Profile Page for Stephen C. Host


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About Stephen C. Host


I've been into photography since 2001 - but like many others grew up interested in all things railway from an early age. I reside in Guelph, Ontario, Canada and currently use two cameras: Nikon D800, and a Nikon D90 (Backup or videos only). Prior Nikon cameras include D60, D70 and D100, and a F65 for when I dabbled in Film (Kodachrome/Fuji Velvia and Provia). Lenses used tend to be either 70-200 F/2.8, 50mm/1.8, or 16-35 F4 (Until 2016) and a 18-35 F/4-5.6 (2016+). I acquired a 80-400 Nikkor which I've been playing with and after some trial and error and a free repair by Nikon it is producing nice sharp results. Professionally - I am an Engineer (P. Eng. - Computer) for a large automotive concern. I also freelance as a photographer with the Canadian Press and their affiliates (AP/etc.) since 2009.

Stephen C. Host's Railpictures.ca photo upload statistics


Number of images: 1142
Total gold: 11478
Number of comments recieved : 3798
Number of comments posted : 5798
Total views: 1527476


Stephen C. Host has the #3 all time image on railpictures.ca!
Stephen C. Host has the #23 all time image on railpictures.ca!
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Stephen C. Host has won Editors Choice 1 time




Stephen C. Host has 6 images in the Time Machine


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Stephen C. Host's 1142 photos on Railpictures.ca:


