Caption: "White meat or dark meat" is heard over the radio as an Ontario Southland Railway crew prepares to get dinner at the local swiss chicken establishment, a stones throw from this location. A storm is quickly brewing in the distance as I set up for some night photography after a long day of work. Having found this train late in the evening, in Guelph, which itself was unusual, I was hoping to capture something dramatic. Little did I know that a storm was also brewing on the O.S.R. and this night was the first hint of it.

As the winds picked up and thunder grew ever closer, I frantically painted light over my scene as multiple timed exposures rattled off..

This was no ordinary train, service had basically melted down due to too much work, a third crew was called to combine both trains and finish working the customers. After grabbing a well deserved meal, the crew would not return to the junction until well after the Midnight hour. Drama was afoot on the railway and the winds of change blew strongly for OSR. The Railway would soon re-structure operations and add a third crew ordered 1400 daily, but OSR wasn't getting any more money by doing so, their contract paid decreasing amounts per car as annual carloads increased. O.S.R took their grievances to City management, but nothing seemed to be done due to the 21 year old contract that at the time of this photo had previously been extended until the end of 2022.

As frequent lightning lit up the sky every 15 seconds, I could see the clouds swirling ever closer indicating rain was about to hit, and before you knew it I was frantically putting away myself and my gear taking cover in my truck from the torrential downpour. While I did manage to capture a dramatic scene, the storm was still not over for the O.S.R, nor was the drama.

The restructuring, along with the 1400 job would eventually alleviate OSR's service concerns and the railway was again running smoothly. As the New Year turned, most of us were none the wiser to the changes that were about to be unleashed. On March 23 the City put the line up for bid, striking a lightning bolt through the OSR's remaining 2 and change years of the contract. The rest of course, is now history.