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About Paul O'Shell

Started my railroad career at CN in July 1969 and retired from the industry 49 years later on March 1, 2018. My area of expertise was railway Work Equipment. Reside in Kelowna, BC. I use a Nikon D850 full frame & Nikon D7200 (Nikkor 24-70mm, 24-120mm, 35mm, 18-140mm, 55-300mm, & 80-400mm) and scan with an Epson V550. Enjoy my contributions. Be safe. Lots more of my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/197431498@N07/albums

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

Number of images: 486
Total gold: 5473
Number of comments recieved : 1027
Number of comments posted : 1008
Total views: 924331

Paul O'Shell has 1 image in the Time Machine

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Paul O'Shell's 486 photos on Railpictures.ca:

Home away from home. There's no one sleeping in this windowless boarding car tucked away in TH&B's Aberdeen Avenue Yard. At least not any railway employees! Box cars and old passenger equipment converted into MoW service were a mainstay of most railroads prior to the introduction of modular housing units mounted on flat cars in the early 1970's. Lots of neat little features on this old car. Outside braced wood construction, roof level hand brake wheel, roof walk, full length car end ladders, single side coupler cut levers, end doors for between car access, and, the smoke stack for the coal or oil stove is still standing. I spent many a night in old cars like this beginning in 1969 and into the 1970's during my early CN days.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Toronto Hamilton a…
Date:	Summer 1976
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 15 Favourites

'Take a tip. Be safe this trip' TH&B 69 sits in the Aberdeen Avenue yard on this mild, late spring afternoon. A much earlier application of weed killer appears to be taking affect.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Toronto Hamilton a…
Date:	Spring 1974
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 14 Favourites

While wandering around the old roundhouse and shop area near the Aberdeen Yard back in July of 1975 I came across a nice clean TH&B 57 taking a break from switching duties. TH&B 57 is an SW-9 from GMD in London, ON with serial number A-123 built in December 1950. Information I have gathered suggests it was sold back to GMD in London, ON in May of 1989. There's those plug-in marker/class lights again!

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Toronto Hamilton a…
Date:	07/12/1975
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 17 Favourites

VIA #2 The Canadian has a clear signal at Mile 80.7 on CN's Albreda Sub. Canoe River, BC on March 7, 2020. I like the high mast searchlight signals on the main, and the dwarf searchlight signal for the siding. The hot air switch heater has been doing its job as the switch points and more are snow free.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	03/07/2020
Location:	Canoe River
Province:	British Columbia

1 Comments | 10 Favourites

Here is an opposite side view of an post I submitted several years ago of TH&B X 762. While it may not look like it, this bunk car was still in service and was a home-on-the-road for members of the TH&B wrecking crew. This coach along with several others were stored 'ready to go' at TH&B's Aberdeen Avenue yard in this mid-1976 photo.

http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=5871

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Toronto Hamilton a…
Date:	Summer 1976
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 15 Favourites

TH&B 53 is an NW-2 from EMD in LaGrange, IL with serial number 5705, built in January of 1948. It was sold to Atlas Specialty Steel in Welland, ON for scrap in May of 1988. I captured it around the Aberdeen Yard complex back in the summer of 1974.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Toronto Hamilton a…
Date:	Summer 1974
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 15 Favourites

TH&B 66 sits in the Aberdeen Avenue yard on this sunny and warm late spring day.
Information gathered from http://www.thbrailway.ca/ suggests that TH&B 66 was built by American Car & Foundry in Berwick, Pennsylvania in 1918. It was rebuilt into a bay-window style van in 1968. It was damaged by fire and sold to the Port Stanley Terminal Railway in Port Stanley, Ontario in 1983.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Toronto Hamilton a…
Date:	Spring 1974
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 19 Favourites

TH&B 26, an International hi-rail boom truck sits next to the Aberdeen yard tool house inside the gate just off Studholme Rd. A nice versatile maintenance vehicle with hi-rail gear, extra crew compartment, squirt-stick hydraulic boom & outriggers, and dump box.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Toronto Hamilton a…
Date:	Spring 1974
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 15 Favourites

TH&B X 763 at Aberdeen Avenue yard in Hamilton, ON in early summer 1976 doesn't look so bad for 52 years old. Although that fresh coat of yellow paint certainly helps obscure some of life's blemishes. From information I've gathered (on the internet), this car was built by C.C.&F. in 1924 as baggage car 51. It was converted to MoW service and renumbered to X 763. It was retired from service in 1984 at 60 years old Having gone through at lot of my old photos since retiring 5 years ago, I look back now and wish I had splurged for another roll or two of film, and captured so much more of what was out there!

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Toronto Hamilton a…
Date:	Summer 1976
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 18 Favourites

During my tenure as CN's Regional Supervisor Work Equipment Operations in the mid-1980's, I was able to renew the fleet of Work Equipment Field Maintainer vehicles with new, purpose-built service trucks. CN N175464, a 1985 Ford F-350 XLT had only been in service a few short months when I snapped this photo. These well equipped (at the time) vehicles had an air compressor, diesel fired welding machine, oxy-acetylene equipment, tool chest storage compartment, component bins and racks, and plenty of space for spare and repair parts. They certainly stood out amongst the crowd in their bright CN Orange No. 12 Work Equipment paint. Behind the truck is a plethora of vintage CN rolling stock from the era. 40' box cars in Work Equipment tool car service, a wood sheathed box car converted to a generator car, a Work Equipment machinery flat, an insulated and heated water transport tank car, a transfer van, and a Transportation Department 'Blue Fleet' accommodation unit. Oh, the good old days! :-)

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	05/17/1985
Location:	Capreol
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 21 Favourites

