Click on each image for a closer look!
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Railfanning, described in an earlier TRHA News post) is a popular pastime pursued by many railroad enthusiasts. Brian Switzer is an avid railfan who shares the images and stories of his excursions on the Internet. His latest adventure involved the pursuit of the Credit Valley Explorer, a successful tourist train which operates on a shortline called the the Orangeville Brampton Railway which operates between Orangeville and Streetsville, Junction in Mississauga, Ontario (see map above).
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Here is an excerpt about this train from the Credit Valley Explorer website:
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“Winter, spring, summer or fall, the Credit Valley Explorer is southern Ontario’s premiere tour train experience. Each season offers unique views and different tour train services through the Credit Valley and Hills of Headwaters in the heart of Ontario’s Greenbelt. Known for rolling hills, deep valleys, unsurpassed fall colours and being the headwaters of four major river systems, the Hills of Headwaters region provides a wonderful backdrop for the Credit Valley Explorer’s journey. Scenic highlights include the 1,146 foot long railway trestle bridge spanning the Credit Valley and the Forks of the Credit river, and the Forks of the Credit Provincial Park at Cataract. Most tours make a brief rest stop in the village of Inglewood to let passengers enjoy the charms of this quaint rural community. Travelling over a rail route established 130 years ago along the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, the 74km adventure aboard classic rail cars is sure to be a memorable experience!”
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Here are selected excerpts Brian’s full account on his blog of that adventure:
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“The plan for the day was to meet up with Marcus and photograph the Credit Valley Explorer between Orangeville and Snelgrove. We met at his house and headed off to Orangeville to check out the train. When we arrived it was loading passengers.
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Our first destination was Cataract. This is the former junction of the Canadian Pacific Elora and Orangeville Subdivisions as well and the location of a large limestone quarry. Here you can see the train run along the edge of the cataract at the ruins of the Cataract Electric Company.
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After our long but fruitful wait we drove out ahead of the train and caught up to it in Inglewood. Once again we made our way south to find another location to photograph the train while the sunshine held out. We settled on King Street near Cheltenham where we could photograph the Niagara Escarpment in the background.
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We followed along again and photographed the train one more time in Snelgrove just before the GP9 diesel engine switched ends to return north. Now that the train was returning north we headed back to Cheltenham for one last photograph of the train. By now the clouds had moved in so we called off the chase of the Credit Valley Explorer.”
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Brian Switzer has a great website where he shares his images as well as those of several other railroad photographers. Click here to pay it a visit and click here to read his blog!
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Click here to get your free copy of the TRHA’s Guide to Railfanning in Toronto 2010.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Images by Brian Switzer.
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