August 17, 2023 continued:

 

            I went to Exporail’s main exhibit building. I took some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where else can you photograph a Park car and an MR-63 subway car?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I then went upstairs and took some overhead shots.

 

 

 

 

            I then went downstairs again and took some photos inside and outside of a former mail streetcar from Montreal.

 

 

Apparently jail streetcars were a thing back in the day.

 

 

 

            I then photographed former CN steam locomotive #49.

 

 

 

            I then went outside. I photographed streetcar #1959 which was waiting for its next run.

 

 

            I saw dark clouds were gathering. I phoned my mom to see if it was raining where the rest of my family was. My mom said it wasn’t.

 

            Meanwhile, I saw that Exporail members had started former CP GP9 #1608. They backed the unit onto the turntable. I photographed and filmed the locomotive on the turntable.

 

 

 

 

            #1608 was moved off the turntable and I paced the locomotive on foot as I photographed and filmed it. I also photographed former AMT GP9 #1311 as well.

 

 

 

 

 

            #1608 was going to cross the public footpath to get into the yard. I filmed it passing before I took one more photo of the unit.

 

 

            I then took a few more photos.

 

 

 

 

            I then headed to the car and left. I was hungry and drove a short way to a Burger King. After lunch I returned to the museum. The close parking lot was now full. I ended up parking in the lot I parked my rental car last year. I photographed the steam locomotive on display next to the parking lot.

 

 

            I then headed towards the museum’s entrance. However the sky opened up and it started raining HARD! Unlike when I got dumped on by rain in Chicago back in 2013, I was able to quickly find shelter underneath the porch of a house. It wasn’t ideal, but I was out of the rain and no one gave me trouble.

 

            After awhile the rain let up a bit for me to get to the museum. It was still raining a bit so I waited inside one of the buildings open to the public.

 

            The rain eventually stopped. I then went out and took some photos.

 

 

 

 

            I saw streetcar #1959 was about to board passengers. I decided to go for a ride. I photographed the car before I got on.

 

 

            I rode #1959 around the museum. I took some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I then photographed a former TTC line truck which Exporail had acquired from HCRR years ago.

 

 

            I made my way back to the miniature railroad. This time it was running I went for a ride and took some photos.

 

 

 

 

            Streetcar #1959 soon came and I photographed the car before I got on.

 

 

            I rode to the next stop on the tour and got off. I photographed the car. At one point, I returned a stuffed dinosaur a child had dropped out of #1959’s window.

 

 

            I filmed #1959 departing. I then walked around and took some photos around the museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I went to the miniature railway again and photographed the train. I didn’t go for another ride though.

 

 

 

            At one point I saw a snake slither by. I then made my way to Exporail’s main exhibit building at took some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I took some photos outside.

 

 

 

 

            I went to the lobby of Exporail’s main exhibit building and took one more photo as there was a photo of a TTC air electric PCC. Only one air electric PCC from Toronto survives: #4000 at the Halton County Radial Railway museum. The car in the photo was another car from the same order as #4000.

 

 

            I went to Exporail’s other display barn and photographed a caboose.

 

 

            I went outside and walked over to the door of the barn not open to visitors and took a photo. I could once again see former TTC track plow TP-11.

 

 

            I then walked back and photographed former Montreal streetcars 997 and 2222.

 

 

 

            One interesting fact about Montreal’s streetcars were that they were colour coded to show riders if they were a one man car (just the operator); or a two man, (operator plus a separate conductor who collects fares.) Two man cars were green while one man cars were cream coloured.

 

            I saw one of the windows on Montreal PCC #3517 was open. I stuck my camera inside and took some photos of the car both in and out.

 

 

 

 

 

            I then took a few more photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I saw the former TTC line truck had been moved and was beside former CP SD40-2 #5903. I photographed it.

 

 

 

 

            I took a few more photos before I left the museum.

 

 

 

            I walked over to the nearby EXO commuter rail station. I waited around. An outbound commuter train soon arrived. I photographed it.

 

 

            I filmed the train departing and took one more photo.

 

 

 

            I then got in the car and drove back to where my sister was playing. I saw a CSX freight on the CN line. Since I was driving, I was unable to photograph it.

 

            I got back to the baseball diamond in time. I met up with my parents and sister. They had lost by a lot. However, my sister pretty much was the best player on her team for the game.

 

            We went back to the hotel. After awhile, my dad and I went to a nearby mall where we had dinner in the food court. We checked a couple stores before heading back to the hotel.

 

            I went out for a few minutes before returning to the hotel. I went for a swim in the pool. I eventually called it a night.

 

Click to read about the last two days of my trip:     Last two days of trip