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About Ryan Gaynor

Railroad photographer and recent RTA School of Media graduate from Waterdown, Ontario.

Ryan Gaynor's Railpictures.ca photo upload statistics

Number of images: 154
Total gold: 1702
Number of comments recieved : 314
Number of comments posted : 163
Total views: 198632

Ryan Gaynor has won Editors Choice 3 times

Contact Ryan Gaynor

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Ryan Gaynor's 154 photos on Railpictures.ca:

In response to Arnold's sublime 1998 take on Hawk Junction, here is a contemporary view. The difference is stark. For a few months now, word has been going around that Canadian National's former Algoma Central line is on borrowed time. On October 6th, a sobering visit to Hawk Junction confirmed the rumours -- the old Algoma Central is very much a railway on its death throes. According to the local section-men and veteran train crew aboard Hawk Jct. to Hearst local 571, traffic on the line has dwindled drastically. These days, the twice-weekly local finds the majority of its traffic between the ONR at Hearst and the CN mainline at Oba. Franz, on the other hand, is infrequently serviced with only one or two cars received/dropped-off a month. Worse yet, the south-end of the line from Hawk to Sault Ste. Marie hasn't seen the passage of a revenue freight train since April 15th. Despite these veteran railroaders doing their best to keep the mood upbeat, the air of melancholy was undeniable. These men, many of which whom have been with the company for 30 + years, are witnessing their seniority, railway, and ultimately their livelihood changing in-front of their eyes. I couldn't help but feel a knot in the pit of my stomach as these men, who have worked on this railroad since the ACR days, described their frustrations and anxieties with being bumped to the bottom of the seniority list, and essentially, forgotten. Times are indeed tough on the old Algoma Central Railway. For a brief moment, though, former glories were rekindled as EMD SD70M-2 8830 notched out of Hawk Junction with sixteen loaded log cars -- supposedly, the first time a train has departed Hawk with loads in months. While the future of the ACR remains uncertain, CN will continue to rumble along the Tracks of The Black Bear a few times a week serving communities in Northern Ontario.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	10/06/2020
Location:	Hawk Junction
Province:	Ontario

5 Comments | 18 Favourites

The Barns are back! For how long, who knows. Nonetheless, it's pretty incredible seeing these ol' girls singing out their inevitable swan song on original home rails. After CP 8013 lost function of its horn somewhere in Eastern Ontario, CMQ 9020/9022 were pulled from a work train and tacked on at Smiths Falls. Now leading one of the hottest trains on the road, venerable SD40-2F 9020 is seen splitting a pair of CN searchlights as it races towards Buffalo with train no. 143 at Fort Erie, Ontario.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Central Maine and …
Date:	06/20/2020
Location:	Fort Erie
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 19 Favourites

Easing out of Kinnear Yard on an absolutely sweltering first day of summer, an eclectic pair of EMDs in the form of CMQ SD40-2F 9023 and CP SD60M 6260 guide train no. 246 south out of Hamilton towards their destination of Buffalo, NY. Here’s to a safe and healthy summer, all!

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Central Maine and …
Date:	06/21/2020
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 12 Favourites

Pinch me. I must be dreaming. Defying all odds, CMQ SD40-2F 9020 curves into Welland, Ont., with a surreal lashup including sister SD40-2F 9022, CP 8013, 7023 and TRE 120. Sometimes seeing really is believing.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Central Maine and …
Date:	06/20/2020
Location:	Welland
Province:	Ontario

14 Comments | 28 Favourites

Enjoying a gorgeous June morning, a man pedals his rail bike along the South Simcoe Railway as SD70ACu 7053 charges by overhead with train no. 420 at Beeton, Ontario. Moments before 420's arrival, I found myself day-dreaming of an over/under at this location. I certainly didn't expect to actually get one!

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	06/16/2020
Location:	Beeton
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 24 Favourites

Peekaboo! Emerging from the woods (in an ever-so-slight clearing), a pair of Ontario Southland RS's trundle towards Guelph Junction on a gorgeous June evening at Campbellville, Ontario.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Ontario Southland
Date:	06/01/2020
Location:	Campbellville
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 12 Favourites

Ontario Southland’s days in the Royal City may be numbered, but it’s business as usual as a pair of trains meet at ‘Lower Yard’ on this gorgeous spring afternoon in Guelph, Ontario.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Ontario Southland
Date:	05/21/2020
Location:	Guelph
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 16 Favourites

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Ontario Southland
Date:	04/30/2020
Location:	Aylmer
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 23 Favourites

Today 147 years of Ontario railroading tradition came to a close as the final train operated between St. Thomas and Tillsonburg, Ont., on the Canada Air Line. In less than an hour's time, Operating Bulletin 518 will see this historic line Out of Service from Mile 114.55 to Mile 87.22, with Mile 80-87.22 now abandoned. While the abandonment of a railway is always a sombre occasion, leave it to the boys at the Ontario Southland Railway to go out in style.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Ontario Southland
Date:	04/30/2020
Location:	Aylmer
Province:	Ontario

8 Comments | 25 Favourites

<b>A Second to Spare at Swastika</b>
There are close calls. And then there are the mop your brow and curse to the heavens, way too close for comfort, close calls. As Canadian National detour train no. 188 rolled around the bend on ONR's Ramore Subdivision at Swastika, Ontario, I experienced the latter.

