) crha ews Report
P.O. BOX 2222.. STATION "B" MONTREAL 2.2 . QUEBEC
NUMBER 115 ...... III ... '" ------OCTOBER 1960 1960
TENT E N YEARS OF CRHA TRIPS. To obserobserveve ouro ur tenth anniversarya nni versary of rail trips,t rip s, we illustrateillustrate this month our firstfir s t special railrailwayway train, consisting ofof Canadian C anadian NNationalational dieseld ies e l -e-elecl e cttricr ic unit car 15837 anda nd a passepassengernger car, whichw hich ranfran fromromMon Montrealt real ttoo Huberdeau, H u ber deau, Que.Que. anda nd retreturnurn on OctobeOctoberr 1, 1950.1950 . L ') f~R.H,~~ ~~~Y_1L~~D~J~E2 ~~£~_~~
------NOTICE------OF N1EETINGN1EETING:----- : The OctoberOctober MeetMeetinging of the AAssociationssociation will be held ( in ttheh e McConnell M c Cormel l EngineeringEngineering Buildinging ata t McGMcGillill University,University, Univer
sity StreetStreet ata t .i. .."" iltonilt o n Street. Street. Use the Milton StreetSt reet entrance. The meetingrne e t'in g will ta""t a r. ; place on WednesdayWednesday, OctoberO ctober 1212th,th, 1960 at 8 :15 PM. Mr. O.S.A.O .S.A. Lavallee will give an illi lluustras t r att ede d talk entitledentitled "Cra"CraigeU-igeU- . achieachie,, BefBdoreo r e and After" whwhichich will i nncorporate c orp o r ate ororiginaliginal photographsr aphs taken on the line of the CanadCanadianian PacPacififici c RaRailwayilway iinn the weswestt about 188018~.. As usual, membersrne mber s are invited ttoo bringbring guestguestss and prospecprospectivetive new membersrne rribe r s to ththisis meeting.rriee t 'in g, The rroomoorn numbern urnb e r wwillill be postedt ed ata t ttheh e door.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
The SeptemberSepternber meeting m eeting , at whwhichich ' MrMr.. Frank LewLewinin showeds h o w e d colour slidess lides whwhichich he had taken on a visit to the Union of SovietSov iet SocialisSocialistt RepubRepublicslics ini n 1958,. was one of the mostrrios t interestingi n t e r e s t i n g pprogrammesr o g r-arrirrres we have had inin recent months.rrionth s , His His visitv i s i t was madernade when tourists were first pepermittedr rrrirted inintoto ttheh e U.SU.S.S.R..S.R. two yeayearsrs ago , and there were manyrriany features of railway and othero ther interestinterest to tthoseh o s e in attendancea ttendance ata t this spsplendidlendid show. ParticularParticularlyly noteworthy was ttheh e extensiveextens ive use ofo f steam s team locomotivesIocorriot i v e s on the railways, innclud clud i nng g vvari~coloured a r ie c o Iou r e d 2-8-4s2-8=4s of large propoproportionsr tions bubutt lighlightt construction.
Mr. Lewin'si n's non-non-railwayrailway ppicturesictures were alalsos o splendidly chosenchosen,, sshowingh owin g vviews iews i n the five pprincipalrincipal cititescit ites which he visitedv i site d , includingi n clu d in g manyrnariy impressiveimpressive buildings.buildings .
At ttheh e SeptemberSepterrrbe r 'Lrrrmeeting,e e t irig , the following pepersons rsons were inintroduced,troduced, o:ekl ,;i' L . iir r nan 3.cy:C l'S s proposed for electi<:>~election to regular rriernbemerribersi1.iprship at the OctoberOctober meeting:rne e t 'in g ; \. ~ . . .
Mr.M r . J .B.B . PoPorteousr teous MrMr.. WilliamWiLl i arn T • StewartStewart
The ChairmanCha.ir rn.an of ttheh e MeMembershipm ber s hip CommitteeCornrrri tte e,, Mr.M r . SStephen tephen Cheasley,Cheas Iey , wisheswis:hes toto remindr e m i n d the membershiprne m b e r s h i p that,that, withw ith t heh e s tarttart of a new season of CRHA meeting activactiv itity,y, now is a veveryry appropriateappropr iate timetim e ttoo b ringr ihg" new membersrrierrrbe r s i n ttoo CRHA. The contin-corrtin-. ued growgrowthth of ouro u r AssociationA s sociati on iiss an end which should be ttheh e goal of everyeve r y -rnmembererribe r ; and subscriber.s ubscr iber.
The IInterprovincialRailw,aynterprovincialRailway .(RollingR o l lin g Stock commitcornrrrit t ee)e e] iiss bbusu sililyy pputtingutting ttheh e two QuebeQuebecc RaRailwayilwa y cars ttoo ltftbed"b e d " for f or t hhe e wwinter;inter; manmanyy membersrne m.he r s are aware thatt h a t the cars are storedstored for us , on a ttemporaryernpor a r y basbasis,is, throthroughugh the kind iinterestntere s t ofof the Canada GrC r: eosotingeos ottng : CompanyCcrripany ata t Delsolson,n , Que.Q ue.,and, and woworkingrking papartiesr ties assemblea s s erribl e theret h e r e nearnearlyly every '., ".SaSaturday.turday. Work ini n hand incluincludesd e s papaintingint ing the roroofsofs .ofof the t h e twot w o carscars , alsoa l so the under- . body equequipmenipment anda nd runningnn in g gear. TheTherere is also some glassglass to replacereplace,, in order to makerrrak.e ttheh e carc a r interiorsinteriors s hohow-proofw - proof whwhileile they are sts t oredo r e d outside. o ut s ide. ThoThosese interestedinterested in givinggiving a hand shoshoulduld callc all M r.r . Lavav alleellee ata t CR.9-8822.
The AssoAssociationciation has nonoww been advisi seded thatt h at t hhe e CanadCanadianian PaPacUicc if i c Railway is hol dingd ing fforo r deliverydeliv e ry ttoo CRHA, fourfour wowoodenoden passenger-trr-t raa in carscars , ttoo wit: w it : Baggage Car #3987, b uuilti lt i n 1910;1910; CoaCoachc h #1554 builbui ltt in 1912;1912; .Instruction.Instruction CarCar #56, formerlyfo rmerly the . observatobservatiion-o n-pparloa r l o uur r car c ar "Malaha"M alahat "," , bbuiltuilt in i n 1893;1893; and OfficialOffi cial CarCar No.1No.1,, built by Crosss seenn bebetweentween 1868 and 1871 , formerlyf orm erly St. St. Lawrence & OttawaO ttawa Railway car No.9. The Baggage CarCa r iiss at a t Westst on ShopShopss i nn_'::"!~~~:r:c:.it;_!he _~! ~~ ~~:'~;_~h e othero ther cars c ars are ata t Angus ShopsShops..
*"~'~Will '~ Wil1 yoyouu bbee withw ith us onNovemberonNo v ernber 6tht h , when;'ewhen ~e rre-enact e v enac t ttheh e LaLastst Spike Ceremony?Cer erriony ? C.R ~H .A. '. NeNewws $ ReRepor po rtt ~~,.,..1...;.9_6 19 6__ 00..-.,, ___ P as..e 53_ .
FARNHAM - CENTURCENTURY~OLD Y ~OLD RAIL CENCENTRETRE • ••••••••••• ••••• by OrnerO mer S.A. LaLavalleevallee .
ThThee ttownown of FarFarnham,nham , Que.,Q u e , , situateds itu a t ed a bob outu t forty miles easte a st ofo f MontrealM ontreal on thet h e ( j Canadian PacPacificific ,Railway'sRai Iw a y I s . tthroughh rou gh rouroutet e ttoo tthehe MaMaritimes,rit ime s , isi s a railwayr ailway communitycommunity of momorere thant h a n oneo ne hundhundredr ed years'y e ars' ststanda n d inng. g . ThThee ttownown,o isi s tthehe headquartersh eadqu art. ers of of thethe Can-Can- adianadi an PaPacificcifi c Railway'sRailway 's FaFarnhamr nham Divis.ion,D i v i s.i on, wwhoseh o se a ,rea coversc o v e r s all a ll CPR lineslin es easte ast of thet h e SaSaintint LaLawrencewre n c e RiverR iver in i n ththee PrProvinceov ince of Quebec.Q u ebe c . ItIt ppossessesossesses an extensiveext ens ive yard,yard , includingin clu d i ng enenggi nen e terminalt e r m in a l and a nd rerepairpa ir facilities,facilities, carc a r rrepaire p a ir tracks,t r acks, with thet he divisionaldivisional headqual;'tersh e adquar ter s hohousedu s ed in a modern m odern., stations t a tion bbuildingu ildin g whwhichich wasw as openedo pened inin 1951. .
