The first part of the trip was mostly overcast and raining except for a brief period of sunshine while we toured Niagara Falls and the
Butterfly Conservatory. The interesting thing is that I saw quite a few flying insects outside of the conservator and given that it was Dec. 3 in Ontario, it was a bit disconcerting. I don't get to Ontario much in December, but I am guessing temperatures in 50s Fahrenheit and 10 to 15 Celsius are outside the normal range. After having a good time at Niagara Falls -- it is pretty spectacular in the off season as well and you can get great rates at the hotels -- we headed north into Ontario mainly so I could get some photos of trains.
The further into Ontario that we got the less light we had available. Around 5 p.m. we pulled into the parking lot of the Oakville train station on
GO Transit's Lakeshore West line. I had a photo of a CN geep, but I wanted something more substantial. As the daylight faded, I thanked my stars for digital camera technology that allowed me to push the limits of the camera without changing film or taking too many chances. The result was a three-way meet just west of the station platform.
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| An outbound Go Transit commuter train leaves Oakville after discharging its passengers. | | | | |
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| The outbound passes an inbound trainset that is making its way to Toronto. Off to the extreme right you can catch a glimpse of an oncoming CN freight. |
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| The inbound train slows to stop at Oakville as the outbound accelerates up the hill west of the station. The CN freight has now stopped and is waiting for the station platforms to clear. |
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| With the station platform cleared of passengers by the passing of the two commuter jobs, the CN freight moves through on its way to its terminal. |
After the freight passed through, we went to dinner at a local restaurant and then headed back across the border of the U.S. Our ultimate destination was still up in the air, but things were going to take a turn in a good direction that would lead us on a road trip through 11 more U.S. states. Although we didn't get train pictures in all of them, we did reach our goal of 20 states for 2012 with a few to spare.
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