ABOVE: Trainman Phil Hanratty checks the door hasp on the “Fish Car” before pickup at Pawistik (milepost 94) on the southbound run on October 7, 2015. The fish car is dropped on the northbound run and the local fishermen fill it overnight. The car is a standard boxcar filled with tubs of ice to transport the fresh catch to market in The Pas. LEFT: Sherridon station is a quick stop on the southbound run. Each stop usually requires unloading material from one of the baggage cars on the train.
alcohol importation. Everything was peaceful and orderly throughout the trip. Periodically, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ride the train as well as part of its community policing initiative, according to Constable Steven Holt of the RCMP Pukatawagan detachment. Morning rain and clouds give way to
291 are inquisitive at the sight of a 60-ish outsider with a camera, with nearly everyone asking “Why are you going to Puk?” Remembering Jim Boyd’s famous quote on the impossibility of explaining the purpose of railfanning, I simply reply that I am “writing an article.” A few ask not to be photographed while others volunteer cheerfully. A majority of today’s passengers are members of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation. Vestibules are open and jammed
with smokers. Many of the passengers nap and a few participate in small- stakes card games. North of Cranberry Portage, a small commissary opens in one combine with snacks and drinks available for the long trip to Puk. Over the years, I had heard many
railfan rumors about the Puk mixed; none were complimentary. Victor Colomb, a Pukatawagan Tribal Police Officer, was aboard for security and to enforce tribal regulations on
partial sun punctuated by puffy white clouds and the opportunity for some dutch door photography. A left-leaning curve at Takipy (milepost 60) provides the opportunity to get the entire consist in full sun. Just after dark, 291 stops to discharge an intrepid hunter at milepost 87 between Charles and Rafter. Once on the ground, he disappeared into the boreal darkness of the Manitoba forest as Conductor Scribner orders us underway. One more stop at Pawistik to drop off the “fish car” precedes our 9:15 p.m. arrival at Pukatawagan.
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