Caption: After checking out Niagara Falls during its shortlived deep freeze, I decided to drop by the station to see if the New York bound Amtrak Maple Leaf might have anything interesting (you never know). Sure enough, it had a double header, which is an uncommon occurrence. With trains long gone on the Michigan Central bridge, I decided to get a shot from the former CASO bridge over River Road.

With Amtrak 108 and 111 making up this double header, the train is now under Amtrak control, about to ease onto the Whirlpool Rapids bridge (automobile deck is below). Both units at this point would be 21 years old. They are lucky enough to be assigned to the northeast routes, and have not faced the abuse many Amtrak Genesis units have faced on long distance trains. Despite this, both units are showing their age. 108 also has a large gash on the front, which appeared in 2009 and surprisingly was never repaired. Double headers appeared a number of times on the Maple Leaf between October and January, indicating many of the northeast based units (100-111) perhaps were ailing.

I wasn't exactly comfortable with this location considering cameras and a huge barricaded wall were just east of me on the MC bridge. Despite standing here for 20 minutes, I wasn't bothered. The Chinese architecture in the background is the Cham Shan temple, a Buddhist temple that definitely stands out in the area. The American side of the Niagara River gorge is on the right. Unfortunately this spot is currently limited to the two Amtrak Maple Leaf's a day. Track inspections used to be done back a CSX geometry train, though I'm not sure if that still happens. Via Rail used the switch by the bridge until 2012 when cuts had them leave Niagara, though I'm unaware if they've backed up to here on recent Via charters. The Whirlpool bridge has been restricted to empties only for freight since the early 2000s, so there aren't many possibilities.