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About Paul O'Shell


Started my railroad career at CN in 1969 and continue to work in the industry 47 years later. I use a Nikon D7200 and a Sony DSC WX-50 for stills, a JVC GZ-HM320BU camcorder for videos, and scan with an Epson V550. Enjoy my contributions. Be safe.

Paul O'Shell's Railpictures.ca photo upload statistics


Number of images: 142
Total gold: 514
Number of comments recieved : 149
Number of comments posted : 113
Total views: 135164



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Paul O'Shell's 142 photos on Railpictures.ca:


Before hi-rail vehicles were common place at CN, Engineering field supervisors in most departments were assigned a car or truck to perform their duties. This 1976 Dodge D-100 Club Cab Custom was the daily driver for the Roadmaster (my Dad) in Jarvis, ON. The club cab was a Dodge innovation in 1973 and made it the work truck of choice for a number of years with all that 'extra space'. There were no creature comforts in these company assigned vehicles. Bench seat, manual windows, no A/C, no cruise control, and no cab insulation. A bare bones work truck. I added the roof top revolving light that I brough over from the Work Equipment shop at Danforth (Scarborough, ON) and remember the mounting bolts protruding right into the cabin because there was no headliner!
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian National
Date: Spring 1976
Location: Jarvis
Province: Ontario
2 Comments | 13 Favourites
I captured Cartier X-24 at the Port Cartier shop complex 11 years ago today. This unit is a Jordan Type A 3-175, s/n 900, built in 1960 with medium front blade, straight side wings, front cab, high rear platform and pneumatic cylinders. X-24 was parked nose to tail with sister X-23, s/n 899, built 1960 that has been highly modified from its original look as seen at http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=5712
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Cartier
Date: March 28, 2006
Location: Port Cartier
Province: Quebec
Comments | 7 Favourites
CN 1324 idles away behind the Burlington, ON station on this warm June day in 1976. Sad that only a couple of these CN SW1200's are still in use today in Ontario.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian National
Date: June 1976
Location: Burlington
Province: Ontario
Comments | 12 Favourites
On this dreary May 1975 afternoon, C&O GL6 sits patiently outside the roundhouse in St. Thomas, ON hoping for something to do before someone decides it no longer has any use. This Jordan spreader was built around 1924 and is a standard 2-180, translating to center cab, low front blade, articulated side wings and pneumatic cylinders. It is an early front braced riveted design, and may have been rebuilt from a knuckle type unit.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Chesapeake and Ohi…
Date: May 1975
Location: St. Thomas
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 8 Favourites
A major component of keeping the roadbed clean and able to properly drain is ballast undercutting. Back in the 80's, 90's and 2000's, CN had several Plasser RM-76 UHR ballast undercutters across the system. CN 50553, s/n 203, built in 1981 is seen here sitting in the Transcona Work Equipment Yard after a long season of undercutting, waiting its turn to go through the shop for necessary repairs before once again heading out for another work program.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 12/11/2002
Location: Transcona (Winnipe…
Province: Manitoba
3 Comments | 6 Favourites
40 years after Mr. Mooney's recently submitted photo of ONR's North Bay, ON shop complex, I snapped this shot from a similar location which captures some of the changes to the buildings and grounds over the intervening years. The main shop buildings have been extended, the turntable relocated, and some track realignments to mention a few.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Ontario Northland
Date: 9/2/2015
Location: North Bay
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 4 Favourites
I remember taking this photo like it was yesterday! After having spent a number of years on regional rail and tie renewal gangs, I decided to change it up a bit by bidding the Great Lakes Regions only hi-rail excavator at the time. This Gradall G-660 had been modified by Warner & Swasey with motor grader tires to give it the clearance needed to adapt a very heavy set of hi-rail wheels to each end of the unit. The rear axle set was direct drive to the rail wheels through a pto from the 10 speed manual transmission. The machine clocked in at 68,000 lbs. and had a boom tip reach of 35 feet from center of rotation. It was quite the rig to move around some of the small Ontario towns I worked in during 1974 and 1975. The remote control drive and steering from the upper cab made for some second looks when working the machine off the tracks. I last saw the unit in the work equipment shop in Moncton, NB in 1987. Both of which are no more. And the same goes for my 1973 Duster parked along side the unit.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian National
Date: July 1974
Location: Fort Erie
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 8 Favourites
A trio of locomotives led by CP 5826 charges out of a tunnel with a lengthy train behind as it climbs the grade east of Field, BC on a beautiful spring day in May of 1983.
Name: Terry O'Shell
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: May 1983
Location: East of Field
Province: British Columbia
1 Comments | 7 Favourites
LRC locomotive Via 6913 is about to cross Colbourne St. as it leads four coaches out of London, ON and becomes the first train to pass the newly commissioned CTC signal 774 at McLeod on this cold, drizzly and overcast day in December of 1982.
