Canadian Railroads > Winnipeg Railfanning

Hi all,

in 2023 my wife will be teaching embroidery in Winnipeg. This means that I'll have a few days to railfan in the area. Can anyone suggest places to railfan?
in particular, freight trains and yards which are visible from public areas. All suggestions will be gratefully received!

Thanks, Steve

Steve Andrews
Ames, IA

Winnipeg has a wonderful public area behind the Via Rail Union Station called the Forks. It is built on a former CN yard and allows good views of the CN mainline. Central Manitoba Railway runs the occasional train with GP9, GMD-1 and GP38-2. Via has the Canadian, and 692/693 trains. On Main Street, in front of the station one can catch “Blue” the Winnipeg Transit transitway route. It runs south along side the CN Rivers sub mainline and Letellier sub. This route passes beside the Via Winnipeg Maintenance Centre and the Fort Rouge yard. If you get off the bus at Jubilee Station and walk south on the public pathway, you can sit beside the CN mainline and possibly see the BNSF movement coming from their yard to Fort Rouge. Other things to see are the Prairie Dog Central, which features a few steam engines, an SD40, ex GTW GP9, and ex BNSF Manitoba 1685 (GP9). CP activities are in a rougher part of town so I would stick to the CN stuff. Hope you enjoy your visit!

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If you are looking for a single location that has high volume, 45 minutes west of the city is Portage la Prairie.  At West Tower, the CN and CP mainlines cross at a diamond, and the Secondary Mains of both railways converge here as well.  All traffic west of Winnipeg passes through Portage la Prairie.  

Magellan

Thank you so much for the information. Much appreciated.

Steve

Steve Andrews
Ames, IA

If you go over to the Forks, you can take an elevator up to a viewing platform where you can see all activity around the VIA station including all passenger and freight. It is heated!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/21 07:55 by viatrainrider.

The rail museum in/around the Wnnipeg Via station is also worth a visit.

chakk Wrote:
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> The rail museum in/around the Wnnipeg Via station
> is also worth a visit.

It would be if it was still open, but . . .  https://globalnews.ca/news/8363527/winnipeg-railway-museum-to-close-doors-dec-31-seeks-new-home-for-2022/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/21 19:54 by railsmith.