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About wmthomson


An enthusiast interested in trains since my high school days (1939-45) at Port Credit High School (beside the CN main line), although not always with a camera. Recently moved to Guelph from Kingston Ontario. Still have my Pentax K1000 but mainly shoot digital now. *All photos copyright Bill Thomson. Editors note: Bill passed away in July 2022, his page is being maintained by RP.ca staff in his memory. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/guelph-on/william-thomson-11195826

wmthomson's Railpictures.ca photo upload statistics


Number of images: 715
Total gold: 10824
Number of comments recieved : 1228
Number of comments posted : 21
Total views: 2316951


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wmthomson has 4 images in the Time Machine


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wmthomson's 715 photos on Railpictures.ca:


New York Central GP9 6032 is shown on CN's Oakville Sub at Port Credit, likely working on the CP/TH&B Toronto-Hamilton "Starlight" that had trackage rights over CN between Toronto and Hamilton. Note the Automatic Train Control (ATC) "shoe" on the second axle for operation over Welland to Buffalo trackage.<br><br>NYC 6032 was one of the Canadian-built GMD GP9 units assigned to NYC's Canada Southern (CASO) operations, and would continue operating over the same territory under successors Penn Central and Conrail as their 7432. It was retired and sold to the Ashland Railway (ASRY), and became their 32.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: New York Central
Date: Circa late 1950's
Location: Port Credit
Province: Ontario
3 Comments | 11 Favourites
Essex Terminal Railway 9, operating during the Elgin County Railway Museum's Iron Horse days on August 24th 2002, is seen crossing the old CASO Kettle Creek bridge at the west end of St. Thomas. The line has since been taken up, but the bridge remains and there is a push to turn it into an elevated park.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Essex Terminal
Date: 08/24/2002
Location: St. Thomas
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 17 Favourites
CP SW1200RS 8160 handles a short train on the old Lake Erie & Northern line (now the CP Simcoe Sub), as viewed across the Grand River in Brantford. Note the old LE&N car barn in the background. Units 8160, 8161 and 8162 were regulars on the old "CP Electric Lines" (GRR and LE&N) for decades.<br><br>When CP <a href=https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/383-r-1989><b>abandoned the line in the late 80's</b></a>, CN acquired small portions of TH&B and LE&N trackage in Brantford and operated them as part of the Burford Spur. This section survived to service the old SC Johnson & Son plant until the early 2010's.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 03/27/1986
Location: Brantford
Province: Ontario
2 Comments | 27 Favourites
VIA train #2 "The Canadian" is shown from high above at Golden BC, along the Kicking Horse River (in the background, near 11 Avenue S and 9th Street S). A CP SD40-2 heads up today's train, likely replacement power for a failed VIA F-unit, followed by two VIA F9B's. Replacement CP power often had to rescue The Canadian in the 80's due to VIA's aging fleet inherited from CN & CP. New VIA power would start to arrive in 1986 in the form of new F40PH units from GMD.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: VIA Rail
Date: 09/16/1984
Location: Golden
Province: British Columbia
1 Comments | 10 Favourites
An afternoon down at VIA's Brockville Station finds CN RS18 3125 and a VIA 6600-series B-unit handling train #54 for Montreal, while 6793 sits on the station pocket track in charge of #44's consist for Ottawa. Both ran from Toronto as a combined eastbound #44-54 consist until arriving at Brockville, where the consist would be split, a spare unit at the station would couple to #44's cars, and each separate train would then continue on to its respective destination.<br><br>After the 1981 cuts to VIA, equipment from The Canadian ran between Toronto and Montreal on corridor trains #53 and #54, hence the stainless steel ex-CP Budd cars from The Canadian shown in today's consist of VIA #54 running through (there's more information on this arrangement on <a href=http://tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com/2016/08/via-builds-and-splits-trains-at_17.html><b>Trackside Treasures</b></a>).
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: VIA Rail
Date: 07/01/1984
Location: Brockville
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 21 Favourites
Operating over the former Grand River Railway line, CP GP38-2's 3032 and 3105 on the Toyota Switcher cross the Speed River in Preston, as viewed from Riverside Park nearby.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 03/25/2001
Location: Preston (Galt)
Province: Ontario
2 Comments | 6 Favourites
Canadian Pacific RS10 8587 leads a string of 40' boxcars southbound on the MacTier Subdivision, crossing over CN's Beeton Subdivision just south of Beeton in May of 1966. Today the MacTier Sub remains as CP's mainline out of Toronto to the west. CN's Beeton Sub has been mostly abandoned, but this part of the line remains as a small segment that became part of the South Simcoe Railway's tourist operation between Tottenham and Beeton.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: May 1966
