately, the wide open fields meant the it wasn't an udder disaster. A big thanks to the bemused cow, who seems more interested in me then the 4,440 horses thundering to life behind her.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	07/20/2019
Location:	Ayr
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 13 Favourites

In behind me, CP TH-31 crosses Kenilworth Ave, arrives at NSC to pick up their lift for the day. The CN 1500 yard job (I assume) is heading east across the N&NW (correct me if I'm wrong) after shuffling a bunch of cars in the meal yard at bungee and will cross Kenilworth between me and the CP at NSC. Stealing the show is CN 7304, one of less then a handful of SW 1200RSs still active on the CN roster, crossing above Kenilworth at the west end of Parkdale yard. Despite the holiday, all hands are on deck in the heavy industries in Hamilton's north end.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	20/05/2019
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

5 Comments | 25 Favourites

<b>Turf War.</b> I find myself more and more drawn to the Niagara area for railfanning these days. There's an endless amount of railway history here, as evidence by <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=37460">Mr. Mooney's shot</a> at nearby Welland. There's also <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=27698">Trillium</a>, <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=37237">the Wabash transfer</a> (Norfolk Southern) and even <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=37295">Amtrak</a> throws some cool stuff into the mix some times. On a lucky break today CN ran solo 8843 from Port Robinson to here at CN Duff, just 3 miles from the International Bridge. While 8843 under, road number 232, was was pumping up the air on the siding the CN dispature brought CP 255 across the boarder past 232 in the meantime. 255 would continue to Welland where they would yard there entire train, lift and then continue onto Hamilton with 7 empties in tow. As shown in <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=37442">James Knotts shot</a> at Fort Erie from the previous day, the autoracks were brought over from the States by CN 538.232 would take them to Oakville yard, after an unexpected stop at Port Robinson to set off a car which was mistakenly brought across the boarder in this cut.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	05/05/2019
Location:	Fort Erie
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 20 Favourites

To start off, it seems fitting I acknowledge everyone that led to me getting this shot. I need to thank Alex S. for the info that 542 was dying in Guelph this night. Worth noting that he has also recently done some Guelph night photography too with <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=36616"> this </a> awesome shot. Upon arriving on scene I found fellow Guelph railfan Steve Host. Steve had the idea to use his headlights to light up the scene. After thinking about it, my non-foamer friend Dylan (who came along to check out the thrills of railfaning) had the idea to grab my car and get some lights on it from another angle. Dylan sat in my far for the better part of half an hour with the high beams on the subject matter, I can’t thank him and everyone else enough. The result was the image above, which was a lot of fun to get. Normally the train comes, rolls by and that’s it. It lasts for only a few short minutes. Here I was able to enjoy the event for a solid half hour. The CN side of the situation seems 542 working late, and getting trapped on the North side of the Guelph sub overnight due to the steady stream of GO Trains and the crew dying on hours. Hoping it’ll happen again, but I don’t think CN likes leaving power in Guelph, it probably will sooner or later though so until next time...

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	15/03/2018
Location:	Guelph
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 19 Favourites

<b>Weekend Warriors</b>. Driving around the north end of Guelph, I wanted to try and catch the CN in town, as they have been pretty consistently coming to Guelph the last few weekends. On route, I start hearing scanner chatter, a positive sign, but I can never actually understand what they're saying on the radio unless I have my brother to translate the muffled conversations. Drive around for 15 minutes, no sign of CN. Then I hear "clear back towards the Hanlon, 647". Huh.... No wonder I couldn't find them. That led me to do a drive-by of Imperial rd where I thought they'd be, switching PDI at the west end of the South Spur. Hit the South Spur grade crossing: nothing. Bemused, annoyed and discouraged thought I'd cut my losses and call it a day. Continuing onto Woodlawn Rd to expedite the ending of my pointless outing I pass the North Spur when holy crap there they are. I had thought that the North spur was essentially "off limits" to OSR, as I know most of the industries (MBI, Sanimax and Gerdau) are served by CN, never occurred to me they'd be up there. I did notice that the crossing I was standing at had a "Guelph Junction Railway" sticker on it, which leads me to believe the North and South spurs aren't segregated by railway like I thought. And here, they appear to be handling storage cars parked at the end of the line, which could be for one of the industries on the South Spur (not the pole cars though, those are spotted along Edinburgh Road along the CN). This was also the first time I've known OSR to come up to Guelph on a weekend, which I assume happens on rare occasions. I don't think CN ever did make it to Guelph, but who cares, really when you have this. Any info or comments about CN/OSR spiting the spurs and how all that works or about OSR doing weekend runs North are welcome and encouraged.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Ontario Southland
Date:	03/02/2019
Location:	Guelph
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 11 Favourites

