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General Train Spotting/Photos


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Just thought I'd start a thread for those who have some pics of trains they'd like to share. Nothing fancy, nothing technical (unless you want to of course ;) ), just some nice pics of choo-choo's :)

Kettle Valley Railway ...

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Deutsche Bahn ICE3 @ Cologne Hauptbahnhof ...

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More pics of Cologne Hauptbahnhof ...

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Nederlandse Spoorwegen VIRM Regiorunner @ Amsterdam CS ...

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It's rare to see F40's pulling freight. Would they be any good considering they are geared for passenger service?

http://railpictures.net/photo/543787

Considering the number of F40's that CP Rail leased from VIA and GO transit 20+ years ago, they can't be completely worthless. From what I understand, the passenger gearing is only a shortcoming when it comes to getting a train moving.

And seeing 411 reminds me that some effort should be made to preserve GO transit's heritage. I think we've already missed the boat with the GO carts.

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There's been many other example of F40's used on freight trains. The Canadian American units come to mind.

To say nothing of other passenger units:

U28CG, U30CG, FP45, SDP35, SDP40, SDP45, SDP40F

Of course, a lot of those that did end up in freight service had the passenger gearing changed. Indeed, while I don't have the exact details in front of me, I believe CP was known to swap trucks around on F units.

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Of course, a lot of those that did end up in freight service had the passenger gearing changed. Indeed, while I don't have the exact details in front of me, I believe CP was known to swap trucks around on F units.

Combos (the whole wheelset/gearbox/traction motor assembly) are relatively easily swapped out on locomotives - all that is needed is a drop pit or table, and undoing a (rather large) handful of nuts and bolts. Trucks are bit more involved and require larger equipment, so I wouldn't expect them to have been swapped out willy-nilly.

Dan

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There's been many other example of F40's used on freight trains. The Canadian American units come to mind.

UP also did during the SP take over leased some Amtrak F40's to use on Intermodal trains. Also I believe NS used during the Conrail break up Amtrak F40's on some Roadrailer trains.

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  • 8 months later...
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On 8/30/2016 at 1:03 AM, skyfirenet said:

When was the last time you could say this, but there is new rail going in in the Toronto Portlands. Unfortunately it's not new customers but the track is being upgraded to 115lbs with two carloads of it currently parked at Keating Yard.

20160828_1604551_zpsmxtxt6at.jpg

Hopefully the current customers will increase service with this upgrade taking place.

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On August 30, 2016 at 1:03 AM, skyfirenet said:

When was the last time you could say this, but there is new rail going in in the Toronto Portlands. Unfortunately it's not new customers but the track is being upgraded to 115lbs with two carloads of it currently parked at Keating Yard.

20160828_1604551_zpsmxtxt6at.jpg

Can't see any new customers in the future because of the redevelopment plans. That said, it'll be interesting to see if rail is used at all for material delivery once redevelopment kicks in.

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It's almost certainly not for the portlands - much of the rail down there was replaced in the 1980s, in preparation for the container facility.

 

Considering that they're using TTX flats rather than CN ones, I can't help but think that it's for a local project that isn't inherently railway related. First rail for the Crosstown, perhaps?

 

Dan

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5 hours ago, smallspy said:

It's almost certainly not for the portlands - much of the rail down there was replaced in the 1980s, in preparation for the container facility.

 

Considering that they're using TTX flats rather than CN ones, I can't help but think that it's for a local project that isn't inherently railway related. First rail for the Crosstown, perhaps?

 

Dan

Wouldn't 115 pound rail be overkill for an LRT line?

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7 hours ago, skyfirenet said:

Still, it seems a bit early to be rail for Eglinton. That and I've heard from other railfans that those cars have been there for a few weeks which would suggest some sort of railway related usage.

Well, it's not for any CN-based project, as its not on CN's own rail carrier cars. And its not for a CP project, as they have their own locations with which they can store cars. And 115lb/ft rail is too small for use on mainlines.

 

It's not for either Kitchener or Ottawa or the TYSSE, as all of those projects have a lot of rail down already.

 

That doesn't really leave too many more options now, does it?

 

Dan

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15 hours ago, skyfirenet said:

Well, I wouldn't rule out CP completely at this point. With the recent downturn in rail traffic, CP was stashing cars everywhere. So it's possible that they made arrangements to store those two in Keating Yard until they could find the space elsewhere or when they were needed.

CP would have had to interchange with CN to get those cars there. If CP is storing cars, they sure as shit aren't paying CN to do it. They have more than enough connections with shortlines elsewhere in Ontario to take care of that kind of thing.

 

Thus, they're not CP.

 

Dan

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4 hours ago, smallspy said:

CP would have had to interchange with CN to get those cars there. If CP is storing cars, they sure as shit aren't paying CN to do it. They have more than enough connections with shortlines elsewhere in Ontario to take care of that kind of thing.

 

Thus, they're not CP.

 

Dan

Well, that and Mimico would have been the more obvious choice if CP wanted to do that.

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18 hours ago, skyfirenet said:

Well, that and Mimico would have been the more obvious choice if CP wanted to do that.

CP doesn't service Mimico anymore. So no, not more obvious.

 

21 hours ago, TheAverageJoe said:

Any chance they are in storage there for Union station work or for GO's Richmond Hill line?

There isn't any trackwork scheduled for the USRC on any of the tangent track anytime soon, so I can't see those sections being used there.

 

There is a large tie replacement program going on up the Richmond Hill line right now, but that doesn't necessarily preclude the installation of rail. But they've also replaced the rail in curves with 132lb/ft rail, and I'd think that they've done the same for the sections of straight track as well by now - not that there's an awful lot of it.

 

Dan

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56 minutes ago, skyfirenet said:

Actually, I just meant in terms of where the train servicing Keating & the Portlands originates from, how busy that yard is nowadays, and how close it is to the nearest CP interchange point.

The nearest CP/CN interchange point is West Toronto Yard. That's why the GO cars have to travel to Mac Yard, then Aldershot before they are finally delivered.

 

Dan

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1 hour ago, smallspy said:

The nearest CP/CN interchange point is West Toronto Yard. That's why the GO cars have to travel to Mac Yard, then Aldershot before they are finally delivered.

 

Dan

Huh. That seems rather wasteful considering that the Canpa sub isn't being used like it used to be. But then, I guess it's a case of "that's your problem" from CP's perspective.

Ultimately though, that just underlines that those cars are not for CP since CN would have had multiple opportunities to store them elsewhere before they even reach Keating yard.

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