Back when the Northlander still ran the rails.
The receding snow line signals the approach of spring as CN 451 rolls through Allensville on a crisp mid-April morning.
Held up last night by a glowing red axle bearing just 10 miles after departing North Bay and meeting today's 451 at Trout Creek CN 450 was able to get underway again by noon today. After another s... (more)
After arriving in North Bay many hours late due to striking a backhoe 40 miles north of here as CN 451 (causing fatal injuries to the backhoe operator) 450 departed North bay well into daylight to... (more)
CN 451 kicks up powder approaching Mile 138 CN Newmarket Sub.
CN 595 returning to Huntsville with one boxcar after switching the Panolam plant at Martins.
The CP Holiday Train steps out over the Seguin River in Parry Sound after a slight delay caused by a CN stack train running just ahead of it having an unplanned stop right on the bridge. Parry Sou... (more)
The CP Holiday Train makes its (slightly delayed) performance stop at the CP Parry Sound Station just after dark. With everyone on the far side watching the performance I was left with a clear sho... (more)
An SD75I and a Dash 8 cowl unit lead today's 451 approaching Martins. A few years ago this sort of power was typical on the Newmarket Sub. These days it's a rare treat and pleasant change from the... (more)
An "old gunboat" and a geep in Oakville Yard prepare to service the Ford plant's auto loading facility:
CN 595 heads home for Huntsville Yard after switching customers in Huntsville, South River and finally Martins.
CN 595 sit ready for the next day's work during a break in what passes for "April Showers" around these parts.
CN Work 908 makes its way south from Huntsville with work at Washago, Brechin and Pefferlaw through a bit of a snow squall.
Back on familiar rails! Since the closure of Stepan Chemical in Longford Mills south of Washago late 2016 CN 595 has not ventured south of Martins, Mile 141 CN Newmarket Sub. Any incidental... (more)
CN 451 out of the woods and into the morning sun, approaching Huntsville after meeting a late-running 450 at Martins a couple of miles back.
CN 451 pokes its nose out of the woods with a CREX leaser trailing.
CP's Canada 150 Train crosses Bala Falls on the Muskoka River after overnighting in MacTier. They had a performance in Sudbury the previous night and are on their way to Hamilton for another tonig... (more)
CN 451 emerges from the foggy woods as the sun begins to burn through after many days of rain and severe weather.
Panning a Classic! Normally nocturnal CN 451 today wasn't ordered out of Macmillan Yard until after daybreak, and it was just shortly after noon when it got to my neck of the woods. They mu... (more)
Its work at Martins completed just as CN 451 went by, CN 595 follows a few minutes behind along the shore of frozen Lake Vernon. The venerable old geep is the usual power for this job, but this we... (more)
A very late-running 451 approaches the south end of Huntsville in full daylight for a change on St. Paddy's Day. Me catching it must've been the Luck o' the Irish - guess the crew weren't Irish! ;... (more)
The last train of our morning spent in Paris Ontario last week was this eastbound manifest. Since it looked like the sky was starting to cloud over we decided to bug out for home and perhaps get a... (more)
Eastbound VIA 70 crossing the Grand River in Paris, ON.
A pair of Dash 9s totaling 8400 HP lead an eastbound stack train over the Grand River, above the curved dam and remnants of an old mill in Paris Ontario.
CN 3036, 2808 and 7071 lead their train across the Grand River in the pretty southern Ontario village of Paris on a sunny late-winter morning.
5 years ago - about a half year before the provincial government terminated the Northlander passenger rail service - the northbound train is captured rounding the shore of Siding Lake at Martins w... (more)
Snowfighter crew clearing the line from Falkenburg up to Huntsville stops in at Martins to clear the siding and back track. This will make life easier for tomorrow's 595 when it comes down to swit... (more)
CN 2860's paint is still clean and fresh enough to contrast nicely with the snow and blue skies!
A late-running CN 451 winds its way through Huntsville, past an empty set of tie gons on a chilly winter morning.
