" ... Do you want to stop? "
" ... ... No ... it's OK ... keep going. "
This is a representative dialogue from all of our driving vacations of the 1980s and 1990s.
On this day, we kept rolling because we needed to get to Vienna (explained below) ...
* * *
Over the years, this has been a neglected mystery photo,
but this 'new internet thing' quickly answers my questions ...
1) By fire: 2003.
2) That's a woolen goods factory.
 |
| from: Two Divisions to Bluewater; Peter Bowers; 1983; Boston Mills Press. |
Check out the baggage cart and train order signal.
And hello, fellow reporting marks squinters!
... It's:
(circa 1887-1924)
* * *
Grand Trunk Railway, 1916
 |
| from: Grand Trunk Railway, Official Guide, June 1916. |
* * *
The local interurban railway, 1916
 |
| from: Official Guide, June 1916. |
 |
| from: The Intercity Electric Railway Industry in Canada; John F Due; 1966; University of Toronto Press. |
 |
| from: The Intercity Electric Railway Industry in Canada; John F Due; 1966; University of Toronto Press. |
* * *
This 1933 map shows the strategic picture of the railway lines around Kitchener and Galt.
Going against our modern colour convention ... CPR is green, CNR is red.
 |
| from: Canada Descriptive Atlas; 1933; Minister of Immigration & Colonization. |
* * *
Local Canadian National Railways employee timetable, 1957
* * *
1916 Topographic Map - Hespeler
 |
| from: Historical Topographic Map Digitization Project https://ocul.on.ca/topomaps/collection/ |
* * *
1916 Topographic Map - Berlin to Galt, Hespeler
 |
| from: Historical Topographic Map Digitization Project https://ocul.on.ca/topomaps/collection/ |
* * *
Bonus - A Self-Guided Tour of Vienna
My sister was obtaining her performance diploma in the City of Music, Vienna, Austria. For a couple of years, we had to write letters on light airmail paper, put the little sheets in hand-addressed envelopes, and put the correct postage (based on weight) on the envelope. It was precisely like email ... except it took a couple of weeks to get there, and consumed paper and money.
My sister was always saying that we should come over and visit.
As we always did ... in the 1980s and 1990s ... we were looking at the paper provincial highway map of Ontario to plan our summer vacation ... and had an idea ...
David Letterman began his Late Night show in 1982, but we had been big fans of his daytime show back in 1980.
ProTip: If you work in health care, you can often wangle a job where you get lots of weekdays off ... because you have been working lots of nights and weekends!
Letterman's unique and original talent to aggrandize the mundane for comedic effect permeated our thinking, and influenced the 'storyboard' of our self-guided tour of Vienna ... Ontario ...
There are many more photos in the original photoset showing ALL the local buildings with 'Vienna' on them.
They made quite a bundle for the calculation of airmail postage.
(As I prepared these photos in 2024, I 'toured' around Old Vienna by Google, looking for the landmarks we photographed.
In particular, the Home Hardware is a really nice store today.)
Here we are, ready for fun, adventure and culture in the City of Music.
Vienna Auto Wreckers and Auto Speed Shop has the finest selection
of gently-used genuine BMW and Mercedes auto parts
to keep you rolling down the Danube in style.
Shake hands with the Devil!
Bring in your VW Beetle
and push it to the limit
on our new chassis dynamometer.
Four on the floor never felt so good!
Is your old ancestral Schloss showing it's age?
Does your family room look like the Lipizzaners live in it?
Well, come to the Vienna Home and Castle Building Center
for the best in do-it-yourself ideas, tips, hints, know-how and advice.
This week they're offering some great deals on sheets of plywood with Baroque corners.
Chase those fetid gargoyles from your old Gothic bathroom,
then part the curtains with pride to show everyone your own Wiener Staatsoper!
You'll want the neighbours to see it, too.
The next time Franz Josef and Sisi
bring the kids in the camper and stay for a week,
they'll be mighty pleased to hold court in your new throne room.
That's the Vienna Home and Castle Building Center ...
Where are they?
It's easy to remember, and hard to forget,
because they're right down there on Plank Road.
... You'll be glad you did.
And so we say a fond farewell to Vienna, City of Music.
The new friends we've made.
The adventures we've had.
Sure we're tired.
... But it's a good kind of tired.
Outro: