Southern Ontario Railway Odyssey

[MasonJar]

Couple weeks ago, I had the chance to travel sans family to see some of the railway spots in Southern Ontario that I've had on my list for a long time. While it did not prove to be a Canadian version of the Gauge get together from earlier this summer, it was still an excellent trip. Unfortunately, several southern Ontario Gaugers were unavailable, but Spitfire was up for anything, and was an excellent guide and host to boot! Thanks!!

Saturday afternoon was spent poking around at the former Canadian Pacific Railway John Street Roundhouse. Situated in the shadow of the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre (formerly the SkyDome) this relic of Canadian railway history is now home to Steamwhistle Breweries (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.steamwhistle.ca/">http://www.steamwhistle.ca/</a><!-- m -->), Leon's Furniture, and most importantly, the Toronto Railway Historical Society museum (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.trha.ca/">http://www.trha.ca/</a><!-- m -->).

The TRHA is building an impressive collection that will be housed in three stalls of the roundhouse, the machine shop, and outdoors around the restored turntable and coal tower. Nearby sites (and sights ) will be linked with historic walks, including such destinations as Union Station and the former offices of Canadian Northern.

Let's take a look around:

Don Valley Station
You can see where this little station was sawn in half to transport it to the site.

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Interlocking Tower
One wall is currently plywood, as the original was removed to get the interlocking mechanisms (8 tonnes) out for restoration.

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The Roundhouse
Say what you will about the Leon's moving in, but they have reportedly been very supportive, including putting up some significant $$$ in support of the museum.

Inside
The best look at the inside is in the Steamwhistle Brewery, where other than cleaning up and pouring a new floor, the interior remains pretty much the same.

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Outside
Interesting details on the back wall and some big (big!) doors.

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Walthers Tank Set?

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Coal Tower

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Assorted Engines
Since I only have eyes for the steam power, you'll have to fill in the rest for me...

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And a mural showing how things used to be. This is painted on the wall of the access to underground parking for SkyDome/Rogers Centre that faces the Leon's entrance and is built into the side of the coal tower.

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After we had toured the site (and missed the free beer from Steamwhistle ) we headed of in search of a couple of hobby shops. First we found John's Camera & Hobbies *link* - with lots of hobbies (trains, models, doll houses, R/C, planes) but little camera gear in evidence. I picked up a couple of trucks, and this vintage reefer lettered for Sudbury (Ontario) Breweries, shown on Val's layout (Parkdale Yard):

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A trip down through the Don Valley and under the Parkway (via the very interesting Todmorden Mills (cool name too!)) was unfortunately unphotographed. However, it was like stepping out of Toronto into a little turn-of-the-previous-century village - but only briefly! Our destination was George's Trains *link* on Mount Pleasant, but they have unfortunately closed that landmark location in favour of their new, more northerly location.

Saturday night I was treated to a steak dinner, and then we headed down to see what other interesting interchange traffic was at Parkdale Yard:

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I also got a chance to look at some of Spitfire's outstanding large scale modelling. For those of you that don't know, she's also an award-winning 1/6 scale military modeller. Her WW2 scenes are incredible.

[MasonJar]

Sunday, we headed out the South Simcoe Railway (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.southsimcoerailway.ca/">http://www.southsimcoerailway.ca/</a><!-- m -->) for a ride between Tottenham and Beeton, west of the Holland Marsh. Holland Marsh is one of southern Ontario's powerhouse produce producer, being farms on the very fertile former marsh. The area was served by trains of iced reefers in days gone by, but there's no sign of them since the highway system and mechanically cooled trucks took over.

The railway runs through some beautiful countryside, and the commentary by the conductor was fantastic. Even the jokes were not too bad...! We were behind a diesel switcher as former CPR #136 is not quite ready after a couple years' work to restore her. No photos as she was safely tucked away in the shed.

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However, CPR 1057, which used to run on excursion service through nearby Orangeville and the Credit Valley (route of the CVR) in the 1970s is awaiting restoration work.

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Some beautiful countryside. Lots of scenery details!

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Just when we thought we were getting somewhere, we were, well...

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In addition to the rolling stock that actually rolls, there is a static collection that houses some interesting artefacts and displays. Hopefully this caboose will be in service when the steamers return to action.

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After the ride, we visited the combination bookstore and gift shop where I managed to find a couple of kits on consignment - hoppers for Tony Koester's Allegheny Midland and Allen McClelland's V&O. We were also tipped off to a little hobby store and layout just up the road on the way to Orangeville...

Black Horse Junction Railroad is a very well stocked hobby shop that occupies two walls of John Clark's layout room. Despite this seeming disadvantage, he has some interesting stuff I've not seen in stock anywhere else. However, at the risk of having my model railroad membership revoked, I'd have to say that the train stuff was not the most interesting things in this shop...!

In addition to Black Horse Junction, John also makes full size wooden propellers for vintage aircraft in a very well equipped wood shop on the main floor. But that's not all... His woodworking skill also extends to stocks for muzzle-loading flintlock rifles (for which he also makes the trigger and firing mechanisms). He also builds 1/4 scale R/C WW2 warbirds - Spitfire and Hurricane specifically.

If you still don't believe this, check out his website... <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.clarkindustries.on.ca/">http://www.clarkindustries.on.ca/</a><!-- m -->

After this unplanned, but informative and very interesting stop, we headed towards Orangeville, my hometown and once an important CPR town on the route from Toronto to Owen Sound.

We looked around the vicinity of the former Orangeville facilities, including finding remnants of the 5 stall roundhouse that once serviced the road engines that passed through (Orangeville did not have a dedicated switcher, nor (from what I can tell) a helper for the steep grade northbound out of town).

