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Unsolved Mysteries

If anyone has any insight to any of the questions on this page, you're invited to email me.

1. Offline movements of AC Hopper Cars

There was a time that I believed that the ACR's ore hoppers were basically captive service between Wawa and Sault Ste. Marie, and that they had no reason to leave the ACR's tracks. However, compelling evidence to the contrary has been discovered.

• A fellow member of my model railroad club says he has a photo from about 10-15 years ago (late 1980s or early-mid 1990s) of a string of about 10 or 12 of the 8000 series round black hoppers at Copper Cliff (Sudbury) on the CPR. He was unable to find out exactly what was in them and why they were there, but speculates their presence is related to the Inco Ltd. iron ore recovery plant at Copper Cliff. Asking on the C-P-R discussion list on Yahoo yielded no definate answers. One could speculate that perhaps some of the recovered iron was being shipped to Algoma Steel, but this is not known for sure. Also, note that ore traffic from Wawa has already been declining for several years at this point. It's most possible that these cars were surplus due to the gradual drop in traffic volume and simply leased to INCO or CP by the ACR. If anyone has any supporting or contrary evidence, I'd appreciate hearing about it!

• There is a photo online of an ACR hopper in Port Colbourne, ON. in 1972. (Photo) It is one of the new (at that time) round black 8000-series hoppers. The first time I saw the photo I figured it was a shot of some cars brand new from NSC, however on a second glance, the details point another direction. 1. Port Colbourne is the opposite direction from Hamilton. 2. The cars are fully 8 months old when the photo was taken, and should have long ago been delivered to the ACR, so it becomes logical to think that they are here on some sort of revenue purpose.

  SOLVING THE MYSTERY: The location of the photo has been suggested by locals to be the old CN Nickel yard in Port Colbourne (now abandoned and ripped up). Algoma Steel had an operation in Port Colbourne for some years; this had formerly been Canadian Furnace Industries? It appears this plant had at least one blast furnace and for a period of its operation received ore from Wawa. This plant closed in 1977.

  Related to the Port Colbourne story, I have a copy of a 1985 CN General Operating Instructions book. In it, there is a specific reference under speed restrictions stating that any movements containing "Algoma Central Railway cars in series 8200-8500" are restricted to 40 MPH. Curious that this appears several years after the end of service to Port Colbourne - it could be a reference that was left in "just in case."

2. ACR Wood Reefer(s)

The best available roster information has absolutely no references to any ACR reefer cars, but here's a photo of one. Looking for any info on builder, date, number of cars (was this one of a kind?), history (if not built new).

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