Yesterday's Jordan Spreader move was taking it relatively easy through this section compared to what it had faced further south. It was following a couple of hours behind a ballast regulator the l... (more)
CN ran a Jordan Spreader up the Newmarket Sub from Washago to Huntsville today, first time I've seen one in these parts since about 30 years ago when they used to keep one parked at Martins or in ... (more)
Gone but not forgotten! On a perfect spring day back in 2011 the Ontario Northland "Northlander" winds through the curves at Mile 144 of the CN Newmarket Sub just south o... (more)
The 2016 CP Holiday Train creeps across the 1,695' long by 115' high trestle over the Seguin River in Parry Sound, Ontario as dusk settles in.
After dropping rail a couple of miles north, CN Work 914 continues southbound on the Newmarket Sub passing through the curve at Utterson.
Attended a wedding in Parry Sound this afternoon, got there early to see if I could catch anything going over the harbor on the CP trestle. Missed the first one by a stoplight, but caught this one... (more)
CN Work 914 - a CWR train headed up by a GP38-2 long hood forward - is seen here holed up at Martins after using up their allotment of rail the previous few days along the northern parts of the Ne... (more)
Oops! Some days you're better off staying in bed, and this was one of mine.
CN 595, CN 4132 solo, southbound by Mile 138 Newmarket Sub on a beautiful summer morning. They're heading for Stepan Chemical in Longford Mills, south of Washago on the old Newmarket Spur. Stepan ... (more)
CN 595 heads south for Longford Mills during some typical late-April flurry activity.
CN 451 eases into the south end of Huntsville Yard where it will set out some loads then continue on to North Bay.
A normally nocturnal CN 451 - running late enough to put it well into daylight - skirts the south shore of Lake Vernon with work just ahead in Huntsville before continuing on to North Bay.
A normally nocturnal CN 451 - running late enough to put it well into daylight - approaches the south switch at Martins on its way from MacMillan Yard in Vaughan to North Bay.
A pair of new-ish units, CN 3002 and 8900 roll southbound light through Utterson on an early spring afternoon. The utility pole and empty roadbed in the foreground bear witness to what once was ... (more)
CN 595 continues around the bend at Utterson kicking up some more fresh powder on its way south to Longford Mills.
CN 595 around the curve approaching Utterson, southbound for Longford Mills.
CN 1439 sits idling in Huntsville Yard on a summer evening, awaiting its next job.
CN 595 leans into the curve at Parkersville, southbound with one tank for Stepan Chemical in Longford Mills.
With their kits already sitting out on the short hood the crew of 595 has only a couple more moves to make before heading home on Christmas Eve 2015.
Four years less a couple of days ago the (since discontinued) northbound Northlander is captured approaching Old North Road just north of Huntsville. Yup - a lot of "north" in there so h... (more)
A crowd has gathered near the rear of the CP Holiday Train for the performance that is about to begin, but this future railfan is more interested in checking out what makes it all go.
CN 4132 returning north with one tank from Stepan Chemical in Longford Mills.
CN 4132 idles away in Huntsville Yard at the dawn of a cold November day, awaiting the call to duty.
Driving into town today a brighter than normal red Geep nose caught my eye. A closer look revealed that CN 4132, the usual local power, had been replaced by 4110 while the former is down in MacMil... (more)
CN 595 makes its way back to Huntsville after switching the Panolam plant at Martins in a brief spot of sunlight on a typically unsettled October morning.
CN 4132 peeks through the fall foliage along Aspdin Road, just west (timetable south) of Huntsville on a brisk October morning.
A couple of years ago (or even last year for that matter) hearing that 451 was on its way up the Newmarket Sub with a Dash 8 cowl unit leading would be just another yawn moment, but lately with th... (more)
Passing the old Gravenhurst Station, an (almost) empty CWR train heads south down the Newmarket Sub the day after backing up over 100 miles from Washago to drop of some rail.
An (almost) empty CWR train heads south down the Newmarket Sub headed up by a nice looking Dash 8.
A CP manifest crosses the Seguin River at the head of the harbor in Parry Sound. The MV Chippewa III was originally built in 1955 as a "Maid of the Mist" boat to ply the tumultuous waters at the b... (more)
The Portage Flyer crosses Forbes Hill drive returning to Rotary Village Station on the first run of the last day of 2015 steam operations.