The last original building - the bunk house and restaurant - burned following an electrical fault a couple of years ago. Using the insurance money, the town built this interpretation of a witch's hat station in its place. The original witch's hat survives, although it has been transported downtown and converted into a restaurant.

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Orangeville is also the starting point for the Credit Valley Explorer (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.creditvalleyexplorer.com/">http://www.creditvalleyexplorer.com/</a><!-- m -->), an excursion/dinner train that runs south along the old CVR right of way. Here is your motive power.

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I don't know when they plan to get this RDC back in service, but it would make an interesting excursion too.

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Here's where you head out - south from the yard towards Alton, Cataract, etc.

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And the other way -north to Fraxa Jct, Teeswater, Owen Sound. There used to be more tracks on the left - that's where the original TG&B facilities were built. I remember the Maintenance of Way equipment, including snow plows, being stored there.

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As I mentioned, Orangeville (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.orangeville.org/">http://www.orangeville.org/</a><!-- m -->) is my hometown, and this house was my home for my "formative" years. It is situated right next to the CPR line as it makes its way from the yard northwards out of town (basically around the corner on the left in the photo above). I hope to build a model of this sometime...!

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The Forks of the Credit is home to one of the more impressive bridges (formerly trestles) in southern Ontario. Originally a wooden trestle that curved through 90* high over the Credit River, it has been filled in and replaced with concrete and steel structures over the years. Nearby is the village of Cataract, where the CVR had a branch to Erin, Brimstone and the old Dominion Road (now gone, but former sites of quarries). For more on this see Will Annand's work on a model of late 1800's CVR (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.muskokacomputes.com/CVR-Home.html">http://www.muskokacomputes.com/CVR-Home.html</a><!-- m -->) , and Richard Wakefield's now dismantled Bruce Railways (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.mcswiz.com/MyLayout/Homepage.asp">http://www.mcswiz.com/MyLayout/Homepage.asp</a><!-- m -->).

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[MasonJar]

Monday I headed home, but with a stop at Memory Junction (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.memoryjunction.netfirms.com/">http://www.memoryjunction.netfirms.com/</a><!-- m -->) in Brighton (near Belleville). A former Grand Trunk station - and the only brick one - this once (and future) beautiful building was saved from the wrecking ball in 1996 by Ralph Bangay and his wife Eugenia. They have amassed an outstanding collection of railway and local area history that is now housed in the station, former outbuildings, and various boxcars and a caboose that have been transported to the site.

The trackwork (with the exception of the connection to the mainline) remains relatively intact, along with one of the local industries across the road to the north (although some others like the cattle pen and coal dealer are gone). However, it is still quite easy to imagine the goings-on at the station in days gone by. The fact that CN, CP, and VIA trains regularly roll by help keep the feeling intact.

While I admit that I focussed on the railway artefacts, one of the more interesting collections in Ralph's vast store is the original survey of Brighton itself. Not only does he have some of the original paperwork, he has the notes, a photo, letters, and maps signed by the man who did the surveying. Ralph even has the original surveyor's chain used to lay out the town...!

While it had the usual assortment of local industries, Brighton was also an important town for apples and associated industries like agricultural chemicals (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.brightononline.ca/community/history.htm">http://www.brightononline.ca/community/history.htm</a><!-- m -->). I purchased a "local history" book that mentioned one of the regular incoming loads was tankers of kerosene - a key ingredient in apple spray manufactured by RexSpray...

So let's look around:

Station

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Inside is a vast collection of railway history from the 1870s to 1950s, including this operators' bay, complete with Morse Code training machine.

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Apple/Cold storage
I love the InsulBrik siding, which represented the state of the art building upgrade when it was introduced in the 1920s. Many wooden railway stations had this nailed over their siding to increase their weather resistance and insulation.

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The best thing about Memory Junction though is that they'll let you climb up and over the CNR 2-8-0 parked just down from the station. While time, weather and local teenagers have not been overly kind, the Bangays think that being able to get up close and personal with railway history is one key to preserving it for the future. So here are some shots that you might not get elsewhere...

Engine

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CPR Auto boxcar (note that the A-end has doors)

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A shot of traffic passing on the main.

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Memory Jct's own consist.

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Finally, yours truly with #2534

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After this 3 hour stop, I headed home. I also visited the Smiths Falls Railway Museum (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sfrmeo.ca/">http://www.sfrmeo.ca/</a><!-- m -->) the next day, but that's another story...! Hope you enjoyed my southern Ontario railway odyssey!


Andrew

[doctorwayne]

Looks as if you saw lots, Andrew - sorry that i was unable to join you and Val this time. :cry: Let's hope that another opportunity presents itself.

Wayne

[cn nutbar]

Excellent thread Andrew---outstanding pictures and storyline---a real inspiration to our friends south of the border to come and visit---Canada has a lot more to offer than just hockey and good beer.Sorry I missed out on your venture due to family committments.I'm adding a couple of pictures from the South Simcoe Railway taken a few years ago---thanks again,Ed

[MasonJar]

Thanks guys... Just another reason to do it again!

Those are great pics of #136. I have an old(er) newspaper article about both 136 and 1057 on excursion service in the mid-1970s through Orangeville. I scanned it for the South Simcoe archives (such as they are) when I was there.

Andrew

[BR60103]

Andrew: I, too, was out of town for your visit.
Here are 136 and 1057 and someone else at the Forks of the Credit in 1960.
   

[doctorwayne]

And here are the two old girls on an excursion near Hamilton, in the early '70s:


Wayne

[Spitfire]

Andrew, thanks for posting those shots along with your excellent commentary. I have a lot of the same or similar photo's so I won't post those, but here's a few I took of some of South Simcoe's rolling stock showing some very cool weathering.

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It was great having Andrew stay for the weekend. He sure does BBQ a mean steak!!! I definitely hope to do this again.

Val