UPPER CANADA RAILWAY SOCIETY 2 « UCRS Newsletter « February 1991 UPPER CANADA RAILWAY SOCIFTY EDITOR IN THIS MONTH'S NEWSLEl IhR Pat Scrimgeour 6 CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Putting Canada Back on the Rails 8 John Carter, Art Clowes, ,Scott Haskill, VIA Plans for 1991 9 Don McQueen, Sean Robitaille, Windsor Riverfront Yard Closed 9 Number 496 - February 1991 Gray Scrimgeour, Chris Spinney, Transcontinental — Railway News 10 John Thompson, Gord Webster In Transit 14 UPPER CANADA RAILWAY SOCIETY The Train Spotters IS P.O. BOX 122, STATION A EDITORIAL ADVISOR 16 TORONTO,-ONTARIO M5W 1A2 Stuart 1. Westland 18 NOTICES CALENDAR RUSSEL H. J. STEELE Friday, February 15 — UCRS annual general meeting, Toronto, Lilian Steele has written to tell us of the death of Russel Steele, 8:00 p.m., at the Toronto Board of Education, 6th floor UCRS member 199, from Richmond, B.C., while -visiting in auditorium, 155 College Street at McCaul Avenue. Please bring Ontario in October 1990. "He loved to take his grandchildren a selection of sHdes for an extended newscast after the business into Toronto to ride the streetcars. So, in his memory to portion of the meeting. celebrate his love of the rails, we took a large contingent down Friday, February 22 — UCRS Hamilton meeting. to ride the GO Train, the subway, and the streetcars the day after his funeral. AU his cMLdren and grandduldren loved to Friday, March 15 - UCRS regular Toronto meeting, 7:30 p.m. watch him operating his model interurban system when they Fred Matthews -will review electric hnes of the west coast of the came to visit us." United States, from San Diego to Seattle. Friday, March 22 - UCRS Hamilton meeting. JOHN B. DELL Former UCRS member John Dell died on January 7, 1991. John Friday, March 29, to Sunday, March 31 - Photographers' Extra served as a director of the UCRS and as chief of the safety crew North, the first UCRS excursion of 1991. Tickets are $240.00, for steam train excursions. I met John in the mid-1970s, when including transportation and accommodation. Please see the he was one of the group of train-watchers at Leaside Station, flyer enclosed -with this Newsletter for full details, and make where I was introduced to the UCRS and SD40-2s. We -will miss reservations by sending yoiu cheque to the post office box. John, and his comments, which reminded -us continuously that Saturday, April 13 — Forest City Railway Society 17th Annual we hve in a different era from the time when he began Slide Trade and Sale Day 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.. All Saints' Church, watching trains. -Pat Scrimgeour, info from Rex Rundle Hamilton at Inkerman, London, Ontario. Admission $2.00, AUCTION - STUART WESTIAND COLLECTION dealers welcome. For information, contact Ian Piatt, R.R. #3, Hume's Auction Farm is holding an auction sale on Saturday IngersoU, Ontario NSC 3J6, 519 485-2817. March 9, at 10:00 a.m. for Stuart Westland. The auction will be Friday, April 19 — UCRS Toronto meeting. Don McQueen will of Stu's collection of books, pamphlets, artifacts, and present "Seeing," a pictorial programme about Canadian memorabilia related to railways, streetcars, and buses. For more railways and the environment in which they are fotmd. information, or to request the 34-page catalogue ($10.00), contact Hume's Auction Farm, R. R. #5, Milton, Ontario UCRS excursions planned for 1991 L9T 2X9, phone 416 878-4878. If you are interested in any of these proposed excursions, please drop a note to John Carter at the UCRS post office box. The READERS' EXCHANGE organisation of the weekend excursions and the SeffMin trip Harry Dodsworth, 2025 BaUiarrie Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario wfll be carried out based on the numbers of people interested. KIG 1G2, has for sale Railroad Recollections (of the Lindsay Also, your comments are frrvited on other potential destinations. area) by Charles Heels and Canadian Pacific Railway by Patrick • May 18 to 20 - Michigan: Port Huron, Flint, Durand. Dorin for $20.00 each, plus shipping. • August 3 to 5 - Pennsylvania: Strasburg, EBX Gettysburg. Alex Simins, 694 Old Weston Road, Toronto, Ontario • August 31 to September 2 — Extra East: Eastern Ontario. M6N 3V8, 416 654-2474, has for sale Sinclair locomotive • October — Segwun Sojourn, a day cruise on RMS Segwun. antennas, $35.00. Great for scanners! • December — Toronto area Christmas toup a UCRS tradition. FRONT COVER Piease send short contributions to the Subscriptions to the Newsletter are addresses shown at the end of each news available with membership in the Upper Ontario Northland Railway section. Please send articles and photos to Canada Railway Society. Dues for the northbound Train 109 at Feronia, the address at the top of the page. If you calendar year 1991 are $25.00 for behind CP38-2s 1804 and 1805, and are using a computer, piease send a text addresses in Canada, and $28.00 for SD40-2S 1732 and 1733. Feronia is file on an iBM-compatibie (SJA" or BJA"), addresses in the U.S. and overseas. Student 14 km from the southern end of the Macintosh, or Commodore 64/128 disk, memberships, for those 17 years or ONR, at North Bay. along with a printed copy. younger, are $15.00. Piease send inquiries and changes of address to the address at — Photo by Steve Danko, Completed February 12, 1991 15:45 on May 22, 1983 the top of the page. UCRS Newsletter • February 1991 » 3 UCRS 50th ANNIVFRSARY FFATURF CANADA BY RAIL, EH? BY JOHN KAIN any shower) and the section. Sections are the old style curtained-off type of sleeping accommodation which you often Reprinted by fond permission from Federal City Express, published see portrayed in old American movies. by the Australian Railway Historical Society, Australian Capital Sections are located over the bogies and are the cheapest Territory Division. of the lot and even have differential prices for upper and lower During September 1988, John Kain travelled 11 000 km on the VIA berths. They offer a far wider bed than what you get in a system through eastern and central Canada. We have reprinted his roomette, but without wash basin or storage space for luggage article to show Canada and its railways from an Australian and clothing. The beds are so big that VIA seemed to be happy perspective. to sell them as double beds, at least for some Japanese tourists I was travelling with on the Super Continental from Edmonton The Canadian dollar is presently roughly equivalent to the to Vancouver. Each section converts easily to open "mQk bar" Australian dollar exchange-rate-wise, making travelling aroimd style sitting space by day a job that is done by the car Canada a viable alternative to tripping around Oz. In my case, attendant while you breakfast in the diner. They each have my primary destination was London, UX, and the particular air personalised air-conditioning controls, mirrors, and attendant fare package I chose took me both ways via Canada at a very call buttons. 'i competitive rate compared with the more usual "kangaroo Most long distance trains have dining cars and/or snack route." The cost of accommodation in Canada is similar to bars or coffee and aH sell Uquor at pretty stiff prices. Canadian Australia; food and clothing and services generally are a little law is very strict when it comes to alcohol and this is reflected bit cheaper than Australia. Canadians are a nice, friendly and in the authoritarian way train sales of alcohol are handled. In relaxed group of people, adding to the pleasure of travelling a Budd car trip I did from Halifax to Sydney one day, I-could there. My overall impression from this and a previous trip to not be sold a beer because alcohol could only be consumed by North America is that Canadians are pretty socially and passengers sitting in certain seats of the car and all seats were environmentally conscious and like to see themselves as fiercely already full with merry drinkers! Unlike .Amtrak where independent from their southern cousins. everything in the diner is throw-away (excepting the waiter), VIA diners still serve generously sized, if somewhat conservative, VIA was set up about 10 years ago from the remnants of the meals on fully recyclable china with real knives and forks. In once extensive long distance passenger train systems of the the snack bai; everything is microwaved and throw-away Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railroads. There are packaged. still a small number of other passenger carrying lines in Canada The big bonus with Canadian trains which makes up for which shouldn't be forgotten if you are planning a trip there. their lack of showers is the dome car and on some trains, the The British Columbia Railway and the Algoma Central operate tail end dome-observation car. It is in this area that VIA really some very scenic passenger runs as well as very heavy freight has the edge over Railways of Australia's efforts. The mountains, operations. the cities, the forests, the myriad lakes, and all such "typically Apart from the high speed, tilting, XPT-like LRC train Canadian" scenery is seen at its best from the lofty heights of (Light, Rapid, Comfortable) used in the Toronto—Ottawa- a dome car; it also makes for great train watching too! Their Montreal-Quebec corridors, all of VIAs passenger car fleet popularity with travellers certainly justifies their continued use, consists of hand-me-downs from the CN and CP systems dating but on one or two trips, I and my fellow passengers were back to the 1950s or earhei; plus some odd cars purchased disappointed with the dirty and scratched state of the Lexan from the U.S.