Sault Ste Marie Postcards x6

We always looked forward to reaching Sault Ste Marie. It was the first overnight stop on our annual vacation trips via Schreiber to Portage la Prairie. We were free from the Hospital and well into the Canadian Shield and beside Lake Superior in just one day. 

Furthermore, Sault Ste Marie was a place where 'real things happened'! There was a long history of heavy industry and the necessary railway infrastructure to support it. An added bonus was shipping. From the Holiday Inn or via lock tours, one could see all kinds of ships - particularly the big ones, which only plied the upper lakes with cargoes like taconite pellets.

A ride on the Algoma Central to Agawa Canyon was often planned to get things off to a great start.

While the railway was spun off, you can still invest in the Algoma Central Corporation. Today, it operates shipping and real estate assets - the remaining businesses of the historic Algoma Central conglomerate.

If you type Sault into the search box (above), you'll come up with a few pieces on the history and features of Sault Ste Marie. They'll elaborate on some aspects of the postcards below.

After the first three postcards, you'll find a nice 1965 topographic map showing some of the city's industrial history. 

*  *  *

Above: Via this single lock, these ships have descended from the level of Lake Superior to the level of Lakes Huron and Michigan.

As a result of the Chicora Incident the building of this particular canal was seen as a necessity for the national security for Canada.

Considering this particular postcard, the sender is dispatching a curt message on an international journey of 1000 km by paying one penny (27 cents in 2024 money). Compared to the probable impossibility of a satisfactory long distance telephone call between Sault Ste Marie and Dresden, New York, or even a telegram ... this is a bargain.

*  *  *

This view looks upriver from the Canadian side and shows the CPR lift spans raised over the large US Soo locks. The handwritten date on the card is 1940. In that era ... cheap, plentiful coal was usually the portable fuel of choice for space heating, shipping & railway transportation, thermal power generation and industrial applications such as steel making.

A loaded Canada Steamships Lines bulk carrier is shown eastbound as it leaves the city. 

*  *  *

Many of these old postcard dyes do not age well and they are extremely resistant to colour correction. Nonetheless, they add contrast to this nice sharp depiction of the features of the Canadian side ...

In the right foreground: the powerhouse and the paper mill (its towering piles of pulp logs are tinted green). 

In the left foreground, the Canadian canal and the CPR swing span over it. 

The steel mill is in the background.

*  *  *

from: Historical Topographic Map Digitization Project. https://ocul.on.ca/topomaps/collection/

On this 1965 map, the international highway bridge is a recent addition (completed: 1962) to the geography of the Canadian and American cities here. With only the railway bridge crossing until the 1960s, was there much international travel? 

Until the 1950s, people often travelled between cities and towns by train and most could not afford automobiles. But you'll notice that a ferry still existed for a short while after the bridge was completed - to efficiently shuttle people and vehicles cross the river. 

In northern Ontario, driving on the roads in winter would have been a challenging prospect before the rapid development of heavy vehicle engines during the Second World War. Without powerful equipment to plow streets and highways, the railways offered the best all-weather transportation. 

Probably most of the significant international passenger travel was done by train over the CPR's bridge.

Notice the Algoma Steel Mill was co-located with the yard and shops of the Algoma Central Railway and that the ACR also served the waterfront.

In contrast, the CPR yard was more aligned with the city's downtown before the line swept over the river and canals to the United States.

*  *  *

Looking down-river with the Canadian city on the left, this gritty card provides some detail of the steel mill's layout. Massive stockpiles of coal and ore can be seen on the docks and across the property of the mill. Cranes and commodity conveyor systems can also be seen. 

Raw materials could be brought in by rail - when shipping was closed for the season and especially when iron ore was being transported from the Helen Mine to the north. This mine was another property of the original Sault-area industrial conglomerate developed by Francis H Clergue (1856-1939).

However, you can observe that water-borne transportation was probably the preferred - the more economical - option for most raw materials.

On the US side, two large bulk carriers are downbound. Once clear of these locks, there will be no more changes of water level requiring locks if the ships stay on Lakes Huron and Michigan. 

Now land-locked and repurposed, this building can be seen at 289 Bay Street.

*  *  *

On this card, the highway bridge is literally overshadowing the CPR's railway bridge to the United States.

