Canadian Railroads > Montreal question

In July I will be at a conference at the University of Quebec at Montreal and staying at the Hôtel Les Gouverneurs, which I believe is downtown somewhere. Where can I go on foot to get some train photos? I'd love to see those striped Port of Montreal switchers, but I'll settle for mainline action or whatever I can get.

Thanks,
L.F.

If you are interested in freight trains our best bet is to climb on a bus or AMT commuter train and ride to Dorval.  An alternative would be ride the subway (Metro) to Saint-Henri and stand at CN's de Courcelles level crossing.  Busiest days are Wednesday to Sunday.  Worst day is Trainless Tuesday when virtually nothing runs on the CN.  CP is a waste of time.  They run very few freight trains into and out of Montreal although a couple of westbounds pass through Dorval in the mid to late afternoon.

The Port of Montreal switchers are hard to find and usually dfficult to photograph.

If you want to see commuter trains, ride the AMT to Montreal West for the evening commuter rush.

KG



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/17 03:39 by kgmontreal.

Do the Port of Montreal units still run past the old town / aquarium in the early afternoon? I saw them twice in 2014.

Posted from Android

If you have the chance..... I went along with my girlfriend when she had a conference at McGill University, I took a cab (I hear you can take the bus too) and went to Exporail, its pretty fantastic!! Also, if you head down to Old Montreal, the CN tracks go along the canal/water front.

kgmontreal Wrote:
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> If you are interested in freight trains our best
> bet is to climb on a bus or AMT commuter train and
> ride to Dorval.  An alternative would be ride the
> subway (Metro) to Saint-Henri and stand at CN's de
> Courcelles level crossing.  Busiest days are
> Wednesday to Sunday.  Worst day is Trainless
> Tuesday when virtually nothing runs on the CN. 
> CP is a waste of time.  They run very few freight
> trains into and out of Montreal although a couple
> of westbounds pass through Dorval in the mid to
> late afternoon.
>
> The Port of Montreal switchers are hard to find
> and usually dfficult to photograph.
>
> If you want to see commuter trains, ride the AMT
> to Montreal West for the evening commuter rush.
>
> KG

KG has covered most of it. If passenger trains interest you at all, the Peel Basin is a great spot to see a bunch of them (AMT, VIA Rail and Amtrak) in one location. it's about a 20 minute walk south from downtown. Morning and evening rush hours during the week are the busiest times. http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,4251416,4251416#msg-4251416

Port operations are sporadic; the Port of Montreal tracks/yard are off limits and ther trains very rarely venture onto the CN Wharf Spur, which is the track that passes through the tourist section of Old Montreal. CN 149 usually leaves the port about 0845, on top of that a CN switcher will usually enter and leave the port with a transfer once a day, it basically could pass at any time (though mid-day seems to be somewhat common).

Michael

BCR_766 Wrote:
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> If you have the chance..... I went along with my
> girlfriend when she had a conference at McGill
> University, I took a cab (I hear you can take the
> bus too) and went to Exporail, its pretty
> fantastic!

AMT Candiac Line commuter trains also serve St. Constant (the stop for Exporail).

When lingering on an AMT platform, make sure you have an unexpired, validated ticket, or stay at he VIA Rail (CN) station

CPR_4000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BCR_766 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > If you have the chance..... I went along with
> my
> > girlfriend when she had a conference at McGill
> > University, I took a cab (I hear you can take
> the
> > bus too) and went to Exporail, its pretty
> > fantastic!
>
> AMT Candiac Line commuter trains also serve St.
> Constant (the stop for Exporail).

Yes, the mid-day run is decently convenient for that.... however no trains run on the weekend on this line.

Michael

God help you if you miss either leg of that Candiac line round trip. You'll wind up with a very complex bus itinerary with STM and CIT Rousillon, and you'll need Google Translate to figure it out.
Oui.

Great, thanks everyone.

- L.F.

The POM switchers can be seen from the sidewalk of Notre-Dame street where it crosses over CP's tracks into the port. This is a little to the east of the Jacques Cartier bridge.

Ray

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