It's 0658 and getting up early had its privileges on May 23'rd, the Spray train is now on the Hamilton sub and going to turn on the wye before going south. The would get to kinnear by 0845 which meant you had to get out early. This was the 1'st year of the D*H power on the spray train, magically 7303 would come the next year, and it's been something half decent every year thereafter... but not D&H. Word of advice: when they are spraying, do keep your distance, I certainly do.. especially if you are young :)
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Delaware and Hudso…
Date: 05/23/2017
Location: Campbellville
Province: Ontario
5 Comments | 9 Favourites
Canadian Pacific's locomotive 7021, painted to honour the Canadian and US Armies in arid climates passes through brilliant fall colours as the crew of train 246 gingerly guides their train on the 2% downward grade of the Niagara Escarpment. This area is a fall foliage paradise, and to reflect this here's a shot I did in 2010 just a bit north at <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=15785 target=_blank>Snake Rd</a> framed in the now rebuilt wooden bridge. Get it while you still can, it'll all be gone in about a week or less.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 10/16/2020
Location: Burlington
Province: Ontario
14 Comments | 22 Favourites
LTEX 1014 is switching the sprawling Oxy Vinyls facility on the NF/Thorold border. Built in 1957, this plant is the only Canadian company manufacturing vinyl resins according to the company themselves. This part of the Niagara area has a high concentration of chemical companies, similar to Sarnia.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Industrial
Date: 1/6/2020
Location: Niagara Falls
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 10 Favourites
A pair of GMD-1's reflected in a small puddle as 551 works the Milton Town Spur. It has been a treat to have these roaming around our area for the last few years.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 7/24/2020
Location: Milton
Province: Ontario
3 Comments | 18 Favourites
"White meat or dark meat" is heard over the radio as an Ontario Southland Railway crew prepares to get dinner at the local swiss chicken establishment, a stones throw from this location. A storm is quickly brewing in the distance as I set up for some night photography after a long day of work. Having found this train late in the evening, in Guelph, which itself was unusual, I was hoping to capture something dramatic. Little did I know that a storm was also brewing on the O.S.R. and this night was the first hint of it.<br><br>As the winds picked up and thunder grew ever closer, I frantically painted light over my scene as multiple timed exposures rattled off..<br><br>This was no ordinary train, service had basically melted down due to too much work, a third crew was called to combine both trains and finish working the customers. After grabbing a well deserved meal, the crew would not return to the junction until well after the Midnight hour. Drama was afoot on the railway and the winds of change blew strongly for OSR. The Railway would soon re-structure operations and add a third crew ordered 1400 daily, but OSR wasn't getting any more money by doing so, their contract paid decreasing amounts per car as annual carloads increased. O.S.R took their grievances to City management, but nothing seemed to be done due to the 21 year old contract that at the time of this photo had previously been extended until the end of 2022.<br><br>As frequent lightning lit up the sky every 15 seconds, I could see the clouds swirling ever closer indicating rain was about to hit, and before you knew it I was frantically putting away myself and my gear taking cover in my truck from the torrential downpour. While I did manage to capture a dramatic scene, the storm was still not over for the O.S.R, nor was the drama.<br><br>The restructuring, along with the 1400 job would eventually alleviate OSR's service concerns and the railway was again running smoothly. As the New Year turned, most of us were none the wiser to the changes that were about to be unleashed. On March 23 the City put the line up for bid, striking a lightning bolt through the OSR's remaining 2 and change years of the contract. The rest of course, is now history.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Ontario Southland
Date: 09/13/2019
Location: Guelph
Province: Ontario
3 Comments | 15 Favourites
OSR's early March 2015 plow extra is westward on the St. Thomas sub in Beachville flanging the right of way before the next deep freeze. Foreman Jack Hyde who is operating the plow lifts the blades for the west switch Beachville, because if not those blades will hit the rail (ouch!). You can see the flow of snow has momentarily stopped onto the plow. Once they clear the crossing in downtown Beachville they'll lower the blades again. Notice how this late in winter so much snow has fallen it rests above the railhead no matter where you are? That's why they flanged, essentially digs a few inches below the railhead and clears the snow from either side of the rails. If it warms up and freezes it becomes ice and can cause lots of trouble, so they take no chances and flange just in case. Winter 2015 was notoriously bad, OSR must have ran two dozen plows that year, but in 2 weeks you'd hardly know there was any snow at all.. it was gone.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Ontario Southland
Date: 3/5/2015
Location: Beachville
Province: Ontario
Comments | 12 Favourites
This was my first plow chase, and to say it was a great one is an understatement. With three matching RLK units it didn't matter if you shot the train coming toward you , or going away. With a bit of sun peeking through the angry skies, the extra is westward bound entering Goderich town limits as they have plowed northward from Clinton Jct. They will return to Clinton, wye, then plow south and I chased both ways. Despite the white knuckle drive it was so worth it. Thanks to a friend for the heads up, you know who you are!<br><br> Both of these F units ended up on OSR and they only ran together for an OSR plow in RLK paint<a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=18316 target=_blank> once </a>. I had to be there of course. More to come.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Railink
