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About Paul O'Shell

Started my railroad career at CN in July 1969 and retired from the industry 49 years later on March 1, 2018. My area of expertise was railway MoW Work Equipment. Reside in Kelowna, BC. I use a Nikon D850 full frame & Nikon D7200 (Nikkor 24-70mm, 24-120mm, 35mm, 18-140mm, 55-300mm, & 80-400mm) and scan with an Epson V550. Enjoy my contributions. Be safe. Lots more of my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/197431498@N07/albums

Paul O'Shell's Railpictures.ca photo upload statistics

Number of images: 499
Total gold: 5702
Number of comments recieved : 1059
Number of comments posted : 1076
Total views: 1027866

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Paul O'Shell's 499 photos on Railpictures.ca:

Thousands of interlocked bricks cover the roadbed where Canadian Pacific Railway tracks once carried trains to and from the CP station in North Bay, ON. This is quite a different look from the one presented in Mr. sdfourty's post a few days ago ... <br>
http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=51787 <br>
This beautiful stone and block building is now home to the North Bay Museum. The nearest tracks are some distance away as seen at the left of my photo. The grounds around the station building are used for a bus stop and turn-around, green-space parkland, walking trails, and public parking lots to the south.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	04/13/2023
Location:	North Bay
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 12 Favourites

This view is from the A-end doorway of the dual diesel generator enclosure toward the B-end baggage and supply storage area of baggage car KRC 9631 (ex-VIA 9631, exx-CN 9631, nee-CN 9250) NSC built in 1955 on train KRC 291 The Pukatawagan Mixed just minutes before departure from The Pas, MB on March 16, 2023. <br>
As one of the two generators pounds away behind me, the hot air furnace on the right is keeping the baggage and supplies nice and warm during the trip to Puk. <br>
I was so fortunate to be offered a personal tour of this unique mixed-train consist by a local KRC employee while it was being prepared for departure. Something completely unexpected but thoroughly appreciated! <br>
Another great experience on my 2023 winter voyage to Churchill and return. :-)

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Keewatin Railway
Date:	03/16/2023
Location:	The Pas
Province:	Manitoba

4 Comments | 12 Favourites

HBRY 5000 EMD SD50 (ex HBRY 5010, exx-NREX 5082, exxx UP 5082, nee CNW 7022) chills out in the yard next to the HBR diesel shop in The Pas, MB March 16, 2023. This unit was just 1 of 20 that I was able to view and photograph during my two days in this northern Manitoba community.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Hudson Bay Railway
Date:	03/16/2023
Location:	The Pas
Province:	Manitoba

2 Comments | 10 Favourites

NBSR 6441 waits in line with a plethora of other foreign power at the ONR shop complex in North Bay, ON on a beautiful, unseasonably mild mid-April morning. In town for a meeting and dinner the night before, I was very fortunate to get a personal walking tour of the car and locomotive shops and exterior yards the following morning with a friend and current shop supervisor at the facility. <br>
The continuous high-quality workmanship produced by the employees here at the ONR shops is a big reason why the facility is continually full of work projects, and has a backlog outside waiting to get in for maintenance and repairs. A very neat place to see in full action. :-)

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	New Brunswick Sout…
Date:	04/13/2023
Location:	North Bay
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 15 Favourites

The former Canadian Pacific Railway station in North Bay, ON (now the North Bay Museum) has been saved and had its exterior beautifully restored. I presume the inside is equally as nice but it was much to early for me to enter and find out. Just a few hundred yards south of the station building is where I captured the former ONR Tee-Train equipment sitting inside a fenced-in compound adjacent to the T&NO 503 steam engine sitting on a track panel out in the open.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	04/13/2023
Location:	North Bay
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 12 Favourites

The 'look' on the front of this ONR Tee-Train locomotive says it all! "What the hell happened" <br>
Still sitting behind a fenced in Town of North Bay maintenance compound, the remaining two pieces of ONR's former Tee-Train equipment continue to sit and decay for another year.<br>
I first snapped this out-of-service train set sitting in a deadline in ONR's North Bay yard back in 2000. http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=5700 <br>
So after 23 years of being moved around, stored, set on fire, and generally neglected, the future for this rather unique railway equipment doesn't look very promising. :-(

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Ontario Northland
Date:	04/13/2023
Location:	North Bay
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 9 Favourites

Well, after all, it was Saint Patrick's Day, and there in the middle of a string of new blue and grey HBR power was this 'colour of the day' locomotive so I snapped it for posterity. <br>
HBRY 5007, an EMD SD50 (ex-NREX 9844, exx-UP 9844, exxx-UP 5055, nee-MP 5055) was shut down in the HBR diesel shop yard along with more than a dozen other new and old HBRY units.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Hudson Bay Railway
Date:	03/17/2023
Location:	The Pas
Province:	Manitoba

