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May 1, 2010 Marked the 10th Anniversary of this web site.
The first article was the story linked below.

50th Anniversary May 1st 1960

 

 

YOUR Contribution The success of this web site is due in part to the many contributors who have donated images or writing. About 90% of these contributors are known only through the internet yet they have willingly donated towards the web site. Thank you one and all. Your contribution is welcome. Be it one image scan or a short story, or a feature article. Anything Canadian is welcome. The majority of the feature articles are Canadian Pacific Railway simply because I have the most resources including contacts due to my interest over more than forty years of railroading on the CPR. Other Canadian railways are welcome. R.L.Kennedy

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Link to old home movie of CPR Great Lakes Steamship Service out of Port Mc.Nicoll.

 

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May 1, 2012 Our 12th Year!

Articles

CPR Bruce Division Passenger service added photo of Number 11 engine 4083 The Canadian passing underneath Bathurst Street bridge in the TTR. Also, Steamboat page added colour shot of FP7A 1403 sitting at Port.

CPR London Division Goderich branch added interesting old colour photo of P1 5118 leaving TH&B Aberdeen bound for Guelph Junction and Quebec Street. Special thanks to Dave Stowe and Lance Brown for indentifing the location and train i.d.

CPR Subsidiaries

Quebec Central added old black & white photo of Ten-Wheeler 42 one of the pre-CPR steam engines.

 

Newfoundland's railways

CNR Newfoundland rolling stock added great old black and white photo of open platform car,
also colour photo of Inspection Car 3.

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Photographs

Trains

CNR steam For decades thousands of people used trains to reach Grand Beach from Winnipeg.

CNR diesels added old colour slide of A-B-B units with a Pool train on CPR in Montreal West. Also, matched pair of first F7A & B units 9028 and 9029 (numbered even/odd) recently repainted in new CN black & white stripes with red nose.

CPR diesels added old photo of FA-2 4043 in A-B-B-A consist pulling a freight train past the station in downtown Calgary. Also, old black and white photo of Alco FA1's 4003 and 4004 likely taken in 1949 when new. Added nice old colour photo of 1801 undated in original paint scheme at Westmount.

Also, added photo (scroll down to bottom CP Rail section) of fictional AM Road diesels in the 1976 thriller-comedy movie Silver Streak. I happened upon some of the filming at Union Station while walking through there to John Street and noticed the lead unit in the scene was displaying red markers instead of unlit classification lights. (You can see this in the wreck scene where the diesel crashed through the wall into the waiting room. Actually, it was a truck mockup!) I thought of asking the director if he had a railway technical advisor and if so, ask him if he saw anything wrong with the scene. If he said no, fire him! But, I was in a hurry and didn't bother. Maybe I could have made some money as an "expert" advisor, or at least got a movie pass!

Locomotives

CNR steam 0-8-0's added 8384.

CNR steam US Subsidiaries added Central Vermont 4-8-2 603 and 2-10-4's 705, 708 and 709.

CNR diesel new page for F3A units 9000 moved to here added 9005.

 

CPR steam Ottawa West gallery added 472 on Waltham freight passing Ottawa West station.

CPR steam G5 1202 Western Lines engine (grey smokebox).
G3 class added a nice old photo (see below) of 2332 and 2413 back in May 1946.
Jubilee page added 3001 Chinook in Winter of 1942 which in the case of Alberta could be anywhere from September to June or July! Also, 2924 starting a pretty long passenger train, likely on Western Lines.
H1 added colour slide of 2850 back in 1957 when it was just another 2800.
U class 0-6-0's added 6277 OSS at what look like the Bone Yard in Lambton late 1950's.
V class 0-8-0's added older photo of 6939 with Vancouver fog headlight. See also newer photo after oil-conversion.

 

CNR diesels GMD1 1000 old colour slide on Vancouver Island.

CNR diesels added (scroll down below thumbnails) a rare of photo of near-new CV 7919 the second Alco diesel on CNR.