Date: 2/7/2007
Location: Goderich
Province: Ontario
4 Comments | 12 Favourites
The last CN SD75i built, on short term lease to GEXR leads 432 through a brilliant kaleidoscope of reds, yellows and oranges as the crew thunders alongside upper Kent St in Guelph on a cool fall morning. This is all fenced in now, unfortunately.<br><br>The day before I captured <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=26586 target=_blank>this</a> and naturally I went back to see what else I could do. It was absolutely breathtaking in this spot at that time and it didn't last very long.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 10/17/2016
Location: Guelph
Province: Ontario
2 Comments | 12 Favourites
A late spring evening with purple wildflowers along the former CNR Cayuga subdivision, where the <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=15707 target=_blank> Wabash </a>, <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=12864 target=_blank>N&W</a>, and <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=29358 target=_blank>Norfolk Southern </a> had rights for over 109 years. This is the last of the Wabash in Canada, and as James Knott alluded, it is getting harder to see the daily Buffalo-Fort Erie transfer switching the west end of the yard to perform their daily setoff. <br><br> So the conversation over the Radio on this June evening was about where to put the train as the Fort Erie yard was quite full, and 530 was not en-route to meet them to grab the cars. the Canadian crew aboard the train mentioned to the RTC they are qualified to Niagara Falls and could bring the train to Port Rob, but it was declined. Too bad.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Norfolk Southern
Date: 6/8/2020
Location: Fort Erie
Province: Ontario
8 Comments | 12 Favourites
MLW's return to the Guelph Subdivision. OSR's hospital train with CN Engineer Chris Widmeyer at the throttle is seen passing over the beautiful Grand River Bridge in Breslau with the hopes of making it to Salford, Ontario.<br><br>Nothing ever goes according to plan. At the last minute CN was ready to do this move after waiting almost a month. Surprise was they wanted to do it without a CN leader. CN Crew was ordered 0600, but there was a paperwork snafu, no paperwork for the consist. First delay. CN made paperwork and gave it to the crew by 0900 who then made it over to Guelph in a Taxi. OSR had attached their SBU earlier in the morning, but CN could not get it to work. (Second delay). Since that didn't work, they had to go grab another SBU from 542 to test it, which took 30 minutes (Third delay), and that didn't work, so the train was now limited to 15 MPH on the mainline (Fourth). You can see it's already getting quite bad. However, after the train went to the Junction (with 542 pushing on the rear) and was about to go on the main, they called foremen who told them more delays were pending. So it was time to tell this to the trainmaster, and the crew called the RTC to re-lay information to the CN Trainmaster. This is exactly what was heard over the radio. "So your IDU is not working, you are delayed by a foreman for 30 minutes, and after that you'll be delayed again for 60 minutes for another foreman, and you want me to tell this to the trainmaster, over?" At this time it is 12 PM and the train's supposed to go to London with a crew who was ordered at 0600<br><br>They only made it to Kitchener. <br><br>Lastly, here's <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=17812 target=_blank>GEXR (1) </a> <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=32307 target=_blank> Shots (2) </a>from the same bridge which also link to Arnold Mooney and Glenn Courtney photos from decades passed. I still haven't done a proper CN shot from this angle. I'll remedy that soon. I would have never guessed I'd get OSR here... ever.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Ontario Southland
Date: 09/24/2020
Location: Breslau
Province: Ontario
10 Comments | 20 Favourites
With a friendly wave from the hogger as an eastbound passes a rural crossing in the countryside east of Sarnia with a gaggle of 'if any of this led, that would be great' for motive power. <br><br> I usually plan my Sarnia visits quite meticulously, and after having told friends the day before I had no plans to go to Sarnia until the fall... My wife basically presented me a choice - go to the beach in Port Elgin (2 hours each way with nothing in between. UGH). So my rebuttal was if we're going to drive that far, let's just go to Sarnia and bring the kids to visit your parents instead. Check and mate. However, I had to explain to friends that "I'm not going to Sarnia, Hey, I'm in Sarnia" which they just make fun of me for now :) Thanks to Tim Stevens I was able to intercept this en-route, back when the GECX and other leaders were prevalent, and just about anything would be found leading CN trains..<br><br>So I have zero regrets for this trip, for it was productive. Other than the family functions, I'd also capture a GECX (YN2) in the lead twice, a pair of GTW's on the Terra, and pair of GMD1's passing each other by the roundhouse. More to come.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 7/29/2018
Location: Watford
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 11 Favourites
With the tail end of the train framed in unloading equipment at FS partners in Ayr, the end of the pit spur is just beyond the train near that farm. I drove into the FS partners facility in Ayr as they were lifting a cut of cars and found this scene. Here's some info on the <a href=http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/CPR_London/ayr_pit.htm target=_blank>Ayr Pit Spur</a> but did folks know that the nearby town of Wolverton, just to the west near Drumbo had a similar spur that followed the river to a mill? Long gone, you can't even tell it was there.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 11/16/2013