The morning of February 23rd looked promising. With word that 188 (a Hornepayne, ON to Taschereau, QC detour train) would be making a daylight run over the ONR to Englehart, I devised a plan. Knowing that 188 had departed Cochrane at 0700, I pressed north along the Trans-Canada Highway to Matheson, where a handsome ONR station still stands. With a general understanding of ONR's run-times, I'd arrive at Matheson shortly after 0800 to find a perfectly lit scene, shoot at the station and the chase would be on. In my head, everything played out flawlessly. In reality, I was dead wrong. While driving up to Matheson, I had unknowingly committed one of railfanning's cardinal sins: driving towards an oncoming trains. And yes, the train managed to sneak by me in the handful of spots where the railway does not parallel the highway. While a silent scanner on the drive north should've been my first indicator that something was wrong, every passing minute at Matheson sealed my fate. Now, almost 40 minutes after arriving at Matheson, I was starting to get very nervous.

Following a horrible gut feeling that 188 had (somehow) snuck by me along the way, I started back towards Swastika. In my mind, Swastika is the 'signature shot' on the line and I wasn't going to miss it. About 10 miles out of Swastika, and still with no sight of the train, the scanner crackled to life. "ONR equipment defect detector, mile 29.6 no defects". SHIT. Swastika is located at mile 26 and I'm at least 5 miles behind the train. Now the chase was really on. Literally flying into town, I arrived at the station and threw my car into park - engine still running and my legs trembling. By the grace of god, the train hadn't gone by the station yet, but I didn't have much time. As I ran up a snow-packed set of stairs to track-level, CN 2561 was already coming around the bend. Now, I'm sprinting down the platform as the train is coming at me. Its absolute chaos. Stumbling into place, I abruptly raise my camera and fire a rapid burst of photos. In total, I fired 8 hectic frames. This photo was the 8th. Between the first and last frame, a total of 2 frantic seconds had eclipsed. Now that is what I call too close for comfort.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	02/23/2020
Location:	Swastika
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 15 Favourites

With Toronto to Buffalo tonnage on the drawbar, Canadian Pacific SD70ACU 7015 (nee 9126) puts the 'H' between the T&B as it guides train no. 246 through downtown Hamilton on the former TH&B. Pre-dating the construction of the railway by over a quarter-century, the striking MacNab Street Presbyterian Church towers over the TH&B as it has since the very beginning.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	04/19/2020
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 13 Favourites

<b>Candy Stripes Under The Stars</b>
SD40-2 5871 slumbers beneath the stars at Waterdown North on Canadian Pacific's Hamilton Subdivision. Once used to service the sprawling Barnes Industrial Complex (Opta Minerals), today, this siding is very seldom used and has quite literally fallen out of service. The rails, with their varying gauge, date back to the 1930s. To my knowledge, this was the first time a train had plied the rickety siding at Waterdown North since Barnes stopped receiving rail service five or so years ago. A pair of SD40s added an additional level of intrigue to a scene not likely to be repeated anytime soon.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	04/02/2020
Location:	Waterdown
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 18 Favourites

With 2000' of continuous welded rail (CWR) in tow, a pair of venerable SD40-2 workhorses put on a nice show as they charge up the grade at Milton, Ontario. Days that start like this tend to be good ones...

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	04/02/2020
Location:	Campbellville
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 15 Favourites

Does railfanning alone count as self-isolation? Today was simply too nice a day to sit inside so I quarantined myself to my RAV 4 and took a drive out to Vinemount. A little fresh air and time trackside is good for the soul.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	03/15/2020
Location:	Vinemount
Province:	Ontario

5 Comments | 9 Favourites

Canadian Pacific EMD SD70ACu 7028 limps into Vaughan Intermodal Terminal on the tail-end of train 113. Unfortunately, at only a few weeks old, the 7028 has suffered an engine failure and was pulled off of the train.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	03/01/2020
Location:	Vaughan
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 12 Favourites

