CN Freight And Amtrak-Via Rail Train Meet In St. Catharines 03/06/10

In the late morning in early March as the snow melts with extreme signs of spring CN Freight Manifest train number 331 heads under the bridge of St. Paul Street in St. Catharines with a classic (SD60F) type locomotive called an SD50AF with 2 late 90s built locomotives head for Hamilton, London and Sarnia. It meets nose to nose with Amtrak Maple Leaf train 64/Via Rail train 97 from Toronto headed for Niagara Falls and New York City. In Canada, Via Rail operates the Maple Leaf since it is on Canadian property and it makes up 40% of revenue for Via Rail on the Toronto - Niagara Falls service. This train as i said continues to Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, and New York City. Its sister train Amtrak Maple Leaf train 63/Via Rail 98 runs in the oposing direction to Toronto. Both trains run daily and unfortunetely both trains don't carry a great amount of passengers.

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• train
• Canadian
• National
• Railway
• manifest
• 331
• Classic
• SD50AF
• 5502
• C44-9W
• 2591
• SD75I
• 5780
• Amtrak
• 64
• P42DC
• 102
• Via
• Rail
• 97
• St.
• Catharines
• Ontario
• Canada

[benschlechter]

It sure would be nice to have passenger rail service in East Tennessee again.

[RailfanDaniel]

@benschlechter I myself, am interested in increasing passenger rail service across North America for all sorts of beneficial reasons. I've studied Tennessee. I may be a little over the edge. Although, I see the possibility of three new Amtrak services in that area. It's sad that the government won't pursue the dream of rail transportation.

[rogertra]

Look how bad that track is in the telephoto shots.  It's terrible.

[RailfanDaniel]

@rogertra I've been waiting a while for someone to say that. Indeed the tracks are in bad condition, and CN has done little to repair it. When GO Transit comes to Niagara full time though there's no doubt track upgrading will be a factor.

[claire1667]

That was IT for the freight? Just tanks cars 3 hoppers and one flat car?

[yurrri1978]

Куда я попал, верните мои вещи !!!

[starwarsbv]

does anyone else notice at 1:08 those tankers change color? lol

[briggsjos]

@Lifty4ever Actually the bell is not. I had a closer look at these trains. they are mechanical bells placed under the engines right side of the train from the cab view.

[RailfanDaniel]

@planeboy173 No, cowl unit. It's a locomotive. Another way of saying it is a draper taper. Just google it and you'll see what i mean.

[RailfanDaniel]

@planeboy173 Trust me, it's not. Although, i do like it very much, it's one of my favourites. I'd say the EMD SD40-2's, widecab versions, and wide body cowl units are a favourite in Canada. Especially the cowl units. Canadian railfans are very much on EMD's side, not GE. Although, the GE Dash 8-40CM is a Canadian favourite. Because it's a cowl unit.