698 southbound at Utterson towing GO coach 2341 (out of view around the bend) back to Willowbrook from the ONR North Bay shops, a leftover from their (un-renewed) GO refurb contract. The new contr... (more)
595 southbound along Stephenson Road 7 in Allensville.
Splashes of fall color are beginning to appear as 698 rounds the curve at Mile 144 of the CN Newmarket Sub on a brisk late summer afternoon.
The southbound Northlander passes the local Timbr-Mart, situated between the railroad tracks and the Muskoka River on a tract of land that has housed a sawmill or some incarnation thereof since th... (more)
Old number 2 prepares to run around its train at Fairy Lake. The old station building used to be the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Navigation Co. Purser's Cabin at Norway Point, Lake of Bays. Observ... (more)
The hunchbacked CN 2263 in charge of CN A45131 20 has just made its early morning drop at Huntsville and will now return to pick up the rest of its train before continuing on to North Bay. The mod... (more)
The hunchbacked CN 2263 greets the dawn, slowing at the south end of town to cut off two cars for today's Huntsville Yard drop. The modified long hood houses emissions testing equipment.
698 slows to pick up a pile of passengers at Huntsville.
595 southbound for Washago, under a few whispy clouds in an otherwise blue sky.
Just another of the multitude of morning rush commuter trains heads for Toronto Union just after leaving Oakville Station. This train is on Track 4, the "pocket track". Track 4 used to be Track 3 ... (more)
Southbound Northlander blasts around the curve and crosses Highway 141 in Utterson. This small village boasts a little Post Office, a General Store/Tack Shop and a few other businesses. While it i... (more)
Don't laugh! Oh, go ahead, laugh if you must! It is a funny looking little critter, but on a small narrow gauge operation like ours it actually comes in pretty handy, doing tr... (more)
Taking the old Brookville for a spin up the line after giving her a tune-up. This little switcher is powered by a late '60s Ford smallblock coupled to an automatic transmission and a reversible tr... (more)
The Portage Flyer approaches Fairy Lake Station on its second day of operations in 3 years. The coaches were both built in 1894 as horse-drawn trolleys before being acquired by the Huntsville and ... (more)
First fire in 3 years. Last night Judy and I spent 3 hours painting the boiler and steam dome with high-temp aluminum paint. This morning Chief Engineer Greg and I covered them with insulat... (more)
First fire in 3 years. Last night Judy and I spent 3 hours painting the boiler and smoke dome with high-temp aluminum paint. This morning Chief Engineer Greg and I covered them with insulat... (more)
ONR 1805 leads 698 southbound through Martins.
VIA 82 blasts past Oakville Station under threatening skies.
CN 450 with "ES44DCm " 2263 leading crosses over Bracebridge Falls as work continues on the power stations below. 2263 has been modified with emissions testing equipment; note the new section with... (more)
Amtrak 175 leads VIA 97/Amtrak 64 - "The Maple Leaf" - westbound through Oakville on the first leg of its daily TO - NYC run. After having transfered the "butt-ugliest award" over to the MPI dildo... (more)
An increasingly rare daytime 450 heads south alongside Aspdin Road. Something looks different about this lead unit. The center section of the long hood has been raised to house some emissions test... (more)
...and the Consist of the Day Award goes to...CP 247! The early morning mist still obscures the Niagara Escarpment in the background but has lifted enough to allow the sun to shine on this ... (more)
Niagara Falls - Toronto VIA meets CN 385 at Bayview.
The leaves are starting to pop out in this part of the country as 2200 leads the southbound Northlander up a bit of a grade tucked between Aspdin Road and Lake Vernon, on their way to a meet with ... (more)
Today's southbound Northlander featured the ever-regal 1805, captured here at the south mileboard to Martins Siding. This used to be the location of a previous siding known as Mallard Siding, long... (more)
Caught this train on its southbound journey yesterday as 698. Would have missed it today as it was running a bit early, but my dog (who likes train-watching as much as she likes car rides) heard i... (more)
Still pretty shiny! Driving home this morning from my daughter's wedding yesterday, I spotted (from the highway overpass in the background) a clear signal for a southbound on the Bala Sub. We made... (more)
Having been out of town for a few days (to give away my daughter's hand in marriage) I was pleased to see a canary-nosed GP40 leading the Northlander again, helping to brighten up a dead-looking l... (more)
More classic GMD power in Oakville Yard.