5 Comments | 13 Favourites

Other than a couple of locals off-loading supplies from the baggage car, there was no one else on the platform at Thicket Portage, MB but me on this cold and snowy morning. The weather has changed dramatically from the day before when I was in Churchill, MB where it was blistering cold, but beautifully sunny with not a cloud in the sky. This snowfall would get heavier as the day went on and eventually leave over a foot of fresh stuff by the time it was over.
The community was originally known as Franklin Portage after the Franklin expedition. It is one of the portages in the route used to connect the Nelson River system with Wintering Lake. The community is located on the Hudson Bay Railway.
Thicket Portage is 48 km south of Thompson and 256 km northeast of The Pas. The railway provides the only all-year surface transportation linkage to the outside. A winter road is established for six to eight weeks every year.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	03/15/2023
Location:	Thicket Portage
Province:	Manitoba

4 Comments | 14 Favourites

The VIA station at Kamloops North, BC doesn't offer much in the way of amenities, but was open to those of us who stepped off VIA 001 to stretch our legs. The Canadian has been deadheading a Park Car behind the power all the way from Toronto. Threatening skies were rolling in, but the rain held off until the train pulled away from the station to continue its westward journey.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	04/04/2022
Location:	Kamloops
Province:	British Columbia

4 Comments | 12 Favourites

KRC 291 The Pukatawagan Mixed sits on the mainline next to the station in The Pas, MB waiting for the final passengers to board the vintage ex-VIA/CN passenger equipment for the 8 hour, 99.1 mile journey. VIA 691's consist is at the left and HLCX 3840 switches a bulkhead flat in the center background. Lots of action in The Pas on this cold, sunny morning. :-)

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Keewatin Railway
Date:	03/16/2023
Location:	The Pas
Province:	Manitoba

6 Comments | 13 Favourites

VIA 6455 and VIA 6457 head up train No. 693 The Hudson Bay under roof on track 3 of the Winnipeg train shed, just minutes before an on-time departure for destination Churchill, MB. I had asked my sleeper car attendant if there was time to go up front for a locomotive photo and she said for sure, but apparently didn't tell the service manager, as when I walked back to board, ALL of the vestibules were closed and locked!!! Fortunately one of the crew saw me as I walked past the Skyline car and opened up a door for me. That miscommunication could have ended a lot differently had I not made eye contact with an on-board crew member! The remainder of the trip was without incident and the crew was very accommodating with regards to my picture taking efforts. :-)

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	03/12/2023
Location:	Winnipeg
Province:	Manitoba

4 Comments | 10 Favourites

380 Hazelwood St. is the street address of VIA Rail's The Pas, MB railway station. VIA trains 690, 691, 692, & 693 all make stops here, and it is the home terminal of KRC's Pukatawagan Mixed.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	03/16/2023
Location:	The Pas
Province:	Manitoba

2 Comments | 10 Favourites

All but a couple of HBR's new 6000 series locomotives are parked at their locomotive facility in The Pas, MB on this cold March morning. Units I was able to see and/or photograph at the shop and yard were HBRY 824, 3001 (ex-CN 9438), 3002 (ex-CN 9465), 3003 (ex-CN 9478), 3078, 5000, 5004, 5005, 5007, 6001, 6004, 6005, 6008, 6009, 6011, and HLCX 3840. A GREX DumpTrain (GREX 2400) was also spotted. There were two complete GREX trains in Churchill when I was there last August so the second train is likely somewhere in the yard out of sight. What an interesting facility to visit! :-)

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Hudson Bay Railway
Date:	03/16/2023
Location:	The Pas
Province:	Manitoba

5 Comments | 20 Favourites

Everyone is on board, the step box has been tossed into the vestibule, and the doors are closed and locked for today's departure of the Pukatawagan Mixed. PRLX 2265 & PRLX 2669 pull this unique consist passed VIA Rail's #691 equipment parked at the far left of the frame, while equipment department employees give the Puk a roll-by inspection as it leaves the station. First car in the consist is KRC 9631 (ex-VIA 9631, exx-CN 9631) Class BE-73-H, a 73' 6" baggage car. Second up behind the power is KRC 5649 (ex-VIA 5649, exx-CN-5649) a dayniter coach built by CC&F in 1954 and converted to this combination baggage/coach in 1998.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Keewatin Railway
Date:	03/16/2023
Location:	The Pas
Province:	Manitoba

7 Comments | 13 Favourites

After a nice, personal tour of the ex-VIA, exx-CN passenger equipment, and with everyone on board, the step box gets tossed into the vestibule, and another journey for the Pukatawgan Mixed out of The Pas, MB begins. From passengers and baggage/supplies being loaded, the crew having a job briefing, to the departure from the station, this was a fabulous event to witness first-hand.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Keewatin Railway
Date:	03/16/2023
Location:	The Pas
Province:	Manitoba

