CNR 1972 In the Official Guide

A few photos from a 1980 trip we took to the Maritimes are included to provide a little of the flavour of the era. 

This Official Guide entry for Canadian National Railways shows a crown corporation which still operates trains in all 10 provinces. I don't know if they were loved by the freight department, but this was the era of the celebrated Rapido passenger trains of reliable conventional equipment and the intermittently in service and since idealized Turbo. 

Overnight trains between Montreal and Toronto (and via Napanee, CN Smiths Falls, to/from Ottawa) offered sleeping accommodation - with stimulating knuckle and steam connection metal-on-metal action in the wee hours at Belleville.

In addition, you'll notice Cybernetic Services, and business units to handle mail, express and piggyback. A list of ten CNR hotels and the station listing (freight service only) for the Central Vermont are also included in this entry.

Above and below: On 21 October 1980, we are at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island watching and recording the yard switcher. Nearby, was an open warehouse half-filled with potatoes. The station building still exists and today serves as the central office for the province's Workers Compensation Board.

This series: On the afternoon of 20 October 1980, we are somewhere near Amherst, Nova Scotia. The 2030, 2014, 2042 and 3841's consist begins with hoppers loaded with ballast and designated to rehabilitate a branch line somewhere. 

Above: With only two days left in the trip, the sun is setting at Campbellton, New Brunswick on 23 October 1980.

CNR 1941 Montreal Public Timetable Folder 'L'

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.

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).

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.

.

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. 

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.

*  *  *

Tunnel Terminal

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'.

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)

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.

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.

Undated photo from article: A Historical Railway & Canal Atlas of Canada; CA Andreae; Canadian Rail, July 1980.

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.

Tidewater Subdivision Profile (7.29 miles), Vancouver Island, Canadian National Railways

An interesting piece of track was built exactly 100 years ago.

In 1913, the Canadian Northern Railway built a line with a dock at Patricia Bay. This natural harbour was in the shelter of Saanich Inlet. It was strategically located just north of Victoria.

If you start at Victoria and head north ... pass through Elk Lake ... and find the big bay to the left of 'Sidney' on the map ... that's Patricia Bay.

Between Port Mann (on the mainland) and Patricia Bay, the CNoR operated their first coastal shipping and ferry service. With the financial failure of the CNoR, Canadian National Railways took over these operations.

from: CNR system map, published between 1929 and 1949.

The undated map above shows the Canadian National Railways line in green. The line to Kissinger was completed in 1928. Lumber and logs were products carried by the railway from the interior of the island and their export was accomplished by ship or float from Patricia Bay. 

... However, the CNR decided that the railway route all around Saanich Inlet to get to Patricia Bay was unnecessarily long. After the CNR created an alternate harbour, it pulled up the line to Patricia Bay in 1935.

... This alternative harbour was built by the CNR between Deerholme and Cowichan Bay ... the Tidewater Subdivision. For your convenience and pleasure, both Deerholme and Cowichan Bay are shown in red print on the map above.

*  *  *

Here's an older map ...

from: Atlas of Canada; 1915; Government of Canada.

The Government Atlas above pre-dates the previous map and shows data from 1915. 

... As a matter of cruel historical fact, the Canadian Northern had not completed the line northwest of Lake Cowichan to Alberni, and it never would. Apparently, the grading had been done as far as Alberni. Some of this prepared roadbed was eventually put to good use by logging company railways.

And, in the map's 'Canadian Northern territory' (very light green) you can see the (pre-Tidewater Sub) line to Patricia Bay ... It swings around through Victoria and up through Elk Lake and Sidney ... to the harbour at Patricia Bay (not labelled).

*  *  *

from: Atlas of Canada; Henry W Castner; 1981; Reader's Digest.

The CNR built the Tidewater Subdivision in 1925 and it was formally abandoned in 1987. You can see some YouTube videos showing that some of the rails are still in place in 2025. 

On the map above, railways are shown in faint grey, with the railway initials beside the line. You can see how the CNR was located from Lake Cowichan ... descending along the valley of the Cowichan River. 

Then, in 1925 ... in topographical triumph ... the final stretch of the Cowichan River valley was followed between Deerholme and the ocean at Cowichan Bay.

I've posted an enlarged, unaltered section of the same map, below, to show that the Tidewater Sub can still be seen on this crowded 1981 map ... It is shown running east from that grey railway junction east of Koksilah and runs east through the red dot with Cowichan 9 on it. 

When one spends at lot of time looking at atlases, one often finds that First Nations reserves were established at particular points. On this map, they are shown by red dots and pink shading. 

... Then ... with the First Nations reserves established ... years later ... someone finds a compelling commercial case to take advantage of the underlying industrial geography and 'something' is built which permanently alters the land originally set aside. 

... Examples which quickly come to mind are ... here at Cowichan Bay, or at Depot Harbour near Parry Sound, or along most of the the riverfront at Kahnawake where the Seaway was constructed. 

*  *  *

Cover of the Tidewater Subdivision profile:

The CNR crest is from the DB Hanna era. As you know, the Canadian National Railways temporarily adapted the Canadian Northern crest - by changing 'Northern' to 'National'. They also permanently adopted the CNoR's format for steam locomotive number plates.

*  *  *

A fruitful digression into Canadian railway and military history ...

