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ACH YEAR YOUR EDITOR AND I take a week-long trip to Canada to ex- plore prairies. Normally, I plan the trip and have little difficulty con- vincing Steve to come along. This year I called and said my idea included fly- ing to Winnipeg, and his response was, “A nything that involves going to Win- nipeg can’t be bad.”
The trip had several varied goals. As always, any prairie trip is going to in- clude as many of the classic wood eleva- tors that can be managed. Other specif- ic goals on this trip were getting the Mobil Grain operation, and the Kee- watin Railway’s Pukatawagan mixed, ostensibly the last of its kind on the continent. This trip was over 2800 miles long, but along the way we had incredible good luck, and our timing was extraordinary.
Thursday, August 22: This was a long arduous day. I got up at 0400, my wife Candy and I “coffee-ed” up, and she drove me to the airport. My plane was due out at 0700. At 0630 it was an- nounced it would leave at 0800, due to weather and traffic in Chicago, mean- ing I would likely miss my connection to Winnipeg. Anyway, I arrived in Chicago at 0915; the outbound was also late so I made it. I met Steve and his brother Bruce (their plane was also late), and we awaited the departure for Winnipeg. We had visions of nailing the
34 DECEMBER 2013 •
RAILFAN.COM
TOP: An eastbound CN freight rolls through Allan, Saskatchewan, as the sun settles into the prairie on August 24. Allan has one of the last stands of multiple elevators on the CN transcon- tinental route. ABOVE: The Keewatin Railway’s mixed train is southbound at Atik as it ap- proaches The Pas, Manitoba, on August 23.
eastbound Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway’s train if the plane got in on time.
The Winnipeg flight, which was due
out at 0945, left at 1150. Then, about an hour and 15 minutes into the one hour and 55 minute flight, the pilot an- nounced we had developed a hydraulic problem, and after circling to burn off some fuel we would return to Chicago for repairs. We were 200 miles from Winnipeg, yet we flew 500 miles back to Chicago! We returned, the plane was
repaired, and we departed again at 1500. We finally arrived in Winnipeg at 1700, five hours late, quickly cleared customs, got the rental car, and headed west out of town as the GWWD option has long
since expired. We got to
Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, and right at the last bit of sun we finally got the first, and only train of the day, a Cana- dian National eastbound.
Friday, August 23: We rose at 0530, gathered ourselves for a quick breakfast
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