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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: 1040
Total gold: 9850
Number of comments recieved : 3372
Number of comments posted : 5293
Total views: 1350002


Stephen C. Host has the #4 all time image on railpictures.ca!
Stephen C. Host has the #23 all time image on railpictures.ca!
* Note: Placement on the Top all time image list is subject to change. Taken from the 'Top Shots' page measured by number of favourites


Stephen C. Host has won Editors Choice 1 time




Stephen C. Host has 5 images in the Time Machine


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Stephen C. Host's 1040 photos on Railpictures.ca:


Celebrating #1000 on rp.ca - Steve Brattina is boarding M420 647 with slices of pizza for the boys who are hungry for supper, as the sun sets on a nice fall Evening. 647 has the green "second section" class lights going - there's a job just south of us at PDI liquids switching cars, while not a true second section, good enough for me! The boys would have a couple hours more work to do, after meeting the yard job they would have to switch out this train upon arrival at the junction.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Ontario Southland
Date: 9/30/2019
Location: Guelph
Province: Ontario
5 Comments | 15 Favourites
#999 - 1444 leads the 1400 out of the Bunge (CVO) Bayside lead on a nice April evening, done for the day the crew will grab what remains of their train on the N&NW spur mainline then head back to the yard. Note the Christmas decoration on the top-right silo.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 4/28/2019
Location: Hamilton
Province: Ontario
8 Comments | 15 Favourites
Anticipation is waiting for the gate to open so you can see more of this switcher which is normally behind a fence. What's neat is they came to the gate, the gate opened, then they retreated back into the plant all light power and of course the gate closed again. Perhaps just for the photographer? If so thank you :) And one more industrial unit off my TODO list in Niagara.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Industrial
Date: 1/6/2020
Location: Thorold
Province: Ontario
5 Comments | 5 Favourites
Back in 2004 I only had my good camera for a few months, I was more into drinking and partying than taking pictures of trains and my photography skills were limited. But sometimes I parked in the right spot at the right time and managed to capture something half decent - I heard a rail grinder was coming so I went to ayr excited but not before two trains - this - and the Ham Turn would go by. This over time has become the much better catch :) A former SOO SD40-2 lacking in dynamic brakes. One can also see the large elevator complex that once sat at this site. <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=38944 target=_blank> here's what's left of it now - not much!</a>
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 9/6/2004
Location: Ayr
Province: Ontario
3 Comments | 11 Favourites
With 4 more to go to 1000 - Not a creature was stirring.. except a few Railfans eager to capture a new rebuild SD70ACU (former SD90) in the lead before Christmas festivities. I chased this nice 246 but given their speed at <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=39816 target=_blank>Campbellville approaching the Jct</a> I opted to head straight for Hamilton and spend time on the slower track down the mountain where I could bang off a few shots. This angle off the York Rd bridge really shows off the matching beavers of the first and second units - 3063 looks nice beside 7006. Also another note is the GO CN/CP connector tracks, the 'south' track was recently reconnected after track re-alignment - the rarely used North connector was finally put to good use after many years of what seemed like nothing (since the freights came off the Oakville sub joint section that is). Not sure the exact reason why two connectors were built nor why one was rarely used, but it paid off for the triple tracking project here.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 12/24/2019
Location: Hamilton
Province: Ontario
8 Comments | 12 Favourites
It's 6:04 PM and GEXR X518 is plowing westward on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, arriving in the farming community of Mitchell. On this run 3 men were up front operating the wings, flanger, and horn, plus 2 men the Engineer and Conductor in the trailing 3rd engine for a total of 5 men on this extra. The MOW men in the plow are paying close attention to the signs, and there are a ton on the pole just beside the farm pictured. The top 3 horizontal signs are to indicate to lift the flanger for the road crossing and the two switches just after the road: one for FS partners and the other is the Moffat & Powell spur. The 2 angled signs are to alert the crew to retract each wing for obstructions - which would be the upcoming two Switchstands. This was my last shot in sun, 10 minutes later it would set for good behind clouds and I would turn for home. I probably should have just gone to see what it was like at Wards cut... but these were heady days, I don't remember exactly how many plows I shot that year, but it was about 2 dozen. It was an insane winter - and right now I'm typing this as we get a crap ton of rain on January 11! Rats!
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Goderich-Exeter
Date: 1025/2015
Location: Mitchell
Province: Ontario
7 Comments | 13 Favourites
Three GMD1's visited the Guelph sub not long after taking over from GEXR and this one only led once - according to Jason Noe it was an IDU issue that had 1412 relegated to the middle most of the time. I've since shot 1412 in Hamilton leading on the N&NW spur but it's yard track down there not the mainline. Seen here at Kent St passing the "street running" - Metrolinx has since fenced everything off in this photo.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 02/25/2019