In trying to date this profile, I searched for the name of the Chief Engineer, HA Dixon ... and the book, below, was presented as a link. It is stored as a downloadable PDF (in 2 volumes, linked below) on the website of the Canadian Geotechnical Society. 

I've kept copies of the PDFs. In the likely event that the website is reorganized and the book links cannot be found in the future (this always happens!), contact me and I'll send the PDF copies I've saved.

from: Westward Go Young Man; John L Charles; 1978; Canac Consultants. PDF via Google search from cgs.ca.

According to Westward Go Young Man, H.A. Dixon became CNR System Chief Engineer in 1939, leaving the post of Chief Engineer, Western Region CNR.

So, consistent with the old crest, the profile was created BEFORE 1939.

Westward Go Young Man, Volume 1

Westward Go Young Man, Volume 2

The author of the book, John Charles, was born in the UK where he obtained his civil engineering qualifications. His British training/western Canadian railway career path, are somewhat similar to those of Sandford Fleming, JHE Secretan, and P Turner Bone.

Here's a very brief overview of his Canadian railway experiences: He migrated to the Canadian west, where he worked on the locating surveys for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and both periods of construction of the railway line to Churchill, Manitoba. I've only skimmed parts of his book ... He also had military service in World War One.

End of digression, back to the profile of the CNR Tidewater Subdivision.

*  *  *

Some features of the Tidewater Subdivision:

• At Deerholme, you can see that the station is west of the west switch of the wye. (G = grade crossing)
• The Deerholme station is at Mile 0.0 of the Tidewater Sub and Mile 58.25 of the Cowichan Sub. You could picture the Tidewater Sub as a 'port spur' of the Cowichan Sub.
• The track is laid with 60 pound rail and gravel ballast.
• For most of the route from Deerholme to Tyup there is a down grade, often reaching 2%.
• At Mile 3.8 there is heavy curvature, including one at 10 degrees.
• There are many bridges from Mile 4 to Cowichan Bay.
• The longest trestle is just before Tyup - 799 feet in length ... at the bottom of the grade.
• Just before Tyup, the CPR passes under the line - but does not interchange.
• Tyup is a well-equipped station: water tower, 4000 feet of siding, wye, telegraph office.
• East of Tyup are more sidings, with a total capacity of almost a full mile.
• In total, 208 cars can be stored between Tyup and Cowichan Bay.

Conclusions

1. This would have been an expensive bit of railway to build.
2. It would have been challenging to operate with heavy trains of lumber.
3. It was built to accumulate and move a large number of cars for a busy port.
4. Presumably, this railway 'storage/surge capacity' made it possible to completely load a ship with lumber without delay ... as fast as cranes could place the lumber in its holds.

*  *  *

A CNR employee timetable from 20 years later.

Near the end of steam motive power. 

Some key points:

• Trains going east to Cowichan Bay are travelling 'timetable north'.
• Retainers (to slow the release of the air brakes during recharging/releasing cycles) must be set while standing on the slight upgrade at Deerholme.
• A single-occupancy manual block system on the heavy northbound descending grade Deerholme to Tyup is controlled by telephone by the operator at Deerholme - on duty 24 hours per day.
• Fuel and water are available at Tyup.
• The whole subdivision is within yard limits so all movements must be prepared to stop within half range of vision.

*  *  *

At Deerholme

from: https://youtu.be/6b5GBPmwoZo?si=yNJycXEGFfPO2Mxv
I will link this excellent YouTube account below.

*  *  *

At Tyup

from: Vancouver Island Railroads; Robert D Turner; 1973; Golden West Books.

This undated Stan Styles photo at Tyup shows some of the facilities there, the light rail, and the typical steam power used. The camera is facing toward Cowichan Bay.

This is from Robert D Turner's first book. In an interview, he said he wrote it because he went to the library to look for information on Vancouver Island railways and could find nothing on the subject.

*  *  *

At Cowichan Bay

from: https://youtu.be/6b5GBPmwoZo?si=yNJycXEGFfPO2Mxv

This preserved 8mm film shows the engine at the 'tail' of the dock switch with flatcars loaded with lumber. Next, it will reverse to the dock, where a freighter from Japan is being loaded with lumber. Notice the buildings 'of railway character' on the dock itself.

Below, you can see that the same features still exist on the Cowichan Bay dock circa 2025. 

from: Google

In 2025, if you open Google maps,

Search for Deerholme Junction,

Zoom in to Deerholme Junction,

I think you will find you are able to trace much of the former Tidewater Sub,

by following the 'Cowichan Valley Trail' east from Deerholme Junction.

*  *  *

If you are interested in the two YouTube screen prints of CNR steam on Vancouver Island, you should visit the following YouTube account.

Again, the link for that particular 8 minute video:

CNR Deerholme and Cowichan Bay.mp4

Account Description:

"8mm films of trains and ships taken by my Dad - Dave Wilkie, sister and Mom between the 1950's and 1970's.  

Thanks to my sister Lorraine for having these all converted to DVD."

https://www.youtube.com/@MikeDunhamWilkie

*  *  *

After posting, Jim Christie sent me this excellent YouTube he found

about the last operations on the Tidewater Sub, featuring a 6-axle GMD1:

Last CN train in the Cowichan Valley