Old Time Trains

Swinging westwards onto the CNR Dundas Subdivision at Bayview tower, Hamilton, CPR Extra 2838 is seen bound for London on August 16, 1955. I consider this to be my finest photograph of a "Royal Hudson" and there is something of a story behind it.
At the time, I was working as night relief boilermaker at John Street, Toronto, and early that morning we were informed that two passenger extras would be ordered about 9:00 a.m. These were two troop trains from St. John, New Brunswick, to London. The power assignments would be G3g 4-6-2 "Pacific" No. 2399 for the first section and G5c "Pacific" No. 1260 and H1 c "Royal Hudson" No. 2838 for the second section. The assist would be needed on the heavier train for the hard pull from Toronto to Orr's Lake, just west of Galt.
Here was my chance to photograph a doubleheader passenger on the Milton Hill, something that I had never accomplished before. I finished work at 7:00 a.m., which gave me time to drive home to Oakville, grab my camera, and get onto location near Campbellville on the CPR main line. Everything worked out well and I arrived at the spot with time to spare. I waited for what seemed an eternity but nothing came. Presently, Russ Kane, the Assistant Roadmaster, putted up in his track car and told me that all traffic between Toronto and London had been rerouted over the CNR because Train No. 902 had been derailed west of Guelph Junction.
What to do? The nearest point on the CNR was Bayview Junction, Hamilton, some 15 miles away. I jumped into my 1954 Ford and sped off towards Hamilton, hoping that I might manage to catch the second section. Roaring to Bayview in record time, I ran down the embankment to the tower and inquired about the CPR extras. The towerman told me that the first section had gone but that the second was about ten minutes away. I set up on the embankment where the CNR Dundas Subdivision swings away from the Oakville Subdivision.
Finally, No. 2838 steamed up to Bayview tower minus No. 1260. She stopped for a moment to pick up a CNR pilot engineman and then blasted off for the climb to Copetown. Evidently, the assist engine was cancelled when the train was rerouted. The "Royal Hudson" was able to handle her train over the CNR without assistance. The CNR pilot engineman was needed beyond Bayview as this was "foreign" track to the CPR crew who were quite at home on the CNR from Toronto to Hamilton.
No. 2838 was filling in on various routes at this time. She had been bumped off her regular Toronto to Fort William run by diesel-electrics in early 1954. 1 have been told that Nos. 2838-2842 were the first H1c's turned out by Montreal Locomotive Works. They were booster equipped and were desperately needed out of Toronto for the "Dominion". No. 2838 was the only H1c equipped with an HT stoker, the other 29 locomotives had the BK type. Her last service was out of London in 1958, and she was scrapped on May 1, 1960. W.H.N.Rossiter

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Swinging westwards onto the CNR Dundas Subdivision at Bayview tower, Hamilton, CPR Extra 2838 is seen bound for London on August 16, 1955. I consider this to be my finest photograph of a "Royal Hudson" and there is something of a story behind it.

At the time, I was working as night relief boilermaker at John Street, Toronto, and early that morning we were informed that two passenger extras would be ordered about 9:00 a.m. These were two troop trains from St. John, New Brunswick, to London. The power assignments would be G3g 4-6-2 "Pacific" No. 2399 for the first section and G5c "Pacific" No. 1260 and H1 c "Royal Hudson" No. 2838 for the second section. The assist would be needed on the heavier train for the hard pull from Toronto to Orr's Lake, just west of Galt.

Here was my chance to photograph a doubleheader passenger on the Milton Hill, something that I had never accomplished before. I finished work at 7:00 a.m., which gave me time to drive home to Oakville, grab my camera, and get onto location near Campbellville on the CPR main line. Everything worked out well and I arrived at the spot with time to spare. I waited for what seemed an eternity but nothing came. Presently, Russ Kane, the Assistant Roadmaster, putted up in his track car and told me that all traffic between Toronto and London had been rerouted over the CNR because Train No. 902 had been derailed west of Guelph Junction.

What to do? The nearest point on the CNR was Bayview Junction, Hamilton, some 15 miles away. I jumped into my 1954 Ford and sped off towards Hamilton, hoping that I might manage to catch the second section. Roaring to Bayview in record time, I ran down the embankment to the tower and inquired about the CPR extras. The towerman told me that the first section had gone but that the second was about ten minutes away. I set up on the embankment where the CNR Dundas Subdivision swings away from the Oakville Subdivision.

Finally, No. 2838 steamed up to Bayview tower minus No. 1260. She stopped for a moment to pick up a CNR pilot engineman and then blasted off for the climb to Copetown. Evidently, the assist engine was cancelled when the train was rerouted. The "Royal Hudson" was able to handle her train over the CNR without assistance. The CNR pilot engineman was needed beyond Bayview as this was "foreign" track to the CPR crew who were quite at home on the CNR from Toronto to Hamilton.

No. 2838 was filling in on various routes at this time. She had been bumped off her regular Toronto to Fort William run by diesel-electrics in early 1954. 1 have been told that Nos. 2838-2842 were the first H1c's turned out by Montreal Locomotive Works. They were booster equipped and were desperately needed out of Toronto for the "Dominion". No. 2838 was the only H1c equipped with an HT stoker, the other 29 locomotives had the BK type. Her last service was out of London in 1958, and she was scrapped on May 1, 1960. W.H.N.Rossiter