All Aboard!!

I love trains...  Modern trains, old trains, it doesn't matter.  I just love to travel on them.  Sadly since I moved out to the prairies, there are no comuter trains, excursion trains or corridor trains like there were in Southern Ontario.  It's been years since I have been able to travel on them and I miss the experience.

I was fortunate in 1996 to spend three weeks traveling around Canada on VIA Rail's wonderful transcontinental train.  The memory of being lulled to sleep by the soft clicking of the train's wheels over the rails is still with me.  The whole experience was romantic compared to air travel.

I recently learned that there was a small excursion rail line in Winnipeg that was only a few hours drive away.  So off Heather and I went to try and photograph the oldest running steam locomotive in North America.  We spent most of the day outrunning the train, stopping our vehicle and jumping out to shoot it as it steamed past us.  What a fantastic way to spend the day shooting.

The train stopped for about 90 minutes where it was turned around.  During the short layover, the engineer invited folks into the cab of the engine.  I happy to accept the offer and was even able to photograph the open door to the firebox on the engine.  What a neat experience.  Here are a few shots I hope you enjoy.  Just click the pictures to see the full image.

Brent

 Evening Run

 Pulling Out

The Fire Box