QRL&P c1925 Railway Tour Booklet & What's in the Reliquary?

The link for this very thorough tour book from the early 1920s for the Quebec Railway Light & Power was sent to me by Jim Christie. The link to this 100-page document at archive dot org is included at the end of the post.

I read it cover to cover and decided to pull out and present interesting images showing the railway which don't always appear in recent published works ... in case you find them historically interesting. There are also sundry ads and 'tourist attraction' information included below.

In the tour book, there is a thorough cataloguing of the precious and historical items held and/or on display at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré (henceforth, 'the Basilica'). 

I was particularly interested in the chronology of the establishment of the original church and how it was related to the first documented miracles. I was surprised to find that the Basilica also held corporeal relics of St Anne. One assumes that Roman Catholic officials worked closely with the publishers to ensure that the information was correct.

If the previous paragraph is unclear ... at the end of this post is the tour book's explanation on who St Anne was and how things came to pass. In terms of understanding the social history of Quebec and Canada, these paragraphs are quite revelatory. 

Above: Under its passengers, you will recognize the stepped observation streetcar of classic design - a type which was also used in Montreal. 

Below: In Montreal, during Grade 5 History, we were very sympathetic on learning of Champlain's 1635 date of death 

because he wouldn't be able to enjoy his presents!

Below: Key dates in the history of the Basilica.

Above and Below: Whatever freight, passenger and commuter services the QRL&P may have provided ... it was certainly well-organized for tourism. The map below shows a secondary line up to Kent House (see the line drawing of the resort far below) and the line connecting Kent House and the Falls represents the single-car inclined railway which linked them.

Above: The view looks up the St Lawrence River toward Quebec City. The Montmorency River flows right to left in the photo's foreground. At the extreme right, is the tail of the wye which leads to the falls and the inclined railway. The station is the two-storey dark building with a peaked roof where the west leg of the wye meets the main line.

Below: An exceptional view of the Falls. Almost invisible from below, an overflow dam (presumably to maintain a turbulence-free head for hydro-electric generation) crosses the Montmorency River just above and behind the Falls' natural edge.

Above: This was the best resolution of rolling stock details I could get.

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Information Pertaining to the Basilica ...

This section looks at the chronology of the miracles. In recent accounts, I had read that the origin of the Basilica was these Breton mariners who built a small chapel rather close to the river which had to be relocated. However, the account below downplays this 'origin story'.

... etc ...

As shown on the Historical Data of Quebec pages, above, at the Basilica (and the nearby Basilica of Quebec) they had recurring problems with fire in the 1920s.

I checked and, indeed, the uniformed pilgrims are Papal Zouaves. Not all of them were sent over to Italy, however. Wiki has a good article on the: Bataillon canadien des zouaves pontificaux.

The elite status of the Zouaves lives on in Quebec in some circles. In recent years, I was engaged with some Quebec comedy broadcast in French and someone, as a funny slight, was criticized for having a holier than thou 'Zouaviste attitude'.

With the background given, above, I extracted the details about the state of the one or more relics of St Anne ... those sections of text are presented below. The numbered paragraphs are part of the inventory of precious and historical artifacts present and/or displayed at the Basilica. 

The first paragraph below refers to the fire which destroyed the first Basilica.

The second paragraph refers to the temporary replacement church.

The second, larger Basilica was in the process of being planned when this booklet was published.

I assume the corporeal relics of St Anne were kept within the elaborate container shown below.

The humble figure on the container, to the left with the staff, probably depicts the saint.

A century ago, children in Canada's predominantly agrarian society did not have as many years of elementary and (if available to them at all) secondary schooling as they do today. Many adult visitors in the 1920s may have been illiterate. Probably, an awe-inspiring, symbol-intensive display was key to providing the profound experience which pilgrims hoped to have.

You can read the entire 100-page booklet via the link below:

Quebec Montmorency Falls and St. Anne de Beaupre

QRL&P 1952 Quebec Railway Light & Power

This post includes about 385 years of family history. It'll be over before you know it.