The pulpwood stockpiles of the paper mill can be seen near the bridge. 

The ACR to the waterfront passes under the CPR in the shadow of the highway bridge.

Wow, the Kiel Canal! 

Please give my regards to the Kaiser.

I had a look on Google and the Bristol Motel building can still be seen in Wawa (2024 image).

Like free promotional motel postcards ... many things have vanished into history in the last 50 years.

The Agawa Canyon Excursion on the Algoma Central Railway

It's June 1991, and we're off for a trip up the Algoma Central Railway to Agawa Canyon.

Making his way around us - his numerous Platform Supervisors - the carman gives his joint a last look.

There was an interesting diversity of passenger equipment during these years.
Above is ACR Diner 504, built by Budd in 1948 ... ne: an ATSF counter diner.

Leading from Sault Ste Marie will be GP7 170, built in 1952 and upgraded by CNR in 1978.
The tailend points to the three-storey Algoma Central office building and former station.
The new station is located in the mall parking lot - with the black bear on top.

*  *  *

Through the window yard pot shots ...

ACR wooden caboose 9502, built by the Algoma Central in 1946.

This is scrapped SD40 180 or 182.
The two were wrecked in 1990.

Here are the doors to the engine house, I think.

from: Engine Houses & Turntables, 1850-1950; Edward Forbes Bush; 1990; Boston Mills Press.

The Algoma Central, and later the CNoR/CNR at Hornepayne, apparently had the only engine houses with covered turntables in Canada.

We were in the dining car for breakfast, upon our departure from Sault Ste Marie.
Looking at the photo, I see that chili was on the menu for lunch.
The breakfast theme was 'Round and Flat': pancakes and slices of ham.

Passengers explore their surroundings during the canyon layover.

The view of the south-facing train from the lookout.
The day was warm, but it seemed warmer after our ascent.

... and from the tailend.
Notice the lighter rail on the siding and the back track.

An unexpected railway-subject bonus was this international procession of speeders.
... Shepherded by this ACR hi-rail vehicle of some years' service.

The speeders paused ... probably for a rest and a new order or permit ...
before preceding us southbound.

I think we overtook them later on.

The railway had a simple run-around technique to ready the consist for its return.




This postcard was mailed from Oxford, Michigan (north of Pontiac) to
Leonard, Michigan (within walking distance ... at least it was back then) in 1919.

Noting the number of board feet and the rock outcropping,
this may be the trestle at Mile 104.09 as shown in Dale Wilson's
The Algoma Railway Story (1984).

Sitting with resting staff in the diner (scroll to right), we cross the bridge and dam on the Montreal River.

The Montreal River at Mile 92 - a postcard using a photo from the ACR.
I believe this is the future MacKay Generating Station.

Dale Wilson notes that this bridge, begun in 1911,
was the first and only bridge at this site.

Above and below, are a couple of views from our return trip.
In the lower photo, you can see that other ferro-cognoscenti are at the dutch doors.

I noted that I was sharing my vestibule with a smaller, older English woman.
She only had one, single exposure left on her film and she seemed to be intent
on making it acceptable for publication by the Royal Geographical Society.

... so I missed a few opportunities as she carefully composed her frame.

Meanwhile in England:
'I regret to inform Her Majesty that a boorish native Galoot with large elbows ... '

*  *  *

Below is the Official Guide entry from November 1958.

Readers with railway libraries which include works about the Algoma region of northern Ontario
will want to make note of the name A.M. Wilson, Chief Engineer (above).

Hawk Junction on the Algoma Central Railway, June 1991

In June of 1991, we were again making our way west for visiting in Schreiber and Portage la Prairie. As usual, we stayed overnight at Sault Ste Marie and went on the Algoma Central Railway's Agawa Canyon excursion. 

Probably being inspired by some of Rolly Martin's stories and artifacts, from the time he worked as a sectionman on the Algoma Central, we decided to visit Hawk Junction. 

After leaving Sault Ste Marie, just before reaching Wawa on the Trans-Canada, we simply took a short secondary road to reach this location.

from: Official Guide, June 1916.