CPR diesels added 7404 on Western Lines one of only six SW9's. Alco/MLW FA-and FB covered wagons. added 4400 in block lettering. GMD A&B units added F7B 4477 freshly painted, likely 7/1971. Alco S-2 switchers added 1949 photo of 7015 first of the second order of Alco yard diesels in the second ("smiley") paint scheme. Train Master added old black & white photo of 8900 in original paint scheme but now short hood forward.

 

QNS&L added interesting old article from Iron Ore Company of Canada magazine showing GP7 100 under repair.

 

Shortlines BC Hydro added SW900RS 901 these 900 HP units were unique to BCH.
SRY 002 slug in service with GP9 mother 106. Note green emblem "Zero emission locomotive". I guess so, it's a SLUG!

 

Industrial

BC new page for Canexus, originally Hooker Chemical. 1986 to 2007 Andy Cassidy did monthly maintenance of their units.

Ontario see What's New in This Gallery?

Saskatchewan added PCS 35100 ex NYC 9606 SW8. Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan's huge potash mine at Rocanville is served by both CN and CPR each with their own 10 mile long spur. New contributor Cal Murray

 

Interurban Railways

L&PS added nice old colour photo of L4 one of two rare export model G12 diesels sold for domestic use.

 

 

Rolling stock

BC Rail new gallery for passenger equipment starting with three photos of their RDC Budd Cars.

CNR freight equipment added 412668 old 36 foot wooden box car.

CPR vans added (scroll down) two old vans 7168 and 7322 in yellow CP Rail Multimark paint scheme. By this time wood vans got a covering of plywood sheeting over the tongue and groove during overhauls. It was supposed to be a cheaper method since tongue and groove is expensive and labour intensive to repair during the normal seven year overhaul. However, water got in behind the plywood and increased rot! So much for that idea!

ETR added photo of two vans both numbered 54! This was a replacement of an old caboose with a newer secondhand one. New contributor Tim Vermande www.vermande.us

Facilities

CNR added colour photo of PSC diesel shop and old black and white photo of Windsor roundhouse soon to be demolished.

 

CPR added three old views of Brandon including the yard office (above) and roundhouse.
Jim Booth advises the 2 colour shots of the roundhouse may be a bit off date but are more or less close.

Also, some old views of Pentiction, BC roundhouse and an aerial view of Victoria roundhouse and shops.

Added two photos of Webbwood roundhouse on the Algoma Division in Summer of 1980.

Added (scroll down) aerial view of Moose Jaw yard and roundhouse likely around the end of the steam era.

 

Stations

CPR Quebec (scroll down) added two old black and white photos Montreal West and Windsor Station at track level.

 

 

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April 2, 2012 No April Fool Here!

Articles

CPR Bruce Division Passenger service added photo of TH&B 372 hauled by NYC E8's.

CPR London Division

Passenger Service. A major revamp of this page with most images enlarged from 640 pixels to 760 the new standard for OTT.

Added two interesting photos (scroll down) of passenger trains including Number 21 engines 8468 and 8474 being switched from tail end. Thanks to Bob McLarty for description of regular switching move.

Added text concerning Jubilees and lightweight trains Toronto-Windsor/Detroit and elsewhere on CPR. Photo of 2103 lightweight streamlined coach and 6630 one-of-a-kind parlor car built for this train. .

Branch Passenger service Added another old black and white photograph of gas-electric 9007 on the Goderich Sub. at Elmira during World War Two. (Scroll down to the bottom).

 

Photographs

Galleries:

Trains: CPR diesel added interesting night time photograph of 1421 on The Canadian showing off its roof mounted searchlight added to entertain passengers at night especially in the Rockies.

Three photos of 41 and 42 formerly The Atlantic Limited (name was dropped in public time table effective October 25, 1970) at both ends of its run. Not the best photos but they show the container flat cars converted from old heavyweight sleepers on the head end that carried four 20 foot containers. New contributors Byron Thomas and Danny McCracken. Thanks also to David Morris, Bill Linley for information on the container movements.

