PUBLISHED BY Upper Canada Raitway Society MAY 1997 P.O. Box 122, Station A NUMBER 564 Toronto, Ontario M5W IA2 ISSN I 193-7971 Features this month Research and Reviews Transcontinental BEACHBURG SUB. ADIEU 3 RAILWAY ARCHAEOLOGY I I THE RAPIDO 16 • Sean Robitaille takes a look at the final days of • Connecting New Brunswick with PE.I. • CPR Webbwood Sub. leased as a short line. CN's line through Algonquin Park. • More on the "Golden Chariots." THE PANORAMA 18 TRAIN-SPOTTING IN WESTERN CANADA...8 • Train-watching on the Canada Southern. • Controversy over grain transportation. • Keith Fawcett's B.C.-to-Saskatchewan trip. • The Quebec Bridge and stations in the news. IN TRANSIT 19 OTTAWA VALLEY RAI LI N K 10 INFORMATION NETWORK 13 • Changes in the TTC work-car fleet. • CP's tenant railway in the Ottawa Valley. PASSENGER TRAINS 14 MOTIVE POWER 19 Our trip to Brampton slides or a longer presentation of 30 minutes freights and VIA intercity passenger trains. On Friday, June 6, we saw these trains from or so. The St. Lawrence and Hudson railway is the platform at the Brampton station. Friday, June 27- Regular monthly meeting in nearby, too. 15:00-CNW/B: 5315-9670 with 61 cars Hamilton, at 8:00 p.m. Meetings are held at Friday, July 18 - Toronto meeting at Metro 15:05 - CN E/B : 9466-5638 with 52 cars the Hamilton Spectator auditorium, 44 Frid Hall, 7:30 p.m. 16:08 - CN W/B: CN 5359-CR 6751 -CN 6005 Street, just off Main Street at Highway 403. Friday, July 25 - Hamilton meeting at the with 91 cars Each meeting features recent news and mem• Spectator auditorium, 8:00 p.m. 16:55 - GO #841: GO 239-546, a 7-car train bers' current and historical slides. 17:05 - CN W/B: 9550-9467 with 48 auto racks Saturday, August 2, to Monday, August 4 - 17:25 - GO #84 3: GO 229-548, an 8-car train Satuiday, July 5 - A UCRS train-riding and Mark this weekend for a possible weekend 17:36 - CN W/B: CN 9637-NS 8024-CN 5904 train-watching field trip to London. We'll trip to Montreal. We'll have details in the with 93 cars take VIA Train 85, the International, from next issue of Rail and Thonsit. Toronto at 7:50 a.m. This train is worth 17:50 - CN E/B: 9448-5631 with 95 cars Sunday, August 10 - UCRS day trip to riding, as it nins with Amtrak double-deck 18:02 - GO #845: GO 217-544, a 9-car train Cobourg. We'll take VIA Train 42, leaving Superliner cars, and runs via the "back 18:27 - GO #847: GO 221 -556, a 6-car train Toronto at 11:00 a.m., but there's also the 19:40 - VIA #89: VIA 6434 with 4 LRC cars route" through Guelph and Stratford. After a alternative of Train 60 at 12:00 noon. After a 19:48 - CN #448: CN 4132-CR 6752-CN 3538- few hours beside the CN and CP tracks in day between the CN and CP main lines, we'll 1349 with 98 cars downtown London, we'll return to Toronto return on Train 47, leaving Cobourg at 6:49 20:03 - CN W/B: 9621 -4120-41 I I with 75 cars on Train 76, leaving at 4:28 p.m., running via p.m. Again, there are alternatives: Train 45 20:32-CN W/B: 5626-9424-CR 6662 with 121 cas the main line through Brantford, and arriv• at 4:58 p.m. and Train 69 at 10:37 p.m. 20:43 - StL&H S/B: CP 8224-1 103 with 3 cars ing in Toronto at 7:14 p.m. Those who would 20:47 - CN W/B: 5246-5272 with 95 cars like to stay in London longer can return on Cover photos 20:56 - CN E/B: 9405 with a work train of 23 cars: Train 78 at 7:47 p.m. The current VIA fare Front cover - Brent, Ontario, on November train tied-up at Peel and engine added to #363 from Toronto to London and back is $76.00, 23, 1995, at 10:14. Sean Robitaille took this 22:00 - CN light engines, ran west to bring work or $46.00 if purchased five or more days in photo on the second-last day of operations train's crew to Brampton, then rejoined #363 at advance. on the CN Beachburg Subdivision through Peel: 9633-9407-9405 Algonquin Park. 22:30 - CN #363: 9633-9407-9405 with 89 cars Saturday, July 12 - Train-watching day at 22:51 - VIA #88: VIA 6420 with 5 Amtrak Super- Bayview Jet. Last yearis was so successful Back cover, upper - The Adtranz IC3 demon• liner cars that we're doing the same again this year. strators were a common sight in southern Bayview is located in Burlington, off Plains Ontario for several months, but their stint on Our next day trips will be to London on Road West (Highway 2), a little ways south VIA ended in May. Here, IC3 set 7003-7403- Saturday July 5; Bayview Jet. on Saturday of the junction