Portage 1987 - First Section

In the spring of 1987 there was lots to see on the rails.
A train of 40-foot boxcars has changed crews at Smiths Falls and is westbound on the Chalk River Sub.

At the same location just north of Smiths Falls on the Chalk River Sub, the headend trainman is driven to the crossing and boards.

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Our June expedition begins ..

Parry Sound - former CP station.

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Algoma Central Railway, Sault Ste Marie

East of Lake Superior, GoogleEarth shows the route of the ACR.

Algoma steam generator car 81 was originally a Northern Pacific steam locomotive tender.

In the fog at SSM. 

Our power was a GP7 which had been upgraded by CN in 1978, 

.. and a GP38-2 - both by GMD.
Here the power is running around the train at Agawa Canyon and the movement is being controlled from other unit.

Every year we passed, I took this photo of White River yard, looking 'west'.

Budd car 90 is just visible - one of two retained by CP.

At Heron Bay, this eastbound freight was being held on the grade so another could take a run at the hill, I think.
I believe the guy with the cap is a crew member.

Either for genuine recreation - or to 'fun' the westbound's crew about the delay -
the crew member vanishing into the trainman's door had been set up to sunbathe on the nose ...
until some enthusiastic stranger showed up with a camera to capture the scene.

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Manitoba Time

We generally stopped in Schreiber and Thunder Bay, but those photos will be grouped in a separate section in the future.
Above, the extra 5925 east approaches Stephens Avenue at Portage.

The next day, we were retracing our steps eastbound as we took a tour of the Winnipeg yards.
I assume this photo is from the intermodal section of the Winnipeg yard.

With my uncle at the wheel, I took a typical 'hope shot' over the guardrail and between the strobing girders of the Arlington Street overpass looking toward the Salter Street overpass to the east. At least with modern software there is now a hope of salvaging something from these long shots of 30 years ago.

Near the pigeon in flight and the radio aerial, I believe there is a slight peak in the track near those two shacks. This might have been used in the past to assist in gravity switching - or early humping with riders, if you prefer. Just to the right of that would have been the old steam locomotive 'ready track' and then the roundhouse.

Unused postcard.

I think this muddy, smokey, unused postcard was photographed from the same overpass, but a little further along - i.e. farther north. It is undated, but may be from the early 1950s (based on motive power). I think one of the 'mini-humps' may be under the two boxcars and gondola beside the diesel switcher.

There may also be some 'gravity assistance' set up for the cars spotted at the coaling dock at the right.

from: GoogleEarth

Next, at CN's Symington, 7522 and 7509 bracket two yard slugs under Fermor Avenue.
In this locomotive class, even-numbered are 'leaders'.

They continue up the hump (entirely in shadow) with BCOL bulkhead flat cars.
Switch ground-throws and switch heaters - and possibly newly-installed (bagged) signals are in the foreground.

The other hump set is working too.

from: GoogleEarth

Miles away on the left, a grain elevator marks the next town and the CNR line.
While this trip was routine for our hosts, it often provided spectacularly novel views like this for us.

Near the west end of Portage, the local switch engine 6719 is probably going to Campbell Soup as solo 5960 pulls grain empties west.

Again into the sun!
CP extra east, engine unknown (to me), at Portage ... with B&O (CSX) 3728 and ATSF 3670 in tandem.

I'm guessing the hi-cube boxcar just set off is full of low-density canning materials for soup.
The 5247 daintily makes its way back to the main,

.. and pulls its train west under the Tupper Street overpass.
Notice the boxcar at the right margin on some now-long-since-removed track which was originally put there for a good reason.

The extra 6016 west rolls through.

In the next section we'll be on the train to Churchill ...

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Addendum

After the original posting, and through Jim Christie's research, you can see these two diagrams illustrating the layout of the 'new' CPR Winnipeg yard from the Railroad Gazette in 1904.

WEST end. Railroad Gazette; June 17, 1904; New York.

EAST end. Railroad Gazette; June 17, 1904; New York.

As the article below indicates, the new freight yard arrangement features two, combination receiving and classification yards - east and west. Each yard will classify both branch and main line traffic. 

These two yards are connected by two hump tracks - one descending eastward and one descending westward. This enables newly received cars to be separated and weighed by gravity without rehandling.

To elaborate on yard operation ...

All eastbound trains will arrive in the west receiving yard.

Each car will be weighed as it passes over the hump. 

The car will be classified into the main or branch line tracks in the eastern half of the yard.

... And vice versa for westbounds.

Here is the link for the article itself. 
(The text columns are broken by horizontal diagrams,  but each column is still read from the top to the bottom of the page)

Railroad Gazette, 1904, at archive.org

The yard, as it is described in 1904, does not seem to match exactly with the well-used postcards below. So they may illustrate an earlier arrangement. However in both you can clearly see the two main lines. 

Speculation: A relatively clean (almost switch free) non-main line track running parallel to the mains suggests that the photos are taken in opposite directions.

Used postcard.

Used postcard: Possibly looking east.

The subway illustrated in the article, which takes Main Street under the east yard throat and passenger tracks, matches with this other postcard, below. With the location described, it is clear that the building to the right is the (now demolished) Royal Alexandra Hotel, the CPR hotel built alongside the CPR's large and still existing (in 2015) former Winnipeg station. The camera looks north with the hotel and station to its east. 

Used postcard: Main Street subway looking north. Royal Alexandra hotel to right.