Also, photo of an Eighty Seven Hundred and a Pup at Oakville. Also, RDC-3 9023 on VI at a low point in passenger traffic. Scroll up to old paint scheme gallery to see earlier photo of this car running out of Montreal. At one time it was also used as a single car on the Sudbury-Soo run.

US Roads in Canada. D&H added photo of Alco PA2 19 and two photos of two different CP yard engines switching D&H equipment supposedly on the same day. Also, scroll down to see old colour slide of RS-3 4012 with an REA Express reefer. Wabash added photo of a meet between three covered wagons led by Wab 725 and CNR RS-18 3875. The Wabash blue and white a nice contrast to the CNR green and gold.

Locomotives

BCOL added S-13 1002 (scroll down) Now OSR 502 New contributor Charles Stookey

CPR steam added another photo of 2815. This is another old 8x10 from Steve Morris' collection of old CPR photographs. Rather than crop off the border I have left it to show that it is an old print.

CPR old diesel MLW FA/FB units added two brand new units (4008-4404) first CPR covered wagons built by MLW. New paint scheme slightly different from earlier ALCO's. Sad looking 4072 FP7A in suburban service. S-3's 6538 still in original paint scheme when scrapped and 6593.
(scroll down to CP Rail thumbnails) added 1410-19xx and 1907 also, added a pair of 8200's (rebuilt GP9's for road service). And, an old psgr GP9 along with several old MLW RS-3's modified for hump service Also, 6703 long-time London Division diesel reassigned to White River. New contributor Chuck Schwesinger.

QNS&L steam added colour photo of Ten-Wheeler 1112. Nicely restored. Location unknown, possibly at docks?

TH&B steam added photo of C&NW 2801 one of 12 built by the Brooks plant of ALCO after which the patterns were sent to MLW. TH&B had been waiting since before the C&NW engines were built since neither MLW or ALCO had patterns for
2-8-4 Berkshires which had only been built by Lima whose engines were much larger.

US Roads in Canada D&H added 1949 time table.

 

Industrial

BC added Eurocan Pulp & Paper 943 ex BC Hydro GE 70-tonner.

 

Electric

Canadian National

Niagara St.Catharines & Toronto after too long of a break we finally have a big addition of great old (1940's-50's) colour photos of one of the most famous and the last electric interurban railway in Canada. Locos 14, 15 and 17 plus passenger cars 63, 83, and wood car 132. Enjoy!
Oshawa Railway new gallery starting with loco 16 ex NS&T.

 

Facilities

CPR added three photos of track scales at Smiths Falls. Old style with four rail setup. New contributor Rich Stewart.

 

Rolling stock

CNR cabooses added old black and white photograph of 76033 at Lindsay during World War Two.

CPR rolling stock added Rule Car 59 after retired in Vancouver. Initially preserved it deteroriated to the pointe it was scrapped. New contributor Jim Booth.

CPR Freight equipment created new gallery of piggyback flat cars loaded with trailers.

CPR Plows added old photo of huge steam rotary 400811.

 

 

 

 

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March 1, 2012

 

Articles

CPR London Division added old black and white photograph from 1946 of Richmond Street station.

CPR Toronto Division John Street Gallery of steam and diesel locomotives added a scene of contrasts. Old Alco S-2 yard diesel pulling three old vans. All will soon no longer be needed. In contrast is CN Tower a modern well-known tourist attraction.

CPR Toronto Yard Loco Gallery 1 added photo of 7401 in CP Rail Multimark paint scheme. Compare it to the next photo of the same diesel in Tuscan and Grey paint scheme with Script lettering. Which looks better? Need I ask?

 

Shortlines Thurlow added very old photo of cement plant at Point Anne new contributor David Pershick.

 

 

Photographs

Galleries

 

Trains

CPR old diesel gallery added two old black and white photos of the brand new stainless steel train The Canadian.
RDC page added 9020 (first RDC-3) a self-propelled stainless steel car on branchline to Angliers, Quebec.

US Roads in Canada added NYC 1000 ALCO FA-1 (scroll down) in Montreal. NYC gallery in Ontario added old colour slide of a pair of E8A units handling TH&B 372 through morning Toronto-Buffalo passenger train for New York City.