It's a minute past five and my thirteenth hour on the road. I was looking out at the road rushing under my wheels and feeling every bit like Jackson Browne. With 900 kilometres on the odometer and less than an hour of sleep keeping me going, I was running on empty. I'm not one to pass up a good opportunity, though. And seeing Canadian National stack trains on the Ontario Northland is no exception. With the sun now setting, the deep, dark forests have cast long shadows over Quebec's frozen Rte 117. Around the bend rolls a trio of smartly matched Canadian National EMD SD75is, catching rays of increasingly low sunlight as they press on towards Rouyn-Noranda. With a lengthy stack train for Montreal, detour no. 130 is taking the 'scenic route', having already traversed CN's Newmarket Subdivision, ONR's Temagami, Ramore and Kirkland Lake Subdivision's to join back up with the Canadian National further down the line. These rare detours are a result of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation rail blockade in Belleville, Ontario. For a once-a-decade opportunity such as this, I didn't mind running on empty.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	02/14/2020
Location:	Lac-Fortune
Province:	Quebec

6 Comments | 15 Favourites

Dodging increasingly long shadows, a trio of handsomely matched EMD SD75is guide Canadian National detour train no. 131 onto the wye at Swastika Junction. After swinging off of the Ramore Subdivision, 131 would traverse Ontario Northland's picturesque Kirkland Lake Subdivision for the 60-mile journey to Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. Once at Noranda and back on home rails, the slow, albeit scenic, journey through to Montreal continues.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	02/14/2020
Location:	Swastika
Province:	Ontario

6 Comments | 13 Favourites

When it comes to photographing the ONR, Boston Creek is undoubtedly one of the signature shots. However, like the majority of great locations for railroad photography, you'd better be ready to put in the leg-work to get the shot. The drive to Boston Creek is questionable, at best, during the warmer months of the year. And during the winter, it is an entirely different story. Now, I’m not saying that it’s impossible to access, but if I had to pick one word to describe the drive, “harrowing” would probably be it. So, with the recent frenzy of Canadian National detour traffic over the ONR, I knew that a trip (or two) up north wouldn't be complete without checking this shot off of the list. As I soon discovered, though, that photo wouldn’t come easily - and it didn’t. Fortunately though, staying true to the adage “third time’s the charm”, I finally got my opportunity on attempt number three. First though, a nail-biting chase from Swastika to Boston Creek would ensue. As if the sketchy road conditions weren’t bad enough, getting stuck behind a slow-moving pickup loaded with logs (go figure) was the icing on the cake. However, with some creative maneuvering, I arrived at Boston Creek with just seconds to spare. The crossing lights were already activated when I threw the car into park. I likely uttered an expletive, or combination thereof, as I frantically waded through the waist-deep snow. With just enough time to frame up the shot, CN 2561 popped into view. Here, detoured CN stack train Q188 is seen rolling through the scenic rock cut at Boston Creek on their southbound run from Hearst, ON to Noranda, QC (via Englehart). Phew - that was close! Afterwards began the long drive back to Hamilton. However, there was great satisfaction in knowing that all of the hard work paid off in the end.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	02/23/2020
Location:	Boston Creek
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 13 Favourites

Twenty-four hours before this photo was taken, I was sitting in the waiting room of the Toyota Dealership in North Bay. Twiddling my thumbs anxiously as Toyota assessed the damage that a three-inch steel spike left in my tire the night prior - stranding me in town for the night. Things were looking grim. Discouraged by sinking hundreds of dollars into the whole blow out ordeal, I questioned if it was worth continuing on. But that voice inside of my head reminded me that this was, likely, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and to go for it. So, I pressed onwards. Following the road north to Englehart, it was a cloudless, blue-sky day. The next morning was much the same as I woke up at sunrise and followed 'Ontario's Development Road' to Cochrane where Canadian National was operating a detour stack train over ONR's Kapuskasing Subdivision. Normally relegated to four-axle power, it came as quite a surprise to area-railfans when CN started operating their big stack trains over the rickety Hearst to Cochrane line. A last resort, as a derailment in Haileybury, put ONR's Temagami Subdivision out of commission for a number of days. If there was one shot along the Kap Sub that I wanted - aside from the station at Cochrane - it was at the former National Transcontinental Railway section house at Driftwood. So, I put on my snowshoes (a must as the snow is 3 to 4 feet deep in most places) and trekked into the woods. Moments later, a headlight appeared on the horizon, followed by the most surreal sight of double-stacked containers. Here she comes! Rattling snow off of the steam-era NTR section house, CN 2649 rolls along ONR's Kapuskasing Subdivision with detoured stack train no. 188 at Driftwood, ON. In 17 miles, 188 will reach the southern terminus of the Kapuskasing Sub at Cochrane, and change crews at the beautifully constructed depot. After my chagrin in North Bay, I'll consider this photo a consolation prize.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	02/21/2020
Location:	Cochrane
Province:	Ontario

5 Comments | 13 Favourites

An assorted of Ontario Northland power slumbers beneath a spectacular sunrise at Englehart, ON.

Name:	Ryan Gaynor
Railway:	Ontario Northland
Date:	02/15/2020
Location:	Englehart
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 21 Favourites

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