Ride The Rails With Benny Plant

On Saturday morning I was laying in bed and heard a train horn around 9:30 am. I was sure came from the Barrie Line. I was a bit confused at first because I know there is no weekend service as of now. I was thinking that perhaps one of the trains had some mechanical problems and therefore had to go down back to Toronto for repairs. Then about half and hour later I heard another train! Well now I was even more confused. After a while I figured they were doing crew training since CN crews are finished as of June 30.

Again on Sunday the same thing happened but there was more trains this time and all day. I think there were about 6 or 7. I happened to catch one going south while on a bike ride. That was pretty cool because I haven’t watched a southbound train before. Looked like there was only one guy in the cab though.

I really hope that the trains keep running on weekends until June so I can get some good videos since I haven’t filmed the Go train in a while.

Sorry for the lack of posts of late. I thought I would write about this event since there hasn’t been one for a while.

See ya

The people who follow our web site may or may not know that I (Benny’s dad) do some of the writing and editing of what goes into this site. Although Benny and I have been somewhat lax in putting content here on a regular basis, we do enjoy your comments. It would make sense then that the more we post here, the greater the number of comments we will receive. I however, would like to comment about the people complaining about Go Transit.

In my humble opinion (being a dedicated rail fan along with Benny), the people complaining about poor Go Transit service are greatly misinformed about what they perceive to be poor service. If they were to take the time to educate themselves about the rail industry as a whole, they might better understand the nature of moving passenger trains along freight based rail lines.

The rail industry is a huge part of Canada’s (and the States) economic infrastructure. Without the support of this vital industry, the overall economy would grind to a halt. Just think about the divesity of product that moves across North America. From toy soldiers and iPods to compact cars and suv’s. From wheat and lumber to sugar, coffee & tea. It all moves by rail. Even the trucking industry is dependant on the rail system.

Go Transit has to compete for track time with the scheduling of freight traffic. CN and CP own the tracks (more or less). If something goes wrong with a freighter, you can be sure that Go Transit will be affected (and or Via for that matter), especially on the main east/west routes. The Newmarket Subdivision from Vaughan to Barrie is 99% Go traffic and subsequently is always on time. (Consider moving to Newmarket).

The point to be made here is that Go Tranist is a great deal. No wear and tear on your now more-expensive-than-ever car. The oil companies will suck your wallet dry while you sit in slow traffic with your blood pressure rising. Want to get to work on time or earler even? Go to bed earlier. Get up earlier. Take an earlier train. Even if your early train is late, you’ll still be at work early! Have that second cup of coffee while you read the Globe or Star at your desk before the boss gets there. Maybe even take an earlier train home!

Commuter Rail Service continues to expand around the GTA. We need it more than ever. (Be nice to have a rail link to Pearson Airport). Go Transit is getting it’s fair share of track time while competing for it at the same time. The new locos are now more fuel efficient providing greater capacity to haul more people on each trip. New trains are being added all the time. Barrie just opened up after being shut down for 16 years! It’s a sign of the times people.

Benny & I live in Newmarket, Ontario. We watched with great interest as Go Transit rebuilt the Barrie line from Bradford to Barrie. For railfans like us, it was fascinating to watch and listen to the whole process. We enjoyed the inaugural run one horribly snowy day in December. The train was packed with people. Everything was on time even in a blinding snow storm. Go Transit plain and simply….works.

You can always take the car to work and then nine times out of ten watch your Go Train go by while you sit in your thirsty car! Stop complaining. Enjoy the savings and don’t worry. It will improve.

Jeff

Today I am thinking about all of the men and women who gave their lives in all the wars so that we could have such great freedom in our lives.

Thank you

It has been quite a while since we added anything to our web site and we apologize for this. Since our last update, my dad and I have been lots of places and taken a few pics and made few new videos. Lots of school work has kept me busy and hockey started about a month ago. Now that routines have been established, we can find time to update our blog.

I have a story to tell here about my Great Grandfather, Arthur Cunningham Plant (born March 22, 1891). He was was The Depot Master for CN in Brantford Ontario after the first world war until his death in 1948. To go further back, he fought in the first world war at Vimy Ridge in the 40th Field Battery also know as the “Sportsmen’s Battery” with his good friend Conn Smythe of Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey fame. They were all great althletes. This where fate has affected my life I think.

The Toronto Maple Leafs won The Stanley Cup on April 14 1948 in Detroit (in 4 straight). The team, owned by Conn Smythe, returned to Toronto by train on April 15. That train had to pass through Brantford enroute to Toronto as goes that part of the Burford, Dundas, Dunnville subdivision. Mr. Smythe decided that he wanted to stop in Brantford to say hello to his old buddy Art Plant thinking to share the glory of The Stanley Cup with him. As the story goes from my Aunt Isobel, the train did in fact stop in Brantford, Mr. Smythe did say hello to his old friend and war buddy Art Plant and then departed again for Toronto. Just after the train departed for Toronto, my Great Grandfather suffered a hear attack and died right there on the platform at the age of 57. The Brantford CN Station Depot Master was gone.

He died on April 15 1948. My birthday is April 24 1992. I think this a strange twist of fate. There are obviously a few years between us but I think it’s kind of cool. Something about one door closing and another one opening? The picture you see here is of me here is from a school project I did at my mom’s work but maybe it’s of my Great Grandfather too. Maybe that is where I get desire to ride the rails and like him I love to play hockey too.