Above: This is the only time in my life when I have visited the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré (henceforth 'the Basilica').

It was August 1966 and we were all steaming in hot, sticky rainwear while LC Gagnon lined up his photo to include a CNR switchstand. 

It did not cheer us up to visit the Cyclorama! The Cyclorama is not a fun amusement park ride, but a massive 360-degree painting showing the Crucifixion. Visitors are able to stand in the middle of this scene.

Because one of my postcard dealers was interested in the Basilica, and because I knew about its cultural significance, I bought quite a few cards from his collection. I hate to see a set broken up. You'll get to see them at some point, but not today.

In spite of our name and Montreal origin, 'our patrilineal branch' of the Gagnon family has been anglophone since circa 1864. This same particular line often maintained its Anglican traditions from the late 1800s (in fact, my great-grandfather was a bilingual Anglican minister) until the late 1900s. 

In 1966, as I remember it, we just stuck our noses (respectfully) in the back of the Basilica briefly, perhaps obtaining some printed historical material.

On the other hand, my spouse has indicated that her mother and aunts often drove to this place as a destination. They were Roman Catholic. This shrine was extremely well-known and visited by Catholics from all over eastern North America.

*  *  *

A Montrealer of my age will probably remember or laugh at this 1960s joke:

Have you heard that Steinberg's wants to buy the church at St Anne de Beaupre?

They do! They want to turn it into a Miracle Mart!

*  *  *

Any conceivable religion-based political incorrectness did not intrude into the humour of this wordplay for someone not yet in their teens - or, back then, most adult anglo-Montrealers, for that matter. 

The Basilica was famous for its miracle cures, with one of my collected postcards showing 'curated displays' of wooden crutches and canes which had been cast aside on the spot by pilgrims. 

And Steinberg's was a popular supermarket chain (along with its contemporaries Dominion and A&P) where the low prices were presented as being miraculous. This was crafted into the trademarked name for their stores. We had a Steinberg Miracle Mart near to us in neighbouring Dorval.

... fine, but any joke you have to explain ... 

Of course, but this historical joke crystallizes the zeitgeist back then. 

Undated, unused postcard, no publisher indicated.

*  *  *

OK, here's some trains! ...

clipping, probably from: Railroad Magazine, Mar 1971. 

It provided rails and rolling stock to take pilgrims to and from the Basilica. 

The QRL&P also provided interurban-style commuter service for those living east of Quebec City. 

from: Chemin de fer de la bonne Sainte Anne; Omer Lavallee; circa 1959; self-published.

Circa 1959, Omer Lavallee self-published a 16-page booklet which went over the history and operations of the QRL&P with his typical passion and thoroughness. The map above is really interesting and comes from that publication. The booklet was completely bilingual, and incomplete fragments of that text meandered around this map (deleted from the image above).

A short spur departs the main line to reach the foot of Montmorency Falls. On this map there is no legend but the line is indeed double-tracked as far as the Falls as the symbols suggest. I believe a wye at the Falls was useful for excursions operated to see that landmark. More importantly, the double-tracked section was at the heart of the QRL&P's commuter operations, so it made sense to turn any consists there ... which could not be operated in both directions.

The Basilica is located near the map's North compass arrow. We'll also look at Chateau Richer, which is about half-way along the railway line shown on the map. 

*  *  *

The following article appeared in Trains Magazine just at the moment in history when the Quebec Railway Light & Power was being folded into the Canadian National Railways system. As the article indicates, after considering the advantages of operating rubber-tired buses, the QRL&P had lost interest in its electric operations on rails.

It is probably no coincidence that this thorough, detailed article is written by another of the key members of the Canadian Railroad Historical Association group in Montreal - Tony Clegg. As you will have noticed, it pre-dates Lavallee's historical booklet by seven years. 

from: Trains & Travel Magazine; Sep 1952; Kalmbach.

I think this consist is reversing toward the north tail of the wye at the Falls.

