Caption: Nothing runs like a Deere. 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.

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.

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.

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 Kent Street. I'm happy to see that a few other Guelph railfans have used this angle, including Jacob Patterson with the same train under GEXR as well as Steve Host reflecting on this location as well.