I've been trying to catch this pair of old geeps sandwiching GMD1u 1444 around Oakville Yard the past couple of days but didn't succeed in getting a clear shot until now, as they head back ... (more)
Lately 450 has been mostly nocturnal however the past couple of days it's come through during the daylight hours. Today being the first sunny day for this I decided it was worth a short chase when... (more)
After chasing 450 from my place down to Bracebridge I continued south to Gravenhurst to wait for it out front of the station there. A quick zoom out to 24mm gives a wide angle view of the train pa... (more)
After chasing 450 from my place down to Bracebridge I continued south to Gravenhurst to wait for it out front of the station there.
595 passes Siding Lake in a torrential downpour, on its way home to Huntsville from (I would hazard a guess) Stepan Chemicals at Longford Mills, south of Washago. Nice to see 4136 back home again ... (more)
698 with recently washed, chevron paint schemed 1805 leading hits the big curve at Utterson on its way south to Toronto. A few days ago while leading 697 north on the Bala Sub 1805 caught a turkey... (more)
697 approaches the south end of Huntsville, passing by Lake Vernon which is now 99% ice-free.
595 takes 3 boxcars from the Panolam plant down at Martins back to Huntsville yard, paced by a Honda SUV along Aspdin Road. 4138 is filling in for 4136, the usual power for the Huntsville roadswit... (more)
698 leans into the superelevated curve at Utterson on what turned into a nice spring day. The previous morning we woke up to snow covering the ground but it mostly has disappeared now.
Out panning GO trains, trying not to show them as dull, boring and omnipresent as they most often seem to be.
Ontario Southland 506 leads 504 across a country road on their way from Guelph Junction to Guelph with interchange traffic from Canadian Pacific.
CN 570 light engine move returns from its "daily 385 rescue mission" after CN 385 went into emergency halfway up the Niagara Escarpment. I suspect a broken coupler and these guys pushed the tail e... (more)
A bit of green is starting to show through the brown as the fields come back to life for another season. 698 has just crossed over the same creek that took out a fifteen-foot wide chunk of Old Mus... (more)
An hour before sunrise the sky is just beginning to lighten after a long, dark and cold night as the first eastbound GO train of the day heads for Toronto from Hamilton, with the signals for the D... (more)
VIA 82 weaves over to Track 3 of the CN Oakville Sub for its station stop at Aldershot having just come down the Niagara Escarpment on the Dundas Sub.
Southbound out of Huntsville on the advertised.
1805 leads the Northlander southbound approaching Mile 149 on the CN Newmarket Sub, just north of Huntsville.
Canary-nose 2200 crosses over Bracebridge Falls behind Silver Bridge as work on the generating station continues below.
1805 leads the Northlander over a landscape that's beginning to emerge from it's covering of snow.
With paint so shiny you can even see the nose handrails reflecting in it if you look closely, ex-BNSF C40-8 2148 and SD70M-2 8911 haul almost 2 miles of CN 422 across Mississauga Road. The train w... (more)
422 climbs up the Halton Sub approaching Mississauga Road led by freshly repainted ex-BNSF C40-8 2148 and SD70M-2 8911.
422 is back on its way after collecting multiple hits off the defect detector at Mile 20 of the CN Halton Sub. With over 10,000' of train today the freshly painted ex-BNSF C40-8 and SD70M-2 8911 h... (more)
422 struggles up the hill to Bayview led by freshly repainted ex-BNSF C40-8 2148 teamed up with SD70M-2 8911, shaking the earth and serenading us with a wonderful cacaphony of two distinct exhaust... (more)
The Northlander glides across the South Branch of the Muskoka River on a sunny spring day, led by a bright yellow GP40-2.
Since it was clouding over down by my place I headed north a bit where it was still sunny to catch today's 698. Wanted one more snow shot as warmer weather and rain is moving in, and will probably... (more)
On a sunny and warm afternoon 698 peeks around a small hill alongside Aspdin Road with 2200 leading. Although 1805 in it's old chevron scheme is by far my favorite looking locomotive, I do have to... (more)
This is the Ontario Northland North Bay Shops "grunge booth", located next to the paint booth. In here the car bodies are jacked up and the trucks rolled out of the way so that the cars can be tho... (more)
698 on approach to North Bay Station with the absolute best looking unit on the roster leading. As part of the Ontario Northland Rail Fan Tour we were blessed with 1805 leading us both north on Su... (more)
1809 seen in the Ontario Northland's Shops for routine maintenance. Remarkably, even with four different light temperatures (HID, Sodium Vapor, Fluorescent and even a bit of daylight creeping in) ... (more)
An SD75I gets some routine maintenance in the ONR Shops. Taken while on a tour put on by Ontario Northland; with permission, all safety equipment worn, yadda, yadda... Uploaded from Northlander 69... (more)
Another shot from "Dave Blaze's favorite spot that he's never been to" but looking north this time and with my favorite Northlander power ONR 1805. Yes, I kept the road in the frame just for you, ... (more)
Today didn't start off too well for 451 as it put some wheels on the ground at Pefferlaw early this morning. Fortunately it was only a single truck so after a few hours of aggravation she was on h... (more)
After a snowy morning the sun came out for the rest of the day, perfect conditions for shooting the afternoon Northlander passing the south switch at Martins.
