Caption: On golden rails CP Train 246 is riding the high-iron in style, with the first light of the day gilding the sky, and the rails, a deep golden hue. Cresting the grade at Guelph Junction, the crew of Train 246 will trade their royal rails for sunglasses as the railway makes a sharp turn into the sun southward toward Hamilton and Buffalo. Like a roller coaster, the crew of 246 has two more grades to conquer before reaching Buffalo, Essar Steel loads on the head end will challenge downgrade at Waterdown, and the extra tonnage lifted at Hamilton will resist the upward climb to Vinemount, the journey only half completed to Buffalo.
Much of this traffic used to take the TH&B Route to Toronto - and one can see why the TH&B (more on rp.ca) opted to build a route to Toronto parallel to the Oakville sub. (This was on the drawing board, but the CNR decided to grant rights to avoid the direct competition!). Trains would have only had one major grade instead of three. In 2010 CP made their choice to cancel the Joint Section - and as a result we get to witness the sights, and sounds of high-iron drama: Pushers at Hamilton for Waterdown, and more trains running up the hill at Campbellville.
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