It isi s nonoww nenearlyarly oneo n e hundredh u ndr ed and twtwoo yearyearss sisincen ce thet h e first rrailwayailway wasw as opened into tthish i s commucommunity,n ity , beginningb e ginning an erae r a wwhichhich saws aw rail lines radradiatei ate inin eight e igh t directions, d i r ectio n s , liklikee spokes of a wheel,w heel, ini n allaU diredirectictiono nss of thethe Easternmastern. Townships.Townshi p s . ForFor a considcons i d e rablrablee peperrio.iod.,d; Farnham wawass the t h e headquaheadquartersrters ofof the SouthSout h Ea.sterns tern RaRailway,ilw a y , ana n extenextensivesive railsy.stemr ail systern .whosew ho s e papartsr ts now formf o r m sections s e ctio ns ofoLboth.b o th Canadian PaPacificcific anda nd CaCanadiannadian NaNatt ionaionallrail rail lines ini n easterneas t e r n Quebec.Qu ebec. SS&:G EngineHo. , ItIt was in thet h e yeary ear 18531853 thatt hat thet h e SStanst~t a n s t -
N R R A F F SER
d ScaleS cal e approximate.a pprox imate. OSAL Del. ~~~-E_~~~~-E_
Montrt reeal.a l, PortlandP o r tland &&: BostonB o s ton RyR y .o Ii11 II ~ ~ l()( )( LaLakeke ChaChamplainm p lain &&: SSt:'.!--_'::~E~~S t :. .!--_':.~ E ~ ~ S ~~_ _JJ~~~l -lIl~<;.ti~s.tionon Ry.R y. I11IItlllllllllHI 1111 1111 111 11 1 ead,e a d , ShSh effbrdffo r d &:& ChamblyC hambly Raili lwayway wawass incorporated i n c o r p orated to se rrvvee,, essentially,e s s e n tia lly , thet he threet h ree countiescomit i e s encompencompassedassed by t hhe e railwayrailw ay's' s narnname.e ,· ThThee s (luthero uthe r n counties c o u nties of QuQue1:;>ec,ebec, boborr deringd e rin g on neigneighbouringhbouring NeNeww EngE n gl and,a n d , had bebeenen a re;:tsr e a s of h e avya v y sesettlement,ttle ment, eveneve n at thist h i s earlye arl y time. An e xtexte nsn siivv e farmingf a r min g community c o mmunity hah a d gr g r owno wn Ll :',",, p opulatedo p u l a t e d bbothoth by FrFrenchench CanadCanadiansian s anda n d bbyy English-speakinE n glis h - s p eak i ng ses e ttlt tlers,e rs, rrrnaia .nyn y of wwhuh omn l had cornc o m e nnOo I,r th into CanC an adaa d a at a t the timtimee of thet he RevoluR e v olu t iion o n in thethe UnitedU n ite d S tates.t a t e s . V/itV/ithh t he comcom p l etetioionn ofof ththee ChCh amplaamplaini n &&: SaintSa i n t LawrL a w r e ncen ce Rail RoadHoa.d from Lapprairie,r a i ri e , o ''l'po;;posites i t e l'v1M ontreo n t reala l , tot o St.St.John'sJ o h n's , on the RichelieuR iche lie u River, R iver , iinn 1836, it seemeds eemed nanaturalt u ral a ndn d desirs i r aba blel e ththatat tht h e rarailwayilw ay shshouldould bbee :'pprolongedr o'Io'ng e d ini n t o thet h e "Townshi"T'o w n s h i ps!p s "'.; Thiiss wawass notn o t to t o b e,e , hhowevo w ev ere r.. WhWhene n ththee rairailwaylway erae r a carnecame tot o CanadaCanada in thethe eea1"la,1'l y ,.1850s,185 0 s, . thet he C&StLC &S t L turned t u r ned . sosouthuth -tot o thet he internationali n t e r n a tion a l bboundaryou rrd a r y ata t RousesR ouses PoP o in t,t , anda nd a connection c o nnect ion 'withw ith AmAmericanerican rarailroads.ilr o a ds . TheT h e reresultsult of thist his waswas ththee inincorpora c o r p o r a titionon of thet h e ' S. S ·'. &:& ,,'C.C . Ry.R y , bbyy local l ocal inint erestse rests i n WateWaterloo,rloo, QueQue.•
,: ! . '.-, ' ~R~$t~ Rn $ t ,,n1rucc ti o .ng~n g? t under . way. ,.iin 1858 1 858,w,wj.i tht h a bbridger idg e overov ~r .tthe h e Riche R ichelie.lieuu frfromom St.JohnsS t.Johns . . ',. ' " . . ' .~ ' . , ,· g.G.B.B.A R .H.A :r:i~.E Re£9.!..!_:'..! 9 60 PagPagee 5544 tot o ' Iberville,Ibe r v i He, thent h e n a straight s t raight run acracross'oss flaflat,t , level, l e v e l , ,'fertilef e r t ile farmland, f a r Ull a n d , throught h r o u g h the commCOUlUl unitiunitiEisofes of Ste. Step BrigideB r igide anda ndB 'St.tvG 'Gregoire.z -e g o i r e , ttoo ttheh e villv i llagea g e of of WestWes t Farnham.F'ar nha rrr, WhWhileile constc onst ( ructiruttiono n progre~sedp r ogres sed onwardon w ard totowardw ard GranbyGranby and Waterloo,Waterloo"se ,.· servicer v ice wawass inainaugu~atedugurat ed fromf r om St.St.··: J ohrisc hris ., '-tto o WestW e s t Farnham,F 'a r 'nh arrr, and thet h e firstfirst trtrainain enteredent e red ttheh e lattelatterr place,plac e, thet he subjs u bj ecte ct ofof ourou r study,stud y , on JanuaryJ a nuary 1st,l s t , 1859.l S59. In latlatere r years,y ears, thet h e wwordord ""West"W e s t" wawass dropped;d ropped. and a n d thet h e ll town bebecamecarne knownk n o w n simply s i rrrply asa s "Farnham " F'ar n h .arri";• The T h e SS&C bbuu ilti lt a wye anda nd enenggiinnehouse e hou s e in i n
the town,t ow n , entering ata t "a1Iaf!ll on thet h e accaccorriompanyp a rryinirig map.Ula p . On DecemberD e c ernbe r 31 st of thet h e sames ame year,y ear, ttheh e succeedings u cce e d i n g sectsectionion (lfb"( lib " onon ttheh e map)rria p ] 'waw a s openedopened throught h r o ugh to GranbyG r a nby ..
FoForr twetwelvelve yey e ars,a r s , FarnhamF'ar rih a rn wasw a s served s e r v e d adequatelya deq u ately bbyy tthehe S.S.& C.Ry..Cv.Ry , , b uutt asa s ttheh e tdwri.t own bbeganegan totic grogroww ini n size s i z e anda n d ' ini n i mpom p or:rtance,-t a n c e ;'' situated s ituate d i n an a n attraattractivective spots p ot onon the t h e yYa'arn:askam aska TcRiver,i v e r , local l o c a l 'railwayr a ilw a y i nterestsn t e r e s t s agaagaini n carne e a rne tot o the fore byb y the t h e incori nco r pporationo r a tio n of the SouthS ou th EasternE a s t e r n RaRailway,ilw a y, to effecteffect a direct d i rec t connection c onne ction beb e tweent w e e n thist his towtownn and thet h e intInt. eer·rrian a 'tit :l.6na:l o nal linelin~ : hheare ar NeNewport.wpo r t. FarnhamF'ar nharn bebecamec ame tthehe headquartershea d quarters ofof thet h e South S o u th EasternE a s t e r n ananddian 'an elaborate,elaborate, multi-rnu l ti-is toreytor e y brbrickick statiostationn and a nd generalgene r a l officeffi c e bbuildingu ilding wasw as built.b u ilt, alonga l ong withw ith 'engineengine househ ou se; car c ar and locomotiveIocornot i v e shopss h o p s and a largel a r g e yaryard.d. 'TheT h e South S o uth EaEasterns tern opop~ ~ enede ned thet he' firstfirst ssectionection of its line, bbeginninge g in n i n g at "x""x" onon t heh e map,rriap , with w ith a connectionconnectio n witwithh ttheh e ~.s&~S& 'C;'C;to to thet he 'ProP roviv inncec e LineL i n e nean ear Richford,R i chford, Vermont,V'e r rnorrt, 'ini n 1871. The popointint atat' whwhichich the SER leftl eft FarnhamF'ar nharn is showns h ow n at "h",." h " . In In 1873, l S 73 , ttheh e SER, throught h r o u g h an AmericanAUlerican ssubsid~u bsid iai a rry, y , reacreachedhed NNewporte wport anda nd a connection. c onne c tion, there,t here , witwithh thet h e Connecticut C onnectic u t & PaPassumpsics s um psi c RiversR iver s RaR a ililror oadad Company.C o rripa n y,
WithW ith thet h e openopeningi ng of thet he SouthS o u th EaEastern,s tern, FarnhamF' a r-n ham bebecamecarne a targett arg et forfo r other ot h er railrail roadroads.s. In 1877,I S77 , the Montreai,PortlandMon t real, 'P o r tla n d & Bos B ost on wasw a s openedo pen e d throught h r o u g h ffrom rorn LongLongueuil,ueu il, oPP9o pposites Ite MonM o n trealt r ea l,, to FreF r e lilighghsburgsbu rg bbyy wwayay of Farnham.(poF'ar- n h arrr. Ipoirrtntsa " c ll':"l anda nd "d"" d " on thet he map).map). Thisi s railwayr ailway was uundernde r ttheh e controlcon t r o l of thet h e SouthSou th EasternEas t e rn RaRailway,ilway , and reallyr e ally afforaffordedd e d theth e SER a coconnennectionc tion intoi n t o MoMontreal.n t real.
