vic.gedris.org - Rail

Railway Child

vic — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:56:22 +0000

May 21, 2011. Alex looking out the window of our GO bus to Hamilton, as a GO train passes by in the distance, with a "Railway Children" banner on the light pole. Location: Lake Shore Blvd., just west of Parkside, Toronto.

Rule 107

vic — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 02:55:22 +0000

June 6, 2011. A "Rule 107" sign, as seen from the VIA train window while passing through Smith's Falls, Ontario on the way to Ottawa.

I didn't know what Rule 107 was either, until I looked it up.

Snowman watching over the tracks

vic — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:37:00 +0000

February 10, 2011. The railway tracks around the Junction Triangle can be great places to go for a walk, even though you're technically not allowed to be here. It's not unusual to find plenty of graffiti and illegally dumped garbage along here, but sometime I come across other unexpected things like this snowman.

This was taken on the Newmarket/Barrie tracks at Paton Rd.

Railway bridge construction over Dupont St.

vic — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:03:05 +0000

December 14, 2010. An alternate view of the photo I posted a couple of days ago. This ramshackle-looking CN railway vehicle was parked on the bridge over Dupont St. at Dundas West for the construction of another railway bridge span. To me, this vehicle almost looks abandoned, though I've seen it in use at various places along the Georgetown tracks during recent construction. The somewhat desolate view north from here towards the West Toronto Diamond (aka The Junction) also makes me think of a more rundown rural or small-town setting. In the distance, you can still see the one remaining St. Mary's Cement silo on Junction Road. It's sister silo was demolished this past autumn.

Dupont St. bridge construction + Planet Storage

vic — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 14:30:42 +0000

December 14, 2010, on the railway bridge above Dupont St. at Dundas St. West. During the next few days after this photo was taken, a new bridge was constructed between the bridge I'm standing on and the West Toronto Railpath (the orange bridge on the left). This is all part of the railway expansion project for GO Transit's Georgetown line and the Airport Rail Link. In the background is the Planet Storage building, formerly Viceroy Rubber.

PCC Streetcar on Market St., San Francisco

vic — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:55:44 +0000

October 16, 2010, at the corner of Market St. and 5th St. in San Francisco.

Shortly after my arrival in San Francisco, I was walking from the train station to my hostel, taking lots of photos along the way (of course). This section of Market St. is the first somewhat "touristy" area I walked through and, not surprisingly, I got a kick out of the old streetcars they have in service here.

This PCC streetcar is painted in 1938 Philadelphia colours. They apparently have a TTC-coloured streetcar too, and I was watching out for it, but unfortunately never saw it. I was hoping to caption a photo with "TTC PCC in SF CA" (yeah, I'm a geek).

Caltrain: Sunnyvale

vic — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 12:55:53 +0000

October 14, 2010. Crossing the Caltrain tracks at S Mary Ave and W Evelyn Ave in Sunnyvale, California. While walking from my hotel to the office, my timing was always good and I was able to watch the trains come roaring through here in each direction. A couple of days later, I took the Caltrain from Sunnyvale to San Francisco.

Rail of Light, as seen from the Railpath

vic — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 18:53:35 +0000

October 3, 2010.

I've fallen way behind on posting my "daily" photos here. So much to do, so little time...

Here's another one from the Rail of Light exhibit during Nuit Blanche. This is the view from the West Toronto Railpath, underneath the Wallace Ave Footbridge. This gives a good overview of the whole project: Richard Mongiat's light installation on the bridge above the tracks, Jeff Winch's video projection underneath the bridge, and even train-related artwork on the fence by some local kids.

It was actually pretty busy under this bridge with many people coming through to check it out. But the long shutter speed used for this photo just caught some of the "ghosts" walking by.

Rail of Light and the Bloor GO Station

vic — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

October 3, 2010. The Rail of Light art installation on the Wallace Ave. footbridge during Nuit Blanche illuminates the railway tracks below, to "shed light" on the railway expansion controversy. This is the view from the GO Transit Bloor Station, just south of the bridge.

Inside GO Transit's Willowbrook repair facility

vic — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

September 18, 2010 was the GO Transit / Metrolinx Family Day, which was held this year at their Willowbrook train yard. I was pretty excited to go, much like a little kid at a toy store, and was really looking forward to exploring this place and seeing the trains up-close.

We arrived kind of late, and ended up spending a big chunk of time taking a train through the "train wash", which is basically like an enormous car wash. Sounds cooler than it really was, as we didn't really see anything because it was so dark.

After the train wash, my time to tour the facility was very limited, so I didn't get many pictures. But the staff at the repair facility were super-cool and gave me a short personal tour and a look inside a couple of the locomotives. All-in-all, a very fun time, but I wish I spent more time touring.

More photos from that day, though nothing spectacular, are here.