(Extended) CN 543 in Toronto's Port Lands

Canadian National (CN) 543, with locomotives #4116 and #4777 and three empty tanker cars, trundles westbound down the center of Lake Shore Boulevard and crosses Carlaw Avenue on its way back to Oakville after serving the Ashbridges Bay Water Treatment Plant off Leslie Street just south of Commissioners Street in Toronto’s Port Lands. While not street-running per se, of what’s remaining in the city it’s the closest thing one can get. Regardless it remains one of the most interesting spots in the city to spot freight trains, but with GO Transit operating their trains along the Lake Shore lines during the day, the only time it’s possible for freight to pass is during the overnight hours, thus the popular misconception that this line has long been abandoned.

The second half of the video, taken on another night the following year, features CN 543 with locomotives #4777 and #4784, a tanker car, and several hopper cars crossing Don Roadway and the Don River railway bridge heading westbound towards the CN Kingston subdivision/GO Transit Lake Shore East line on its way back to Oakville.

Being one of the only parts of the city that’s been well known for its heavy industry for many decades, the Port Lands are in a state of desolation with many industries having parted ways over the past 20 to 30 years. There are plans for a massive redevelopment of the area but it’s one that will surely take decades to complete. The Port Lands Railway Spur is the final vestige of a largely bygone industrial freight era along Toronto’s eastern waterfront, and with this being only a weekly assignment serving only a single industry, its days are likely limited...

Outline:

00:00 - Heading westbound along the median of and turning onto the north side of Lake Shore Boulevard East at Carlaw Avenue

01:51 - Heading westbound and crossing Don Roadway and the Don River on the north side of Lake Shore Boulevard East