The opening of the new extension of the REM (Réseau express métropolitain) to Deux Montagnes provided me with the inspiration to post this little 3 x 7 inch pocket folder showing the schedule over some of the same route 84 years ago.
Through the work of intrepid videographers who have posted their experiences on YouTube, I have enjoyed a few virtual trips over the newly-opened line. I am an avid comment reader and people there noted that it takes about four years to work out all of the glitches occurring on a new branch of a modern automated system such as the REM.
... I have observed cases where the REM line to Brossard had an understandable reliability problem. The failing was made much worse by simply not having enough trained people to communicate with stranded passengers ... and to support them in person so they didn't feel they were abandoned in a locked glass and metal box. Sometimes management drops the ball when these new systems begin service.
Even during weeks when I am pressed for time/energy, I try to provide a few illustrations because people often enjoy looking at historical images rather than just using their imaginations to re-animate a dry, old schedule which has been photocopied onto the internet.
In one CRHA article I reviewed, there were images from the 1970s showing tremendous, long trains carrying commuters pulled by a couple of electric 'haulers', heading for the Mount Royal Tunnel and Central Station. Mackenzie and Mann would be proud to see their old equipment travelling on their old, cleverly-conceived route into the heart of Montreal.
... One might be tempted to post these photos and opine on how much [more] was done [more cheaply] with the skilled use of the old reliable technology.
I suppose the appreciation of human history can lead one to an alternative conclusion - that there is always 'new stuff' which replaces familiar technology. The old technology functioned, and was supported by its operators, in a predictable way so there were generally no unprecedented surprises.
However, the new technology often offers immediate advantages, and even greater possibilities in the future ... if only the casual observer could foresee the system's future operations with the insight of an expert.
When this timetable was issued, a German amphibious invasion of England had been prevented by the success of the defenders during the Battle of Britain (and 'the stopping power of water' - the English Channel).
Germany's fatal error of invading the USSR in a surprise attack began on exactly the effective date of this timetable.
A similarly ill-considered Japanese attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor was still a few months in the future.
The Battle of the Atlantic had not been going particularly well and the fatal weakening of Britain by U-boat destruction of food, materials, fuel and armaments was still a clear possibility.
... The people riding these trains probably had a lot to think about.
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| from: Report on Railway Terminal Facilities at Montreal; January 1929; Department of Railways and Canals. |
On the map above, Bonaventure station is seen between St James and Notre Dame. The Tunnel Terminal appears near Windsor Street. This map of the CNR in Montreal was part of a 'Railways and Canals' government study to possibly develop a 'union station' for railway passenger service in Montreal.
For non-Montrealers, that new REM segment follows the route off the top left of the map through Roxboro.
For the purposes of the CNR, (according to Michael Leduc in Montreal Railway Terminals; 2008; Michael D Leduc Enr.) Bonaventure was "MONTREAL". Other terminals were identified by their names ... during the Canadian National Railways era.
The sharp-eyed will have noticed my map omits one pre-1950 terminal and that its CNR name is different from its 'familiar historical name' on the Folder's title page (above).
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| from: Montreal Then and Now; Bryan Demchinsky; 1985; The Gazette. |
Things were so much better in the old days. People could go boating in railway yards. Before the construction of a levee on the St Lawrence to protect this part of the city, flooding was a regular occurrence - though not as bad as this extreme 1886 event. At the right, you can see the railway's freight sheds where boxcar contents were unloaded and transferred to wagons, perhaps sleds in winter, with draft horses providing motive power.
This was the first version of a Grand-Trunk-sized Bonaventure station. A new high-Victorian-style Bonaventure was built in 1887. These two photos are extra large so people can see historical details if they enjoy that kind of thing.
From somewhere within this scene was probably the original surveyor's stake which was the basis for all of today's mileage markers on the CNR Kingston Subdivision - although few current employees probably ponder this bit of historical trivia.
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| from: The Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore; Ron Brown; 1991; Broadview Press. |
Here is the interior of the 1887 version of the Grand Trunk Bonaventure station. First Class, Pullman tickets and Telegrams.
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| Used, undated postcard. |
Here is Grand Trunk Bonaventure (looking timetable west), after a fire in 1916 which resulted in its being rebuilt without its elaborate Victorian exterior. The stained glass windows apparently survived the fire. By observing the central windows, you can confirm where the black and white interior photo was taken.
In 1948, a fire in the extensive neighbouring freight sheds, damaged the station building and this ended the use of Bonaventure for all passenger trains. Central Station had been open since 1943 and most intercity traffic had already been moved there, with Bonaventure left to anchor the CNR West Island commuter service.
Here are the 1941 tables for Bonaventure.
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Tunnel Terminal
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| Unused postcard. |
Mackenzie and Mann's Canadian Northern MONTREAL terminal began operation when the war-delayed Mount Royal Tunnel was complete in 1918.
With the almost immediate takeover by Canadian National Railways, this became known as Tunnel Terminal. And artists made ham-handed changes to the images on their postcards (see the station 'letterboard' above). The old Canadian Northern circular crests seem not to be altered here in the image, and the circular format was temporarily used to display 'Canadian National'.
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| from: Report on Railway Terminal Facilities at Montreal; January 1929; Department of Railways and Canals. |
City Beautiful Urban Planners decried the hole opened up by this terminal and this 'scar' on the landscape persisted into the 1960s.
Sadly for everyone, Mackenzie and Mann (and Sir Henry Thornton) had foreseen grand urban-centre developments over this hole, but none of these railway officers were around long enough, or were provided with the resources to carry out their plans.
Above, is a coarse-dithered 5-inch photo from the terminals report. At the left, you can see an electric locomotive and a couple of coaches. Two other sets of coaches are ready at other platforms, with boxcars on the express track to the right.
Here are the 1941 tables for Tunnel Terminal
Table 11 (above): St Catherine Street East Station
(aka Moreau Street)
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| from: Report on Railway Terminal Facilities at Montreal; January 1929; Department of Railways and Canals. |
The green terminal under 'Ontario' marks the location of this station.
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| from: Report on Railway Terminal Facilities at Montreal; January 1929; Department of Railways and Canals. |
Above: Another coarse-dithered 5-inch photo from the terminals report. Mackenzie and Mann obtained control of the Great Northern Railway of Canada in 1903 and this was its terminal. Presumably, this was the GNRC station known as MONTREAL.
The Canadian Northern referred to it as the St Catherine Street East station. This was perhaps because it drew an attractive link to the main commercial street of Montreal. Or perhaps it was logical to use the St Catherine name if passengers were using the streetcar to reach the station.
Before the completion of the Mount Royal Tunnel, this was the terminal for Canadian Northern trains going to Ottawa and Toronto via Hawkesbury. Its use for trains to Joliette and Rawdon on the CNR ended in June 1945 when these routes were changed to terminate at Central Station.
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| Undated photo from article: A Historical Railway & Canal Atlas of Canada; CA Andreae; Canadian Rail, July 1980. |
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| from: Google Maps |
I believe the block once containing the Moreau St station is centred in the image above: Adam, Roy, St Catherine, Moreau. The former interchange connection between Moreau St and the CPR Hochelaga yard (just beyond the left margin) can be imagined.