of Highways 403 and 6. The 7203 is seen at Ottawa, on February 28, July 12; and Cobourg on Sunday, August 10. all-day meet will be held on the pedestrian 1997, in a photo by Roman Hawryluk. by -Sighting notes Jim Frost bridge crossing the CN Oakville Subdivision, Back cover, lower - Quebec Railway, Light UCRS excursions and meetings and leading to the Laking Gardens section of and Power Co. equipment at the gate Saint- Friday, June 20 - Regular monthly meeting in the Royal Botanical Gardens. A small parking Paul, the Quebec City terminal, in 1952. Toronto, at 7:30 p.m. Meetings are held on lot is located there. Taking the train? Get off Motors 30, 31, and 34 are seen to the left, the third floor at Metro Hall, on King Street at the Aldershot VIA/GO station, located a and Car 451 is to the right in this photo from at John Street, just west of St. /^drew sub• couple of miles east of Bayview Junction; the Paterson-Geoige collection. way station and a short walk from Union from there you can take Burlington Transit to Station. Please bring your selection of slides the main entrance to the RBG and walk or videotapes, whether a mixed bag of a few west. From the bridge we'll see various CN This issue completed on June 11,1997 Editor Contributing Editors Subscriptions Directors Pat Scrimgeour John Carter. Art Clowes. Scott HaskiU. Subscriptions to Rail and Transit are available Scott Haskill, President 604-2071 250 Queens Quay West #1607 Sean Robitaille. Gray Scrimgeour. with membership in the Upper Canada Paul Bloxham 905 770-6916 Toronto. Ontario M5J 2N2 Chris Spinney. Gordon Webster. Railway Society. Membership dues are Art Clowes 924-9428 E-Mail: [email protected] $29.00 per year for addresses in Canada: Calvin Henry-Cotnam 287-9396 Correspondents $35.00 (or $27.00 in U.S. funds) for Al Maitland 921-4023 Please send news items to the address Paul Bloxham. Tom Box.'Alex Campbell. addresses in the U.S. and overseas. Please George Meek. 532-5617 shown with each news section. Articles and Richard Carroll, Calvin Henry-Cotnam. send inquiries and changes of address to the Pat Scrimgeour 260-5652 photos should be sent to the editor. Bill McGuire. Don McQueen. John Reay address at the top of this page. PatSemple WA3-9123 Denis Taylor. Chris Spinney 281-821 1 a link removed in CN's troncontinentoi main iine: BEHCHBURG SUB. fiDIEU By Sean Robitaille most of the towns located between Ottawa and Capreol. The only towns of any size on the route were Pembroke At midnight on Sunday, November 26, 1995, an event and North Bay, both served by CP's parallel Chalk River which had anticipated for some time finally came to and North Bay subdivisions. pass. CN's transcontinental main line, the Beachburg Canadian Northern developed a division point at a Subdivision, between Ottawa and Capreol was closed to location called Brent, deep in Algonquin Provincial Park. through traffic. The line, which was one of the last main This site, 163.9 miles west of Ottawa, was chosen as it line routes built in Canada prior to the creation of featured a fairly large flat bank on the north side of Canadian National, has never been a heavily trafficked Cedar Lake, suitable for construction of a small yard. line despite the fact that it was engineered to high Although the village contained a lumber mill from 1921 standards. to 1931, its main function was to serve the railway. In 1941, the population of Brent peaked at 150. Through• History of th« route out its existence, Brent remained one of the smallest What became the Beachburg Subdivision was con• division points on the railway, featuring four long sid• structed by the Canadian Northern Railway, and was ings and an oil spur - the railway brought in all the fuel essentially completed in October 1915. At that point, all oil required to heat the facilities in town. trackage had been constructed between Ottawa and As a result of the line's late construction, good Capreol, except for two bridges spanning the Ottawa engineering was employed along the route. Despite the River between Pembroke and Ottawa. The engineers for rough terrain encountered by the line between Pem- Canadian Northern chose to route the track through Quebec for about 30 miles between those two cities, and the two spans were required since the Ottawa River t CNFord Bronco hi-railer 71686 is about to leave Brent station for the forms the Ontario-Quebec border in this area.