HaHavingv ing nown o w ' ' rar a il linlinese s radradiatingiating ini n fifiveve directions,d irec t ions, to St.Johns,Sts.J'ohris , MonMontreal,t real , GranbGranby,y, NeNewp?rtandZvp? r t 'a n d FreFreligh:sburg,lighsbu rg, mattersrnatte r s werew ere complicatedcorrrpl i ca.ted somewhats orrrew.hat bbyy ttheh e openopening,ing, in October,October , i879l879 '~, of 'thet h e 3 "' 6,611·I-gaugeLake _ g a u g e L a k e ChamplainCh.arrrpl.a i n & SaintSai n t LawLawrencerence JunctionJ unction RaRailway,ilway, Wwhich'hichex 'extelidedtehded fromf r o rn a connedionc onne'eti on ··' w iti thh thet h e Cent,ral VermonV'e r morrtRat Railwayflway ata t Stanbridge,Stanbr idge, tthr()ughh rough FaFarnham,r n ham , '; SSt.t . P iei e aridand .B, St~t; HyacinH yacin the,t he, tot o St. St. 'Guillaume.G u i lla u m e . Th T h isi s lilinen e was builtb u ilt ttoo bbringring 'agricig r icultur c u ltu r al p ror odductu c t s,s , chieflyiefly hahayy',', fromfrom ttheh e ' fertilefertile v allalleye y of -·thet h e .Ri chelieu.c h e l.i e u , then t h e n forwaforwardr d it onon viviaa thet h e CentralCentral VerVermontm ont throuthroughgh St. St. AlbanA lban s.s . TheT he LC&SLC&StLJRtLJR carnec a rne inintot o l1 FaFarnhamr n h am at thet h e westw e st enendd ofof town (ma(m a p reference "e"},), made a doubu ble-gaugel e -gauge cconnect~onnect i onon wwithith the' SER at thet he lattelatter'sr 's stastationtion )tlj"),) ''fl) , tthenh en pproceededr o c e eded onon double-gaugedoubl e-gauge trackt rack to a'~ sws~itchitc h at ·itthe h e east end of tht h e SER yardy ard ("k"),("kif), crossedcrossed thet he SS&C wherew h ere Me M e igi gss is is now lLoco catatede d ("("ylf),v"), anandd so 'acroa c r ossss'' the YamaskaYarri a s k a to St.Pie,Sts P i e , St. St. 'H yayacinthecinthe anandd St.G St.Guuill i llaaurne.urne. , ,
" , ThT hisl i s l'ittleH U e linen e shortiys h ort l y cacarnerrie uunnder d e r the t h e c onton troroll ofof the t he ppowerfow e r f uull SouthS o uth EaEastester'rn,andnvand 'after only twotwo years ,as a nan:arrow~gauger row- ga uge liline,n e , iti t wawass convertedcon v ert e d to ststandard-gaugea n d ard-g aug e and assimilatedas s imilated intoi n t o ''ttheh 'e SER.SE:R. ' NowN ow ppoo ssessins s e s si ngg sesevenven railr~i1 routes,r outes, the t he ststagea g e wasw as set forfo r the iastIas t ,/'s" s ppoke"o k e " i n t heh e wheel.wh~el.
In thetheearearly'E i ghties,t ies ; the t h e CaCanadnadiai ann PacificP a c ifi c RaR a ililwwaayy acquiredacquire d contrcontrolol of thet h e So S outhuth Easts t ~ rnr n , ' asa s ppaart r t of of its p oHcyolic y of constructionconstz-uct'ionI {n wes~esterntern Canada,C anada, arida rid expanexpansions ion bbyy aca c> qquUisiti~iIi si ti ~ n j"~f)f ex~~ iistins tingg ' rail 1linesines. in theth e east.e a s t ~ N o sooners o o ner hhadad 'ttheh e trat r a nns scc oontn tiinentaln e n t a l bebeenen compiet~dcOUlpi~t~d ' i~ 18i ss'85,s, than ththee CPR tt~rned~lYned itsi t s attattentionention eastwaeas t w a rd,r d ', ' forfo r a directd i rec t liHnen e acrossacross ththee Stat St a t e ofof Mai M a i nne e to NNee w BrB runswick u n s w i c k anda n d NoNovava ScotiaS c ot ia .,;~=~ shorters h o r t er thant h an anyariyriow'now existing.exi s t ing. AccordA c c o r d ini nggll y"y , ununderder the charterc h art e r of aflpapera 1 'paper company",c o rnpa n y", the t h e AAtlantt lantii c & Nortr thh WestW e s t RaRailil ~~aY, aY.. J~e~~e ,, C~RCPR bbuu iilt l t irf r .orno~ . M on~nttet r e ala~ tot.o ' FaF a rnhar n h aUlm ',' ", bbyy".' I~';~Ya y ; 6£of St.St. JoJ ohni>h n s and IIberville,b e rvLl .le , ini n . ' ,.' , . . ' ",,;., ' ~ . ., \ " \ C.R.H.A. _ News Re,EortRe120rt -1960- 1960 PagePag~ ,555 5 1887. Between IbervilleIber viIle and Farnham, it paralleled the SS&C to the north,nOl;"th, and made its entran<;eentrance " iptointo the 'YamaskaY a m a s k a River town just a~ .,ie~few hundredhundr.ed feet to the north of the older railway (llg"e'g" on thethe map).map).It~ Its course eastward laylay~long ~long the SER for a few miles ( __ to Brookport, whewherer e the route reverted to a new line through Foster, and Magog to the ) city~ity of,. S~S}:le,erbrooke.,rbrooke.
. .. ., >. .• . FarnhamF~rnh;iIn had, by tthish i s time, progressed from the sleepy farm v illagei lla g e of thirty years before. to a busy railway town, with train bells and whistles soundingso:unding constantlconstantlyy to remind the inhabitants of the sources ource of their pprosperity. r o s p e r ity. A particular point of concon": gestion was at the west end of ththee town (flX"("XII on the map) where ththee MP&B and CPR cr ossed the SS&C. There was a two-ball mast signal erected herehere,, governing movements over the several lines.lines. OperationOperation of this signal is ded es,scribed c r i bed in a Central Vermont Ry~Ry, rule-book for 1897, which the writerw r iter posspossesses,esses, the Central Vermont having acq~iredacquire .~ control of the SS&C in 1867, and ththee MP&B in 1891. In 1891, also, the SER was reorg anized as the., Montreal & Atlantic Railway and was thereafter operated as part of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Hence the reference to the CPR and to the "MP&BIIM P &B and
.,SS&CSS &C Divisions"Divisions II of the Central Vermont, in the Yoyollowingllowi n g extract fromfro.m the rrule-book ule' FARNHAM Junction with M.P. & B. and S.S.& C. Divisions and C.P.Ry. Two red balls by day, or two red lights by night. When no signal is shown, S.S.& C. trains have right of track. When one red ball or one red light is shown, C.P.R. trains havehaveHght H gh t of track.track • .' WWhen h e n two red balls or, two red lights are shownshown,, M.P.& B. Division trains have right of track. It~t was not until 1925 that the first reduction in trackage was .mademade of the lines ser ving F'aFC!-rnha.m.r'nharri, On August 31st of that year, the Canadian National RailwaRailways,ys, whpwho hild~a~ succeeded the CentralCentr·al Vermont Railway as proprietors of the old MP&B andSS&Ca.nd SS&C iri li~es on November. 1st, 1923, abandoned the old MP&BlineMP&B line (exiting at "c ,)) betwe~n Farnham. and Ste.Ste , Angele.Ange1e. The pop.ortionrtion fromfr-o.m SteAngele in to St,St. LambertLa.mbeit continuedcontinueq. to be opoperated.erated as part of the electrelectricic Montreal & SouthernSouthe~n Counties RaRailwayilwayurrti' uritill the autumn of 1956. , , ' In 1935, , CanadianC a n a d i a n National Railways, now in the process of elimeliminatinginating unprofit able parallel operation with other lineslines,, abandoned the oldo Id SS&C line between a point a short distance east of IbervilleIbe r v i Ile on the Central VermontVer.mont line, known as SS&C Junc tion, to FarnhamFarnha.m (line entering at "a"). Thereafter, CNR trat;nainsi n s between Iberville and FarnhamF'ar nha.m ran over the CPR, ut u t iliziilizi ngn g the' s'h'horto r t L 'eerrimoo y'.,nync Su.b divisiondivision i n ,.IbIb~rvillee r v i.Lle bet-bet weenw e en the CNRandCNR 'and CPR lineIin e.s.;$",. DuDuee tot o tht h e directibdi r e ctiori:n of tthh e s wiw itctcheh ess at each end of the Lemoyne SubdivisionSubdivision,, this s ece ctiont ion had ttheh e unusual idiosyncracy of having all train;ro;opp eration .mademade in a backing-up direction.d i re c t i o n. Canadian National passenger trains ran overo v e r this route between Montreal and WaterlooWaterloo until November 25th;25th, 1951, when servicservicee to GranbGranbyy and Waterloo was begun bbyy diesel train over the M&SC route through Mar ieville and St.St.. Cesaire.Cesai r e , CNR 4-64-6-2-2 #5056 was on the lastlast train' on thatthat., day, 'whichw h i c h was .marked,marked, on the weswestwardtward anda'nd laslastt trip,t r ip, by the issuance of a "31 IfI f order by the CPR