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Number of images: 379
Total gold: 3653
Number of comments recieved : 1122
Number of comments posted : 925
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rsmith's 379 photos on Railpictures.ca:

All the excitement over 435 last weekend with the three CN North America painted units got me thinking of other times when I've seen solid consists of "CNNA" units. I recall an early 90's consist with a GP40-2L(W) and two SD40us at Bayview, and a pair of C44-9W on 148 at Brantford. I'm sure there were others. This consist in Fort Erie with three different models in CNNA paint is probably the best example I've got. The reverse move in the yard with no cars provided a nice opportunity to photograph the consist in favourable light.

Name:	Robert Smith
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	08/12/2007
Location:	Fort Erie
Province:	Ontario

6 Comments | 13 Favourites

UP 1982 on CP 244. CN 2441 leading CN 435. CP 7022 leading CP 247. Railfans in Southern Ontario had three great targets to go after this sunny Saturday. The old man and I opted for option 3 and I'm glad we did. The low autumn light nicely illuminated the red under-frame on CP 7022 as the train slowly pulled up to the north siding switch Welland to pick up the conductor. We were surprisingly the only railfans at this location, so most must have went after other targets today. There was one unconfirmed sighting of the Mooney-mobile shortly after our arrival but it failed to stop at our location. It may have just been some geezer out for a drive with his lady friend. Thanks to Bill Purdy and Jazzy Joe for the heads-up on 246 yesterday. Lets see your shots from today! And no Steve, I'm not pinching you.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	11/28/2020
Location:	Welland
Province:	Ontario

9 Comments | 24 Favourites

Just like old times. Looking just like the CP St. Thomas Sub. before Ontario Southland, the OSR Woodstock Job passes by backyards in Beachville, ON in the last light of the day. It's pretty depressing how early the sun sets this time of year, the photo was taken at 4:10 p.m.! Today's train had two CP-painted geeps and four tank cars that they had just picked up from CP T69 in Woodstock. CP T69 went in to emergency around Zorra and it sounded like they had to make repairs to a car, so the OSR crew had an extra long break in the Woodstock station waiting for their cars.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Ontario Southland
Date:	11/11/2020
Location:	Beachville
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 14 Favourites

Get 'em while you can. With their ranks thinning, it was nice to catch a decent looking BC Rail C40-8CMu in perfect light leading CN 435 today. 435 leans around the curve at milepost 19 as the conductor was reviewing his paperwork, getting ready for their work at Brantford Yard. Their timing was perfect; I left work at noon, photographed the train out by Garden Avenue and got back right at 1 p.m. Not that it mattered because no one was around since most staff in the department regularly "work" from home.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	10/23/2020
Location:	Brantford
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 20 Favourites

CP 254 has a NEW EMD trio, so that's worth posting a photo! CP 5012 and CP 6236 are gone, replaced with CP 5018 and CP 6255 in the same position with CP 6248. This photo almost didn't happen for several reasons. I thought I had a virtual meeting today at 3 pm but had to double check the calendar when I didn't get the 15 minute reminder. Realising the meeting is next Thursday, I frantically figured out where 254 was and out the door I went. I arrived at Kay Drage Park only to find the vehicle gate locked. Hoofing it in I then came across a lovely encampment right in front of the pedestrian gate by the tracks. Luckily someone had made another access in the fence. I stood in the doom and gloom of a Fall afternoon getting the camera set up for the dismal lighting. As the train came in to view it was still dark, but as it approached the sun popped out ever so briefly. I frantically adjusted the camera settings and this is the end result. Not the preferred ISO but at least I didn't completely blow the exposure. Other than this consist on CP 254, the occasional heritage unit, the GTW based at Stuart Street, what else is there? I thought this was a worthy photo to add to the elite railpictures.ca database. I hope the grand poobah agrees.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	10/08/2020
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 9 Favourites

6:30 a.m. on the morning of Bayview meet 2007, A CP northbound utilises TH&B trackage rights on CN between Hamilton and Canpa. CP gave up these trackage rights and now all trains utilise the Hamilton Sub. up to Campbellville / Guelph Jct. and the Galt Sub. to Toronto.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	06/23/2007
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

