  My all-time favourite Canadian Pacific steam locomotive was the F2a Julilee, especially #3002. I had a number of rides behind this engine in the early 1950's between Galt and Toronto. The upper photo was taken at Galt, Ontario on August 29, 1952. The lower photo is a Toby HO scale model of this engine. 3002 was built for the Canadian Pacific Railway by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1936. It was immediately assigned to Toronto and operated mainly between Toronto and Windsor/Detroit until bumped by Budd RDC's in November 1953. 3002 was then used each Friday on Toronto to Windsor/Detroit train 629 when passenger loads required extra coaches in addition to the two RDC-1's, 9050 & 9051. Before long, 9052 was brought to Toronto pretty much eliminating the need for a conventional train on Fridays. Laid up in 1956 because of needed repairs, 3002 was authorized for scrapping in May 1957. (The December 1986 issue of Passenger Train Journal has a feature article on the CPR F2a Jubilee's and the lightweight passenger equipment built in the mid 1930's.)
I am a second generation railfan and the father of two fine son's. My oldest son is a third generation railfan. You can check out his web site - The View From Galt Station. My younger son never did like trains. He was more intrigued by airplanes and is now an airline pilot. I've always liked trains. My all-time favourite lines are the Grand River/Lake Erie & Northern Railways, particularly when they were electric operations. Links to these lines are to be found on my home page. In 1948, my father moved our family across the city. As it turned out, the house was a most ideal spot for train watching. From our upstairs bathroom window we could see the mainline trains of the Canadian Pacific Railway as they dealt with the ruling grade on the London Division. Passing under the CP's high-level bridge over the Grand River was the former Galt to Kitchener Grand Trunk Railway (later Canadian National Railways) line. I would often see a CNR Mogul with the daily wayfreight, at a distance of about one-half mile, from the window. As if that weren't enough, from our large kitchen window we were able to see, this time at about one-quarter mile distance, the Canadian National trackage that ran from Guelph Jct. (located in Guelph) to Lynden Jct., just east of Brantford. Parallel to and on the near side of the C.N.R., was the line that caused me to fall in love with electric traction; the Canadian Pacific Electric Lines - Grand River / Lake Erie & Northern Railways. After leaving school I worked an office job for a year before joining the Canadian Pacific Railway in December 1960 to become a telegraph operator. Completing my apprenticeship, I held a seniority date of June 21, 1961 and worked on the London Division. Early in 1963 I successfully bid in second hours (4 PM-12 M) at Streetsville. Streetsville is the junction point of the CPR Toronto to Windsor main line and the branch line to Owen Sound, also known as 'The Bruce'. In the summer of 1964 I bid into Galt, again as second hours operator, a position I held until I resigned on December 11, 1968 to drive city bus. I had always wanted to drive a bus, and the future for telegraph operators was not good. For 13-1/2 years, during the time I drove city bus, I also drove highway coach part-time for United Trails/All Star Tours. I took early retirement after 27 years of driving city bus. I've told many people, "to be honest, I really didn't like driving a bus, I loved it!" To me, it was the best job in the world. Visit the: - Canadian Railway Telegraph History website for further information on telegraph, telegraph equipment, and the morse code. Besides trains, I also became quite active in the bus hobby taking pictures and gathering fleet rosters. Another interest I have is airships. Below are a few airship related page links.  Zeppelin
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