DispatDispatchercher at FarnhamFarnha.rn,, extendingextending besbestt wishes of the CPR Farnham Division officers to the CNR t.rtraIna invc' crewr ew on the lastl a s t run. The only other linel ine to be abandoned was the Frelighsburg .SubdSubdivisi'O:r:ivi s i 'on of theCNR,the 'CNR, the tailt a il end of the old MontrMontreal.eal, Portland & Boston, which saws a w the ende~d of 'sservice e r v i c e on C.RC.R.H.A..H.A. N~ws R eport - 1960 Page 565 6 MarchMaI:ch 6th,6th, 1939. AboutAbout this titimem e alalso,so, ttheh e CNR ababandonedandoned that papartrt of the SS&C line in~IFarnhamFarnham extendingext ending from "zitlIZ " ~ on the map, to "v""y'" . running over ' the C.P.R.C.P.,R. between ( thesethes e poipoints.nt s. The 'g..rg..r,a,a:deeJ:'ossingd e c r o s s in g just bbeforeef ore the YarnaYarnaskas ka. bridges became a junction, kbnlowownn there reaftereafter a s !'Meigs!1." M e igs " . ThThee wye behind the old SS&C station remainedr erna.i.n ed until comcom- ppa'iativelya r a tively recentr ecen t yyears.ear s . A vvisiti s it there about ten yeayearsrs ago shoshowedwed tthehe wye rails in l1 ttact,a ct, wwithith all fishplatesfis h p,lates unbolted. T he switswitchch at tthehe "tailIft a ilIf of the ~iJ~i~ yey e was then a ststubub switch, withw ith an ancient !1harp!!"har p ' switchstand.swi.t chstand, On FebrFebruaryuary 9th, 1949, the original South Eastern Railway headquartersheadquart~rs building, the multm ulti-si -storeyt o r e y brickb rick ststructureructure refreferrederred to elsewhereels e where i:ith thisthis story, was destroyed by fire. 'FheonlyThe on ly ppartart remainingr emaining intact was the vault shaft on all floorsfloors.. ManManyy interest inng g origoriginalinal SER recordsr ecords werweree recovered from theset h e s e vaults, including two old SER letterl e t t e r bbookso oks from which Mr. LoLornerne Perry took extracts for these pages about two yeayearsrs ago. TheT h e Canadian Pacific sets et to work building a new n ew stations t a t i on for Farnham, the present rnmo4eoder,rnn and a nd spacious structure beingbeing opened on FebruarFebruaryy 16th, 1951. It ser ves the needsn eeds of bobothth CPR and CNR, the latter still operatingoper<+ting, . passenger trainst r a i ns between FaFarnham,rnham., and Waterloo,Wat erloo , via GranbyGranby.• . DuDuringring the 'earlye a r l y part of this year (1960), Canadian Pacific dismantled part of the FARNHAM and environs A ~ \ . , " _.I\U.~_ :I"\~ \~ , , '.J .''', ~\- ;! N,\'\"'~tI.~ , I , I / , , ." ." ...... -,.~ d FARM HA til Ut1960 roundhr oundh6uo us·s .e at a t FaFarnham,rnham, reflecting increasedi ncreas ed ututilizationilization of fewer diesel locomotives. PaPariSof'riS of thethe old bbrickric k South South EasternE 'astern RailRailwayway bubulldingsilding s remain, however, as a reminderrerninder ofof th'e timtimes'es bbeforeef ore ththee adadventvent ofof ththee highwaw ay,y , when w hen all traffic moved by rail,r a i I, giving grogrowthwth .and sstatustatus ttoo towtownsns whichw h i ch grgrewe w u p arounda rou n d railway r a ilw a y headquaheadquarters,rters, andand ofQf which F'aFarl).h~mr nharn is today one ofof ththee frifriendliestendlie st and plepl e asantesta s a nte s t exampleexamples.s. ' ~::: ~~ ~< ~:; >'r: ;)::: ' ::: ,):::: ~::: >i::: §TE:AMSTEAM ON ~~TH~RN_~BE.B..'!'.~!<~ILW~r~:NORTHERN ALBERTA RAILWAYS: Robert SanduSandusky,sky, who is presently onorr ,.aann extenext~ndedded bubussiness i n e s s assignmentassign ment inin wwesternest e r n Canada, rereportsports that a vivisits it to the fac ilitiesilities of.of~he.th e ~orthernN o r -th e r n AlbAlbere r tat a R,ailwaysRail~ays at DunvDunvegane gariYa Yard,r d , just north , of~ f,· Edmonton, on Septerp.berSepterribe r 1616th,th, rerevealedv eale d the followingfollowing stearn s tearn locomotiveslocomotives,, ppresumablyr e sumably serviceable. 'I'hoThoses e .-rnmarkeda r k e d with an asteriskasterisk wweree re uundern der stearn:s tearn : 2-10-0s NoNos.51*,s.51':', 52, 54, 57"57>'.',", 101':',101':'" 102.102. 2-82-8~Os;'; Os NNos.o s. 7272''~~, ;· 73,73', 774>'.'.4>t' . , 4-6-2 No.161 and dieselsdiesels 302 and 304. No.51 went out on., ththatat dayd a y on tratrainin #7 ttoo Wat~rways.W a t erway s . ThThee Barrhead frfreighte i gh t ono n the same day ran with NNo.o . 72.72 . TThehe BarrheadB a r r h e ad anandd Waterways Waterw a y s branchesb ranches araree still s till stearn opoperated~e r ate d , :.:::: ,):(,)~ **~:;>::::* t.::: ):::: .. " C 'l:R~ H.A. News" Report - 1960 Page '57 " • 3 - , j ' " " " At the Associati6n'sAssociation's Banquet .c., REMINISCENCESFtEMINISCENCES OF AHEARN'' AND SOPER wwhichh i ch was hhee LdId in Mo'ntrealM6ntreal ' b y ~ ; S e Y In o u r tj' . "'." by- Seymouf ,RathboneRattlbo'ne ' during thet he Spring, the Guest ( ) '., "',, ' ". ", " ' of Honour was Mr. Seymour """;," ,,'' " , RaRathbone,thbone , Chairman of the J.;J';"' ,',~ Board of ,Ahearn & SoperSoper CompanCompanyy Limited, a pioneer electrical , firm, whose interests embracedembraced t hehe building of street railway cars under their own name, and later as the Ottawa Car Manuf acturing CompanyCompany" , and also the bUildingbuilding and operation of the , "-. electric~lectric railway in Ottawa, until it was taken over by thethB Ottawa Transportation Commission in 1948. Mr. Rathbone has ",'kindlyki nd l y provided us with a transcription of his talk, which we ;' " ';., rr~produceherewith.,eproduce herewith. , "~; ~ ' 1 ;" <; Mr.Mf. Chairman"Chairman ; Ladies 'and Gentlemen, , " I was moved by Mr. Soper's kind in.troduction.introduction. Warren Y. Soper, now the third generation of the family as President of Ahearn & Soper, has been, since he was a small boy, a loyal friend of mine as has been Mr. Frank Ahearn, also from ,':,;iboyhoodbo,yhood. . Frank Ahearn, the son of the late HcnHon. . Thomas Ahearn, was: --t.hthe e , last PresidentPresiq.ent of the OttawaOt'tawa Electric Railway. My long a.sassociat",:,soc La't-, :'iion on withwith-these· these two families has meantmeant much to me. r IfIf' you were to 'ask' ask me - "What's my line?",line?ll, I could notnot: , saysaYi addadd ~ ',resses,r e s s e s , but I am honoured to have been asked by your Association to to :; ~ ppealte a lt to your members on the early activitiesactlvi ties of ' Ahearn & Soper and and ,: tthe hei, ~r r ', , pioneerpionee'r days of formation of the Ottawa Electric Railway. I I :j mustm u s ~" "apciloe:;ize~pologize forfot:' reading this brief narrative, but as I ·, am well well :,launchedl aunched en ' route to my ' 82nd birthday, I can' ittc trust my memory. memory . . :! ","" I was not:t "an employee of the OttawaO"j:itawa " Electric Railway but willwi-II ,tell you of some old . records and of memories ' of my days with thetbe late :Hon.Hon . Thomas Ahearn and the late Warren Y.Y . Soper. , Thomas Ahearn, Ottawa-born and Warren Y., Soper, born in Old T9wnT9wn,', :'Maine,Mai ne , were telegraphg raph operators ,, 'inin Ottawa while still in theirtheir' 'teens teens,; ,withwi t h t n.eJi'e :' ,,',GreatGreat North Western TeleTelegraphgraph Company. Mr. Ahearn wawasa ,wiwith t h 'thatt ha t Company in the office of J.R.J~R. Booth'.-. TheY'They' both became very ex:.,. ex~ :'pepent rct and ' at the age of eighteen, Mr. Ahearn joined the staff ofof i.oper- oper , atorswith~tbrs with the Western Union Telegraphg raph Company in New York City; he he .. was" , there on the memorable Black FridayFriday when fortunes melted away.away. , , T.