Ontario freight

[Gordon]

I'm going outside my normal comfort zone and area of major expertise of Switzerland/France/Germany to New York and Toronto this summer (Cunard to New York).

I'll be staying south west of Toronto close to the railway running north east towards Toronto. It looks like there is some good freight around there.

Anyone been there and done freight photography in the area?

Many thanks

 

[Shinkansenfan]

Bayview Junction (south of Aldershot Station) on the Toronto to Hamilton GO Transit rail line is probably the most famous and fruitful place to photograph freight trains. Here you can also see the occasional Amtrak and VIA trains as well as the more frequent CN trains.

Bayview Junction is easily reached via car. Or by taxi/Uber from either Hamilton or Aldershot Station or by Hamilton Street Railway (bus) routes 1 (daily) and 9 (Sunday only) from downtown Hamilton.

The GO Transit station (ex Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo Railroad) in downtown Hamilton is worth a visit, as it is an art deco treasure.

 

[krus_aragon]

I've been in the area, but not for freight photography.

The first place that springs to mind is the MacMillan Freight Yard, a short distance north of Toronto in Vaughan. It's the second largest freight yard in Canada. It's not really designed for public viewing, but you can get a good look from the Highway 7 bridge over its southern entrance.

The bridge has a pedestrian walkway, but it's a fairly busy road. If you're going with family in tow, you may want to leave them at the nearby Vaughan Mills shopping mall for an hour or so instead.

 

[Gordon]

Bayview Junction (south of Aldershot Station) on the Toronto to Hamilton GO Transit rail line is probably the most famous and fruitful place to photograph freight trains. Here you can also see the occasional Amtrak and VIA trains as well as the more frequent CN trains.
.

That's perfect thanks.

I'm hiring a car nearby and the trip isn't supposed to be about railways, but as the location is near a botanical garden that should help me tie it in with non rail activity

 

[ac6000cw]

Like krus_aragon, I've been to Toronto but not managed any freight photography (only managed a visit to the Toronto Union Station area) - my recent trips have been to the mountains in the west of Canada.

Both CN and CP are doing very well for traffic at present, so the trains are getting longer (2 miles+ sometimes) and more frequent. If locos are your thing, watch out for mid and/or rear train DPU (radio controlled 'distributed power unit') locos in the consists. If you shoot video, rear DPUs are quite good for the sound, as it's not quickly drowned out by the general train noise like it is with the head-end locos.

 

[Gordon]

I've now looked at Bayview junction on Railpictures.net and it looks good.

Is there a way of knowing when Canadian trains are going to turn up or is the traffic in the area so frequent that it won't matter.

 

[Shinkansenfan]

That's perfect thanks.

I'm hiring a car nearby and the trip isn't supposed to be about railways, but as the location is near a botanical garden that should help me tie it in with non rail activity

You're welcome!

Since you'll be in the area and this is a non railfan trip, you may wish to consider a drive to scenic Niagara On The Lake. Not to be confused with Niagara Falls, Ontario (somewhat garish) or Niagara Falls, New York (struggling economically), Niagara On The Lake is bit of the old country (Great Britain) nestled at the mouth of the Niagara River flowing into Lake Ontario.

I've now looked at Bayview junction on Railpictures.net and it looks good.

Is there a way of knowing when Canadian trains are going to turn up or is the traffic in the area so frequent that it won't matter.

According to other railfan websites on the Internet:

Peak operating hours
Early morning and late afternoons are busiest, but traffic is heavy all day.

Approximate daily train frequency
About 75 trains daily, including approximately 14 VIA trains and 6 GO trains.

Radio frequencies
Canadian National: 161.415 (road), 161.025 (dispatcher)
Canadian Pacific: 160.815 (road), 161.325 (dispatcher)

Source: https://trn.trains.com/photos-videos/hotspots/2006/07/hamilton-ont-bayview-jct This is from the US magazine website; 2006, so some information may be dated. If you bring a scanner, you can pick up the railroad chatter to help pin point when trains will arrive.

Here's a July 1980 Trains Magazine (US) article with map. Alas, the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo RDCs are no longer running--either the railroad, the trackage/route and the Rail Diesel Cars: http://www.railviewmrc.ca/pdf/Bayview.pdf

The above article also mentions peak train times (39 years ago), but the peak times seem pretty consistent when I visited.

Happy train hunting!

 

[ac6000cw]

There is a bit of info on Wikipedia as well - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayview_Junction - which suggests:

Daily traffic density can vary. Upwards of 45 freight trains and 30-40 passenger trains per day can pass through Bayview Junction on both the CN and CP tracks.

(but no indication of how up-to-date that info is).

At 40-60 freight trains per day, it's pretty busy by North American standards, so unless you're really unlucky a day there should net you a reasonable bag of trains. As it has quite a few passenger trains and is a double-track area, it's not very likely to suffer from the 'middle of the day maintenance window block' problem that you can get on single-track freight-only lines occasionally. At a 'hotspot' like that there may be other railfans around who might know about train movements - in exchange for being quizzed about UK train operations, of course .

Since you'll be in the area and this is a non railfan trip, you may wish to consider a drive to scenic Niagara On The Lake. Not to be confused with Niagara Falls, Ontario (somewhat garish) or Niagara Falls, New York (struggling economically), Niagara On The Lake is bit of the old country (Great Britain) nestled at the mouth of the Niagara River flowing into Lake Ontario.

I agree with the touristy garishness of the town on the Canadian side of the falls, but they are so spectacular (we visited them in the winter, so lots of ice around) that you can't not take a look if you are in the area, really.

Have a good time!

 

[Gordon]

I can't miss Niagara Falls - just because... I'm also hoping to say I've swum in three different Great Lakes

 

[ac6000cw]

I'm also hoping to say I've swum in three different Great Lakes

Ontario, Huron, and Erie?

 

[krus_aragon]

Ontario, Huron, and Erie?

I've only done two: Ontario and Huron. (Though the latter was just paddling as a child.)

 

[ac6000cw]

I've only stood on the shoreline of two - Michigan and Ontario, and trundled along the edge of Lake Erie on the train (the ex-NYC - now CSX - mainline follows the southern shore of it).