September 23, 2009:

 

            I got my wake up call and got up and got dressed. I had breakfast and finished packing. I then checked out of my hotel. When I left, I saw I had just missed a 12-000 series Classic which I was unable to photograph. While I was waiting for the next bus I photographed a 13-000 series Classic with the famous cross in the background.

 

 

            I saw the next bus coming was a Nova LFS. I also saw it was followed by a Classic. I let the LFS pass because it was full and waited for the Classic hoping in the off chance it was 60-013, but it was really STM 14-057. I rode it to Place-Des-Arts Metro station and got off and photographed it.

 

 

            I rode the green line to Lionel-Groulx and filmed my train pulling out. I then transferred to the orange line and rode to Bonadventure and filmed my train leaving. When I got to Central station, I determined which track my train was boarding and saw the Adirondack was leaving soon. I walked over and got a not-so-good video of it departing. I was able to determine that it had a P42, two Amfleet 1 coaches, an Amfleet 1 café car, and two Amfleet 2 coaches. Amtrak is now assigning two Amfleet 2 coaches to each Adirondack trainset for people traveling longer distances.

 

            I then walked back to Central station. I saw that train 33 was boarding. However, train 33 has assigned seating so I didn’t have to worry about not getting a good window seat. I was expecting LRC coaches, but when I got to platform level, I saw the train had Hep2 coaches! I was seated in the last car on the train. I had a window seat on the left hand side of the train. From my window, I photographed an AMT commuter train made up of AMT and New Jersey Transit equipment.

 

 

            The train left on time. Shortly after we left, I filmed equipment that would most like be used on VIA train 22 to Quebec City and train 61 to Toronto. We stopped at Dorval.

 

            After we left, train 32 passed. We then curved onto the line that would take us to Ottawa. This was the start of new mileage for me.

 

            The train stopped at Alexandria. I had now covered the entire route between Montreal and Ottawa. When we left, I hoped we wouldn’t be delayed by another abandoned vehicle on the tracks. I also looked around the coach for anyone who resembled Ruby who during the delay on train 39 back in 2004 kept asking me if I had a word search book on me even though I kept telling her I didn’t. Fortunately, there weren’t any kids in the coach.

 

            The train passed through Casselman. I bought lunch on the train.

 

            Soon, we were approaching Ottawa. I filmed OC Transpo’s St. Laurent garage as we passed. We arrived into Ottawa a few minutes early. I got off and photographed the train. I noticed the train was led by F40PH-2 #6421 which now had a third headlight like 6420, 6434, and 6453 as well as the rebuilt F40s other than 6400. I wondered why VIA didn’t wait until after the unit was rebuilt to install the third headlight.

 

 

 

 

            It was raining when I arrived in Ottawa. I also photographed VIA train 45 which was boarding passengers to Toronto.

 

 

 

            I went inside the station and phoned home. I had a few hours to kill before I had to be at the airport. I set an alarm on my cell phone for 2:00 pm and headed off to the Science and Technology museum. I boarded an OC Transpo New Flyer Invero and rode to the museum. The rain let up shortly after I got off the bus. As I walked towards the entrance, I photographed former CN 4-8-4 #6200. I noticed its number boards and bell had been removed. Its sister #6213 is presently stored at the TRHA’s roundhouse in Toronto.

 

 

            I paid my admission and went inside. The first exhibit I looked at was about the Titanic. Unlike the exhibit I visited the day before, I could take photos which I did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            The next exhibit was the main reason I came. It was a railway exhibit with four steam engines, a CN business car and a wooden CP caboose.  One of the steam engines was CP Royal Hudson 2858. Another was CN 6400; the only surviving streamlined CN 4-8-4. I took some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I had visited the Science and Technology museum 10 years earlier and they had an ancient TTC Double Decker bus on display, but since then, the bus was moved into storage. They also have more railway equipment in storage somewhere.

 

            The next exhibits I visited were about weather and Canada’s contribution to space exploration.

 

 

 

 

 

            Next, I photographed a ship exhibit and some model ships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I photographed a model train and a model of the Avro Arrow.

 

 

 

            Next I photographed an exhibit about the murals in the Park cars. They had the original murals from Strathcona Park, Yoho Park, and Assiniboine Park on display.

 

 

This is the mural from Yoho Park.

 

This is the mural from Assiniboine Park.

 

This is the mural from Strathcona Park.

           

            After, I went into the gift shop. I bought a hat. I then left and photographed some railway equipment visible from the parking lot.

 

 

 

 

            I then walked to the bus stop and along the way; I photographed 6200 one more time.

 

 

            I then boarded a D40i on route 114 and rode to the Hurdman Transfer station. While I was there, I photographed an OC Transpo Orion 7 NG. Since my trip to Ottawa last May, more NGs have entered service.

 

 

            At one point, I saw Orion 6 #4132. That bus is significant because when I came to Ottawa 10 years ago, my friend Mark and I got a tour of OC Transpo’s St. Laurent garage and 4132 had recently been delivered. That was the first time in 10 years I had seen it. However, I was unable to photograph it. I boarded a D60LF and rode to the Bayview O-Train station. While I was on the bus, the alarm I had set for 2:00 pm sounded, but I was much closer to the airport so I figured I still had time for a ride on the O-Train.

 

            The bus soon arrived and I got off and walked over to the O-Train platform. The next train was due in 10 minutes. As the train arrived, I photographed it.

 

 

            I got on and we soon left. At University, we waited for what felt like several minutes for the train going north to arrive as University was the only stop where the O-train can pass. When the train showed up, I filmed it. The train arrived at Greenboro. I got off and I took some photos.