~hE?seh~ s e ' two youngyo,ung men applied'' themselves vigourouslygourously and very soon' their their "',:'endeavoursendeav our s became well and favourably' knownknown.. While still veryyvery young,'oung, Kr.Mr. ' Ahear-nAhe'arn was appointed to the office of Local Managerger of the Bell Telephone Company:' in Ottawa and Mr. Soper as Managerger ofof' the Ottawa office of the Dominion Telegraphg raph CompanyCompany.. Their occupatii"oonsns brought them together,andgether, , and in the year 1881, '. theythey decided to resign their ., 'importantimportant: officesoffice s and~nd form a~ partnership as Ahearn & Soper, 'Electrical' Electrical 9cintra6tors.Contraqt6r.s. They ' secured the district representatiorepresentationn of the WestingWesting- , hoUse Electric & Manufacturing Company, dealing with that notable oror- ' ganlzatiganization'son's Chicagog o office. ' After a few years reppresentingresenting Westing 'houhous s' eEi, , ', AhearnAhearn & Soper were ' instrumental in persuadinpersuading Mr. George .WestWest , inghousei nghouse:,:, tot o buildbuilo. .anan electrical apparatus plant in Hamilton, OntarioOntariO'',, ( wherewbere hisnis Company alralreadyeady had ,a small air brake plant. Prior ' tot ~- t hh~yeare year 1'891,'891, Ottawa'Ottawa's stransportation transportation syssystemt .em consisted consisted of a few small horse-drawn street cars -- six in all -- which had be be gun operation in 1870.0 . I have ridden in those quaint littleIi title cars in in C.R.H.AC.R.H.A. . News ReportReQort -~ 1960 1960 PagePa.€@....5c 588 ththee winter timtime,e , thet h e floors coveredcovered with strstraa w\'i' and heated with a tiny coal stove in the centrec entre of thet h e car. Twenty yeyearsars aftera f t e r the openinopeningg ( of the horse rarailway,ilway, and in spite of ththee fact that cynics said that snsnowow conditions in Canada's wintwinterer wworldo r l d would not ppermite r mi t of operatingoperating elelectricectric strestreetcars,etcars, a party of U. S. interestsintErests nenegotiatedgotiated for some months with the CorporationCorporation of OttawaOt~awa f oro r the construction of ana n elec t 'ric'ric railway. This offer fell throught hrough and on aetobercrctober 20th20th, , 1890, AhearnAbearn & SoperSoper forwarded t hhee following letter to thet h e Corporation:Corporation: Ottawa, October 20,20 , 1890. The Mayor and Corporation of Ottawa, Gentlemen: , Understanding that the security offered by the CompanyCompan~' with whom nenegotiationsgotiations have bebeenen carried on forf or some mDnthsmonths for the construction of an electric railway in this 6ity, is not satisfsatisfactoryactory to your Corporation anda nd that t he time stip ula ted for making such security satisfactorys'a tisfactory has .,expired,ex p dr-ed , ,ththerebyereby terterminatingminating your nenegotiationsgotiations with thatt hat Company, we , now offeroff'er to undertake the immediateimmediate formation of a local Company for the construction and oppeerr ationa tion of the railway!' in accordance with the termst erms of the a grg reementeement already prepared and aas s security for thet he proper fulfilment of the contract, we enclose herewith our accepted cheque in favourfavour of your Corporation for tthehe sum of $5,000.00.$5 , 000 . 00 . Yours truly, Ahearn & Soper This lel etter t t e r was'::-~sisigned gned by the latel ate Warren Y. Soper, grandfatherg r a nd f a t h e r of Mr. Warren Y. Soper,Soper, today's President of the Ahearn & Soper Company,Company', Lim ited and with us at this banquet tonitonight.ght. AftAfterer much hesitationhe s i t a t i on and refusal on thet he par~ of Ottawa'sOt:tawa's financ iers to jjoin oi n tthe he Company,Company, becabecauseuse of their belief that such an oper ation was not feasible,Ahearnfeasible, · Ahearn and Soper were successful , anda n d their offer was accepted. The Company was formed with ThomasThomas AhearnAhear.n as Pres ident .'and and Warren Y. Soper,Soper, Vice-President.Vice-Pre sident. Eight months later,la t 'er, on June 20th,1891,20th, 1891, ththee first small electrice lectric cars appeared on Ottawa'sOttawa' s streets.st·r~et :s. The man, thent hen a bboyoy of five, who closed thet he switch to start the service was FrFrankank Ahearn, later to becomebecome PresPresidentident of the Ottawa Electric Railway ComCompanypany on ththee passinpassingg of his fatherfather, , the Hon. Thomas Ahearn, in". ·,1938.1938 . Three cars wweree r e builtbui 1 t anda nd equippequippeded by Ahearn & Soper at their smalls mall plant formed as tthe he Ottawa Car Company from what was the Wylie CarriaCarriagege factory. TheThe horse-horse-drawndrawn cars operatedoperated by the Ottawa City PassenPassengerger Railway competed for two years with thet he Ottawa E'lectric Railway and then went out of businbusiness.ess. ThThee snow pproblemr ob l em was covered by the manufactureman~facture of electric snow plows at thet h e OttOttawa1awa Car CoCompanympany's I s plant. The tracks were ,clearedc l e a r e d and the Railway Company was obligatedobliga.ted to remove ,.:- thet he snsnowow from the streets on which thet he earcar lilinesnes wwere.ere. This was done byb.y loadinloadingg and drawing the snow· away on thet he Company'sCompany's horse - drawn .,ssnow n ow boxes. In laterl ater years, wiwithth the adventadvent , of motor cars, the CitCityy undeundertookr-t.o ok tthehe removal of the snow from thet he curbscurbs at its own expense.e xpe n s e . C.R.H'~A. News Report-1Report-1960960 PagePa~ 599 ' The first Superintendent of -'tthe he OttawaOtt-awa Electric Railway Company was Mr. J.E. ' HutchesonHutche'son' who later left Ottawa for Montreal t .o'o become Superintendent of the "' Montreal Tramwaysways Company.pany. ,','; ( ; .. ~ Or0111':; June '22nd22nd, , '. 1895, the Ottawa Journal said,said , editorially:edltor:1ally: ,' ;j ~: :'; :!..;' .; }IH;r ~ Howo w the ,StSt'reet-reet Railway serves thet he district in all the the 29 "mdLemi , l~essof of track ihih Ottawa ; if yoyourur friendsfriends ,who-' will come .v to the growinggr owi ng capital this summersummer, , want to kknownow how many many cars are in service here, tell them there are 68 cars and and that nowhere are cars kept in better repair and cleaned and and dusted for the comfort of the public." public." This tribute 'was dated within two daYi?day~ of thet he fourth anniversary of the commencementcomme.ncement of the Ottawa Electric Railway Company's service. In' 1894,-1894, the Ottawa Electric .RailwayRai l way contracted with the Federal Government-' to carrycarny the mail from the Post OfficeOffice to the Broad StreetStreet RailwayRailwa:.y Station and t he old Canada Atlantic Station. This contract was in forcefo'res '-for some years when the Company lost it to a cartacartagege firm. The irbny -:of:'Of fate willed that the contract wawass closed on the day Ahearn & SopSoper(er~~were ,'\Vere about to put into service twoaddi tional Post Office cars. ~ -.{': ':-: .'. , r-.. ..~ • .• ~ . " "'I]n n ,,r'1897,1897 , ~~,ThenI!hen Canada's capital city was celebratincelebratingg the 60th Ann iversary Jubilee of thet he reign of Queen Victoria, Ahearn and ' Soper were entrusted by the Federal Government to illuminate t hhee entire face of the Parliament BUildinBuildingsgs with thousands of electrice l ect r i c lilights.ghts. This quiteqUite overpoweringoverpow$ring and wonderful sisightght still lingers in the memory of Ottawa old-timers. Your narrator recalls carryincarryingg out instructions of his emploYemploy~rs,ers (on( on immediate completion of the installainstallation) t 'ion) to stand on ParliamentPa~liament Hill and endeavour to count thet he lamps. The situation became embarrassinembarrassingg when passers-by grradually adua l l y formed a groupr oup who were' amusedammsed at the lamp counter whom they wwereere satisfiedsatisfied hhadad escaped from, or shoulifahouLd:\ be ' dtrectedd,ire,cted to, a mentalment a l institution. ' LI. >'. J: D-urlngDUr i ng tthis h i s same celebration, Mr. Ahearn was instrumental in org anizing the' first coast-to-coastcoa"st-to-coast communicationcommunicatton netnetworkwork which, throught hrough tliethe'' medium of the recentrecently-completedly-completed teletelegraphgraph circuits was, able- ,tot o carry'news',n,ews ' of the capital's participation in the celebration to all the majj?;t"':majorccent.r-e - 1901 saw the Company build a handsome specially'-equippedspecially~equipped car to convey ththee Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary), forf or a tour throught hrough thet he car linesl i ne s . .'