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Toronto Hamilton a…
Date:	Summer 1976
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 18 Favourites

Recently back from another cross-Canada and return trip on VIA 001 & 002 The Canadian (January 25-February 3). Only had about 6-8 hours of sunshine on the whole journey. Not a lot of well-lit photos to post. So, I'm reaching back to March of 2020 for this clear sky and sunshine photo of VIA's Pacific Central station in Vancouver, BC. I would be boarding VIA 002 in a few short hours on what would turn out to be one of the last, if not the last departing cross-country trip for The Canadian for quite some time to come. I arrived in Toronto on March 10, 2020, and Covid lockdowns began a few days later.
For such an imposing exterior presence, this impressive looking structure has a very small main hall, with an equally small waiting room and check-in area. The bulk of the buildings main floor is office and commercial space to either side of the front center entrance.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	03/06/2020
Location:	Vancouver
Province:	British Columbia

1 Comments | 10 Favourites

VIA 002 The Canadian has arrived in Jasper, AB on this frigid January 31st morning and the headend crew has detrained making way for the VIA Maintenance crew to clean and restock the lead locomotive. Further to the west on the platform is the VIA Maintenance Department's red Ford Ranger pickup stopped next to baggage/buffer car VIA 8602. It a few minutes, Jasper maintenance will disconnect the power cables between the leading end of the baggage car and the deadheading VIA 8702 Assiniboine Park so the train can be separated to allow the setoff of the third unit VIA 6448 and Assiniboine Park on the yard track one over from the station track. All this while the rest of the train was being serviced, garbage and dirty linens removed, new linens and food supplies loaded, and the Skyline and Park Car dome windows cleaned.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	01/31/2023
Location:	Jasper
Province:	Alberta

2 Comments | 10 Favourites

It's dusk in Capreol as CN 50936 (Class Code 3IA) Jordan Type J, 4-100 spreader lowers its angled nose plow and extends the left side wing over a roadway and another track while CN 5650 waits for the command from the operator to take it up a couple of notches and begin the process of clearing the yard. With the first four tracks from the station platform free of inbound or outbound trains, this late evening work train is free to move about the yard and will make short work of spreading the rest of the tracks once VIA 001 departs. CN 50936 wears serial number 1466 and was built in 1978. It has a front cab, medium front blade (snow plow curls have been removed), articulated side wings, hydraulic cylinders, and a high rear platform. She looks pretty good for 45 years old!

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	01/25/2023
Location:	Capreol
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 20 Favourites

It's a blustery, cold evening in Winnipeg and quite windy on the station platform outside the protection of the train shed. VIA 6443 is on the head end of VIA 001 The Canadian and has just arrived in Winnipeg, MB. The two units and baggage/buffer car are sticking out the west end of the train shed while several Prestige sleepers, VIA 88710 Prince Albert Park, and, VIA 8316 Christie Manor (tail end buffer car) bringing up the markers sit outside the east end of the shed. My trip from January 25-February 3 on VIA 001 & 002 The Canadian yielded about 8-10 hours of sunlight over the 10-day journey so I have very few photos to post. :-(

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	01/26/2023
Location:	Winnipeg
Province:	Manitoba

3 Comments | 13 Favourites

CP 1245 sits in the yard just west of CP's Golden car shop on a very pleasant February 18, 2009.

Retired by CP on March 28, 2012, three years after this photo was taken, it was sold to Ontario Southland Railway on October 20th that same year.

This unit was built new by GMD in 1960 with serial number A 1909 as CP 8163, Class DS-12. It was then rebuilt by CP in 1982 as SW1200RSu and renumbered to CP 1245.

At 63 years old it continues to earn its keep on the OSR in 2023.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	02/18/2009
Location:	Golden
Province:	British Columbia

3 Comments | 15 Favourites

After seeing Seth B's fabulous (as always) post this morning http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=50903 I followed up on his comment about the numbering and rebuild history of lead unit CN 4609 by searching my files, and came up with this shot of CN 259 (ex-CN 4609, nee-NAR 211 Fort McMurray) at Thornton Yard Vancouver, BC June 6, 2022. Built in June of 1958 as a GP9, renumbered to CN 4609 in 1981, then rebuilt into this slug in 1990, it lives on, and looks good, 65 years later! :-)
Should this photo get posted, it will be my 250th contribution to the RP.ca site.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	June 6, 2022
Location:	Vancouver
Province:	British Columbia

5 Comments | 12 Favourites

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Erie Lackawanna
Date:	summer 1976
Location:	Fort Erie
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 18 Favourites

After a brief station stop, AC 154, an EMD GP7 built in March 1951 leads a small passenger train northbound out of Oba, ON in July of 1976. trailing the locomotive was a nice Algoma Central consist that included AC 74 steam generator unit, AC 201 express baggage, AC 209 express baggage, AC 422 coach, and, AC 424 coach. I was working in Oba at the time on a CN regional tie renewal gang and took the opportunity to walk across CN's yard and onto the ACR yard tracks to capture the movement as it continued its journey to Hearst, ON.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Algoma Central
Date:	July 1976
Location:	Oba
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 12 Favourites

While working on a CN tie renewal gang stationed in Fort Erie, ON in the summer of 1976, I came across a couple of Erie Lackawanna units idling away in the yard. Here, EL 1210 with its patched road number sits coupled to sister unit EL 1405 on this beautiful mid-summer afternoon. The exaggerated shadow of the single trumpet horn almost looks like it was painted on the short hood.

Name:	Paul O'Shell
Railway:	Erie Lackawanna
Date:	summer 1976
Location:	Fort Erie
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 17 Favourites

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