Wabash Created new gallery starting with a meet between a Wabash freight and a CNR freight at Canfield Junction. The Wabash and its successor Norfolk & Western and Norfolk Southern operated exclusively on trackage rights over the CNR between Windsor and Fort Erie. NS finally gave up this perpetual right in 2011 due primarily to loss of most traffic. A fleet of 22 GMD F7A units lasted until late years and one (1189) is preserved and operated in Monticello, IL while another (671) is preserved in Bellevue, Ohio.

Delaware & Hudson added three old black and white photos (scroll down) of RS-3's on passenger at Montreal West. Sometimes the only thing you have are old snapshots in poor condition however, the rarity makes it worthwhile using them. New contributor Wayne Koch. Also added two newer colour photos of Adirondack passenger train from new contributor James Gillin.

Locomotives

CNR steam added two photos of Northern 6153. An old black and white action shot of her racing through Grimsby with a short passenger train in 1948 long before it became notable for its late year excursion use. A recent sharp digital image displayed inside at Exporail.

CPR diesels added one-of-a-kind 7000 the first diesel locomotive and (scroll to bottom). Scroll back up to see CP Rail paint scheme 6712 SW900 and a group of similarly painted units sitting in front of St.Luc roundhouse.
RS-2 added 8400 in block lettering. RS-10s 8576 in script lettering.

CPR steam added interesting old Ektachrome photograph of Royal Hudson 2840 posing with the Royal York Hotel in the background. This was for the front cover of a CPR travel brochure promoting across Canada travel to foreign tourists.
New contributor John C. Clarke well-known retired Assistant Locomotive Foreman John Street.

Right below it is an interesting photograph (above) looking down on engines at an unknown location.
If you know where it was, tell us.

Also, old photo of 5993 4-6-4T tank engine with Montreal suburban train.

V Class 0-8-0 added 6940 in a WWII photo equipped with special headlight for use in foggy weather conditions in Vancouver. A large box on the pilot had an unknown purpose. Possibly held a wooden case of fusees used by yardmen giving signals for switching in the fog. There were in fact 5 minute fusees with a wooden handle that burned green for this purpose.

CPR Ottawa West new gallery featuring a large quantity of old colour photographs taken during the last years of steam in the summer of 1958 and winter of 1959. It concludes with the demolition of all of these facilities.

 

Ontario Industrial see: What's New in This Gallery?

Ontario steam industrial added an old dinky engine at Century Coal in Port Dover. No date or data except built by Davenport.

 

Rolling Stock

Freight equipment CPR added photo of an old logging flat a sight seen on Vancouver Island and a bulkhead flat with finished lumber being exported to the US.

Facilities CPR Glen added three old photos including nearby Westmount station which was used by CPR, D&H and NYC passenger trains. The dates in 1940 and 41 are all recorded on reverse of prints yet one wonders about the different dates especially the two distant views from what appears to be the same location panning across the scene. In any event not a significant difference.

 

 

 

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February 1, 2012

Articles

CPR

CPR Bruce Division Passenger added two views of the "Buffalo" at Oakville now a VIA train but both RDC's still in CP Rail paint. (scroll down to bottom of page).

 

Shortlines

Algoma Central added two photos to Rolling Stock page. Work car 10665 a converted caboose and 503 old cafe car.

 

Stories

Andy Cassidy has more interesting stories about CPR Drake Street including the above visitor. Also, check out his ride!

 

Photographs

Galleries

Trains

CNR steam added a nice colour photo showing some famous Massey-Harris farm machines loaded on flat cars. This was back in The Good Old Days. No, not the steam era (which it was) rather, the days when things were manufactured in Canada!

CPR old diesel added old black & white photo of 4059 about to leave Alyth Yard with empty stock cars months before it was regeared for The Canadian soon to be inaugurated. I don't usually include links to other sites in captions but made an exception here to tell the story of Pat Burns, a famous Canadian. Thanks to Doug Phillips for detailed description and also to Ron Visockis for digitally restoring the old image.

