The train forum has been quiet the past bit, so Ill throw something up.



Here are some screen shots from this winters tour which I recently filmed. My SLR died in Colombian this past summer through no fault of my own, so screen shots it is for the next while. I can't edit the video now anyhow so this will have to do.



A Bellevegas pusher sits idle in the yard while an Eastbound Via blows by


I always look forward to trains in the winter time, both to watch and to ride. I had originally planned on leaving for my trip end of December, however responsibilities got in the way and the trip got pushed back until early Feb.


It was freezing cold, but there was almost no snow in southern Ontario. Here I was hoping to make a winter film and this was what I had to film with. Freezing my ass of and it looks like summer, go figure.


Of course to make matters worse I made a wrong judgment call when picking my train so instead of turning North in Toronto, my train rolled past Macmillan and kept going West towards Burlington.


When I bailed I say a yellow over red for a train going back where I came from and prayed it would be going slow enough to catch. Of course the yellow turned green and this train flew by. Three city buses later I was back on track, no pun intended.

I switched to CP and as we headed North snow finally started to show up. The strange thing was it also started to get warmer. This is a shot as we are about to pass an oncoming train around midnight

Three hours North of Toronto and its a winter wonderland. Nothing like waking up in Mactier with trains rolling by. This was my first time ever growing a beard also, what a pain it gets when it gets long. Not to mention I've rolled through Mactier 3 times the year before and not one person asked me if I was a train hopper, with this beard 3 people asked me within the first 2 hours if I came by freight.


Of course a bit to much whiskey and beer the night before and I ended up melting by boots (cooking the toes off my socks) instead of just drying them by the fire. So to add to all the holes in my boots, I now could barely fit my feet in them since they changed shape.


I took the day to do a little foaming and was happy to see that things have gotten busier since the year before:

Westbound pulling in for a crew change


Another Westbound switching off the mainline and into the yard


Also got to watch this Eastbound train which started off as two different trains. To boot the lead unit looked brand spanking new:


After a few days enjoying the winter camping and trains in Mactier I decided to make my way farther North. I started waiting for my train around 3pm and by ten I was sick of sitting in the dark with wet feet packed with snow. So I rolled out my bivy, took of my soaked boots and socks and went to sleep.
A few trains came in the night but nothing I wanted. To boot they had been working in the yard so I would keep waking up ready for a train only to find out its not for me and go back to sleep.
At 5am my train finally rolls in. Not really in the mood for wet sock I quickly forced my now wrinkled feet into my boots, rolled up my bivy and ran through knee deep snow, laces all over the place, to my waiting train. Since I didn't tie up my boots (not that it made much difference at this point) snow was packing in by the pound.
To make matters worse I fell through the ice crossing the little ditch that divides most yards with the outside world, so now I smelled like swamp and was even wetter.
They had been doing work in the yard as well and another trains was doing the back and forth thing shining its lights on the train as it came out, then disappearing back around the corner leaving us in darkness. Luckily for me at this moment in time they had been backed around a corner so I made it on my train out of sight in the cover of the early morning darkness.

Here is a shot of my "snow for socks". The funny thing was after days of wet and cold feet it actually felt warmer to have snow in my boots than the last pair of wet socks.


30 mins later and were rolling over Perry Sound with the sun still below the horizon


Not long after the sun was up and I was rolling my way through the vast Canadian winter lanscape:




After enjoying the not so sunrise sunrise I cooked myself some beams for breakfast, rolled a drum cigarette and went back to sleep with the hum of the rails beneath me.



At one point we pulled into a siding and after about 15 mins an Intermodal rolled by nice and slow.


