Upper Canada Railway Society The Cover Rapid transit comes to tbe suburbs I A westbound TTC Bloor-Danforth train is sbown bere on tbe newly-opened eastern extension of tbe subway, between Warden and Victoria Park Stations. It is skirting Bell's Busb Park and tbe Massey Creek Ravine — scenery wbicb no doubt newsletter comes as a pleasant surprise to many commuters formerly used to traffic jams on their way to work. See page 55. Number 268 May, 1968 — Ted Wickson Published monthly by the Upper Canada Railway Society, Inc., Box 122, Terminal A, Toronto, Ont. Coming Events James A. Brown, Editor ^xo:OT•^x•:•x•>x•:•>^>^^^^:•:•^^^^:^^ Regular meetings of the Society are held on the third Friday of each month (except July and August) at 589 Mt. Pleasant Road, Authorized as Second Class Matter by the Post Office Department, Toronto, Ontario. 8.00 p.m. Ottawa, Ont. and for payment of postage In cash. Members are asked to give the Society at least five weeks notice June 1: Steam excursion to Stratford, leaves Toronto of address changes. (Sat) at 0815 EDT. FARES: Adult S9.75; Child S5.00; Infant $1.00. June 9: A visit to tbe OERHA property at Rockwood is (Sun) being arranged. Write tbe Entertainment Com• Please address NEWSLETTER contributions to the Editor at mittee for details. 3 Bromley Crescent, Bramalea, Ontario. No responsibility is June 13: NOTE CHANGE OF DATE! assumed for loss or nonreturn of material. (Tburs) Outdoor meeting: A visit to CN's new Express Terminal at Toronto Yard, Keele Street at Hwy All other Society business, including membership Inquiries, should 7. 7.30 p.m. Regular TTC KEELE bus leaves Lansdowne Subway Station at 6.25 p.m. Term• be addressed to UCRS, Box 122, Terminal A, Toronto, Ontario. inal entrance by road is about one half mile north of tbe main yard entrance, on Keele St. June 21: Regular meeting. Omer lavallee recalls steam (Fri) days on tbe Newfoundland Railway. Contributors: June 28: Hamilton Chapter regular meeting. Outdoor (Fri) observation session at Bayvlew, 8.00 p.m. John Bromley, Ray Corley, Dick George, Tom Henry, George July 6: Steam excursion, Toronto to Montreal, return (Sat) by diesel. leave Toronto at 0900 EDT. Horner, Ed Jordan, Oraer Lavallee, John Maclean, Charles Mcleod, Bob McMann, Ernie Modler, Steve Munro, John July 13: Steam excursion, Montreal to Toronto, going (Sat) trip by diesel. leave Montreal at 0900 EDT. Skillen, Ted Wickson. FARES for steam portions only of July 6 & 13 trips: Adult $15.00; Child $7.50 Production: John Bromley. July 19: Movie night at 589 Mt. Pleasant Road. Bring (Fri) your best 8mm movies to this informal session. Distribution: Bryce Lee, Steve Munro, John Thompson, Aug 3rd: Ontario Northland steam excursion. North Bay Bill Weigbill, Ted Wickson. (Sat) to Englebart, leaving North Bay (CN Station) at 0830 EDT. One fare only: $13.00. Optional special cars Toronto to North Bay and return. Aug 16: Summer meeting and social night at 589 Mt. (Fri) Pleasant Road, featuring refreshments and pro• fessional films of rail interest. It was just thirty-five years ago this month, in tbe depths of tbe Depression, that tbe Royal Scot of tbe London Midland & Scottish Railway visited Toronto. Tbe, worthy citizens, anxiously seeking tangible evidence that tbe world was returning to normalcy, turned out in droves to inspect this example of tbe ultimate in lux• urious travel. Here are a few of them at tbe Exhibition Grounds on May 4tb, 1933. ~ TTC 50 MAY, 1968 RAILWAY NEWS AND COMMENT GO TRANSIT MAKES FOUR MILLION BY ITS FIRST BIRTHDAY LAST TRAINS CALL AT LORNE PARK AND DON GO Transit's four-millionth passenger dropped his tick• Tbe end of April saw tbe last train service at two Tor• et into the farebox just two days before tbe government- onto area stations, Lorne Park and Don. sponsored commuter system observed its first birthday. Like opening day itself, tbe event passed without fan• GO train 969 made its last stop at Lorne Park on April fare. 26tb, with little ceremony. About 90 persons disembark• ed, the tickets were collected and tbe agent locked up Highways Minister George Gomme did bave something of a tbe shelter and drove back to Clarkson, tbe stop for birthday announcement, however. He suggested that tbe all future GO trains (April NL, page 40). government could be in a position by early next year to begin laying plans for expansions of GO Transit. Tbe last train to Don was even less eventful. Although Until now, the government has insisted that the exist• tbe station was unstaffed in tbe final months, one train ing operations must be studied for two to three years a day in each direction continued to stop there. Tbe before any decision could be made to expand