<b>Race Among the Ruins</b>. The last time I had RLK 4095 cued up in my viewfinder was November 15 on last day of operations on the Guelph sub, running solo on 582 at the end. Now 4095 paired with SOR 2117 are the only operational power on what remains of the GEXR, with the recent departure of 2303 (status of 3030 at Goderich unknown though, to be honest). If you were happening on this short(er) line operation without knowing the recent history you'd be encouraged to think this was a busy railway with a good amount of traffic (albeit some of it seasonal) as evident but the packed yard at Stratford. The future is still bright for GEXR I think. And despite any nostalgic feelings I'm glad this operation remains with GEXR and I had a great time chasing them..... After leaving Stratford they'd continue on to Goderich, as seen in <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=36037">James Knott's great shot here (trains activities in description)</a>.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Goderich-Exeter
Date:	01/05/2019
Location:	Mitchell
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 5 Favourites

After dropping four loaded box cars at WP Warehousing on the north side of the CN Grimsby Sub, Trillium brings the empties up the hill on the Thorold Sub/Spur with leased power GMTX 340. This recognizable location, made famous by the steep grade and the Welland canals twin flight locks as a backdrop have been captured a number of times by other Railpictures photographers including <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/it-was-indeed-a-surprise-when-waiting-for-ns-328-autoparts-train-at-merritton-to-witness-them-stop-and-the-switch-thrown-at-mile-9-49-and-the-train-lined-for-the-thorold-sub-what-the-emergenc">Arnold Mooney</a>, <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/trillium-railway-110-an-ex-cn-mlw-s13-throttles-up-to-climb-the-grade-on-the-former-cn-thorold-subdivision-with-their-short-lived-diner-train-i-believe-that-the-passenger-cars-went-back-to-the-ne">Geoff Elliott</a> and <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=33285">Doctapinklaces</a>.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Trillium Railway
Date:	12/18/2018
Location:	Thorold
Province:	Ontario

6 Comments | 13 Favourites

<b>Goodbye, farewell and thank god P&H is finally receiving cars.</b> The final (for now at least) railway/region in Ontario's southern shortline exodus is SORs Hamilton based operation. Today, the last day, I was fortunate enough to get some of their last movements to the various industries. Parrish and Heimbecker, a Canadian agricultural company with over a century in operation, announced in 2014 that they would be adding to their sprawling, national network with a new mill to be built in the Hamilton port. Within the last few weeks, after about 2 years of the mill being in operation they are finally receiving product in railcars (in addition to trucks), just in time for SOR to get used to switching them... Based on the brief history thus far the mill is busy with seemingly daily (week day) switching, spotting about a dozen loads on property every trip. It'll be sad for me without the existence of SOR in Hamilton. It's been like that for as long as I can remember, all the way back to the SW1200s and the <a href="http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=21772">blue B-unit</a>. Can't even count the number of times my dad, brother and I would wonder around the outside of the shop looking at whatever power was parked there. Now the shop, most of that power and the railway are gone altogether. This makes me appreciate the bit of SOR that remains south of Garnet, so all is not lost and the Orange will still be available in southern Ontario. I'd also like to thank <a href="http://railpictures.ca/author/jknott86">Jaime Knott</a> for some of the above and "on-scene" informing and helping me catch this movement, I wouldn't have got this shot otherwise.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Southern Ontario R…
Date:	12/13/2018
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

6 Comments | 12 Favourites

<b>Day-light down the Fergus Spur.</b> This is a little miss leading since typically I thing the crew of 542 (former 582) make their final run down to Cambridge where they tie up the power overnight. However today they came up from Cambridge in the morning, picked up a few cars for Flow-Chem and went right back South. This was possible because they needed to wait for 540 to arrive from Kitchener with they're cars from the Guelph North Spur. 540 ended up getting to Guelph after 4 pm, where the crew of 542 were waiting.

Name:	Mark MacCauley
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	11/22/2018
Location:	Guelph
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 13 Favourites

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