[quote="RobertInOntario"]
I've gone rail-fanning with my sons in the Hamilton Bayview Junction area. One day in June, two years ago IIRC, my youngest son & I had an excellent times watching one train about every 9 minutes. Then, a few months later, we went back again and only saw one train in an hour!
At any rate, I'd like to go back again because it's one of the best rail-fanning locations in Canada.
Hello Rob---thanks for your feedback.I think we've all had similar experiences while railfanning---I compare train watching to fishing,sometimes you catch your limit and other days you don't even get a bite
Being from Hamilton,I have become familiar with the scheduled passenger and freight trains routines so I plan my photo sessions during these hours.Usually early mornings during the week (7am to 9am) you will see both GO and VIA passenger trains with a freight train or two and after 4pm the action is pretty good as well.I also have been lucky between 10am till 2pm spotting scheduled freights as well as Canadian Pacific freight trains.I very rarely train watch on the weekends,so I really can't comment on what would be good times for railfanning on Saturdays or Sundays.
The other nice thing about Bayview is that it is located next to the Botanical Gardens in Hamilton,so even if the train action is slow,you're surrounded by beautiful scenery.As well,there always seem to be other railfanners watching trains---I have met a lot of really nice people and exchanged lots of train stories.
Bayview has been a popular spot for a long time,some of my favourite pictures are from the steam era taken at this location.here's a photo by Ted Wickson taken in 1956
This picture is from the same location taken early 80's