Canadian Railroads > Montreal to Halifax Trip

Last week my dad and I rode the Ocean from Montreal to Halifax and back. Thursday afternoon and Friday we had time to railfan around Montreal before boarding the train. We caught a lot of Via traffic!

1. VIA6409 leads a train East moving at a brisk 93mph. This location was near the Garer Beaurepaire commuter station west of Dorval. It was the only at-grade crossing we found west of Dorval (until we got west of the bridges).

2. A westbound Via train heads across the water at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. This was quite the cool bridge. I'd be interested in when it was originally built; the bridge piers looked pretty ancient, but in good shape.

3. We were about 20 seconds from getting a great east-west meet on the bridge! Instead, the meet occured behind the trees on the bridge approach.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/19 21:18 by mtzctrain.

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4. After visiting a hobby shop on the north side of the city Thursday evening, we found some Quebec and Gatineau geeps idling in the yard on that side of town.

5. Back at the Dorval train station, we caught one of the few freight trains we would see on the trip heading into the CN yard.

6. Shortly after, a CP train took off west through Dorval. This was the only CP train we caught!

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7. As the light faded, we caught one last Via train heading East into Dorval. 

8-9. Friday Morning, we decided to try going to Peel Basin to catch trains in and out of Central Station, but the Peel Basin was closed off. Instead, we found a lot to park in on the other side of the canal and walked down the hiking path to catch some trains crossing the canal. It was a bitterly cold morning, so after standing for about a half hour and almost freezing, we went back to the car and moved on.

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10. Crossing the Victoria Jubilee Bridge, we caught the Amtrak Adirondack leaving Saint Lambert station. Looks like Amtrak 104 had some fresh blue decals applied recently.

11. Back west of Dorval, another Via screams past at the grade crossing.

12. Before our return trip on The Ocean, I was able to grab a photo of our lead unit in Halifax.

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13. After returning to Montreal, we had a few hours to kill trackside before my flight, so we went back to the Dorval station.

14. One of the trains appears to have had a violent encounter with a wild turkey, leaving a mark on the nose, as well as a wing on the plow.

15. VIA 908 leads a quartet of Budd cars on the last westbound I caught before leaving to catch my flight.

We were surprised that there was virtually no freight traffic moving on CN or CP during the times we were trackside. THe line west out of Montreal had to be one of the busiest passenger corridors I've visited. The variety of equipment that Via uses kept things interesting as well.

Our trip on The Ocean was good as well. On our way east, we encountered quite a few CN freight trains, but managed to arrive 1 hour 45 minutes late into Halifax. The return trip saw less freight, with an almost on-time arrival into Montreal (only 25 minutes late). The service and staff on the train was great! Definitely a great trip!

Thanks for looking!
   -Caleb

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The CN bridge over the Ottawa River dates back to the 1850's, and I think the bridge piers date that far back. The route was double tracked just after 1900, and the piers appeared to have been extended, also in stone at that time. 

As for the spans, I think most have been replaced in the last forty years. Growing up in Montreal in the 1960's, I seem to recall more through trusses.

I seem to recall there was an intact stone arch culvert from the 1850's just west of the bridge.

Photos 8 & 9 used to be a great setting with Downtown and Mount Royal as a backdrop.  Now all of the Condos and hotel spoils the view.  Also in these photos all of the cranes etc are for Montreal's new light rail system being built. (REM)

4489 Wrote:
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> Photos 8 & 9 used to be a great setting with
> Downtown and Mount Royal as a backdrop.  Now all
> of the Condos and hotel spoils the view.  Also in
> these photos all of the cranes etc are for
> Montreal's new light rail system being built.
> (REM)

Ahh, I wondered what was being built so close to the existing tracks! I didn't think they would be building a roadway above there.

mtzctrain Wrote:
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>
> We were surprised that there was virtually no
> freight traffic moving on CN or CP during the
> times we were trackside. THe line west out of
> Montreal had to be one of the busiest passenger
> corridors I've visited. The variety of equipment
> that Via uses kept things interesting as well.
>
>
> Thanks for looking!
>    -Caleb

CN's freight traffic is currently much heavier than CP's in Montreal (more than double the number of trains), but it can still be bunched up, with long stretches with no freight trains.

Michael

Excellent !!! Thank you for sharing !!! :):):)

Seems that there are more units in the "Silver and Yellow" livery that VIA will be adopting (???) with its new fleet of cars that will be emerging post 2023........The F40s, P42s, various LRC's and all Renaissance are/were in a dark green/yellow livery, that seems to be on its way out.......