It stopped briefly then started to leave again. It was going fairly slow and I though just maybe there would be a middle DPU on it and that I may just be able to catch it if it rolls by slow enough.
So I grabbed all my gear and got ready to make my move. Sure enough along came a DPU but it was going just a bit too fast for me to throw my bivy on, then grab my backpack, chuck it on, then run after the train in the snow and ice to climb on. I didn't want to risk loosing all my shit, so depressed I started to get back on my ride.
A few mins later the intermodal stops again. After a few panicked moments of thought I decide to bite the bullet and make a dash for the empty unit. I grab my shit and run down the train in hopes that it will stop long enough for me to get on. The whole time thinking both trains would leave with out me on either and I'd be suck in the middle of nowhere.
We were stopped on a corner so I couldn't see very far down the train. The whole time I'm running, I'm checking my train for the next closest ridable car just encase it starts to leave. After a few mins and out of breath I see the unit, and make the final push.
I get to the back end of the unit out of breath but manage to throw my gear on. Shaking I climb up and make my way to the front along the side. I stopped for a moment and considered filming but I was too much in the zone to do much of anything but get inside.
As I approach the door I see a man with a hat inside. Immediately I stop and start to walk backwards in hopes he doesn't see me, but he looks up a few seconds later. So I'm busted, I didn't pay attention and I fucked up, or so I thought.
He comes to the door and I'm like dude I'm leaving, hoping he will just let me go. Then he waves me into the cab and my first thought was he wasn't going to let me leave until the cops showed...fuck. I had nowhere to run and I had so much gear I wouldn't have gotten far, not to mention there was rock cliffs on both sides and snow to mark my steps....fucking winter!
Next thing I know he opens the doors and I see a face tattoo and right away I relaxed. He was a train hopper from Vancouver. Turned out his train was having real problems with the rear DPU so they were behind schedule. That was why they stopped and kept stopping...no traction we heard over the radio. We listened to them over the radio for a bit and soon enough we were off.


We had a great little tour together, talked trains, Enjoyed some whiskey, smoked some Drum, and traded some books and info. Its always nice running into other riders.

Any how that should do it for now, this post was as usual bigger than I had planned. I'll leave you with a couple shots of the essentials when it comes to trains and winter


My winter survival kit consists of my bivy (a gift from a good rider friend of mine) Inside I have a winter military sleeping bag which I scored for free. I used to manage a corporate furniture and logistics company and one of our divisions was a moving company. One of my employees brought it back and didn't want it. I just had to pay $15 to fix the zipper which ended up breaking the first time out. Sometimes I also throw in the blue foam. Its a bit bulky at times but it goes a long way in keeping the cold steel from freezing me to the bone. A bivy beats a tent any day in my eyes, rolls up in one fellow swoop, no poles..perfect for the adventurous soul.


For my Bday a few years back, Bandita got me a little zip up bag complete with a stove and other food/drink stuff which fits compactly in my bag. It has been the life blood of everything I ever do train wize.. Thanks Bandita!!


Of course no railfan is complete without a " Canadian Trackside Guide" and a scanner.



LOve

WHT

Great photos/screenshots and an excellent read.

I do have a question though, and I hope you don't take offense, as it's not my intention. Do you have a job and ride as vacation/time-off, or are you a full-time rider? Also curious what category most other riders fall into...

Great use of the Trackside Guide, too. Just picked up a 2012 edition, to replace my 2008. It's a nice publication and contains a lot of valuable information. Unfortunately, some of the information quickly becomes outdated (especially train symbols) due to the nature of our economy.

Posted by TRAINS I do have a question though, and I hope you don't take offense, as it's not my intention. Do you have a job and ride as vacation/time-off, or are you a full-time rider? Also curious what category most other riders fall into...

None taken and yes I do work, but these days I'm working in the film business (grip/lighting) so its not a 9-5 gig. I may work for a few weeks 14 hours days, then be off for 2 months.
I'm from Ottawa and the film scene is pretty small here. The last real work I had was on PENTHOUSE NORTH which was with Micheal Keaton and Michelle Monahan..That was the biggest film we have ever made here and it was pretty cool, but that was done in Jan.
I also run a small production company which we are currently trying to make into our full time gig. We recently sold a doc/film we did in Cambodia to CBC. We also have a doc on the caged brothels in India which is getting a makeover right now. I also filmed a doc on train hopping in India (that was interesting) but it may be a while before I get it together. I am trying to get a trailer together for at least you-tube in the coming month.
Unfortunately there is no money in docs as my goal was to travel the globe and make them to pay may way (when not riding trains I travel internationally)
Company wise we are producing a feature film here in Ottawa (low budget) this summer and if I can get the funds I have a feature I want to shoot in Colombia.



