Young Anglicans cross-country skiing at Morin Heights in 1948,
and Canadians storming Hill 70 in 1917
... somehow both find themselves included in this post.
To calculate 1950's fares in 2025 dollars, multiply by 13.
For example, you can spend about 8 hours behind steam (St Remi & return) for about $60 (2025 dollars).
The timetable itself (below) is reproduced in two sizes, to better support your viewing preferences.
If Hill 70 rings a bell, it is because on 15-25 August 1917 Canadian troops of the Great War were sent to cause as many German casualties (casualties = soldiers killed + wounded + captured = unavailable for duty) as possible near Lens in northern France. The tools of industrialized warfare were well advanced ... and both sides in this battle used brutal chemical warfare via poison gas artillery shells - to provide one example.
In addition to supporting his strategy of attrition, the commander of British Empire forces (Douglas Haig) ordered the battle in this area to help camouflage his main action at Passchendaele (Third Ypres). If German troops could be forced to stay to fight at Lens ... and if they could be drawn into that battle from elsewhere ... it would make Passchendaele more 'successful'.
Key detail: British military maps identified hills by their altitude above sea level in meters.
Occurring shortly after the Canadians took Vimy Ridge, the Hill 70 battle marked the first occasion when a Canadian (Arthur Currie) commanded the Canadian Corps. Previously Canadians had been under the command of British general officers, most recently: Julian Byng. Currie was successful in persuading his superiors to allow the capture of the high ground first (Hill 70) to save Canadian lives and achieve tactical advantage.
[To save time I am not researching/using the exact ranks, titles, and honours of officers in August 1917.]
The Hill 70 action resulted in six Canadians receiving the Victoria Cross. One interesting example is that of Acting Corporal Filip Konowal - the only Ukrainian (he was an immigrant to Canada) to be awarded the VC. If you read his Wikipedia page, you'll find he fared better, occupationally, than many other veterans after the war. However, as you can also conclude from that Wiki article, his mental health (PTSD) was not treated at all.
... 'Shell Shock' was well-understood by some pioneering British military doctors at the time. However, overworked military/civilian authorities generally chose to see the condition as an individual soldier's personal moral failing. And for the very few authorities who understood this illness, getting the necessary support for the treatment of all of the serious cases after the war was a problem they had no hope of solving.
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Hill 70 at St Sauveur
General Sir Arthur William Currie, GCMG, KCB died in 1933. On 4 March 1934, a plaque was erected on the slope of Sunshine Hill near St Sauveur which said in part:
HILL 70 - This hill is dedicated to the memory of General Sir Arthur Currie [lists his honours] GOC Canadian Corps 1917-1919. Principal of McGill University 1920-1933. Erected by the members of the Red Birds Ski Club, St Sauveur [etc.]
While the location is no longer named Hill 70, the plaque is preserved and is reportedly on display at St Sauveur in Pavillon 70.
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| from: David Rumsey Map Collection; https://www.davidrumsey.com/. |
The map above shows the lines to St Remi (centre left) and Rawdon (centre right).
As the legend indicates, the numbers indicate rail-miles between the towns.
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| from: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection; https://maps.lib.utexas.edu/maps/canada.html. |
On the map segment shown above, red lines indicate recreational trails (cross-country skiing) while gold-coloured lines are roads.
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It is possible that the image on this undated postcard was photographed in the late 1940s.
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Mailed in 1916, this postcard gives us an idea of the
original economical track structure of these wilderness lines north of Montreal.
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In 1948, LC Gagnon facilitated two Anglican Young People's Association trips (from St John the Divine, Verdun) to (Doris) Watchorn's Inn at Morin Heights.
'We travelled CN to Morin Heights on Friday night and returned Sunday night.'
'We travelled by CN from Montreal Tunnel Station [which was replaced by the Central Station project] - wooden coaches with steam locomotive.'
... Of course, electric traction would have taken the train north through the Mount Royal Tunnel.
The photos he took - probably with a box camera - show a typical ski excursion of the era.
Watchorn's Inn at Morin Heights.
The rolling countryside of Les Pays d'en haut .
LC Gagnon's roster of travellers, with contact information, is preserved in the photo book.
If one is cross-country skiing for the first time, negotiating safely and effectively up and down hills can be challenging until one develops the necessary technique.
This was before the era of electronic avalanche emergency beacons. I don't know if the person at the left is poling for survivors, or perhaps just carefully righting themselves after an unplanned trip into the snow.
It would seem that those Group of Seven paintings are based on real vistas just like these!
... with their long winter shadows, box-like dwellings and barns, and Canadian Shield terrain.
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The last three photos are Canadian National Railways images, taken from: Trains Up North, Part 2; M Peter Murphy; September 1975; Canadian Rail.
Northbound morning passenger train just south of Morin Heights station in the mid-1940s.
In the winter of 1945, Sunday morning Train 99 (8 cars) with 5557 leading, travels toward St Sauveur.
Northbound 8-car train arriving at St Sauveur.
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LC Gagnon also acquired the CPR's 'ski train' timetable which can be found here.