Canadian Railroads > Medicine Hat Monday - Late Day on the East Side

This will be my last post of Medicine Hat from a trip in 2015; the most recent is from a few days ago at https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,4575758. The date is July 24, 2015, and having shot at Bellcott, we wanted to shoot some WB dropping down the hill on the east side of town, where a paved walking/running/cycling trail overlooks the last few miles of the Maple Creek Sub. The light would be perfect, but would CP cooperate? Eventually, and barely, they did, as you'll see.
1. There were two or more WB hung up at Dunmore, and we were so caught up in the scanner chatter that we got jumped by this EB climbing out of the Hat. The signal is at MP 143.3, and the mile board for Macson, the west connector to the Taber Sub, is where the two white tank cars meet. Old GE 8844 is leading very shiny 3010, apparently freshly shopped and repainted, with a mixed bag with lots of tanks, at 1828; lens set at 86 mm.
2. The scanner gave us talk about some sort of papers/forms being in the van, but because this area wasn't familiar to us, neither TJ nor I clued in. The mystery was solved at 1914, when 2293, 2314, and 2232, rounded the point and hauled past us with some mixed freight, lots of tanks, and a van. This was exciting to me because I'd never seen GP20C-ECOs before, let alone shoot them (I'd pretty much shelved shooting once K64 died, and didn't get the DSLR until May 2015, so this was the maiden road trip), and it was also a thrill to see a working van.
3. I don't remember when the last time was I'd seen a van on the tail of a freight, so I had to shoot this; unfortunately, the train was a bit too long and the power had disappeared around the corner. Lens set at 20 mm. Someone will surely know, but perhaps this is the #1 Switcher? I know that in the morning, they run west of town to Redcliff as the #2 Switcher.

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4. The sun was gorgeous, but it was setting, and the shadows creeping closer and closer to the tracks, and still CP had a pair of WB hung up in Dunmore. They finally got things rolling, having made stack train #119 pick up a cut of mixed garbage, and barely beat the shadows at 1929. It took them forever to figure this out, and I don't think the crew was happy at all, but what were they going to do? I nearly had a conniption fit; why not have some other freight diddle around with this traffic?
5. Having lost that part of the track to shadow, I moved to my right where the land was set back from the tracks and opened the light up, to shoot #293 at 1943 with mixed freight, lens set at 32 mm. This is desert country, but great temperatures, so a bit of irrigation sure makes a bright green backdrop. My buddy was set up well to my left, and a woman walking her little fluff-ball dog came by me just before the train, and yapped up a storm. So sure enough, by the time the train's rolling by TJ's tripod, video rolling, the dog drew level and filled his microphone. He was not amused. I'd shoot the Hat at the drop of a hat; this is a great place, if you like the desert and an oasis.
Fred

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Well done.

KG

Wow!

Nice cab on the end. Glad you stuck around for the rear of the train.

Well done. Vibrant color and congratulations on IOTD.

Excellent shots Fred! I'll admit I've neglected shooting around The Hat, but may have to spend some time in the area in the future!

-Trevor

Killer shots!

Fantastic photos Fred. Thanks for posting. Cheers, David

Good stuff! I have enjoyed your Medicine Hat coverage. The city of Medicine Hat itself was always one the places I liked when I worked in Canada. Everything you could want in a nice sized city with a good transit system.

Jim

Nice pics!!  I like Pics 4 and 5!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/18 14:47 by ns1000.