A trip to Saskatchewan in late June, 2015, afforded a chance to do—what else?—a bit of railfanning. It started with the journey along the Trans-Canada Highway from Winnipeg. For many kilometers along the way the highway parallels the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) mainline and, in a few places in Manitoba, the Canadian National (CN) line. In some places, the tracks are very close to the highway. If you are lucky, you will come across trains in those places. I was not very lucky on this trip, seeing only a few trains up close.
Our destination was Swift Current, with a side trip to Saskatoon.
The railway arrived in Swift Current in 1882. Today it is a busy place, with as many as thirty CP trains a day. The Swift Current Subdivision runs from Moose Jaw, to the east, to Swift Current. To the west is the Maple Creek Sub to Medicine Hat, Alberta.
A view from the Second Ave. overpass—a great railfanning location—shows a large number of grain hoppers in the yard, providing a clue as to what the main source of traffic is in this area.
Note the spilled grain on the hopper below; this is something I have modeled on my layout.
There is an impressive line of railway buildings in the yard. In addition to the station (built in 1907), there is a two-story dining hall (1908) and one-story express building (1912).
Several of the trains that came by when I was there were led by Union Pacific locomotives. I asked one of the crew members awaiting a train why that was.
“Hunter has leased out all our units to make money, and now we have to lease others back,” he said. I noted that I missed seeing the old SD40-2 units. A train master, a former engineer, said he missed them too.
“The new ones are so computerized, it’s hardly like driving a train,” he said. “You just press a few buttons and it’s like driving a car with cruise control.” With the SD40-2s, “I felt the train, I felt more in control.” Today the SD40-2s remaining on the railway are mostly used for yard duty, he said.
I also spoke to a conductor who was awaiting his next assignment.
“Life on the railway is hard,” he said of his 13-year career. “It’s hard on family life. I’m divorced. Most of us are divorced,” he said, pointing towards the others on the platform.
Swift Current is also where the Great Western Railway (GWR) interchanges with the CP. The Great Western services branch-lines once owned by the CP and CN, moving over 6,000 cars each year.
I was lucky enough to catch a GWR train entering the yard while I was there. It was pulled by two leased GATX units: 2683 (ex-CSX 9662, 2118, ex-B&O 4818) and 2267 (ex-LLPX 2237, ex-LIRR 254).
A reminder of times past is the foundation of the old roundhouse, now weed and debris-covered, beside South Railway Street. The roundhouse was torn down in the 1980s.
All-in-all, Swift Current is a great place to watch trains. There are excellent public vantage points alongside the tracks, a bridge that offers great views, and lots of trains.
And if you are lucky when you drive there along the Trans-Canada Highway, you will see more trains along the way than I did.
John Longhurst – Text and Photographs Copyright 2018
See more of John’s work on his blog, CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota Subdivision.
John,
This is a very interesting article that I would like your permission to reprint in the NMRA British Region magazine Roundhouse which is published every other month for members in the United Kingdom.
Peter
Sure. It would be an honour.
I really enjoy your postings-please continue with them.
I used to live in Swift in the 70’s when CP still ran “The Canadian”. Remember her parked for hours at the station thawing out the steam lines during those very cold winter days. “The Canadian” was a comfortable method of traveling to Calgary and Regina which we frequently did.
Nice work (as always). Wish, however, you visited that area in the 50-60-70s/. Anyway, still nice for sure. One thing: I did not notice very much, if any, “unwanted art-work” on the cars…..unlike the US.!! The top view of the grain cars with small piles of grain on the roof…..reminds me once watching the old Western Pacific around 1980 in Doyle, California. A hot westbound shot by with nothing but grain cars. I was showered with corn from the top of the grain cars!!!!
Will come back later, for now I need the Sakatchewam/ Manitoba Rilfan group handle. Thanks