Also, scenic view of The Allouette eastbound from Ottawa near Vaudreuil, a mini-streamliner with a Skyline Scenic Dome and hauled by a MLW covered wagon. Another pair of similar trains were The Rideau, both were shortly discontinued. By this time the CPR didn't even bother waiting for the next change of public time table to cut off passenger trains.

Locomotives

CNR US lines, steam. Central Vermont added builders photo of 4-8-2 602. Note coal pusher on tender. This power operated device pushed the rear plate upward to bring coal closer to fireman on these hand-fired engines. Engines this size were really too big to be hand fired. CPR 5000 P1 2-8-2's were also built with this device. It was not all that successful and the engines were later equipped with mechanical stokers. One of the problems with the piston was it would get stuck in forward position likely due to fine coal getting in it. The CPR at Lambton would spot the tender under the roundhouse door and jack it back down. Sometimes they jacked up the doorway instead! Many doors were damaged this way and fixed up while another was chosen to use until it too broke!

Grand Trunk Eastern added three 0-6-0's 7475 in Maine, 7528 in Vermont and 7529 in New York. 7475 and three other 0-6-0's were sold 11/59 at the end of steam to Buffalo Sash Co. Why? It is unlikely their plant was big enough to require their own locomotive let alone four! Possibly they were acquired as stationary boilers plus spares.
7528 wound up in the famous Paulsen Spence collection.

Logging BC diesels added an old colour image of an old BCFP Whitcomb with unfinished paint job on Vancouver Island.
New contributor Paul J. Crozier Smith

Industrial steam BC added rare Heisler at Pacific Coast Terminal. Normally used on logging railways, as was this one originally, there were not all that common in Canada. Climax was another rare type. Shay geared engines were the most common logging "lokey".

Ontario Industrial see: What's New in This Gallery?

 

Rolling Stock

CPR Freight equipment new gallery for modern era equipment. Includes old steel cars from steam era repainted in newer scheme of CP Rail. For steam-era freight equipment see original gallery.

Scale test car

CPR service (work) equipment new galleries added and older photos rearranged to group different equipment. As follows: Boarding cars etc. OCS cars Plows etc. Vans

CPR vans (Scroll down to van gallery) added two early modernized vans (scroll down) 434000 and 434108.
Thanks to Mrs. Cassidy (Andy Cassidy's wife) for detailed description of location of uncaptioned photo of 434000.

Kermit Geary Jr. travels a lot however, unlike most rail photographers he goes by rail. On a Sperry car!

 

 

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January 1, 2012 Happy New Year!

New price $38 for Sentimental Journey LP record now includes shipping. See What's New? 2011

STORIES

Andy Cassidy is back again with more interesting stories about CPR Drake Street roundhouse in Vancouver.

See how an old steam crane came into use to repair SD40's.

 

 

PHOTOGRAPHS

Galleries

Locomotives

CNR Early diesels. Added caption details to two photos of first CNR road diesel 9000. Who is this man? Answered.

US Roads in Canada created new gallery with short history of Detroit River Tunnel Company.
This is a duplication of history and photos already in the feature article CPR London Division.

Shortlines

ETR diesels added several photos 102, 104, 105, 107 (ex GMD 113) and 108. Including new contributor Brian Woodruff courtesy of Mike Woodruff.

GWWD added RS-23 200 ex DEVCO nee Sydney & Louisburg one of three bought new by S&L and other than three new units for Texas Gulf Sulphur's Kidd Creek Mine railway, the only RS-23's other than CPR's 34 units. 202 acquired later. 201 went to SFP&P for their Smoky Falls non-common carrier woods line. This locomotive was acquired last year by OSR and only recently moved to Salford. It needs a of work but it is expected to return to service. It is just a matter of finding time to do the work!

Huron Central (part of Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc, formerly Genesee Rail One) started new gallery with GP9 204 one of the original units reassigned from Buffalo & Pittsburg by parent G&W.

 

Stations

CPR Quebec Page 3 added colour photos of Palais station as well as CP Hotel Chateau Frontenac.