. ,: YcunYour., narratornarrato.r recalls t hhatat when he r jjoin-e oLned"d Ahearn & Soper in 1895, (sixty-five ' years aago.)go) he waas s "interestedinterested irrnotinin noting thatt hat the O. E. Ry. operations were larggeelyly direct;'ed"from" ,from'' ththee offices of Ahearn , and Soper onorr-. Sparks :' Street, 'by means meansof' of·notes'notes andaNd ., "phone'_phone calls by Mr. " Ahearn and Mr. Soper"/ Itotc ;' Mr. Hutcheson. ata tt thhee ,; O.E.Railway0 ,E,.Railway· offices on Albert Street. Mr. Soper wwouldould hehearar a car car pass the . ,SparksSpa r ks Street . officeoffic·e with a flat wheel; he would call "Seymour, gete t tthehe numbnumberer of that car". I would C.R.H.A. News ReportReQort · - 1960 Page 6060 run and come back with "No. 26, sir". AhAn immediate call to Mr. Hutch eson, "Jim, car 26 just passeda s s e d here with a flat wheel -- take it off". An amusing instance of these directions was the occasion when Mr. Soper, . who ·had obviously agreed with Mr. Ahearn that I had little of a mechanical mind called me into the private office and said "Seymour,IlSeymour, will you tellte 11 Mr. Ahearn and me the meaning of 'remote control' It?"? My reply was ,· "Well sir, I'm not sure unless it means the manner in which you and Mr. Ahearn direct the operation of the Ottawa Electric Railway by 'phone calls and notes from this office to Mr. Hutcheson at the O.E. Railway office". I have .-alwaysa l wa y s felt that my., answer saved the situation for me. ~. The electric cars ,AhearnAhe a r n & Soper made 'were highly thought of and orders came to the firm from outside sources. Your narrator . recalls l\Mr.1r. Soper goingo i ng to Montreal with an offer to the Montreal Tramways Com panypanytofurnish to furnish one hundred cars and returning the following day with the ''order~order. A.& 'S.S. also furnished . cars to the municipal systems in QuebecQuebeci ; Trois Rivieres, Oshawa, Port Arthur, Fort William, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary,gary, Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, , " Halifax, St.Johns,Newfoundland(narrow gauge),a uge ) , Saint John,NB,John,NE.·, Kitchener, and the Windsor,Essex & Lake Shore Elec. Ry .. In .·t t hehe early days of the . OttawaOt t a wa Electric Railway and before motor cars came 'intoi n t o being,g , the Company built a summe:rsummer playhouse in the west end of the city, which at tbatthat time was very suburban and necessitatednecess1tated transportationa tion by streete t car. The Ottawa people flocked out in large numbers in the old open cars to he entertained by an interesting stock company. Another popular venture of the O. E. Ry. was the opening of."a paVilionpavilion at Britannia Bay where band concerts in the summer evenings broughtght veryve ry larlargege crowds of passengersgers in the cars. The electric heaters installed in the first electric cars in Ott awa werewe-reinvented invented and patented by TromasT:bomas Ahearn and manufactured in the Ahearn & ' Soper 'heaterh ea t e r factory on Albert Street,Street , at one time a small, brick dwellinghouse.dwelling house. - Mr. Ahearn also invented and patented cooking heaheaters.t.e r-s, AhihtAniriterestinge resting'proof' proof of this is the old Ottawa Windsor Hotel dinner menu of Augustgust 28,28 , ~' 1892, whdwhichch proudly boasted thatt hat "Every item on this menu has bebeenen cooked by the electric heating appliances inven ted and patented by Mr.Mr . T. Ahearn of Ahearn & Soper of this city and is the first instance in the history of the world of an entire mea1meal being cooked by electricity.electriCity. The bread and meats were cooked in an 81ectric oven and the liquidsquids in other electric heaters". The menu-goesmenu~goes on to list an "Electric Dinnere r"ll beginning inning with soup and running through a number of if ish,ish, meat and vegetablege tab le courses, ending up with such att ractive desserts as "Apple souffles, wine sauce" or "CocoanutIlCocoanut Drops, vanilla ice cream" and black teatea, , g reenr e e n tea, or coffee. Mr. AhearnAhearn and Mr.r . SoSoperper also promoted the formationformatipn of the Ottawa Electric Commppanany in competitionpetition with the Chaudiere Electric Light Com pany, t henhen serving Ottawa with ., lilightght and which Company theyey . later ab sorbed. ' Mr. Ahearn became PresidentPreSident ·of the Company Withwith offices on Sparks Streee ett a short distanceance from the Ahearn & Soper office on the same strstreeeet,t, frof r omm wherwhere he would haveave daildailyy communication with Mr.Soper on O. E . Ry . and othere r matterse rs by Morseo r s e telegraphgraph key, both Mr. Ahearn and Mr. SoperSope r havinhaVing ·a key secretlye tly installed in the top right hand dravlersd rawer-s of theire ir deskse sks'.; C.R.B.A. C.R.B.A. News Beport:Rel2.0rt:- 1960960 Page 61 'In 1924l I924" . thet ~ e O. E. E.. ·'RyRy. . /Jo..0'0. introduced buses on one of its routes. They-.ranran 'for·fol:" "aa .·short short period, ' when the cars:-again-again took over. In 1939, buses were again introduced and continued to spread over new routes. The Ottawa€>ttawa . Electric Railway was privately-owned for 58 years when in the ..yearyear r1948' 1948 it. was taken Co~erover by the City and became the Ottawa Tran sportation?portatldn Commission.OQrnmission. . . : , . , .1. . J -:'::': :~ '~ -. I·I ;hhav av.e -many personal remembrances of the late Mr. Soper.Soper-, Be was a ski.l1edamateurs -kil]~ e damateur magician and was a corresponding friend of the re..re~ nowned. Thurston. I recall that on the occasions when Thurston came to OttawaOttp,wa to perform, his first move on arrival at the station was to imm ediately come to callancalIon Mr. So perper at the Ahearn & SoperSo per office. Mr. Soper gave a number of performances at the old Russell Theatre for charitable purposes and had a weekly date at Ashbury College for the 8Btertainmententertainment .of.of the students. Lopd Aberdeen, at. that period Governer General of Canada and in residenceresid~nce;:at at Rideau Hall, Ottawa, and who was, at times,a visitor to the Ahearn & Soper offices came in one morning to tell Mr. Soper how much he had enjoyed a benefit performance Mr. Soper had given theprevthe ',prev ious evening at, the Russell Theatre. Mr. Ahearn and Mr. Soper were at the mom~mt.inmom~nt in conference. Mr. Ahearn, unnoticed, nodded to Mr. Soper, who wrote on a small slip of paper a messagege to Mr. Ahearn, handed it to Lord Aberdeen and asked him to crumple it and hold it. Mr. Ahearn then placed his right hand on Mr.r . Soper'sper's and suggestedgested that Lord Aber·Aber~ deend-een: place ,his, his hand on theirs. Mr. Soper telegraphedte legraphed to MrMr.Ahearn .Ahearn with ·, hfhi: s ..:.' '. f:tnf i nger,e r ~· · thet.he rl messagemes aage he had written (Lord Aberdeen being quite unun- awareaMare ·of the proficiency of the two men as amateur telegraphers). Mr. Ahe~he:.arn,arniwho who had a small pencil between his thumb and forefinger repeat ~d ~the' the ~~ordsords of the messagege on the cuff of his white shirt and .askeda s ke d t .he. he ~ .."Governer . General to check. The puzzled dismay of Lord Aberdeen was a ·source·source of profound gratificationgratification and amusement to the twoteletwo .t e l e graphers . ., ." " TwoofTwo o f my outstanding recollections of both Mr. Ahearn and Mr. SopsSdperwereMr.Ahearn's.r , were Mr. ' Ahearn' s boast, "I started as a messenger boy and am . p.IjoU;q,~o ~d·· ofo ~ it.it ~ . 