While I'll never be an expert on the Winnipeg yard or its history, it is rewarding to gradually fit a few more pieces of information into place.

Thanks again to Jim Christie for sharing his research.

Portage 1993 - First Section

With the arrival of 'vacation weather' we find ourselves in Sault Ste Marie in June of 1993.

With coaches only, this would be the Agawa Canyon train.
Retired VIA cars are now in the consist.

Looking from the hotel to the American side, we see an upbound freighter heading for the large locks - which are on the US side.

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On a Lock Tour ...

 Here is one of the Soo locks on the US side which can handle today's large lake freighters.

At Algoma Steel, this would be the iron ore dock.

I don't know if the top-charging furnaces at the right were still used in the early 1990s.

A closer view of the crane.

Steel mills aren't the most ecologically-friendly places.

The covered hopper car in the centre bears ASC reporting marks.

The jack points (for re-railing) are probably well-hi-lited in yellow for good reason.

A nice 'weathering' project for a model railroader ...

Here is some detail of the US (ex-Soo Line) railroad lift spans.

A self-unloader is passing upbound through the far lock.

Nicer weather greets the 'Tour of the Line' train from Hearst.

Railcars of diverse heritage, and an ex-VIA steam generator can be seen.

Some of these people may be cottagers or campers from sites accessible only by rail.

The three-storey railway headquarters can be seen beyond the yellow bumper on this track.

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In Portage la Prairie

Engine 5248 leads what is probably train 359 - Winnipeg to Prince George.

Its opposite number 358 returned with BC lumber.

I remember this easy-to-spot consist being a regular sight in Portage.

My excuse

On this vacation, I was using our Canon point and shoot camera with a flash (a novelty).
The fish-eye tendencies of the small plastic lens distorted photo edges.
It also darkened the periphery of the photo.
The camera would have been ideal for photographing two people and a birthday cake in a basement,
... rather than long, thin trains on the prairie.

The tracks in the foreground are the pocket track for car loading and the yard lead.

We tended to visit in June or September and it seems unusual to have fog in Portage.
I don't know if this is 'June Portage Green' or if the commercial photo printer was set a little too green.

The CNR Portage la Prairie station.
Formerly, the 'union station' for the Grand Trunk Pacific and the Midland.

Engine 3020 (probably freshly shopped) leads a varied locomotive consist with a nice uniform train of loaded cylindrical grain hopper cars.

I paid more attention to the local track layout during this trip.

That is why this photo at the Tupper Street overpass is included.

The same train begins to 'take' its light at Stephens Avenue.

Portage la Prairie map

The 5725 is westbound at Tupper Street with a short train.

Heading into the fog, the 5725 is burning at least some of the fuel before it exits as smoke.

The van-less tailend still seems strange at this point.

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At the museum known in 2015 as the 'Manitoba Museum'.

At first, one travels across Canada with paper maps, no cell phones and using 35mm film which is expensive and often disappointing to develop. 

... Now, with the internet, it is possible to understand what you photographed ... and to make the paper photos at least useful to a limited extent.

At first, we both understood that the plant above 'Crested Wheatgrass' was a native species which superbly demonstrated how natural selection enabled plants to survive in the prairies during dry years. We understood that the bison once enjoyed this grass.

... Now, we can say that this plant was indeed dug up in 1937 and that some native plants can obtain moisture to depths of up to 20 feet. However, this plant is an introduced species from Siberia and Russia which was planted in an effort to reclaim areas which had been denuded of their original vegetation but which (to the chagrin of settlers of the early 1900s) could not be successfully and permanently used for crop agriculture. Today, stands of this plant may be crowding out native species where it was planted ... 'natural' undisturbed prairie was already rare after the settlement boom.

Lesson of History: While the railways (who had been granted the land assets) and the politicians (as they understood the facts at the time) had reason to optimistically promote many dry areas for cultivation ... Areas of the west could have been left for the bison and other native species - if only to maintain biodiversity. 

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Speaking of Quasi-extinctions ...

Looking west toward CP Shepp and the CP Carberry Sub.

Behold the fossilized tracks of the extinct Canadian. This train ran between 1955 and 1990 using equipment which was usually sheathed with fluted stainless steel. It was operated by both the CPR and VIA Rail - primarily over the former's tracks.

With major changes to Canadian railway regulation in 1990, the Canadian's original route over CP rails north of Lake Superior and through the southern Prairies and Rockies was no longer used - in favour of a CN routing. Many would argue that the CPR route was the more scenic. Many senior CPR running trades employees (e.g. Rolly Martin) chose to retire rather than to return to freight service.

This little connecting track was built for VIA's Canadian. Thinking of it from the west end of Portage, the track began at CP Shepp, it ran east to connect to the CN main line through Portage - enabling the train to serve passengers using the CN waiting room at Portage. The Canadian then followed CN rails to enter Winnipeg and to use the CN (formerly 'Union') station there.

Looking at it today, I suspect this little VIA 'railway' was designed to be long enough that CN and CP dispatchers could 'store' the train there if traffic (freight train) conditions made that move advantageous. 

Looking east toward the CNR Rivers Sub.

An unused Valentine and Sons postcard of Winnipeg's Union Station. The Canadian Northern Railway engine 1125 was built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1912. 

To the left is a wagon of 'George V Rex' Royal Mail. Perhaps it is a carman/machinist with a hammer who is seen in line with the end of the 1125's tender. To the right, are passenger cars lettered for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.