Most unusual! I heard CN 595 saying they were going to hold at Martins for a meet with 697 and thought "why the heck not head down at least to Falkenburg, 697 won't be by for at least 90 mi... (more)
698 leans into the steeply banked curve at Utterson as the sun drops toward the horizon. Just two weeks ago the sun was too low in the sky here by the time the Northlander went by to get a shot wi... (more)
Saw this train heading north this morning as 697. Because of some operational problems somewhere between North Bay and Cochrane train service north of North Bay was replaced by busses, so the same... (more)
CN 450 rumbles down alongside Stephenson Road 7 between Allensville and Utterson.
Took advantage of the sunshine today and caught 697 coming around the south side of Lake Vernon approaching the south end of Huntsville. If you look closely back in the trees you can see the humpe... (more)
451 pauses under the Higway 11 bridges at the south end of town to uncouple 9 cars to drop at Huntsville Yard. 5771 leads 2 GE C40-8 variants today, new/old 2118 and cowl unit 2444.
On a blustery day the Tangerine Machine leads the southbound Northlander plus GO cab car 222 past the Mile 138 marker en route to Toronto. The snowmobile trail I'm standing on parallels Stephenson... (more)
698 leans into the bend approaching Huntsville Station, passing the large vertical tanks of the plastic pipe plant in the background. Is it just me, or does 1809's new replacement numberboard (as ... (more)
Coming down the hill from the north end of Martin's Siding, now known simply as "Martins", 4136 runs in to a bit of snow as it prepares to switch the Panolam plant.
Beneath these bridges rage the Bracebridge Falls, going full-tilt these days as no water is being diverted through the power stations which are gutted - presumably for turbine/generator refits. No... (more)
A very late running 451 has diverted the southbound Northlander onto the passing track at Martins. The derail protects the passing track and main from cars parked on the back track and the spur u... (more)
Crossing what used to be known as Thunder Bridge, 698 coasts into Huntsville. Interestingly enough the angled concrete bridge in the background used to be known as Thundering Bridge back in... (more)
Over three weeks since the winter solstice and getting hit by an early sunset along with a late train I decided to return to Bracebridge to see if I could get a shot of the southbound Northlander ... (more)
A Rare Occurrence: 4136 had just been to North Bay for some reason or other and had been wyed while there. Although it is always supposed to be returned to Huntsville pointing south it wasn... (more)
The Northlander, with 1809 shining in all its tangerine glory on the point, hits a brief spot of sunshine before the clouds reclaim the sky and begin spewing forth snow again. Check out that funky... (more)
Winter Wonderland (the down side): Employees resort to using the heat from a fusee to thaw out a frozen switch lock as 4136 waits patiently.
Winter Wonderland: A few inches of fresh snow overnight still clings to the trees as 4136 pushes a couple of boxcars up the hill from Martins into the Panolam plant.
Southbound Northlander at Martins on a rare sunny winter day.
Q102 snakes down the Bala Sub under the Highway 11 bridge and into Washago with an IC on the point and a SD70M-2 DPU on the rear. That's the Newmarket Sub on the right.
Once again I catch the 1809/1808 duo this time in full sunshine along the shore of Lake Vernon, a few days after shooting them crossing over Bracebridge Falls. Mile 144 is just about the only plac... (more)
Hearing the southbound Northlander calling for clearance south of Huntsville I hoped I'd catch it in sunshine down in Bracebridge as we were clouded over up here. Stood in a foot and a half of sno... (more)
Beneath the fluffy clouds 595 rests in the yard across the main from Huntsville Station, while it's crew grabs a quick lunch. Soon the more ominous clouds visible off to the left will move in for ... (more)
4136 pulls across Domtar Road to clear the south switch at Martins while switching cars for the Panolam (formerly Domtar) plant.
At the time I shot this the Northlander was running about 1 hour behind schedule. When I checked the Northlander status page about an hour later, it had made up 30 minutes of that. It was really s... (more)
Returning to Huntsville with a couple of boxcars from the Panolam plant down by Martins Siding.
Sometime during the night a freight had passed through here so the major crossing drifts had already been busted. None the less, ON 1800 strikes a fine pose as it plows through the Domtar Road cro... (more)
Just minutes after David Brook caught this train at Guelph Junction (click on road number to see his shot added yesterday and another today) it approaches my position at Millburough Line with a co... (more)
