October Railfanning

 

Fall Rail Scenes In Northern Ontario....by Don Janes

     On Oct 7 my wife and I headed up to Northern Ontario to take in some of the fall colours in and around Algonquin Park. We stayed in the town of Huntsville and took day trips to different areas.  The day we left was overcast an rainy but we soldiered on hoping the weather would break.  Our first stop was the small village of Washago, a once busy railroad junction. It is still a junction but a majority of the trains traverse the CN Bala Sub between Toronto and Capreol and points west.  The line to North Bay is still there but sees very limited traffic, only one train a  day and a switcher out of Huntsville on the Newmarket Sub which used to go all the way south to Toronto but now ends at Washago. There is still a section between Barrie and Toronto used by Go transit.

      The reason I stopped at Washago was to get a few photos of the old concrete coal tower that still stands there.  Last time I was there I was apprehended by the CN police for walking on railway property so this time I was much more careful.  As we arrived at the coal tower the sun came out so I took several photos.  We waited a short time but no trains came so we headed up to Huntsville.

Here are a couple of views of the old coal tower at Washago. It is still in good shape considering it is very old.

     Our next stop was at the old CN Huntsville train station which is used for something else now since no passenger trains call on Huntsville anymore. It was getting late and the clouds were moving in again but I managed to get some photos of the CN locomotive assigned to the roadswitcher out of Huntsville.

CN GP38-2 4790 is currently assigned to the Huntsville roadswitcher

An image of days gone by at the Huntsville station

     The next day we spent touring around Algonquin Park, one of Ontario's most famous Provincial Parks.  The scenery was awesome and it was a great day. Last year we camped there but opted for a hotel this year.

     On Oct. 9 we headed over to Parry Sound.  After some shopping we headed out to one of my favorite railfanning spots, Lawson Bay Road where the CN mainline passes along a nice little lake. I have never been there in the autumn so was hoping the leaves would be colourful and I was not disappointed. It was cloudy but the colours were still nice and there were no harsh shadow like on a sunny day.  It wasn't long before a northbound CN freight train came around a curve and into view along the lake.  It had on unit on the front and a DPU in the middle.

The first fright we saw at Lawson Bay Road was a mixed freight.

Here is the DPU about half way back in the train

   As we sat by the lake drinking coffee and enjoying nature we heard a rumble in the distance.  It is hard to tell if it is a CN or CP train as the CP tracks are not too far away.  A few seconds later the crossing bells started and another northbound train came into view.  This time a heavy intermodal train headed up by three engines. After this train passed we packed up and headed to Mactier, a CP division point about twenty minutes south.  I wanted to try and get there while we still had fairly good light in case we were lucky enough to see a train there.  On our way we saw a third northbound CN train at Dock Siding.  I didn't get a shot but it was another heavy intermodal train.      

 

Three units lead a northbound intermodal train at Lawson Bay Road

     After the second CN train passed we headed to Mactier, a CP division point about twenty minutes south.  Mactier used to have a large yard and roundhouse but today has only a few yard tracks and a small yard office for incoming and outgoing crews to use.  There was some MOW cars sitting in the yard so I grabbed some shots. A few minutes after we arrived a northbound CP container train pulled up to the yard office and stopped to change crews. Within 10 minutes they were on their way again.  It was a very long train with one unit up front and another DPU about mid way back in the train.  Once the train cleared we headed back to Huntsville taking in the beautiful scenery as we went.

               

A MOW caboose and cars were parked in the yard

The CP container train departing Mactier with a DPU placed in the middle of the train. The sun popped out just as he started to move.

This CP wide vision caboose has been in Mactier for years but it has been recently repainted and looks very nice.

     On Oct.10 we headed for home, making a stop in Barrie to visit out daughter and granddaughters.  We made one final stop in Palmerston, a once busy CN terminal that now has no rail service but there is a small steam engine on display and the the station is now a Museum. Unfortunately it was closed account the Covid19 pandemic.  The old CN steamer #81 had just been repainted and looked great.  

     It was a great trip and it was great to get away after spending months sticking close to home. Hopefully next year the world will be in a better place.

CN #81 has been recently restored and looks great.

The old CN station has been turned into a very nice museum with several old pieces of rolling stock on display. Note the old walkway that used to go over the entire yard so people didn't have to cross the track in this once busy terminal