Something you don't see every day, at least for most folks. Fireman Cole spins old No. 2 on the home-built turntable in front of the train shed on the last day of steam operations for 2015.... (more)
A shiny new GE Tier 4 compliant locomotive leads CN 451 up the Newmarket Sub on a not-so-shiny day. The GP9 trailing is the power for CN 595, the Huntsville local, returning home from weekend main... (more)
Unusual power for the Huntsville local, CN 595, this is the first time I personally have seen a GMD1 here (although I'm told there was one around for a day or two 7 or 8 years back).
An overcast day is brightened by the presence of flowers and a pair of standard-cab units (CN 5478 and IC GP38-2 9604) leading a relatively rare daylight 451 north through some typically idyllic M... (more)
Not the usual power for 595, but back in the late 90s it was! 7068 is seen here approaching the south switch at Martins with Siding Lake in the background while filling in for 4132, with the latte... (more)
Not Quite a Double-Header: Coupled behind Loco #2, #1 sees the light of day for the first time in many a year. Looking rather naked without her saddle tank (barely visible sitting beside th... (more)
CN 4132 light power running long hood forward through Bracebridge down to Longford Mills, passing the "station" that used to be a passenger shelter for the now-defunct Ontario Northland "Northland... (more)
Torch on a Train: The 2015 Pan Am Games Torch Relay took to the rails for one of its legs while in Huntsville. The torch bearer on the train's outbound journey was a 13-year old youth athle... (more)
Torch on a Train: The 2015 Pan Am Games Torch Relay took to the rails for one of its legs while in Huntsville. The torch bearer seen walking out of the compound delivered the torch to one o... (more)
CN 451 approaches the south switch at Martins on a sunny spring morning.
CN 4132 heads down an industrial spur at the north end of Huntsville Yard to grab some empty hoppers from the former KWH Pipe - now Uponor - facility located there. The bridge at left of frame car... (more)
The Portage Flyer loads up for the last run of the first day of the 2015 operating season.
Southbound CN 595 heading for Longford Mills with 3 tanks for the Stepan Chemical facility located there.
451 makes it's way up toward the south end of Huntsville on a sunny day in February.
The thing about April is; it never lets you forget just how ugly it can be! With about a week left in the month, CN 595 heads south through Martins with 3 tanks for Stepan Chemicals in Longford Mi... (more)
CN 595 heads south through Allensville in late-April snow flurries with 3 tanks for Stepan Chemicals in Longford Mills and 8 ballast gons to be set out at Washago.
The Agawa Canyon Tour Train has just arrived at it's destination with CN 105 bringing up the rear. At the time 105 was the only one of the three ex-DRGW Ski Train locomotives repainted into tour t... (more)
595 heads south through Parkersville heading for Longford Mills on a beautiful spring day.
The southbound Northlander approaches South River station on a warm summer day in 2009. Unfortunately, this passenger service was discontinued in September of 2012.
Just zoomin' along: A pair of ex-Oakway SD60s power 451 up the Newmarket sub through fog and light rain, which will shortly turn back into snow on this early spring day.
4125 puffing out the blue smoke as it shoves some box cars up the grade on the Panolam plant lead at Martins.
Smoke Signals: The smoke to the right indicates that 4125 has just cleared her throat as the engineer notched up departing Martins Siding, after switching the Panolam plant there. The plant... (more)
CN 595 working at Martins with a different locomotive as the usual power for this job, CN 4132, is down at MacMillan Yard for maintenance.
CN 450 hits the Old Muskoka Road crossing just north of the Newmarket Sub Mile 138 milepost with a BCOL leader, SD60 CN 5442 and GP9RM 4132. The geep is the normal power for the Huntsville roadswi... (more)
A pair of shiny new ES44ACs lead CN 451 north through the curve at Mile 144 of the Newmarket Sub a couple of miles south of Huntsville.
A pair of shiny new ES44ACs lead CN 451 down along the shore of Lake Vernon a mile or so south of Huntsville, providing a nice contrast against the winter landscape.
Pace shot of CN 451 approaching Martins just before sunrise.
CN 451 picks away at a bit of drifting snow as it works its way up the Newmarket Sub just south of Huntsville.
CN 451 approaching South Lancelot Road in Allensville, ON, just shy of Mile 139 - CN Newmarket Sub.
