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Caption: Nice late March morning up at Dundas station 38 years back. Judging by the foliage creeping up, I imagine this was the last year I was able to shoot trains rounding the bend on approach to Dundas station at such a severe angle. The era of nice clean right-of-ways was coming to an end. There's no money in chopping brush that offends train buffs. :o)
Quite often I would catch this train running west, I am thinking, a Hamilton to Brantford turn. Power is CN 4560 and 4521 Caboose not recorded.
It doesn't look very late in the day by the sun angle, but according to my notes this was the 10th train I had already recorded on this sunny Wednesday.If this was 2020, I might get half that.
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Nice classic Dundas scene!
Thanks, Kevin. When I looked at this photo I got to thinking back to carefree times. Quiet. No hassles. Traffic insignificant down below in Dundas-town.
Now, it is noisy (when there is no pandemic!), there is no parking; the station is gone, the hillside is off limits for train watching. And if you want to go to shoot off the Peak, you have to PAY for the privilege.
I can’t help but think of the easy days before we became hassled and controlled. I often wonder what the incident stats are from before we were threatened with arrest for being near the tracks and now?
I can affirm what’s been said numerous times that Hamilton’s parking by-laws and enforcement is borderline Gestapo level. I’ve never seen anything like it, even growing up in Toronto. And factor in CN police’s recent heavy enforcement here as well of course.
I will consider bike rides up from Burlington in the future. Though with all the blind road curves, I question if I can even make the trip without getting run over.
Most of the parking enforcement seems to be in the area around the peak, but no doubt I will not stray far from the car if I go to Copetown soon. They don’t care if your car is completely off the road.
On the positive, parking still seems fairly easy to get between Hamilton station and Bayview. Just watch your back once you start going up the mountain.
That’s West Harbour, not Hamilton. So along the bay.
I agree with you about Hambone parking by-laws, Daniel. It brutal. I only go to Hamilton when I have to. The city shows no mercy. I think they’re desperate.
Hmmm, not being on that end of the lens very often I find your banter very interesting.
Are things that bad where you can’t pull over or park near railroad property without getting hassled?
I am pretty sure most railroaders don’t really care if you are taking photos, just as long as you are not trespassing or doing anything unsafe. In all my years on the railroad I can probably count on two hands where I had to report trespassers or idiots (not specifically railfans) putting themselves or the train crew at risk.
The banter, Mr. Engineer; is that when I took this photo; I could park at the station; I could park down below along the side of Hwy 8 or on the road to the golf course. I could park up on the hill off Harvest Rd or pretty well anywhere else that did not result the inconvenience of the traffic flow or the locals. Now, the old station site is fenced off, no parking along Hwy 8, nor on the golf road, nor on the local side streets and a pay station has been set up if you want to take a photo off the Peak. The idea is to force people by eliminating any parking anywhere to make people pay for what they already are paying for in their taxes. This renders shooting along the old Bruce Trail area difficult because any street parking has been eliminated. The cops watch closely.
I just find the strict parking enforcement an unnecessary money grab because it’s easy money. Really? You can’t park along Hwy 8 or that golf road? Brutal. I won’t be shooting there any time soon. The other frustrating thing is parking by the falls in the area. You have to pay for parking in the middle of nowhere. There really needs to be more freedom here so people can enjoy the local area more instead of always having to reach into their pocket. Our taxes should cover these things so we don’t need to pay extra.
Exactly. It is like they like to hassle people for an easy dollar.
Last comment from me so not to flood this with banter. Paying everywhere for everything just sucks out all the enjoyment of it all. It’s not like it’s a lot of money each time but it’s annoying. But at the end of the day Arnold, there’s no accomodation for railfanners. Probably the majority aren’t even aware it’s a hobby
Ahhhhh Dundas….you can never post too many pictures of Dundas Arnold, as you always seem to capture a new perspective on a classic landmark. You never lose sight of the importance of things, of the way life used to be in simpler times 30 plus years ago. It’s too bad that the station is gone, there is no parking, and if you find it you do have to pay or to pay now for taking a photo from the peak. Nonetheless, another great photo
I shot at Dundas in the fall of 2018 and was able to find a place to park without lingering too long to walk up and get the shot.. then leave.
But Phil – the problem is nothing to do with trains – the Dundas Peak area has been so over run with tourists lately that they’ve implemented parking measures – the sidestreets have been overrun with tourists (below and above the mountain) and as a result the parking lots resorted to charging, it’s all in an effort to reduce crowds and of course, reduce complaints from adjacent landowners, and the police ARE very active especially in the busy months (Fall). Heck last time I drove through there I noticed a young police officer in a Crown Vic parked on one of the sidestreets waiting to pounce – didn’t think Hamilton had any crown vics left..
The fence is new though – have not seen it – when did it go up Arnold?
The “fence” I was referring to, Steve, is only where they blocked access to the old station site up the former entrance. Other fencing was scheduled to go up all along in there but the Bruce Trail people had a problem with that, and I guess it has all been ‘put on the fence’ for now.
Thanks for the input guys. I had no idea that this area was so popular with tourists and hikers. I have been up and down the Dundas Sub many times and have seen people hiking up to the peak and back down again. Always gave then a toot on the horn or a wave. I remember seeing cars parked at what was the entrance to Dundas station behind a single wire cable. The cars were never obstructing the highway. Sad to hear that one can’t even pull over to grab a photo or 2 without fear of being hassled. I assume that these are local cops and not CN police?
To be honest, having responsible railfans on the ground as we roll by is always a good thing, as its another set of eyes and ears in case something is wrong on our trains.
Sad that it has come to this.
You are all out capturing our railroad history. There should never be a problem with taking a photograph is done responsibly. Period!
Hamilton has plenty of room to expand parking off of Fallsview Road East that would be pretty non intrusive on the locals. I’ve spent half of my life in Port Dalhousie where heavy tourism is encouraged despite the road constraints. It sucks how congested it gets, but it’s the way it goes. I’m not entirely against paid parking, just make it available and don’t rip people off like they’re doing now.
Looking back, Hamilton took the opportunity to add a tourist train at Sulphur Springs on the former Waterford Sub and let it fall right down the mountain. That was three decades ago, so I guess not much has changed if you think about it. The wealthy mountainers seem pretty intolerant, I’ll just leave it at that.
It’s too bad Dundas station was knocked down. Seems like it’d be pretty useful now as a seasonal station. Maybe even a gift shop set up for tourists. Hindsight’s golden.
Thanks all – glad to hear a fence has not gone up yet. So we can still get shots
just gotta walk up the access road, get shots, and get out 
Phil most of the problem is on top of the mountain, but a steady stream of people do walk down the lower level and hike up.
I’ve described it in my shots in prior years – in the Fall there can be well over a thousand people up there at all times. It’s literally nuts and overrun with tourists. This is why all the craziness.