Dorval: The BEST Railfanning Action in Montreal! Parallel Freight and Passenger Mainlines!

On April 15th, I headed to Montreal with my dad for a day of railfanning in Dorval. Meeting up with ‪@railfancharles8289‬ and ‪@mtlrailfan‬, we saw around two dozen trains on the parallel CPKC and CN mainlines. EXO/AMT, VIA, and CSX run-through power all showed up as well.
This is Episode 3 of the Canadian Rail Series by NCT.
Location: Dorval, QC, Canadian Pacific Kansas City Vaudreuil Sub, Canadian National Kingston Sub.
Trains:
EXO 51
VIA 65
CN M368
EXO 52
VIA 60
VIA 24
VIA 35
CPKC 112
CN L585
VIA 62
VIA 67
EXO 53
CPKC 231
CN M327 (CSXT)
CPKC 133
CN M372
VIA 26
VIA 64
EXO 54
VIA 37
CPKC 118
CN M321
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[@RandomTrainfan]

Fun Fact: during the Canadian gain rush part of the year the railroads will use anything that moved for gain

[@414mayns]

I have to say for myself when I was younger the best place for train spotting was the VIA rail station in Cobourg Ontario. CN main line with the station platforms and less 100 feet to the south on the other side of the parking lot running parallel to the CN lines is the CP main line so best of both worlds

[@dallasspotting]

Montreal is a pretty good place to railfan! nice video! keep up the great work

[@trainglen22]

I wholeheartedly agree. Dorval Via/Exo is fantastic.

[@glennfoster2423]

A good, strong cup of coffee early before the sun rises while watching a parade of trains, what more can you ask for? What earthquake? Well, I am in Texas. Haven't felt any of the reported ones out in the Permian basin thus far.

[@mtlrailfan]

That was an epic railfanning with you :D

[@markvogel5872]

Is the footbridge still at Beaconsfield?

[@Vermont-rail-fanner-432]

68 Adirondack is going from Rensselaer to New York Penn station

[@ChrisRailfan71]

Would love to make up to Dorval for some railfanning.

[@cooltrainsinmontreal4883]

Dorval is great, but Montreal offers so many other scenic spots to see trains. I don't like the boredom of waiting in one place too long, by moving around, i can find new hidden places to film trains

[@NorthCountryTrains]

I like a variety of railfanning styles. Sometimes I like to just sit and watch them, sometimes I like to hop around. It you check out my more recent Montreal railfanning I explored a variety of locations around the city and St Lambert!

[@jamesbradley7306]

Remembering living in Toronto in the 70's and those Turbo runs to Montreal. In reality, not much achieved in thhe following 50 years.

[@TZrailfaning]

Awesome video! I'm hoping to head up to Vermont next summer, and take a stop in Montreal to see if I can maybe find some trains, and this is a perfect video! Thank you once again!

[@NorthCountryTrains]

Check out my newer Montreal video to see some other great locations like Pointe St Charles and Southwark!

[@TZrailfaning]

@@NorthCountryTrains I sure will!

[@alanwbelcher]

Great video, and a beautiful day north of the border!

[@CPKCrailfan]

At 28:20 the difference in fuel is apparent with the 4400 and gevo

[@Steve-xf4uv]

An interesting thing I regularly notice about CP locomotives is how filthy dirty they are, 8791 being a case in point. I don't know if they have no facilities for washing in the Montreal area or if they schedule their trains so tight that there is no time but this really seems to be an issue. CN not nearly as much even with some of the old paint faded units on their locals. Glad you enjoyed your time around Montreal, try the Scores restaurant at the Dorval traffic circle, my haunt after fanning Dorval.

[@NorthCountryTrains]

The only wash for CP engines is the paint booth 😂. Thanks for watching

[@johngarven2125]

Sweating the assets!

[@elizetes7313]

Wow that’s a long as train

[@elizetes7313]

I love trains !!

[@cooltrainsinmontreal4883]

BAD Luck Amtrak is suspending Adirondack service into Canada for the summer due to dispute over track maintenance fees with CN

[@katiest-amand2488]

Nice catches on the train hotspot in Montreal!

[@hunterstewarthobbies6692]

Great Catches!

[@BostonByRails]

Great video! What resources did you use to find out when freight trains were going to come? Are there any good Facebook groups that cove train action in the area?

[@NorthCountryTrains]

Being on a busy mainline, finding out what was coming really wasn’t a priority. Fortunately my friend Charles has connections with other railfans along the CN and CPKC mainlines, and also uses traffic cameras to spot trains. There’s a Quebec Railfans Facebook group but trains west of Montreal are very rarely mentioned, as they are so frequent

[@BostonByRails]

@@NorthCountryTrains okay great. One more question, I am planning on going during the passenger rush, is that a bad time to see freight given your experience?

[@NorthCountryTrains]

@@BostonByRails Morning or evening? Honestly the freights are pretty spread out around Montreal, but I believe they try to run before the morning and before/after the evening commute times