Location: Ayr
Province: Ontario
7 Comments | 10 Favourites
Crew from a rail train wave at the crew of T72 as they exchange pleasantries meeting on the CPR Waterloo Subdivision just north of the Highway 24 overpass. A rare place for two trains to meet, but the work train basically ducked out of the way on the CNR Fergus sub to meet T72 as they had to work on the Galt. The Fergus sub from Concession ave to the switch pictures here is leased by the CPR, and CNR has access to the BWXT tracks (at right) to serve as a customer, but they have yet to do so since GEXR left town.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 4/20/2020
Location: Galt
Province: Ontario
3 Comments | 12 Favourites
Nearing Paris, 434 is showing no signs of slowing down with BCOL 4650 and 4651 in the lead. Currently on train 303 heading west, I hope some of you western folks can get this in better light than I did. I'd love to do better some day, but if I do i'm buying a lottery ticket!
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: BC Rail
Date: 09/13/2020
Location: Paris
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 8 Favourites
BCOL 4650 whizzes across Market St in Paris as they make a setoff and a lift in Paris Yard. 1/25th handheld.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: BC Rail
Date: 09/13/2020
Location: Paris
Province: Ontario
3 Comments | 7 Favourites
With thanks to friend Jay Brooks, he noted that Stelco 84 was parked at the foot of Gage Ave for reasons unknown. Of course, I took the afternoon to come down and photograph it, this was a rare opportunity then as it is now. Plenty of time to compose on this very cold winter's day. What I enjoy is the fresh snow that hides the usual steel mill grit and grime that adds browns to just about everything.<br><br> Here's a Bill Thomson photo of #84 <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=28398 target=_blank> being delivered in 1959.</a> It's still there, but Stelco has switched to Trackmobiles.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Industrial
Date: 1/3/2014
Location: Hamilton
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 12 Favourites
Yeeeesh who would go out in this weather? This looks friggin' cold. But at least the Canada flag is sticking out. So is frostbite if you stood out in this for too long. However, I'm standing on Divine St just a couple blocks from my in-laws house, I heard the horns and went out to investigate, the IOX job is busy drilling Imperial Oil. What's sad about this photo is the tank farm in the background, full of nice old riveted 19th century oil infrastructure is now all gone and demolished. Just about everything here is gone EXCEPT the railway and the Imperial loading racks , which still get rail service, actually. So the stuff we tend to care about is present. For anyone who may ever find themselves here, just to the right crossing Divine St from the yard is a spur that goes off toward the water - this is the CNR/CSX north interchange, end of CSX track, although not marked, is visible to you when standing here (Mile 71.x Sarnia sub).
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 12/30/2017
Location: Sarnia
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 9 Favourites
Just off Kenny St in Sarnia is the little known Sarnia shortline railway known as VIP Rail. Once known as the Vidal St Industrial park this little shortline has grown by leaps and bounds, now has two sites, one in Corunna (completely inaccessible for any photos) connected to CSX, and this site connected to the CN Farm track and the St. Clair River spur. Check satellite images, they filled this place with tracks, built a new yard in the forest (cleared it out) and appear to have more tracks going on on the former Royal Polymers site. This locomotive while lettered for Lambton Diesel Services (also in Sarnia) is apparently part of the VIP roster. VIP has about 5 locomotives in total including a GMTX leaser, three VIP painted locos, and one or two more purchased or leased from LDS. Unfortunately, VIP is difficult to photograph as very little happens within sight of public property, and any excursions anywhere near their tracks for any length of time will result in a visit from security patrol (VIP has their own). I used my vehicle to get above a fence for this one from Kenny St, but it's not often something is parked here. Here's an example of a <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=17133 target=_blank>photo from a few years ago</a> complete with more info on Sarnia ops.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: VIP Rail
Date: 6/13/2020
Location: Sarnia
Province: Ontario
6 Comments | 11 Favourites
GEXR 583, the afternoon job to Guelph has arrived in town and is passing Lower Yard. Just look at that yard track - some of those rails are from the 19th century. 583 would turn on the wye, set off cars in lower yard from the other side, then duck into PDI liquids to begin work while 582 passes by on the main. The day job and the afternoon job seem to be the regular order of business for the GJR under GEXR, not too dissimilar to OSR, except that the 0800 job does not re-crew at 1430. We'll see how long this lasts of course.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Goderich-Exeter
Date: 09/04/2020
Location: Guelph
Province: Ontario
2 Comments | 8 Favourites
For Larry and James, Here's a photo I might be able to re-do soon, NSC pushing across the unprotected crossing (industrial track) out front of Dofasco, NSC 11 is shoving a cut of cars onto the coke oven leads for storage. Moves here still happen, Saw it last weekend while driving through but was unable to get a shot. Next time.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Industrial
Date: 3/16/2011
Location: Hamilton
Province: Ontario
2 Comments | 15 Favourites
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