5 Comments | 18 Favourites

We've all seen our fair share of quick-fix replacement number boards; some are done quite well while others leave a lot to be desired. The classic cardboard and duct tape type come to mind. CN 4726 has a pretty ugly replacement number board on the conductor's side. It hasn't inspired me to go out of my way to photograph it until yesterday when I heard 580 blowing for Stanley Street when leaving work. Upon reviewing those photos I noticed something interesting about that replacement number board. The "6" looks like the font CP uses on their number boards. Zooming in on the photo you can see the weird looking "4" was clearly made from a "1", and there's a faded "8" where the "7" is painted. 1800's were CP RS18u's. So how did a CP RS18u number board end up on a CN GP38-2? Then I recalled seeing a former New Brunswick East Coast Railway RS18u heading to Woodcrest (IL) for disposition after CN had reacquired the NBEC. Looking closer at the number board, it looks like "1838" behind the crude "4726". Sure enough NBEC 1838 was one of the RS18u's that went to Woodcrest and was scrapped! So a little piece of a CP RS18u lives on. Now that ugly looking number board is pretty interesting! And if you're wondering why Woodcrest didn't just make a proper number board (assuming 4726 got the number board there), that's a good question!

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	09/15/2020
Location:	Brantford
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 22 Favourites

CP 254 and 255 continue to run back and forth between London and NS Bison Yard in Buffalo, NY with CP 6248, CP 6236 and CP 5012. I'm still trying to get a decent shot of CP 5012 leading, which would have happened right here if the power hadn't been turned a week or so ago. It usually doesn't. CP 255 is seen in nice late-afternoon light approaching Concession Road 6 in Flamborough Centre.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	09/13/2020
Location:	Flamborough Centre
Province:	Ontario

10 Comments | 15 Favourites

Trains were running like street cars on the Hamilton Sub. this afternoon. 246 went south, 247 north, and then 254 south. 254 waited on the Galt Sub. for about a hour for 247 to come north, which was fine since it only made the sun angle better here at Milborough Line. The consist of CP 6248, CP 6236, and CP 5012 has been back and forth on CP 254/255 a few times now, and this is by far the best shot I've gotten of it. It's a beautiful thing when the weather co-operates with a good train. Hopefully Bill and I managed to get our shots here without any gnarly bug bites and/or reaction to weeds... I think I'm good (this time!)

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	09/03/2020
Location:	Carlisle
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 19 Favourites

Just when you get sick of seeing pairs of CP GEs, CP puts together a considerably better consist to keep things interesting. 254/255 had a pair of SD30C-ECOs bracketing a SD60 earlier in the week, however CP 5031 was replaced by CP 6248 for today's 254. CP 6248, 6238 and 5012 are shown curving under Main Street West and about to pass under Dundurn Street, having just met CP 247 at Desjardins. 254's consist returns from Buffalo on CP 255 the following day.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	08/29/2020
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 19 Favourites

Considering how long I stood on the bank of the Welland River watching the carp, I figured I would post this photo for the world to see. Good old CP; hurry up and wait. They worked Aberdeen, worked Kinnear, met 247 somewhere in Hamilton and may have been delayed by them, and had 25 mph slow orders from about MP 34 to Welland. The train finally showed up about 2 hours later then I anticipated. I've got to stop being so optimistic about estimating times. CP 7010 and CP 8102 just fit between the trees on the Welland River bridge. Notice how much longer the SD70ACu is compared to the GE. CP 255 was done their work and waiting in Welland Yard for 246 to clear the north siding switch.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	07/31/2020
Location:	Welland
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 13 Favourites

For the second weekend in a row I made a tactical error on Saturday and was able to redeem myself on Sunday. I did not catch CP 143 with CMQ 9020 amd 9022 on Saturday, however we lucked out again with CMQ 9023 assigned as the leader on CP 246 on Sunday. By the grace of god everything came together. It sure looked good at Guelph Jct. swinging off the Galt Sub. and on to the Hamilton Sub. at a surprisingly good clip. A nice Father's Day treat. Thanks again to those that provided the heads-up.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	06/21/2020
Location:	Campbellville
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 25 Favourites

After a solid day of working from home I decided to go see if I could catch American Iron & Metal's TP90 in action. Upon arrival at the north end of Parkdale Avenue there was what appeared to be a questionable individual outside his truck, however upon closer inspection I realised it was just Steve Host who apparently really misses his barber. Any way, the Tractive Power Corp. unit wasn't moving so I just grabbed a few shots and left. It's powered by a Cummins 513 hp Tier 4 engine, and sounded just like a truck when it briefly throttled up. I'll have to go back another day when the sun holds out longer and they're actually moving cars around.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Industrial
Date:	06/19/2020
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 11 Favourites