Location: Guelph
Province: Ontario
7 Comments | 13 Favourites
As I creep towards photo #1000 I offer a CN shot since I haven't posted one in a while. Here's Guelph Junction - not the CP one - this is CN - I think it was called "Guelph Junction Wellington". This building has certainly been developed taking the area's name to heart. CN L540 is pictured after working Guelph Twine and coming off what was once the wye to the Fergus subdivision north of town. The motive power was worth a visit, not only is this a non RCLS GP40-2W, 9675 was a former GO unit (#708) and there's a lil green paint coming through the CN (most notably above the Cndr window). Not many photos of 708 leading on this site - here's the only one I could find <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=22407 target=_blank>Here by Peter Newman</a>. What are the main spotting differences between these and regular CN 40's?
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 3/16/2019
Location: Guelph
Province: Ontario
5 Comments | 5 Favourites
OSR doesn't seem to run too often on weekends to Woodstock these days, when I heard they were running on a sunny weekend day I bee-lined it over - been a long time since I've been able to. The boys are almost done for the day and are shoving with 10 tank cars for Salford - the tanks were lifted from Ingersoll to go south to Tillsonburg the next day. The boys were off duty by 2:30 PM. Photo location is at the Ingersoll Golf and Country Club.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Ontario Southland
Date: 12/22/2019
Location: Ingersoll
Province: Ontario
4 Comments | 11 Favourites
With all the static shots of equipment I had to pull out an action shot. Feel free to join in! Near the DeBruyen farm in the small town of Salford, CPR 401005 crosses a typical rural dirt road en-route to Tillsonburg. Heavy snow meant multiple passes, affording photographers a change to get many shots on this day. Sometimes you get lots, sometimes you only get a couple. I was fortunate and lucky to shoot a dozen or so plow runs in 2014 and a similar number in 2015 - these were glorious winters. Crossing fingers for 2020! At the time of this photo this plow was still owned by the CPR - OSR purchased the plow a few years later.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 02/28/2014
Location: Salford
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 12 Favourites
Here's hoping we get a lot of snow this year - this was my first plow chase and boy was this ever quite the day to go taking photos. Squalls off the lake, zero visibility at times, and blowing snow on roads made this one dicey drive. But here we are at Stratford, the chase is over and Cndr. Snook is kicking the shit out of a stubborn switchstand to get it in place so the crew can complete taking the siding and park the train in the yard. The matching RLK F units, RLK 4001 and plow sit on the turnout at a nice angle and the Stratford historic GTR station completes the scene. Note GEXR's orange plow GEXR 55408 (ex cn) at right which at the time was also in service. There was two plows at the same time out on the road during this era on GEXR!
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Railink
Date: 2/7/2007
Location: Stratford
Province: Ontario
4 Comments | 11 Favourites
Fall is a neat time of year where fields of green turn to gold but only for a few weeks before the snow flies. In late November I was able to photograph a pair of venerable action orange SD40-2's passing what was the Milton Expressway terminal, now a liquids transfer facility operated by Cando Rail Services. What's neat is from this overhead view you can clearly see the 5 sections of these cars owned by <a href = https://georgetownrail.com/Material-Handling/SlotMachine-and-SPS target=_blank>Georgetown Rail Services</a> where the ballast was loaded the previous day at Fisher-Wavy in Sudbury.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 11/25/2019
Location: Hornby
Province: Ontario
4 Comments | 11 Favourites
T'was the night before Christmas, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Until CP 7006 west came barreling through Campbellville like a bat out of hell - the fastest train I've EVER seen go up the grade and that includes light power! This was a 40 car train too. Talk about wanting to get home on time for Christmas (I don't blame the crew one bit). According to the RTC 246 had power problems (again) but managed to get going and gave the hill the show it hasn't seen in a long time. To boot - this train sounded nothing short of amazing, with the new EMD product in the lead, 3063 trailing and a GE of some kind in third, EMD was surely the dominant sound.<br><br>On that note - Merry Christmas from my family to yours - to all of our feller photographers, our volunteers who help make all these great photos get posted (all the back room photo editors, photo scanners, information/caption teams, moderators, database team, and social media butterflies) - all the railway employees in and outside the cab - and to all our viewers and fans all around the world, thanks for a great year and here's to many more. Wait, what about our Significant others that miss us all so much :) I forgot them. Hint: it's time to spend some time with them if you can :) but if you really don't want to, we'll have your company here :) Beers are in the fridge. Cheers!
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 12/24/2019
Location: Campbellville
Province: Ontario
15 Comments | 14 Favourites