 

 

 

            I then filmed the train pulling away. I then left to catch a route 97 bus to the airport. There was already at the station. I ran and caught it. It was a fast ride to the airport. When I got there, I photographed the bus.

 

 

 

            Ottawa Airport has only one terminal. However, it houses the Canadian aviation museum which has several planes including an Air Canada DC-9; but I didn’t have time to check it out. However, the museum wants to acquire the Gimli Glider which is currently sitting in the Mojave Desert. Besides the story, I thought of another reason why the Gimli Glider should be saved. The Boeing 767 was Air Canada’s first metric plane which was a factor in the incident on July 23, 1983.

 

            I then went inside and checked in for my flight. I checked my suitcase. I then cleared security with no problems. While waiting for my flight to board, I photographed a few other planes from Porter Airlines, Westjet, Continental Express, and Air Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Finally, the plane that I would be flying home on arrived at the gate. I photographed it. I would be flying home on a Boeing 737-800. Westjet currently operates the 737-600, 737-700, and 737-800.

 

 

            The passengers arriving got off and after awhile, it was time to board. My streak of eight flights on Air Canada was over.  These were from my 2006 Halifax trip, my Western Canada trip, my New York trip, my Cleveland Make-up trip, my Dallas trip, and my 2009 Halifax trip.

 

            When I boarded the plane, one of the flight attendants said he liked the O-train hat I was wearing.

 

            I was seated in seat 14F; a window seat on the right side of the plane. I had chosen it for an additional $10 to avoid being assigned an aisle seat like on my last trip.

 

            The plane left on time. During the safety briefing, one of the flight attendants {joking} welcomed us on a flight to Honolulu. He then said, “Those not going to Toronto raise your hands!” That’s one thing about Westjet; the flight attendants are jovial.

 

            Across the aisle was a family with two young children who were standing on their parents’ laps instead of being seated. Why the flight attendants didn’t say anything about this, I don’t know. I filmed the take off roll.

 

            The flight was a short flight. During the flight, I watched the satellite TVs. Soon we were flying over Vaughan. I could see Canada’s Wonderland from the plane.

 

 

            I then tried to see if I could see the damage path from a tornado that had struck Vaughan about a month earlier. The tornado had struck pretty close to Wonderland, but fortunately it didn’t strike the amusement park or a nearby shopping mall otherwise there would have been mass causalities!  I was at home when I saw there was a tornado warning and took shelter in a downstairs closet. Fortunately my house wasn’t hit and power wasn’t lost. However, the sky was a weird shade of yellow. No one in Vaughan was killed by the F-2 tornado, but another tornado spawned by the same system killed an 11 year old boy well to the northwest of York Region.

 

            And if that wasn’t enough, two days later when I was working at Wal-Mart a funnel cloud was sighted from the mall! Fortunately it didn’t touch down, but two brushes with tornadoes in two days was something.

 

            We flew over the airport. As we did, I photographed it.

 

 

            We came in for landing. The young kids who were seated across from me were whining and getting on my nerves. I filmed the landing. When we were on the ground, I saw an Emirates Airbus A380 Super Jumbo. Emirates is the first airline to offer regular A380 service to Toronto.

 

            The flight attendants jokingly said that they would be taking the A380 to Montreal! I photographed the A380 and an Air India 767.

 

 

 

            Moments later, I saw Air Canada’s 65^th Anniversary plane. That plane in the past has had a record for showing up on some of my previous flights including when my friend Mark and I flew on it to Vancouver on our Western Canada trip. I photographed it as well as a KLM and a British Airways 747.

 

 

 

 

            As we taxied to the gate, one of the lead flight attendants jokingly said pointed to a building and said it was the end of the West Edmonton Mall; Canada’s largest Mall. We were soon parked at the gate at Pearson’s Terminal 3. It had been 6 years since I last flew out of the terminal. Once I got off the plane and into the terminal, I took one more picture of the plane.

 

 

            I then went to the baggage claim to get my suitcase. My suitcase was one of the first to emerge. I then phoned home. I was told that I had to take transit home from the airport which I didn’t mind.

 

            I went to take the Link train to Terminal 1. The Link train was opened several months after my Halifax trip and links terminals 1 and 3 to a parking lot. However, many public transit routes serve terminal 1. For a couple months this past summer, the train was shut down for maintenance, but it was back up and running long before my trip.

 

            When I got to the station, I saw I had just missed a train, but another one would be along in a few minutes. While waiting, I photographed a Korean Air Boeing 747.

 

 

            The next train arrived and I got on. The ride to terminal 1 was fast. When I got off, I photographed the train leaving.

 

 

            I then walked over to catch the GO Transit route 40 express bus to the Richmond Hill Centre. The route 40 runs once an hour, but it’s fast and convenient. When I got there, I saw the bus was at the stop. I ran and got on. I rode to the Richmond Hill Centre and caught a VIVA bus back home.

 

Conclusions:

 

            Westjet is a good airline and I would fly with them again. However, in most cases Air Canada was the cheapest airline which is one of the reasons why I flew with them 8 times in a row.

 

            Montreal was nice, but I still wanted to ride STM Classic #60-013. Shortly after I got home, I found out it had been retired for the fourth time, and is unlikely to come back. However, it was nice to ride the two RTL Classics built at the same time. Plus this was the first time since 2002 that I rode all four Metro lines on the same trip.

 

            I do not know when my next trip will be, but I’m planning one for April 2010. Even though Amtrak is once again going to run the full length dome on the Adirondack this year, I don’t plan to ride. This is not because of what happened last year. I figured I’ve done it twice already. Plus I’ve been working more hours at my mom’s ice cream store as I have grown tired of Wal-Mart and am planning on leaving there by the end of June unless a manager whom I don’t like drives me away sooner. Until next time…

 

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