1I tried to do my work well. I never lnitered by the ~ay,,way, II,..:.4::tdd j,d not have -timet i me a s I needed every minute to perfect myself in teletele- .:grgr~phy l;1iphy .. , The boy who loiters on the way Whenwhen sent on an . errand too· 'o:f:f:tenre:t :en ·re..mainsmains the errand boy throughoutghout .lifelife"II .• , ' . .;~;. '_::;.' ;\M1rr ... S~.oper'so p e r r s f avouriteavouri-te quotation was Elbert Hubbard's "Carry your Mess.agatoMessage to GarCia",Ga.r-c La?", and "Life is just one damn thing after another,another', Seymour, now 'gogo aftere r it!"it~" -- and I went ~ ~ -'".r, .'· :'Your You r narrator looks back on his many years of association with twotw.o of Canada's prominent, -successfulsuccessful and interesting business 'men as , a privilege and a very happy memory. CAGANADIANNADJ;AN RAILROAD HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION , ; ~:. ~: . ' ,,". -. . ;,:,.,. '_, : J:.~lewse w s 'ReportRe p o r t No. 115 October 1960 1960 ! ]';EqJtorialAddress:d i t o r i a'l Add r e s s : ;' Box 22, Station B, . MMontrealon t r e a l 2,2; Quebec .. '.'_I' Editor:OmerEditor: ,; Ome r S.AB.A.'. Lavallee ' Asst. EdItor:Edttor: . W. Pharoah . PubPub"lishe'lisher:-r: John Saunders CommiCommittee ttee~ ~. Anthony CleggGle.gg David R. Henderson Paul ·R.R. McGee Lorne C. Perry ' r '0 '" (- Y'\ r ,. ·1- .:. ,. r-- ~ _7,~,'1 ./ n O, g~e_. .-", :J.S. II::.. !~·Jr .• .A .• , 0Obs;;;; (jrv-;; _ :::",1:, :.:.t .J if':".l-''' '.,:.;~ ~ ·''''-::. -'' .2 ~ J \-!~______PP;...a age...... _0_·-"""2U"·,2)·...... ' 5-· · A A departdepartmentment of news and co~nentary, by o o B S E R V A T ION S AA:'1t~10i1~rrrt hcny CClsIs.:. =,-~..:;. ( ••.••• TTENEN YEAR3YEAR3 AGO ••••• (October(October 1950 iissue ssue ofof NewNewss Report)Repor t ) Ii " On OOctoberctober 1st, 1950, thet he AssociationAs so ciation hheldeld a railroadr ai l r oad excursionexcu r s i on frofromm HontrealHontrea l to HHuberdeau,ub erdeau, to cocomr.lenOY'mn enor ateat.e "c·btty,'::.;:; 2Si2j;~h ~h anni.cm:i.ve:t"'saryver- s ar-y of thet he fafamousmo us MontrealMo ntreal to VVancouverancouver rrunun of eGlm.rm. diesedLe s el·,electricIv -eLe c't r-Lc uunitnit carcar ##1582011 58 20 , in 6677 hours.hours. "it TThehe CAnaCAnadiandi an NaNationalt i onal RailwaysRailways hhasas plplaceda ced an an orderorder for dieseldi es el electricelectr i c locolocomotivmo tives, tot o rreplacee place Montreal Montr eal & SouthernSouthern CountiesCo unt i e s RRailwaya i l way electricel e ct r i c ttrainsr a ins betv:vi eeneen MMontreaont r eal aandnd GGranbyranby anandd CCNRNR ststeameam trains t rai ns bbetweenet .we en MontrealMontr eal anandd 'i'vJaterJa t er lool oo ;~I1 QQue.ue . \I \I ThThee CentralCentral VVermontermont RailwayRai lway willwi l l nanameme llocomotiveocomotive NNo.601o . 601 TlCityIl Ci t y of StSt ... AAlbansl bans il as a hihighlightghlight of the rrailwayailway centennialcentennial day in St. AlAlbansbans on Wednesday,We dne sday, uuctct oberober 18th. 18t h. 11i l se It has bbeeneen rreportedepor t ed that a fullyf ully auutotoDlatDlat ici c trtrain,a in, wwithi th the train crew on boboardard ststandingand i ng by, mamadede a testt e st runr un b~tweenb~ t wee n LLondon,ondon, Ont.,Ont . , andand Tor onto duringduri ng the latterl att er ppartar t of SeSeptr::::fY1Let'pternb er 0, The testst ests wewerere conductedconducted bbyy General General HotorsMot.or-s DiesDieselel LiLimitedmited of LOIlr'tonLor .do n ,11, ·l.F:c.; LlLlgg a CanadianCana dian NNationala tional Raia ill waywayss locomotive,l ocomot ive, ccarsars aandnd track. t r a ck. A c JJ~pany,npa n y s pokesmanpoke sman confirmed confirmed tthat hat ththee t estse st s hhada d bbeeneen uundernd er 'wayday sirsir!! c e -,jnrl~Iu n..: i 'lllrl'11ll1 wwereere recentlyrecently com pleted.pl eted . The company company conductedconduct ed thet he ~~eHteH t ~ ii.n.n conjunctconjunct ioionn wwithith WWestinge s t i ng hhouseou s e CompanyCompany Air BrakeBr ake Divii viss ioi onn thrthr0~gh~ ~g h i tst s subsidiary,idiar y , CanCanadianadian \J\Jestingt+oestingt,ouusese Co mmpanpany LiLimited,mited, aandnd GeneralGenera l Rail'wayEa l Lwa y SignalSignal CompanyCompany of Rochester,Ro chester, NN.Y..Y . se FFurtherurther to thet he newnewss i ttemem lalastst month,mo nth , effectiveef f ect ive SeptemberSe pt embe r 24th, the CCananadadiani an NNational'sat i onal ' s "CHContinentalont Lnent.aL LiLirm.Li1 itt edcd"i i has has bbeeneen prprovidingovidi ng sleepingsleepi ng carcar serviceser vi ce onlyonly bbetetlAiweeenen MMontrealont r eal anandd NoNorthr t h BB2.y,ay , Ont., SaskatoonSaskat oon and EdEdmonton,monton , AAlta.,l.t a , , aandnd bbetweenetween KKelownaeLowna anandd VVa.a n('0ncouve ll.ver,r- , B.C. DiningDi ni ng car ffacil~tiea cil:'tie s are ar e notot nnowow available.ava i labl e . SSJ.t;8J.t;e r,·.-'i.ii.i 1199 C2.rC2..r services er vi ce bbetweenetween MonMo n trtrealeal and NoNorthr t h BaBayy is i s pprovidedr ovided bbyy an.om 1V)q" 'J'JJ'JoI'!oI'!eett cet e car;car; betweenbetwe en SaskSask atoon andand Edmondmontont on a fourf our double-bedroomdouble-bedroom an~ndd a-sectiona- sect i on car car isi s in ser vivice;ce; aandnd bbetet ".wveeneen KelmmaKo Lowna aannd VVanco1l.vera n c ou ver-/ / tt:~e >:.e sleeping s leepi ng car hhasas four sections ections,s , eightei gh t duplexdupl ex rooroomettesme t tes a:and!d fGll.Cf Gl1.c doublel e bedrooms.bedr ooms . TThehe run ofof thet he "dContinental"CorrtLnent.a'L il bbetweenet ween SaskSa'3l:Gat.c1toc on1n acmdnd EEdmodmontntonon ddoesoe s not,not , of course duplicatedu plicat e ththatat of thet he 'ilnSupeSuper ContinentalCont i nent al il!'d ! asas NNos.os . 3 anandd 4 operateope r at e via NoNorthr t h BBa~tleford a ~ tl eford andand VVermilion,ermilion, wwhilehile NNos.los . 1 and 2 serv s er ve BiBiggarggar and ·',iaimvria i mvri ght.t . e e EffectivEff e ct i ve September Se pt ember 25th, CanadianCanadian PacificPaci f i c BritishBr iti s h Columbia Coast Ser vicvicee betweenbet wBen VVancouver,anc ouver , VictoriVictoriaa anandd Seattle, Seat t le , wawass curtailed and the il aageinggeing "ilPrincessPr-Ln ces s ElaineEl a i ne i1 wawass wwithdrawni t hdr avm frfromom service forf or the winter monmonths.t hs. LastLa st wintwinter,er , ththee ilElaineiiElaine ;1iI pprovidedr ov i ded a dailyda i l y rroundound trip betbetweenween VictoriaVict oria anandd VaVancouver.ncouver . Daily Daily serviceser vi ce bbetweenetween NanaimoNanaimo aandnd VVancouverancouver for the "'Jwinteri.nt.er- mmonthsonths V'Tillwi.Ll. be be providedpr ovided byby thet he ttrain-ferryrai n- fer r y "Prl1Princewsmcews of VaVancouverncouver "ll , ththee "I;PrincessPrinc ess of NanaimoNana i mo 1il1 andand thet he "ilPrincessPr i.nces s Patricia 11 or iiPrincess"Pr- Lnces s NaI',-Ia r gt~ ueruerite i t e" \i ... EEighti ght daidai ly tripst r ips are pplanned.lanne d . e e EffectiveEffecti ve SeptSeptemberember 26th, CanadianCanadian PacificPaci fic rreducededuced its Montreal-OttawaMontreal-Ottawa viviaa VaVank~eeknk ~e e k Hill passenengerger serviceservice tto o fourfour rounroundd trips per day.day_ ThisThis was aaccomplishedccomp l i shed by the cancellationcancellation of train 1/:237,# 237 , leavinleavingg MontrealMontreal .~ '., ! .'