No one is more surprised about the viral trip of the Polar Express than the man who shot the video of a speeding train smashing through a wall of snow near Salisbury, N.B.
Darren Gordon of Riverview was on a break between shifts at the Homestead Restaurant on Tuesday when he shot the video that has now been viewed more than 1.8 million times on YouTube.
"I knew it was going to be a good shot and I knew we just had the fresh falling snow," said Gordon.
"I didn't think it was going to be as good as it turned out."
Gordon's video shows the CN Rail engine creating billows of powdery snow as it races down the track, then creating a whiteout when flying snow covers the lens.
Some commenters on YouTube and elsewhere have questioned whether Gordon was being safe. He was about seven metres from the tracks.
"I probably realized when I first started to film that yeah, I might be a little bit too close, but once I started the filming, it was too late to move," said Gordon.
Gordon is a train buff and often shoots videos of trains.
None has captured the public's imagination like Gordon's video titled "EPIC CATCH!!! Dashing Thru the Snow."
"Most of my train videos don't really get a lot of views," he said.
"I mean maybe 100 or so. A lot of them aren't even 100 views yet — it kind of blows my mind a bit.