Here's a hot hazy summer day photo to warm us up. I posted a shot of this train <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=10402 target=_blank> some years ago</a> (back in my wide angle - not sure how to use it - days) but I've pulled out this more standard angle out that I much prefer - a classic TH&B view with some of the Hamilton skyline in view - and now, most if not all of this motive power is no longer on the roster. Boy how good we had it then.. little did I realize most of this would dissapear in a couple short years. I didn't chase this.. I should have - we would chase the piss out of this now.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 07/13/13
Location: Hamilton
Province: Ontario
5 Comments | 17 Favourites
I had no plans to post this anytime soon, but <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=39764 target=_blank>Doug Page's recent photo</a> of the LS&I units at Campbellville was posted and I realized I had a very similar shot taken very recently..<br><br>I'll summarize what happened here simply, I don't want to write it all out and what happened just yet. Basically, 143 stalled on the hill earlier that morning, 246 came by and the chief asked 246 to donate a unit to 143.. which did not solve the problem, and making things worse, 246 was now stalled. Both trains were parked at the Kelso Ski Hill.. so much later that afternoon, 147 came rolling along, parked their train at Milton West, and light power went to the hill to shove 143 up the grade. After, 147 went back down the hill for 246.. this is only a summary of what happened, the story is even better, and I'll write it some day :) But alas, Bill Purdy told me about the action and I decided to go have a look for myself on a bored Sunday afternoon. So here's a photo of 147 going back down the hill to give 246 a shove. Note how similar the pole line is in orientation in my shot to Dougs. I think this is a real close candidate for the time machine..
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 12/15/2019
Location: Campbellville
Province: Ontario
Comments | 9 Favourites
T97 with SOO 4410 (One of about 3 active in SOO paint), the elusive beast is shown pulling a cut of loaded autoracks out of Totota's Cambridge Assembly plant to hand directly off to T72. This move happens 6 days a week, and for a brief period of time 4410 was assigned to this job. Apparently 4410 is now assigned to London and in the middle of the London Pickup, subject to the usual change - 4410 did not seem to hold a regular assignment in the last few months instead crews played hot potato with it casting it aside at the next opportunity. Sun was rare in November and continues to be rare in December around here.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: SOO Line
Date: 11/23/2019
Location: Cambridge
Province: Ontario
3 Comments | 10 Favourites
Let's keep going with a switcher theme - for a month SSRX 911 pinched in for CN 7304 (See Arnold's recent photo posted two after mine for a photo of it in action in the 80's) in Hamilton. SSRX 911 is owned by LDS of Sarnia and 7304 was there for work, hence the connection. and it was nice to have a SW900 in service in Hamilton again. I love how these sound but the exhaust stacks really make a difference - the Stelco units have nothing muffling the sound and the 567 resonates and echoes off buildings when they are loading, 911 was not as loud but still nice :) Hope the crews liked it.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Industrial
Date: 9/14/2019
Location: Hamilton
Province: Ontario
Comments | 9 Favourites
So I did have an action photo of this pair... I found <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=37859 target=_blank>this pair in St. Thomas two days later</a> as I scoped out St. Thomas en-route to Sarnia (I was hoping for something different i'm sure). To have an action photo and a terminal photo of this pair really aren't all that bad. I imagine both of these are in danger of being replaced with the dreaded GE invation. Ingersoll was my go-to railfan spot, despite being 45 minutes away.. I loved the action there. Not many towns where trains go through full speed (and NS freights did 70 MPH). Further, the horn show for westbounds.. oh boy. I was with friend David Graham, here's his video <a href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tItgHi9cVe8 target=_blank>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tItgHi9cVe8</a> Now you hear and see why I went to Ingersoll. :)
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Norfolk Southern
Date: 12/21/2006
Location: Ingersoll
Province: Ontario
4 Comments | 14 Favourites
Ahh.. I do miss the GEXR motive power.. and the GEXR in town. CN's neat, but these are three SD's.. two 40's and one SD45.. where else can you get this so regularly in Ontario. And I knew not to take it for granted. Fall is just taking hold and in an experimental mood came up with this scene.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Goderich-Exeter
Date: 9/24/2017
Location: Guelph
Province: Ontario
3 Comments | 9 Favourites
CP 7015 leads train 100 for the first time across our great Nation in "block" lettering, over 3000 miles from Vancouver to Toronto and only about 50 miles to go on its transcontinental journey. The day before 7010 led in "script" lettering, and was the first ever to lead on the Transcontinental mainline into Toronto. With the addition of the "military" units and the 8 more "maroon" heritage SD70's yet to come, it's going to be busy with photographers on the CP mainline for the foreseeable future. Thanks to the folks at CP who made it possible, you know who you are and we're all smiles because of it :) Looking forward to everyone's photos, so far it has been a great show! <br><br>Shouts out to John Spring and <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/author/lock4244 target=_blank> Mike Lockwood</a> who were shooting with me at this spot.
Name: Stephen C. Host
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 10/28/2019
Location: Palgrave
Province: Ontario
4 Comments | 21 Favourites
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