While I was recording the end-of-summer blossoms a CPR tie replacement gang came though, providing a good lesson in mechanization backbreaking labour.

First, some blossoms:

Evening Primrose with visitor …

Virgin’s Bower, a wild Clematis, ending it blossom stage …

… and entering its “windflower” fluffy stage:

The last of the Fireweed blossoms …

Meanwhile the Black Cherries are ripening.

Here is one of the first mechanized devices in the tie gang:

The operators use little hydraulic/pneumatic “pullers” to pull the spikes out of the rail plate.  3 for each plate.  Following along behind are some younger (lower seniority?) workers who are picking up the spikes and loading that trailer.   A railside electromagnet on a backhoe reloads the spikes into a carrier which is used to reload them into magazines where they are re-used.  It was quite neat to see the machinery pull old ties out to the side, put new ties in under the rail and then respike them.   This sort of thing seemed to be inevitable though:

Worker is adjusting rail plate on two new ties the old fashioned way.

Some random shots taken in the neighbourhood:

Visitor on juniper bush …

Last of the summer daylilies along the Still River …

Tansy is now very common along the roadsides ….

Nice colours.  …. and truncated triangles!

Broadwinged hawk on Forest Access Road

Some Highbush Cranberries are ripening…

CNR crossing north of Mowat Siding (Forest Access Rd)

Ripening

Ripe!  But hard to find as the bears are feeding on them ravenously.

This is the 500,000 Volt transmission line bringing power from the 350 MW  ABITIBI CANYON GS to Southern Ontario (Including Sudbury and Parry Sound).  It is the line that the proposed Henvy Inlet Wind farm would hook into. Currently the plan is to hook the wind farm output into the line at the Parry Sound Transformer Station, although many locals, including me, prefer “Option A” which means a new Transformer Station in the vicinity of this photo (south of Hwy 522).

Near Lost Channel …

Nice country.