4 Comments | 12 Favourites

'I've been working on the railroad' .... VIA 693 has backed onto the station track at Churchill, MB and detrained all passengers on this bitterly cold (-29C feeling -39C) March 14, 2023 morning. The track maintenance crew has put their hi-rail vehicle on the track and is ready to begin their patrol and maintenance duties over the 98 mile territory they cover. But, before they do, they need to get the guide wheels on the right side of the vehicle rolling free. It is so cold that the grease in the rail wheel bearings on the shaded side of the truck is too stiff to allow the wheels to spin freely. A little more back and forth movement will eventually free the wheels up and they will be on their way! These two guys (one ex-CN and one HBR) were kind enough to spot the truck in the sun for me then stop and chat for a few minutes about railroading and the challenges they face here in the far north. Just another part of a great visit to Churchill on my winter excursion. :-)

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Hudson Bay Railway
Date:	03/14/2023
Location:	Churchill
Province:	Manitoba

5 Comments | 16 Favourites

VIA 6455 is leading VIA #693 The Hudson Bay on its journey from Winnipeg to Churchill, MB on this beautiful March 12 afternoon. During the stop at the majestic Dauphin, MB CNR (1912) station I grabbed a few shots of the sunlit station building and surroundings, then headed to the front of the train to catch this view of the head end, the station/museum, a CN van on display, and some crew/passenger activity during the stop. The start of what was to be another fabulous Canadian train voyage. :-)

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	03/12/2023
Location:	Dauphin
Province:	Manitoba

4 Comments | 15 Favourites

Prior to capturing some ex-VIA, exx-CN passenger equipment on the Pukatawagan Mixed in The Pas, MB in March of this year, I snapped RPCX 5307 (ex-VIA 5307, exx-CN 5307) Class PA-74-F, 74' 0" First Class Car (coach) sitting all alone in the middle of the CN yard in Saskatoon, SK. With candy canes over the running number, and a Santa hat with Ho Ho Ho over the vestibule door opening at right, it appears this car may have been on some kind of Christmas excursion, or Santa Train prior to being parked. Hadn't seen VIA blue equipment in service for years, then BOOM!, twice in less than 60 days!!! The only thing missing from this photo is sunshine & blue sky. :-)

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Other
Date:	01/27/2023
Location:	Saskatoon
Province:	Saskatchewan

2 Comments | 14 Favourites

Prior to boarding VIA 693 The Hudson Bay for my winter journey from Winnipeg to Churchill and return, I wandered around inside and outside of VIA's Union Station in downtown Winnipeg, MB.

Having arrived by taxi from my airport hotel, I entered the station through the front street level doors into a magnificent looking, and well preserved rotunda.

From this street level, there is a long sloped ramp leading the the multi-track waiting area, ticket agents desk, and baggage check/claim area. Walking to the furthest end of the lower level waiting area one can go out the rear doors of the station to what is know as 'The Forks'. This is a pedestrian walkway, park, and touristy market place. It was once a very busy CN stub track yard occupying space the length of the station complex above.

When walking back from The Forks, the lower level entrance to 'Union Station' presents itself as depicted in this shot, which also shows the dome of the main entrance rotunda, and the side wall of the Winnipeg train shed.

This 09:20 morning shot in Winnipeg at -10C feeling -19C would be warm compared to the freezing temperatures I was about to experience in Churchill and The Pas in the coming days. :-)

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	03/12/2023
Location:	Winnipeg
Province:	Manitoba

1 Comments | 11 Favourites

VIA 691's train is to the left of me, the Pukatawagan Mixed has left town, some idle ex-VIA/exx-CN Puk Mixed passenger equipment sits plugged in to wayside power at the south end, affording a clear shot of The Pas railway station from trackside.
With departure of the Puk Mixed the station has once again been closed and locked until the arrival of VIA 692 from Churchill later this evening.
Note the Canada grain hoppers (NWAX 606435 & five others) at the far left of the frame, along with KRC 286245 (ex-CN 286245) boxcar.

From: The Pas Landmarks (heritagemanitoba.ca)
The Pas Railway Building 329 Hazelwood Avenue
The Pas Canadian National Railway Station (1928), rare in its use of multi-coloured brick, is an important physical reminder of the crucial role of the railway in the development of northern Manitoba. Its hipped roof, with dormers centred on both long sides, and its deep eaves with plain but elegant brackets, make it a typical example of the so-called Second-Class railway stations built in many centres by the Canadian National Railway, many of which do not survive. The example in The Pas is in good condition and still in use as a station for VIA Rail. It has been designated under Canada's Railway Stations Protections Act.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	03/17/2023
Location:	The Pas
Province:	Manitoba

Comments | 12 Favourites

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