I wasn't able to get out and photograph CP 246 with 7016 leading yesterday. Thanks to a timely phone call today I was able to run out to Concession Road 6 with a few minutes to spare and get CP 247 returning north with 7016 leading again. Thanks for the heads-up Jazzy Joe.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	06/14/2020
Location:	Flamborough
Province:	Ontario

7 Comments | 17 Favourites

EMDX SD70ACe-T4 demonstrator 7201 was the mid-train DPU on CN train 394 today. The head end was nice too: CN 3136 and QNSL 319. It's nice to see some colour on CN. I like the look of the SD70ACe-T4s; hopefully CN picks up some and they're not lemons. Although this one looks like one. Thanks to everyone that provided the heads-up.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	06/11/2020
Location:	Copetown
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 10 Favourites

CN 580 runs to Hagersville three days a week, Monday-Wednesday-Friday, to serve CGC in Hagersville and the lumber yard in Caledonia. They typically leave Brantford around 9:30 - 10:00 after switching Normerica, and return to Brantford mid to late afternoon. With a very predictable schedule one would think catching them on the Hagersville Sub. would be easy, but getting a photo of them returning from Hagersville has alluded me until today. I've gotten a few shots of GMTX 2255, but I had yet to get a good shot of GMTX 2695. It is unique on CN's roster as it is the only GMTX that started life as a GP40 and was rebuilt to a GP38-2 by GMTX. It was built as SCL 1616, becoming SBD 6770, then CSXT 6770 before being modified by GMTX as their 2695. Thanks Bruce for the history. 580 is shown at the westerly of three crossings of Old Onondaga Road returning to Brantford with a decent number of drywall loads from CGC.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	06/10/2020
Location:	Cainsville
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 11 Favourites

I thought this was a pretty standard-issue photo angle in Sarnia unit I looked at the aerial. I don't think I'd venture this far off the public road for a shot nowadays. Looking every bit like a shortline railroad's shop, the CSX shop area is quite quaint even if the industrial area surrounding it is far from it. Train D724 has just finished their work and CSXT 2697 and 2561 have been parked in front of the shop to wait for their next assignment. The "bright future" paint scheme sure looks good now that the drab "dark future" scheme has taken over. Chessie was better, but you've got to take what you get.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	CSX Transportation
Date:	08/25/2001
Location:	Sarnia
Province:	Ontario

6 Comments | 14 Favourites

I get the general impression that there isn't much love among railfans for the GMTX leasers currently on CN, but they look a-okay when they're clean and in nice light. Case in point are GMTX 2255 and GMTX 2695, which for the past two months or so have been assigned to CN 580 in Brantford. I'd probably have 101 shots of these by now if it wasn't for the pandemic. Chasing them to Hagersville is difficult for the time being with the First Nations COVID-19 checkpoint / road closure at Onondaga and the bridge closure for construction in Caledonia. Hopefully things improve in the not too distance future. Stay safe.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	05/20/2020
Location:	Brantford
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 10 Favourites

Nice evening light bathes the Via Budd cars from Sudbury arriving at their destination in White River, ON with VIA 6250 and VIA 6205. They'll overnight in the yard and return to Sudbury the next morning. Many of you may recognise this photo from the "Hey Budd, can you spare a ride?" article published in UK's Model Rail magazine No. 109 October 2007. All joking aside, it's proof that there's value to posting your photos online. I was contacted by the author of the article and he used two of my photos earning me a cracking 40 pounds.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	05/01/2003
Location:	White River
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 21 Favourites

The sun made a brief appearance between April snow squalls as 580 switches out their cars for the day using the smoky GMTX 2255 and GMTX 2695. After switching for a while they tied up in the yard and conductor and brakeman headed to the office, I can only assume a maintainer got track time so 580 had nowhere to go. They seemed annoyed as they walked away from their train. The power at right is the units for CN 581, the nocturnal turn to Garnet that interchanges with the Southern Ontario Railway.

Name:	Rob Smith
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	04/21/2020
Location:	Brantford
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 8 Favourites

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