Riding wise I put in many hours riding and I'm fully immersed in the culture. Most train hoppers tend to be shy, and although I'm the same way I also have a strong urge to share what I love.

There are all different types of riders ranging from punks, to nomadic traveling kids (US due to weather up here),To full on professionals. A lot of train hoppers are "anti civ" and tend to be against capitalism. I'm on the other end, I work for my money and I contribute to society. It used to be that people rode trains in search of work, then it became about doing anything but work. These days the attitudes are getting a bit better.

Hobos as most people know them aren't around as much these days, which is unfortunate. However if your into those kinds of people check out "hobo Shoesstring" on youtube and the net. He lived on trains straight for something like 15-20 year. He loves talking trains too and would be happy to talk with ya.

I would strongly consider becoming one but my wanderlust stretches far beyond what North America has to offer. And that as we all know costs money.

I see an old BCR loco..niceee. I too have burnt many a boot.

Another awesome write up with great photos, good job Wizehopt. I hope you end up writing a book or something in your later years. Keep up the great work

Posted by Lomax Another awesome write up with great photos, good job Wizehopt. I hope you end up writing a book or something in your later years. Keep up the great work

Thanks man, dig your photos. Witek got me into draining then took off to the UK for better systems.

Posted by wizehopt None taken and yes I do work, but these days I'm working in the film business (grip/lighting) so its not a 9-5 gig. I may work for a few weeks 14 hours days, then be off for 2 months. I'm from Ottawa and the film scene is pretty small here. The last real work I had was on PENTHOUSE NORTH which was with Micheal Keaton and Michelle Monahan..That was the biggest film we have ever made here and it was pretty cool, but that was done in Jan. I also run a small production company which we are currently trying to make into our full time gig. We recently sold a doc/film we did in Cambodia to CBC. We also have a doc on the caged brothels in India which is getting a makeover right now. I also filmed a doc on train hopping in India (that was interesting) but it may be a while before I get it together. I am trying to get a trailer together for at least you-tube in the coming month. Unfortunately there is no money in docs as my goal was to travel the globe and make them to pay may way (when not riding trains I travel internationally) Company wise we are producing a feature film here in Ottawa (low budget) this summer and if I can get the funds I have a feature I want to shoot in Colombia. Riding wise I put in many hours riding and I'm fully immersed in the culture. Most train hoppers tend to be shy, and although I'm the same way I also have a strong urge to share what I love. There are all different types of riders ranging from punks, to nomadic traveling kids (US due to weather up here),To full on professionals. A lot of train hoppers are "anti civ" and tend to be against capitalism. I'm on the other end, I work for my money and I contribute to society. It used to be that people rode trains in search of work, then it became about doing anything but work. These days the attitudes are getting a bit better. Hobos as most people know them aren't around as much these days, which is unfortunate. However if your into those kinds of people check out "hobo Shoesstring" on youtube and the net. He lived on trains straight for something like 15-20 year. He loves talking trains too and would be happy to talk with ya. I would strongly consider becoming one but my wanderlust stretches far beyond what North America has to offer. And that as we all know costs money.

Awesome insight into your life, I appreciate it. Please keep us updated with your adventures, I always enjoy reading your posts.

Great write up and stories. I just started hopping within the last year and hope to do a lot more once the warmer weather arrives.

I noticed u have a dash9 on yer forearm. Thansk...that was my next peice..you just RUINED IT! hahahah..i'll still do it. Also....Bivy sack is the bomb...the only way to roll in weather. Yer solid...keep on rolling.