. ::. .r. .. I . " , G.R.H.A. G.R.H.A .. Observations-1Observations-1960960 Page S-36 at 6:506: 50 PHPM except Saturday and Sunday, and train i/1238f238 leaving OttawaOttai.va at 1:10 PHMJI except Saturday and Sunday. ( e e Canadian NNationalational RRailvlaysailways abandabandonedoned that part of its Rouses Point Subdivision betweenbetween Edison Edi son AvAvenueenue (St. Lambert)Lambert) and BBrosseau,r os s eau , Que., effectiveeff ective 2:01 PIvI)PM, October 11th, 1960.1960. All tratr2insi ns now go over the new line betbetweenween Brosseau and Castlestle GGClardens,.rdens, 4.0 :niJ.es,~ile s , ththee latter stat ion situ.ated on the former l-Iontrealllont.r-ca .I &,& SoSouthernuthern Counties Cou nties Railway.Rai l way . Pass enger trtrainsains araree runrunningning as extrasext ras untuntilil ththee nnewew titimetablemetable is issued at ththee eendnd of the month. The aabandonmentbandonment -"laSwas br-oubrought.ght about as a res ult of extensiveextens i ve roroadad construcconstructiontion in conjunctioncon j unction VJithwi.t.h the new Cham plain BridBridgege aacrosscr os s the St.LawrSt.Lawrenceence RRiveri ver bet,ween between Verdun and Ville BrossBr~s?ard,ard, a~~dnd aal~o.l so ttoo I -_ -. -"/--:~///,//_------eliellminamLnate t e the~ne mmULtl-ul t i - I ~~.-::/. ,l Or]J -.Ie.~ /::::fC I IN rS,or 'J.' :plicplicity i~y ofof railra i~ linlineses '-'r - lIN.. inan thist.h i s expandingexpand Lng area.ar ea. ,., O"b-o"v ThThee lilin.nee ababe.neIonedandoned wa s .!t /'~,//~. "'rt:;~~t:~ ~ ~ - 1 ff ppartart 0of1 a ).JJ.ine.ne builtOUl'It /'-r/'-r- i.n l ! ~ t:. ? d t vcrt . "j t .he - 'J f . r 1in.l?5 ~ , '; ;"-2 ,' dc\iVer~i~lg\.L V~~ :l,:g thde LA:?:I;'RrI A:·y','';(.kT .//' .~~~j.(,- .(__ (1),-;01"[VI$Ot" AlE. o~r~r-L g.ig lnana.L l Chanampl::-l~mp La i n anand .. '/0, .. /-0 \\' t Lctt;JY.::::r:~e .:JalntSaint Lawr s nce ltallHai l Road/Road/// 'f' ...... '__ fj/~'Li,," ~ r-t~ ... ' 1 ., "ll e e AccorAccorcinC: i ngc; to ststatistics,atistics, railwaysr-a i l.waye are ththee safests afest form of transportation in Amerjca..Ame rica . There There wawass only oneon e ppassengerass enger ffatalityatality in a train accident in allal l of of 1959, but elevene.Leve ri ppassenas s enggeersrs didieded in "t"trainr-ai.n service s er-vi.ce"il accidents in wwhichhich tthe he ppassassenenGee; errfs1s nnegligenceegl igence was\!Ja s tthe he prprimaryimary cause, such as when ppassena ssenGersGer s triedt r i ed ttoo boboardard or leavel eave moving mov i ng trains. It was the smallest nunumbmberer of ttr r G.inG. in fatalitiesf atalities in historhistory.y. l::'l:- ' fnnoticfnnoticeded amc:'IIloong thet he many many papassenger-servicessenger -ser vi ce abandonmentsabandonments in recent months was tthehe cessationcess ation of service bbetweenetween Hamilton,Hamil t on , Allandale and Me-afordM~aford on CanadianCana dia n national Nat i onal linlineses in Ontario.Ontario. 'I'T;h-lis Ls wawass ththee run formerly served by diesel-electricdiesel -electri c unit carcar D-l anandd trtrailers.ailers. se PlPlansans hhaveave beenbeen aannouncednnoun ce d by tthe he NNationalational SystSystemem to discontinue trains 107 and 1100L(~5,, operoperatinating dailydai l y exceptexcept SunSundayday bbetvveenet.ween Hervey, Que.,Que . , aandnd FitzpaFitzpatrick,trick, QuQue.e. TThishis willwill come intoi nto effectef fe ct October 31st, the last run bbeingeing mademade on SaturdSaturday,ay, OOctobct oberer 29th. 29th . Trains HIIO//110 and.and ##109109 will have their schedulesschedules ad.justeda d.just ed. at the saLlsalflee titime.me. ee TThehe BoBoardard of TransportTr anspor t ComrnisCo nllnissi sionersoners will hhearear evidence in Niagara FallSFalls on OcOctobertober 19th,19th, in connectionconnection wwithith a NNewew York CentralCentral RR application to ababandonandon ththee most northerly portion of its NiaNiagaragara Branch, rrunnin~unnin~ to NiaNiagara-on-the-Lake.gara-on-the-Lake. A previous application was deferred. ;~iII< t 11':;, lC ·'C.R.H.A.C. R. H.:A. Observations-Observations-19601260 ~"'JZ ¢ Page DON'T FORGET THE BANQUET ON NOVEMBER 7£H7L'H 1t '. , .,~ Members ~rtdand subscribers residentr esident in the Montreal area have al ( readreadyy recreoe.;i.vedoived a circularar aannouncingnnouncing a Banquet, vlhichwhich will be held in 1.1ne~he Alouette Haom,Hoom, \\linds!indsor Station, MontrealMontreal1. on l\Jlon~ilon day,Eiay, November 7th, 1960.1960. The Banquet will mark the .'::>eventyi:>eventyl Fifth Anniversary of the DDrivingr i vi ng of the Last Spike completing the CanadianCanadian PacificPacific Hailway,a i lway , which occurred at Craigellachie, B.C., on ~ove~dvember mber 7th, lI C0d85.5. The guest speaker will be MHrr . N.R. Crump, President, Canadian Pacific RailRailway,way, and HonoraryHorwrary Vice-President of our Assoc iationiation.• . It is hoped ththatat all members and their families res ident in this area will take this opportunity to hear one of Canada's foremost transportationtransportation spokesmen, also enjoy a con vivial dinnerdi~ner in company with other CRHACHHA people and their familiesfamilies~ ~ .:. FOR THIS SPECIAL$ r~CIAL OCCASION, a SPECIAL PIUCEprUCE of :1>: ~ 2. 50 per person hhasas bbeeneen H~@~ t for the dinner, which willvvill include four courses, with an entree~nt.ree of Roast Beef, for which the CPR restaurant is justly famed. The dinner will begin at 7:00 PM, but the Room will be open from 5:30 PM for those who desire liquid refresh ment, th ¢.~priceprice of which is not included with that of the meal. Those wis.ltingwi~hing to reserverve mmayay 'phone Dr.Nicholls, WE.3-8263,\VE.3-8263, or Mr. OrnerOrner ~L~vallee,avallee, CR.9-CR.9-gS22,8822, or mail them in to P.O.Box 22, Station J)I-IontrealB I'Iontreal 2, CanCanadaada mmaarrked ked "Banquet Reservations".Reservations II. RESRESErlVATX6NErtV AT I6NS.3 AAH.ERE AABSOLUTELYBSOLUT ELY N ~CESSARY,~ CESSARY, and they must be made beforefor e N~Vem Novemberber 3rd.3r d . RESERVE NOV'!NOW 1l . " _. ~ -- _... .._ ._- ~_ . ----~------. --- '-~~ - - ' ------"-_-,-_.' -_.' --_- -_.-_.*------e An orderer forfor an additionaladdi t i onal 50 ststeeleel f latcarsl at car s for use on Canadian Nat ional Railwaysways linlineses i n NewfoundlNewfoundlandand hasas been placed with the Eastern Car divissioriiori "~oof f DDominionomi ni on Steel & CCoaoall Corp., Trenton, N.S. The cars supplelmentnent ap orderor der ofof 8080 cars cars placa ceded w ithi t h Dosco last July. The flat cars, 40 feef eet in lenl ength,gth, are similarsimilar in °rlei'Pleightght to cars now in service in th~hoe pprovincer ovinc e,, but havhavee an increased capacity of 35 percent due to the 4~e~se of low-w- alloya lloy ststeel.eel. (Page S-33 , lastl ast issue, delete phrase it "i1similars Lmi.l.ar' to othot heersr- s in services ervice in Newf'Newfoundlandound.Land v .s ) " e e Canadianadian NNat~onalat~onal HRaia i llwawaysys and Hobeobe rrval val & Saguenay Railway Company recently accace~p~edepted ddel~veryelivery ooff ffo~rour specially-desi~c ~ally-desi GnedGned aluminum hopper cars frofromm bUJ_IbuildQerer MarMarln i nee Indudu5stritr18ses Limited.Llmlted. The cars, d8velopeddnveloped by the Aluminum CoCOmpanyr:lpany of Canadaan ada,, aandnd mechanical and research departments of CCNR,NH, each carryarry nine more tontonss of payloayloadad than existineXisting CNR hopper cars, are easiereasi~r to unload and mmoreore readilyadily adaptable to var:.ousvar~ous servj.cpsservjc~s... Three of the cars will go into service immediately, carrying ~bulkulk mat erierialsals like lime,e , c emenement,t, alumina, gypsQm, po lyethylenel yethylene and adidipicpic acid.acid~ TThehe fourth wvlii lll l be subject to tests.t ests. Empty, each car welr;hswel~hs 16 tons. e e The Board of Transport Commissioners has ordered six Canadian railways to erecte ct new aluminum warninwarningg signs that shine brightly in the lights of approaching autos. The sign is the same as the familiar X-shaped wooden sign, except that it is made of aluminum. The words "Railway li il CrossingCrossing)!, and in Quebecuebec iiTraverse de Chemin de Feri!,Fer , r eemmaina in thet.he same s ttyle yl e and size.size . : : ' .I"./ ~.. . · '.- . ~ .1,. " ...... 1...... , -.., . .