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Caption: VIA 6448 has backed train #693 into the station for a 09:00 on-time arrival after it's overnight trek from Gillam, MB to Churchill, MB with another trainload of folks eager to explore the northern Manitoba town and surroundings. Passengers have detrained and the trucks and vans from local tour operators line up to gather the new group of sightseers and their luggage. The station platform, parking lot, and roadway at the front of the station are a beehive of activity while the HBR yard on the engineers side of 6448 is void of any movement. This scene will quickly reverse once the newly arrived passengers are whisked away to their respective motels and the HBR yard crew and MoW guys start a very busy day of car switching, tie unloading, and track maintenance. There was no shortage of interesting activity around the Churchill station or train yard each of the three days I was in town.
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Nice clean looking power, I don’t see much bug spatter on the nose or windows. Is the HEP providing the required power for the equipment during the layover?
According to many of my on board photos taken during the trip to Churchill, most of the bugs found their way to the forward facing windows of the Skyline car. The windows were filthy when VIA 693 departed Winnipeg on July 31, and they were not cleaned once at any of the major stops during the 2-day journey to Churchill.
The locomotives and HEP generators were shut down during the equipment layover time in Churchill. Once the passengers and other arrival activity had cleared the platform, 480 volt wayside power cables were connected through the lead locomotive. I believe I have a shot of a train set connected to the wayside power at Churchill and will see if it is worthy of posting later today.
Hey Paul, there is the picture I was asking about showing a pick up van on the platform (instead of old time baggage carts and wagons). Very nice picture of VIA passenger train head end and good view of the station in the background. Is there a wye just south of the station for turning the train ? As you can see from the number of views, your excellent pictures taken on your trip to Churchill are popular ! Many thanks, John
Glad you are enjoying the photos from my Churchill trip. Yes, there is a wye south of Churchill at Mile 505.0 on the Herchmer Sub. Northbound VIA #693 takes the wye and backs into Churchill for detraining of passengers. I noticed on August 2, 2022 when my VIA #693 made the turn there was new CWR (continuous welded rail) and larger tie plates laid out around both legs of the wye. Arriving in Churchill that same morning I saw several pieces of work equipment for a mini rail gang (spike puller, Speed Swing, cribber/adzer, spike driver) parked on track ZC 42 preparing to head south from town, likely to change out the rail on the wye.