The other leg can be seen as that grey disturbance in the distant snow.

*  *  *

The 'last chance to see' phenomenon affecting railway enthusiasts is evergreen. Electric interurbans and steam (in Canada) were on that list in the late 1950s. But old wooden switchstands and stub switches were absolute museum pieces at this point.

from: Steve Maguire's Transit Topics column; Railroad Magazine;  Feb 1958.

from: Chemin de fer de la bonne Sainte Anne; Omer Lavallee; circa 1959; self-published.

'Typical stub switch at the Ste-Anne car house.'

Lavallee provides a nice anatomical view showing why these switches were anachronistic.

I intended Tony Clegg's article to be the centre-piece of this post.

However, here are a few other related items.

*  *  *

The Family Connection

In 1954, LC Gagnon took a trip to Quebec City with his father George Gagnon.

And they would have ridden on the CNR's version of the QRL&P. 

This transfer is stapled inside Lavallee's booklet.

Although the photo books do not document the calendar date of the trip on the line, notice how a little (use the staple for scale) scrap of paper is expertly designed into a transfer which not only provides a time-limited voucher for transportation on a specific date ... it also documents who it was issued by - the particular punch mark assigned to a given conductor.

*  *  *

1952 at Macdonald Teachers College

from: Clan Macdonald, the Macdonald College student yearbook; 1952; self-published.

Dialling back to 1952 - the date of Tony Clegg's article - we have this photograph from the McGill University Teachers College at Macdonald College at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. This is primarily for family members looking in (they'll recognize quite a few names) ...

As well as showing both of my parents, I believe this also shows the future spouse of Tony Clegg. I have no idea of the exact relationships between all of these four people in 1952. I was just curious about the origin of my mother's relationship with the future Mrs. Clegg and checked the yearbooks.

LC Gagnon was involved in many organized activities beyond teaching, but he was never a key person in the CRHA like Lavallee and Clegg. So, for us, it was a 'brush with railway greatness' which came about through the person who was my mother's dormitory friend, basketball teammate, etc. 

While living in Lachine, we once went to visit the Cleggs. It was stunning for me to see Mont St Hilaire standing right there as their back yard. After we were married, Tony was visiting my parents and came over to see my brief effort at a layout. He operated a long Canadian consist and was extremely kind in sending me a copy of one of his out-of-print books gratis.

*  *  *

Meanwhile in 1954

To make a long story short, these two Anglo-Quebeckers are embracing this plaque at Chateau Richer because all Canadian Gagnons have descended from three brothers and a cousin who came over from Perche. George Gagnon paid the Drouin Institute to research his heritage through their access to extremely thorough church records, and it turns out our line is descended from Jean Gagnon.

If you consider how many parents you have ... and how many great-grandparents you have ... you can see that the 'original DNA' following a strictly patrilineal family name gets well-diluted once you descend to my own 12th generation! 

... By the same token, we had lived in Quebec for 12 generations when we left in 1969. It was our traditional home.

... Another problem with the patrilineal family 'name' idea, is that it is kind of arbitrary that my grandfather's sisters' children (etc) are 'not Gagnons' !

Nonetheless, the example of my grandfather's enthusiasm for his Quebec heritage has resulted in many rewarding experiences for me over the years. The ticket in is the language, and the cultural enjoyment follows quite naturally after that.

Undated postcard of the Chateau Richer plaque, no publisher.

*  *  *

Above and below: At some point, they visited the Basilica.

*  *  *

A photo taken during this trip shows George Gagnon contemplating a goélette du Saint-Laurent. Originally these were wind-powered schooners, but you can see the evolution of the foremast into a derrick on this motorized craft. Notice that the tide is out, as well.

Farming was a traditional focus of activity in Quebec's St Lawrence River valley. However, by definition, a significant amount of activity was also directed toward the river, tidewater and 'the sea'.

We encountered a couple of these boats at work during our 1966 vacation trip along the lower St Lawrence. However, only a few were preserved as museum pieces after their general retirement in the late 1970s.