Every two years, fellow BRS member Michel Boucher and I undertake a pilgrimage to one of the more frequented railfan locations in North America - Bayview Jet. - the junction of CN's Dundas and Oakville subdivisions, sandwiched between Burlington, Ontario, on the east and Hamilton on the west. CN, CP, GO Transit, VIA and Amtrak operate through this junction. Surprises are usually in store on our visits and this time around, in early May 1992, was no exception given the LRC axle replacement program in affect at the time. As usual for early May, the weather cooperated fully; sun from the Wednesday aftonoon to the Friday evening with a little rain and fog on our wturn trip to Ottawa.

As soon as we arrived on the "hill" at Bayview late Wednesday afternoon, we introduced ourselves to another railfan, coincidently BRS member Bob Wanner visiting from Denver, Pennsylvania. Between 17:30 and 20:00 we watched no less than 10 trains: three CN freights included a mixture of Bombardier HR616, MLW C-630M and GMD GP40 units, plus a CP freight, Amtrak and VIA passenger trains, and GO trains with F59PHs to Hamilton.

No trip to Bayview would be complete without a visit to the Burlington West (ex-VIA, nee CN) station which is located just east of the recently opened VIA Aldershot station (May 25, 1992) and chat up with the Burlington West "crew". The crew is a group of local railfans, both male and female, who can be seen watching trains day and night. They are friendly, knowledgeable and funny, especially Jan.


Thursday saw us up bright and early at Bayview Junction watching trains and chewing the fat with Bob. Between 08:00 and 10:30 we saw no less than 13 freight, passenger and commuter trains with an array of motive power. One eastbound CN freight was powered by 2104, 2339, 5170, 5030,2038 and 2329 (HR616/M-636/SD40/SD40,C-630M/M-636). Talk about horses!

We then decided to show Bob the Dundas area and the Niagara escarpment near the long abandoned Canada Crushed Stone mine (see June 1992 Branchline cover photo) which is situated a thousand or so feet from Dundas station. After exploring the mine we perched ourselves atop a hill and waited for trains. In the meantime we observed three falcons hovering overhead looking for lunch. We also spotted a Canada mother goose with five little ones and father goose, all walking in single file parallel to the northbound track. Precisely at 14:10 VIA's "Point Pelee" for Windsor, with VIA F40PH-2 6423 hauling borrowed GO Transit bi-level cars and GO Auxiliary Power Control Unit 908, came within camera range. Click! But wait a minute ... the "St. Clair" for Friday service between London and Toronto is attached to GO 908! It consisted of conventional cars (because of the axle replacement program) with VIA F40PH-2 6458 and SGU 15456. Two trains in one!

Off we went to Bayview for the rest of the afternoon and a repeat of Wednesday afternoon's traffic. Traffic continued unabated until 19:30. Then it was time to again visit the Burlington West crew.


Friday morning we were up early and back to Bayview. However, this time we decided to man the pedestrian overpass to the botantical gardens which is a few hundred yards east of the junction itself and right above the tracks. We were not there but two minutes when an eastbound freight from Dundas drifted by with CN 9560, GT 6214, GT 6228 and CN 9503 [GP40-2L(W)/GP38AC/GP38-2/GP40-2L(W)]. For the next hour we had a parade of GO, VIA, CN, Amtrak and CP trains. By 08:30 there were 10 railfans (I counted!) perched across this overpass like birds. In addition to Michel, Bob and I, we were joined by Jan from the Burlington West crew; Bryce Lee, Canadian contributing editor to Railpace; and a number of retired gentlemen who make railfanning a full time job (lucky guys!). We could see a CP freight from .Aberdeen yard in Hamilton slowly approaching the block signal at the junction where he would wait for clearance to proceed to Agincourt Yard in Scarborough. However, the freight was held for at least 20 minutes while a Toronto-bound GO commuter, VIA's "General Brock" from Niagara Falls and VIA's "Forest City" from London cleared the block. Finally given clearance to proceed on the eastbound CN track (CP has running rights over the Oakville Subdivision), the CP freight powered by SD40-2s 5721 and 5643 slipped by. Eastbound and westbound traffic continued unabated until 10:30. We had observed no less than 13 passenger and freight trains, one of which included GATX GP40 3702 (nee B&O), operating on CN to pay off miles owed CN by the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad.

For the rest of the morning and early afternoon Michel and I explored Hamilton, Aberdeen yards and the Murray Street VIA (ex-CN) station built in 1930. Bryce and Bob decided to chase a CP freight headed towards Campellville. We got back to Bay view for the late afternoon and early evening rush which included an eastbound CN freight from Dundas headed by 5352, 2333, 4142, 2104, 2339 and 2038 [SD40-2(W)/M-636/GP9u/HR616/M-636/C-630M]. To add to the delight of watching trains we had observed throughout the day red cardinals foraging for food, a fox in hot pursuit of a rabbit, ground hogs and an adundance of robins chirping away. We were then off for another evening with the "crew" and listening to Jan's jokes.

Jan told us that the "Maple Leaf", which is quite often powered by Amtrak GP40TC No. 198 (ex-GO 506), is usually late arriving at Toronto's Union station because it always wants to stop at each GO station between Hamilton and Toronto. (You're supposed to laugh!)

On our return to Ottawa on Saturday we stopped at Guelph Junction, just west of Campbellville, to view the GO line-up. Resting for the weekend were F59PHs 525, 558,553, 529 and 523. Then on we went to Belleville to catch the "LaSalle" for Toronto operating with VIA F40PH-2s 6438 and 6437 elephant style, and the eastbound "Meridian" which had VIA 6413 and a "steamy" (SGU). Back home by 18:00 and none the worst for wear.

What more can you ask for? ... good weather, an abundance of trains, the ever friendly Burlington West crew, fellow Bytowners and the wildlife. Sure beats the office! Thanks Bayview for the memories.

Note: On the Thursday at Bayview we were informed by the CN foreman that the shack (which houses a speeder) located right at the junction (it's probably one of the most photographed shacks in North America) was to be demolished within a week. As you read this article the shack is probably history.

Bytown Railway Society,  Branchline, July-August 1992, page 19.