Steam at Washago ( Softcover ) King’S Highways & Steam Trains, Vol
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2 Copyright © 2006 by Ian Wilson All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, or stored in any retrieval system, without written permission from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in a review. Typesetting, design and illustrations by the author Photo finishing by James A. Brown Printed, bound and published in Canada IanWilsonAuthor.com By the same author: Steam at Allandale To Stratford Under Steam Steam Over Palmerston Steam Through London Steam to the Niagara Frontier Steam in Northern Ontario Steam Scenes of Allandale Steam Echoes of Hamilton Steam Memories of Lindsay The Secret of the Old Swing Bridge ( novel ) Steam at Washago ( softcover ) King’s Highways & Steam Trains, vol. 1 ( softcover ) Steam Scenes of Stratford ( softcover ) Speed Graphics and Steam 1957! n o i t c e l l o c n a m r i S h t i e K , o t o h p d l a n o D c a M . P — . 1 5 9 1 r e m m u s , n o i t a t s y a B h t r o N t a d n u o b t s e w 4 0 2 6 d n a 9 5 4 3 s e n i g n E D e d i c a t e d t o m y f r i e n d J a m e s A . ( J i m ) B r o w n Ontario Northland 4-8-4 1102 has taken over train 47 at North Bay in 1951. —P. MacDonald photo, Keith Sirman collection 3 4 5 CONTENTS TORONTO’S DON VALLEY — 6 ROUTE OF THE SUPER CONTINENTAL — 8 MEANDERINGS THROUGH ORIOLE — 10 RICHMOND HILL, ZEPHYR AND PEFFERLAW — 12 WASHAGO — 14 NIPISSING — 18 NORTH BAY — 20 THE BALA SUBDIVISION TO PARRY SOUND — 24 CAPREOL — 26 THE RUEL SUBDIVISION — 28 ENCOUNTER WITH THE CONTINENTAL AT LONGLAC — 30 HORNEPAYNE — 32 LONGLAC — 38 NAKINA — 40 ARMSTRONG — 42 Afterword — 48 6 Fred Sankoff photo, Keith Sirman collection Toronto’s Don Valley As described in Steam in Northern Ontario , the Don Valley is of Toronto—but not Toronto. In the 1950s, it is the gateway to the north for the CNR Bala Subdivision mainline. On March 3, 1956, Ontario Northland 4-8-4 1102 is the last of her class in service, helping to ease a CNR power shortage (above). The Northern blasts upgrade at Todmorden, just short of Don Mills Road. Ron Cooper photo Robert Sandusky photo Mikado 3395 heads an extra from South Parry through Todmorden on November 15, 1953 (lower left). It is just before 4 p.m. and there are 32 loads and one empty behind the tender. Alongside the Don River, Mountain 6070 heads overnight sleeper 49, the Northland , on May 1, 1957 (above). The northbound train is just south of Eglinton Avenue. With a tonnage train of 48 loads and one empty, Northern 6157 heads manifest freight 403 for South Parry on November 28, 1953 (below). The train is passing through Todmorden after leaving Don station at 10:28 a.m. on this Saturday morning. Ron Cooper photo 8 J. V. Salmon photo, Toronto Public Library collection CN photo, Canada Science & Technology Museum collection CN photo, Canada Science & Technology Route of the Super Continental Museum collection Don is a 24-hour train order office and register station for the Canadian National at mile 2.0 of the Bala Subdivision circa November 1956 (opposite top). It is also a Canadian Pacific station which hosts six passenger trains in each direction on a daily basis. The CNR mainline and service lead are the two tracks in the foreground. In the rear is the CPR mainline. For four years leading up to April 1955, CNR trains 51 and 52 between Toronto and Capreol (via Allandale) handled head-end traffic—mail and express that would otherwise burden numbers 3 and 4, the Toronto sections of the Continental . On April 23, 1955, trains 51 and 52 metamorphosed into the Super Continental . This flagship accommodation then traversed the Bala Subdivision, with all new scheduling. For its inauguration, the CNR accepted its first diesel passenger units, from three builders. Commanding 1750 horsepower apiece, fourteen FP9As (6500 to 6513) and companion B- units (6600 to 6613) arrived between September 1954 and February 1955. Above, the 6511- 6611 combination heads toward Toronto out of South Parry in 1956. Canadian Locomotive Company turned over six 1600 h.p. A-units (6700 to 6705) and companion Bs (6800 to 6805) between December 1954 and February 1955. At lower left, the 6701-6801 combination heads the Super Continental on the Bala Subdivision north of Toronto. Montreal Locomotive Works also supplied six sets of A- and B-units (6706 to 6711 and 6806 to 6811) in March and April 1955. All these locomotives the CNR assigned to Montreal, and employed in the transcontinental passenger pool between Halifax and Vancouver. Robert Sandusky photo Meanderings through Oriole In summer 1955, a Mikado heads north with the remnant of the Bala Subdivision way freight at Oriole, the first train order office after Don (above right). That’s a level crossing with dirt-surfaced York Mills Road in the background. The CNR trimmed the way freight back to Zephyr in autumn 1953. Engine and crew will tie up there and return tomorrow. William Flatt photo 11 J. V. Salmon photo, Toronto Public Library collection Santa Fe class 4201 (below) is one of nine sister locomotives the CNR acquired from the Boston & Albany in 1928. The Northern Ontario District engine passes Oriole en route to her home terminal at Capreol. Smelter and mine switching at Sudbury is her normal employ. A couple of miles beyond Oriole, Northern 6136 works uphill between Sheppard and Finch Avenues on August 2, 1958 (opposite top). Half a dozen years earlier, on July 20, 1952, Mikado 3397 charges upgrade at the same location (opposite bottom). J. V. Salmon photo, Toronto Public Library collection .