Local rail fanning in Winnipeg presents a plethora of possibilities

Some of our readers have asked about where they can take rail fan photos without having to travel to remote locations hundreds of kilometers out of town. Fortunately, Winnipeg has both the CN and CP main lines running through town, and there are many rail fanning opportunities, all within a short drive.

WMRC social media director Paul Ullrich cycled over to the CP yards last week and took these shots from Jarvis Avenue, the parking lot of the strip mall on McPhillips Street and the aqueduct off of Logan Avenue overlooking the Weston shops. He stayed at a safe distance away from railroad property and used a 25X zoom lens to capture the action. Pleased be advised that the rail lines are private property and take trespassing very seriously. 

Felix Lesiuk's springtime rail fanning reaps a harvest of great shots

Felix Lesiuk always has had a great eye for the unique rail fanning shot. Pictured above is a coal train coming down the track with a strong wind blowing an enormous cloud of coal dust from the open hoppers. He also captured a unique CP consist featuring a Milwaukee Road passenger car, a bunk car and a converted heavyweight passenger car seen outside of Rosser. He has also taken notice of the proliferation of Union Pacific motive power recently seen on the CP line. 

 

The further rail fanning adventures of Felix Lesiuk

We have a backlog of images sent to us by our stalwart, award winning photographer Felix Lesiuk that we're going to run for the next few weeks. These photos were taken in March, but they're very striking, as seen above with this great shot of the snowplow with the pigeons in the foreground. 

He also captured some unique images, such as the CP-BNSF lash-up and a rare blue former Illinois Central CN locomotive. Chasing VIA trains has always been his specialty, and he got some great shots this time around! Felix has won multiple awards for his photography work and was once the club's photo contest chair.

Five great entries for the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual photo contest's prototype category

 WMRC members Cliff Davidson, Christopher Robinson and Dave Downie submitted these great entries for the club's annual photo contest in the prototype category at our AGM, which was held via Zoom on May 14.

Cliff caught this striking image of a CP lash up at sunset (pictured above). He also took this photo of a CP freight rolling under the overpass at Portage La Prairie (pictured below). WMRC program director Dave Downie submitted photos of a structure in Beacon, New York that he took in 1980. He also sent in this image of the Milwaukee Road's famous observation car when it passed through Portage in 2007. Christopher Robinson submitted this pastoral scene of a turnout at a lakeside. Great work, guys!