Name: Terry O'Shell
Railway: VIA Rail
Date: September 1982
Location: London
Province: Ontario
Comments | 12 Favourites
Rebuilt and freshly painted for static display at CP's Ogden Yard Headquarters in Calgary, this end cupola unnumbered caboose looks great on a sunny but cold November day.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 11/12/2014
Location: Calgary
Province: Alberta
3 Comments | 5 Favourites
Just before the summer begins in 2002, CP 8120 (DRs 12a) is getting a fresh coat of maroon & grey paint at the Lake of the Woods Railroad Museum in Keewatin, ON. The van in the background could also use a freshening up.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 06/18/2002
Location: Keewatin
Province: Ontario
4 Comments | 4 Favourites
CP 3084, GM GP38 sits silent outside the shop in Revelstoke, BC waiting for its next assignment.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 05/13/2002
Location: Revelstoke
Province: British Columbia
Comments | 7 Favourites
Still running on bolted rail, 6529 gives lots of bell and whistle as it passes the occupied boarding cars of CN Great Lakes Region tie gang No. 4 parked in the siding at Albany Forks on CN's Ruel Sub. You can't get much closer to the action than this! There's nothing quite like living in a flat car mounted white fleet unit in the middle of northern Ontario. Passenger trains came and went with little to no disturbance other than the lights, horn and bell. On the other hand, and especially in the middle of the night, you could hear and feel heavy freights coming for quite some time before they arrived and thundered past the accommodation units which were only a few feet from the mainline. Flange squeal, a flat wheel, or slack action really got your attention!
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian National
Date: June 1976
Location: Albany Forks
Province: Ontario
5 Comments | 8 Favourites
In contrast to Colin Arnot's August 30, 2016 photo of CN 621-14 working on a bright and warm summer day southeast of Edmonton (http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=26526), here is the same unit on her maiden voyage dressed in full winter gear, working hard to clear CN's Sangudo Sub. about 12 miles northwest of Whitecourt, Alberta on the night of January 12, 2005. I took this photo at 20:49 hrs. while standing in -30C temperatures as evidenced by the exhaust smoke hanging in the air. The track beside and behind the machine have been plowed and winged clear and we are getting ready to sweep the turnout before heading back to Whitecourt for the night. While it is always an adventure putting new machines into service, I can honestly say that I don't miss those frigid days and nights with snow removal equipment.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 01/12/2005
Location: Northwest of White…
Province: Alberta
1 Comments | 7 Favourites
CN 50437, an Ohio DE 400 locomotive crane, moves in to grab RY 2 and a load of new rail for the track panel construction crew at CN's Transcona Engineering Yard. New ties, new rail and new track jewelry make up the track panels that are then loaded on to purpose built cars and sent to strategic locations across CN's system to be in position for derailment response.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 06/07/2016
Location: Transcona (Winnipe…
Province: Manitoba
1 Comments | 5 Favourites
Oba, ON was a busy place at CN in mid-summer 1976. A Regional tie renewal gang was working west on the Ruel Sub, a Car Department road repair car was in town for a wheelset changeout on a work equipment flat car, and CN 70829 Diesel Maintainers Car was also there for a little work on the wayside power plants. This self-contained shop on wheels had a fully equipped work area in one end, and bunk, kitchen & dining facilities (BK&D) in the other. It's about a year and a half since this car was released from CN's Pointe St. Charles shops (HQ 1-75).
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian National
Date: Summer 1976
Location: Oba
Province: Ontario
4 Comments | 6 Favourites
The working end of a CN road repair car offers up an idea of how labour intensive a field wheelset change out was 40 years ago. CN 54401 (work equipment machinery flat) gets a new set of wheels at Oba, ON in the summer of 1976. These 'shops on wheels' came with all the tools and equipment needed to make emergency road repairs, and when completed, the guys would retire to the accommodation portion of the car to cook, eat and sleep.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: Canadian National
Date: Summer 1976
Location: Oba
Province: Ontario
4 Comments | 7 Favourites
Metrolinx's most recent paint scheme glistens the morning after it was applied at the ONR paint shop. Next move is into the main building for completion of the rebuild.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: GO Transit
Date: 09/24/2014
Location: North Bay
Province: Ontario
Comments | 5 Favourites
Three and a half years after Wayne Shaw's March 2011 visit to the ONR shops, they were still actively rebuilding bi-level cars for Metrolinx/GO Transit. GOT 2114 is in the prep and paint building for some work during the rebuild process.
Name: Paul O'Shell
Railway: GO Transit
Date: 09/24/2014
Location: North Bay
Province: Ontario
Comments | 5 Favourites
Ask and you shall receive.... Further to Mr. Mooney's recent posting of the CN Newmarket station in April of 1976, here it is 40 years later on February 18, 2016. Hey Arnold, please don't ask for an updated shot of Westree!!! :)
Name: Terry O'Shell
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 02/18/2016
Location: Newmarket
Province: Ontario
1 Comments | 4 Favourites
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