VIA Rail F40PH-2 "Home Hardware" 6429

There's a story to this one, and it goes back to those crazy '90's, so set your way-back machine to the summer of 1997.

It begins when my friend Tim Reid got word that the American Orient Express was due to roll through Kingston, Ontario around 3:00 am the next night. This was absolutely a nifty event, and word went out to our little network of lunatic railfans - I set my alarm clock that night accordingly.

Around 2:30 the next morn (after a rollthrough at Tim Horton's to grab a triple-triple) I pulled up on my Yamaha XS11 to the Kingston train station. It was a beautiful, still night. Nobody in their right mind goes railfanning at 2:30 am. Well... nobody except Tim. And me.

We were the only ones there. After a few jokes about 'separating the men from the boys' we sat down to wait for the AOE. I had my mongo-sized camcorder and a fresh battery, and a triple-triple coffee. We were ready. Alas.... a few freights rolled through, but by the time the sun came up we were finally ready to admit defeat - the AOE was not going to show.

The next night, at a far more civilized hour of the evening, a bunch of us were at the Kingston station again, and I caught the VIA Rail 'Home Hardware' F40PH-2 rolling out of the night - much to the delight of many, as you can hear in the in the clip. Right after this, the battery in the mongo camcorder died, and I prepared to call it a night. But then..... the signals lit up, a set of headlights lit up the rails to the west, and a moment later, rolling east, the American Orient Express whispered past, pulled by three VIA F40s. And my camcorder was dead.

Moral of the story: pack that extra battery. Ya never know.

Sadly, Tim passed away in 2011, taken far too young and leaving far too many stories with an empty, sad ending. Tim and I had more crazy adventures in pursuit of excellent train adventures, and I can never think about them without smiling. To those who were lucky enough to know him, know that railfanning wasn't just about trains - it's about friendship, camaraderie, laughs, adventures... and waiting on a bench at a train station at 2:30 in the morning like it's the most normal thing in the world.

Godspeed, Tim.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• VIA Rail
• F40PH-2
• Home Hardware
• 6429
• Rik Berryere
• Tim Reid
• railfan
• trains
• Kingston
• Ontario

[northlanderdude]

WOW, there's a retro memory that takes me way back !

[Skean99]

Okay! I get it you LOVE train :D me2…LOL

[HunterBHolmes]

Great video and beautiful description! You sure have some real treasures!