Getting Calgary Transit moving again

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by Ricky Leong in Alberta, Calgary, Canada, flood, photography, photowalking, trains, transit, urban

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alberta, C-Train, calgary, canada, flood, flooding, LRT, photowalk, rail, railroad, railway, trains, transit, urban

Calgary Transit workers remove debris from the LRT tunnel north of Victoria Park/Stampede station that was submerged to the ceiling during the height of the flooding.

Calgary Transit’s downtown infrastructure took it on the chin during the record flooding over the last week.
Here are some photos I snapped of the damage and of the work being done to get things moving again.

More work done near Victoria Park/Stampede station. And yes, those tracks are really suspended in mid-air!

Floodwaters carried away the ballast beneath the platform at Victoria Park/Stampede station.

Crews work to restore the Cemetery Hill tunnel, above and next two images.

Buses put into service as a C-Train shuttle roam on a very dusty Macleod Trail on June 25.

This way to trains

06 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by Ricky Leong in iPhone, photography, photowalking, Portland, random, trains, Travel, urban

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Amtrak, Hipstamatic, iPhoneography, Oregon, photography, Portland, rail, railroad, railway, random, train, trains, Travel, urban

From my trip there a few months ago … Lining up at Portland Union Station for an Amtrak train to Seattle.

Squeegee kings

25 Saturday May 2013

Posted by Ricky Leong in Alberta, Canada, photography, trains, Travel

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alberta, canada, Jasper, photography, rail, railroad, railway, rocky mountains, station, tourism, train, trains, Travel, Via Rail

Via Rail won’t let dirty windows ruin a Rocky Mountain vista. Here are some employees hard at work cleaning the windows of Toronto-Vancouver train “The Canadian” during a station stop in Jasper, Alberta.

Visual trickery with iPhone camera’s panorama mode

15 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Ricky Leong in Apple, architecture, British Columbia, Canada, fun, iPhone, photography, photowalking, random, technology, trains, transit, Travel, urban, Vancouver

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b.c., british columbia, canada, Canadian Pacific, history, iPhone, iPhoneography, panorama, photography, photowalk, rail, railroad, railway, random, roundhouse, train, trains, Travel, urban, vancouver, Yaletown

This is the former Canadian Pacific roundhouse in Vancouver’s Yaletown district, captured with a sweep of my iPhone’s camera in “panorama” mode.
It was really interesting to try this, because the roundhouse is built in the shape of an arc … so if you’re standing at the centrepoint of the arc and you swivel to capture the panorama, the main subject doesn’t look very distorted at all, while everything else does.

Rolling along for lunch — 2004 vs. 2013

05 Sunday May 2013

Posted by Ricky Leong in Canada, food, random, trains, Travel

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dining car, food, halifax, montreal, Ocean, rail, railroad, railway, train, trains, Travel, Via Rail

To my mind, one of the neat things about long-distance trains is being able to eat in a dining car or café car of some kind.
Above is the type of dining car used aboard Via Rail’s Halifax-Montreal train, “The Ocean”.
Below is a similar scene, captured nine years ago, in a different, older type of dining car that was once regularly used on this train.
Difference between the two: The newer cars don’t have a full kitchen, just a galley where they can prepare simple dishes and heat catered gourmet meals.
Happily, the meals are still served using real dinnerware.
EDIT: I should add that Via Rail’s Vancouver-Toronto western transcontinental, “The Canadian”, still uses those old-style dining cars. The decor has been updated since I took the photo below.

View from the dome car

03 Friday May 2013

Posted by Ricky Leong in Canada, photography, random, trains, Travel

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alberta, canada, Jasper, national park, park, photography, rail, railroad, railway, rocky mountains, skyline, train, trains, Travel, Via Rail

Views such as this is why people like to hang out in the dome-observation Skyline and Park cars aboard Via Rail’s The Canadian. Got this image last month as the train made its way westward toward the town of Jasper.

Under the rotunda

23 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Ricky Leong in architecture, art, Canada, design, history, Manitoba, photography, photowalking, random, trains, Travel, urban, Winnipeg

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architecture, art, canada, design, Manitoba, photography, photowalk, rail, railroad, railway, random, station, train, trains, Travel, urban, Via Rail, Winnipeg

This is the beautiful ceiling in the main hall of Winnipeg Union Station.

Rocking and rolling

22 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by Ricky Leong in Canada, fun, music, photography, trains, Travel

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alberta, b.c., canada, Edmonton, Jasper, Manitoba, music, Ontario, rail, railroad, railway, Sask, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Sudbury, Toronto, tourism, train, trains, transcontinental, vancouver, Via Rail, Winnipeg

If you’re on Via Rail’s western transcontinental train, “The Canadian”, keep your eyes — and ears — open for two members of Toronto-based band Running Red Lights, who will be performing aboard the train that leaves Vancouver on Tuesday, April 26, 2013.
I had the pleasure of enjoying Scarlett Flynn and Kevin Howley’s music as I travelled westbound with them through much of last week.
Check out their website to learn more about the whole band and to see blog entries recounting their epic cross-country journey.
They’re also all over social media:
Facebook — http://www.facebook.com/RunningRedLights
Twitter — http://twitter.com/rrlmusic
YouTube — http://www.youtube.com/user/rrlmusic

Top photo: Kevin and Scarlett performing in the second Skyline car aboard Via Rail’s “The Canadian”.
Below: A little boy listens intently as Scarlett and Kevin perform a quick gig at Winnipeg Union Station.
Bottom: Scarlett and Kevin entertain the crowd at Jasper train station.