Location: Beeton
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 31 Favourites
CP GP9u 8247 heads eastbound on the Galt Sub through Guelph Junction with the Roadrailer. Power was often a single unit such as a GP38-2, C424 or GP9u.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 09/24/1992
Location: Guelph Junction (C…
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 8 Favourites
CP GP38-2 3108, SOO Line SD40-2 units 6601 and 6621 curve through the west connecting track to the Galt Sub, coming off CP's Hamilton Sub at Guelph Junction.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 09/14/1993
Location: Guelph Junction (C…
Province: Ontario
Comments | 10 Favourites
A trio of matching Chessie-painted CSX units are shown at Fort Erie on October 17th 1985. C&O GP40-2 4268 leads B&O GP40 4139 and GP40-2 4300, with a C&O van trailing the lashup.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Chesapeake and Ohi…
Date: 10/17/1985
Location: Fort Erie
Province: Ontario
3 Comments | 20 Favourites
A six-car consist of Calgary Transit C-Train light rail cars is shown at Southland station in September of 1984. These are new German-built Siemens/DüWag U2 light rail cars built for Calgary's C-Train rapid transit system that started up in 1981. Car 2037 on the end is part of an order of new cars built in 1983-84. CP's freight line is visible in the foreground.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Calgary Transit
Date: 09/18/1984
Location: Calgary
Province: Alberta
Comments | 1 Favourites
SOO SD60M 6060 and SD60 6013 handle a freight through Smiths Falls in February 1992. 6060 was one of five safety-cab equipped SD60M units ordered by SOO and built by GMD in 1989, after purchasing 58 of the standard cab version. They were later rebuilt by CP as 6200's and still operate today.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: SOO Line
Date: 02/29/1992
Location: Smiths Falls
Province: Ontario
Comments | 6 Favourites
B&O GP38 3836 is pictured outside the C&O's shops in Chatham in July of 1986. The "Chessie System" livery introduced in the mid-70's featured the initials of which road in the family owned the unit, typically B&O, C&O, or WM. Later most had it painted out and changed to CSXT lettering.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Chesapeake and Ohi…
Date: 07/09/1986
Location: Chatham
Province: Ontario
Comments | 10 Favourites
CSXT / B&O GP38 4140 sports one of the early versions of CSX's paint scheme, seen at St. Thomas in October 1987. This "CSX stripe scheme" livery featured only grey and blue paint, and debuted in the mid-80's. Yellow ends would soon be added to later repaints. Note that this unit, originally built at B&O 4815, is stenciled for both B&O and CSXT on the cab.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: CSX Transportation
Date: 10/30/1987
Location: St. Thomas
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 6 Favourites
CN SD75I 5751 leads an SD60F on a westbound freight, passing by passengers waiting at the VIA station in Cobourg on a sunny afternoon.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 05/01/2002
Location: Cobourg
Province: Ontario
Comments | 6 Favourites
CPR's Zorra station is pictured on a winter day in January 1970. It was located at Mile 94.3 on CP's Galt Subdivision, around the junction with the St. Marys Sub.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: January 1970
Location: Zorra
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 11 Favourites
VIA train #45 pulls into Cobourg station on a sunny afternoon, with F40PH-2 6432 in the lead followed by a string of stainless steel Budd passenger cars.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: VIA Rail
Date: 05/01/2002
Location: Cobourg
Province: Ontario
Comments | 7 Favourites
CN SW1200RS 1214 handles a short local freight, and is seen crossing the Credit River Bridge in Port Credit during March of 1981. Two 40' boxcars with yellow doors (for newsprint and other high-class merchandise) trail the power, with one of CN's unique transfer cabooses bringing up the rear.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 03/16/1981
Location: Mississauga (Port …
Province: Ontario
2 Comments | 27 Favourites
VIA LRC 6911 leads a steam-heated passenger consist of blue and yellow cars on a chilly day in January 1990, stopped at the station in Guelph. Steam generator cars were necessary when running older equipment with LRC or F40PH locomotives, as they were delivered with HEP generators for modern equipment, rather than steam generators that the older cars required.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: VIA Rail
Date: January 1990
Location: Guelph
Province: Ontario
2 Comments | 12 Favourites
A CN eastbound freight rolls through Henry House (Mile 225.8 CN Edson Sub, east of Jasper) in Alberta powered by six units on the headend: CN SD40-2W 5351, SD40 5184, GP40-2W units 9564 & 9655, a GP38-2, and a 9100-series cabless F7Aum "B-unit" trailing.
Name: Bill Thomson
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 07/20/1986
Location: Henry House
Province: Alberta
Comments | 9 Favourites
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