it. •final stop was made by train 388 on April 28tb, and just two persons alighted — UCRS president Ross Hoover and One form of expansion will occur before then. Fourteen your recorder. new cars will be added to tbe GO fleet this fall, and will be used to lengthen existing trains. GO Transit — Charles McLeod is now carrying about 16,000 passengers daily, just over tbe forecast figure; on peak winter days, tbe total approached 20,000. PASSENGER, FREIGHT TRAINS INVOLVED IN DERAILMENTS Injuries were slight when Canadian Pacific's Canadian was derailed at Girdwood, Out., 30 miles east of White River, April 29th. Spread rails derailed tbe trailing unit and five cars as tbe westbound train passed Girdwood at about 7.30 a.m. Tbe early hour was credited with minimizing injuries, since most passen• gers were still asleep. The line was cleared by early tbe following morning. Later tbe same day, a caboose and about ten cars of a southbound CN freight left tbe rails in a 'reverse sideswipe' at Barrie, Ont. Newmarket Subdivision traf• fic detoured via tbe Bala Sub, reversing tbe situation of March 16tb (March NL, page 27). Tbe mishap provided exercise for 120-ton auxiliary No. 50073, formerly of Fort Frances and filling in at Toronto for tbe 250-ton big book. No. 50397, wbicb is currently being overhauled in Montreal. J, — Tom Henry WORTH NOTING... * A practical course in Canadian geography and railroading was given to 28 Toronto public school students, who travelled to Vancouver and back in a chartered sleeper on CN's Super Continental. Their four teachers conducted seminars on tbe car, and tbe students wrote reports of their experiences for pupils in other classes. CN supplied rule books, operating timetables and other material for tbe discussions. * Three children, all under 10, stowed away on CN's Montreal-bo-ind Rapido on May 6tb, and were not discovered until tbe train had passed Kingston. They bad been hiding In a washroom. CN officials returned tbe stowaways to Toronto on tbe overnight Cavalier. * CN will spend $2 million this year to extend sidings and install CTC signalling between Jasper, Alta. and Red Pass Junction, B.C., and to upgrade the existing CTC between Jasper and Brule with power switches at both ends of all sidings. * Prime Minister Trudeau officiated at tbe unveiling of a memorial to Sir Casimir Gzowski — noted bridge and railway (Grand Trunk) builder — in Toronto on May 25tb. * CN has adapted a Hy-rail station wagdn to serve as an on- and off-track ambulance for Isolated railway construction workers. NEWSLETTER 51 EQUIPMENT NOTES... CANADIAN PACIFIC MOTIVE POWER NOTES * End of tbe line for CP's Trainmasters I The Striegel Supply & Equipment Corp., of Baltimore, Md., has purchased six 2,400 h.p. CLC Trainmasters from Canadian Pacific as operational locomotives. Tbe units concern• CANADIAN NATIONAL MOTIVE POVVER NOTES ed are 8906, 8911, 8913, 8914, 8915 and 8919. * Deliveries: Tbe diesel engines and main generators from eight other CLC's — 8902, 8907, 8908, 8910, 8912, 8916, 8918 and From General Motors Diesel Ltd., 3,000 h.p. SD-40's, 8920 — have also been purchased by Striegel. It is class GR-30d: understood that this firm may negotiate in part or in 5042 - Apr 20/68 5046 - May 8/68 total for the remaining seven units, although at last 5043 - Apr 20/68 5047 - May 8/68 report Nos. 8900, 8904 and 8905 were still working 5044 - Apr 27/68 5048 - May 17/68 regularly out of Tadanac, B.C. 5045 - Apr 27/68 5049 - May 17/68 From Montreal Locomotive Works, 3,000 h.p. Century * Remanufactured traction motors will be used in CP's 630's, class MR-30b: Century 630's, now under construction at MLW. However, these motors will not necessarily come from withdrawn 2032 - Apr 26/68 2034 - May 2/68 8900's, as has been rumoured. 2033 - Apr 30/68 2035 - May 9/68 * MR-10 switcher 8211 has been assigned to Port aux Basques, Nfld., to switch the standard gauge marine terminal there. Foreign equipment is now appearing on REGARDING THAT SPERRY CAR the Island, heretofore exclusively narrow gauge, as carferries bring mainland cars into the Port aux Basques * Our query in last month's issue about the origins of terminal for trans-shipment of goods Into narrow gauge Sperry Rail Car No. 402 (page 41) prompted a veritable cars . flood of information, including notes from Ed Jordan, Brian West, Bill Linley, Kenneth Mozersky, M. Drube, * MR-18 No. 3883 replaced unit 3853 in tbe rebuilding Don Gordon, Norman Tutt, Ray Corley, David Osborne and program for the southwestern Ontario Tempo service, Joe Howard. A thorough account of SRS 402 came from and has been renumbered 3151, tbe number originally John ^faclean, and follows herewith: intended for 3853.