As you can imagine, looking at the map detail above - a lot of traffic would have passed through Hawk Junction over the years. If iron ore was not passing through Hawk Junction on its way south to Sault Ste Marie, the engine crews switching the mines and taking the ore to Michipicoten Harbour would have worked at or through Hawk Junction. Another key source of freight revenue on the ACR was forest products and some evidence of this traffic can be seen in the following 1991 photos.

*  *  *

Pot Shots

Being the lazy way to get photos of what was in the ACR's yard at Sault Ste Marie, here are a couple of pot shots taken through the window of an Agawa Canyon excursion coach. 

Above, in the distance is a steam locomotive tender converted into a steam generator car. In the foreground is a good example of how not to take a railway photograph. It seems the Algoma Central has rooftop-mounted coffee drip apparatus so the tailend brakeman and conductor can each enjoy their favourite brew on the road. I'm guessing those are actually sanding towers.

Below, is another potshot of what was to be found that day near one of the shops.

*  *  *

Sault Ste Marie Circa 1960?

Railways of Canada; OS Nock; 1973; A & C Black.

This undated photo shows the ACR yard and the steel works, looking roughly southwest.

*  *  *

At Hawk Junction

Looking timetable north.

A classic passenger train schedule blackboard - as prescribed in the Railway Act.
The door looks as if it leads to the bulletins and crew booking-in room.

The rear of the station - where once the telegraph wires would have entered.

Having watched them being manhandled at Montreal West station in the 1960s as a kid,
I thought it was important to record this impressive formation of baggage wagons.

The caboose track and the classic ACR yard switcher at the 'shop' (extreme right).

ACR baggage car 307.
It was built by American Car and Foundry in 1951.
It began life as CN 9061 and went to the ACR in 1983.

Again, we are looking timetable north.
The former line to Michipicoten Harbour ascends the grade to the left.

On top of the switch frog and bits, there seems to be a combination switch push broom and ice pick.
The bulkhead gondolas may be loaded with ACR ties ...

During the Agawa Canyon trip, we saw numerous 'Wolmanized wood' ties trackside - they looked like the green-stained copper-treated wood for home deck construction. I concluded that this was an economy measure and not a good sign for the line's future. 

However, OS Nock wrote in 1973:

The line is practically laid throughout with rails weighing 100 lb to the yard, but quite apart from this the quality of the sleepers and the ballasting is absolutely first class ... At many points along the line I saw new sleepers laid alongside the track at the places they were to be inserted. They were of a pale green colour, and I learned that the Algoma Central has a method of its own in treating new timbers. Suitable materials are so plentiful that it has been found economic only to dip them in an osmose [*sic] compound, instead of using the pressure creosoting method usual elsewhere. It gives a life of 20 to 22 years, and I was to see the plant where this is done, at Hawk Junction, later in the trip.

*Osmose is a company which began in Buffalo, New York with a single wood preservative patent in 1934. You can find the MSDS forms for their products on the internet.

Railways of Canada; OS Nock; 1973; A & C Black.

OS Nock, and Dale Wilson in The Algoma Central Railway Story (1984), agree that the transition from steam to diesel was accomplished 1952-1953. This made the ACR the first Canadian railway to fully convert, according to Dale Wilson.

In the aerial view above, you can see the station on the west side of the tracks. Perhaps the two-storey building with the hip roof and white foundation - behind the station on Road 547 - is a Railway YMCA ('bunkhouse')?

As was often the case, the heated railway water tank was probably retained into the diesel era because it was key for the municipal water supply, including firefighting. You can easily see the diesel fuel tanks and tank cars ... and the diesel shop to the right.

The main line to the north exits to the right of the photo, while the Michipicoten line ascends that grade into the woods.

If you are interested in more Hawk Junction detail, the site linked below is worth viewing. It is searchable - e.g. for Hawk Junction. Track diagrams show some of the recent changes to the yard.

Algoma Central in HO Scale

*  *  *

From the 1916 Official Guide

The entries for the 'Algoma railways' are seen here.

Above, you can also see the entry for the Lake Huron and Northern Ontario.

The LH&NO map does not label the Algoma Central's line.
The LH&NO began as the Bruce Mines and Algoma Railway in 1899.

Sault Ste Marie and the Railway Bridge, Part 2

Why did the CPR buy the Soo Line? 

Some photos from 1985, and older documents, look at the Sault Ste Marie branch of the CPR. There are postcard views of the bridge. Maps and a locomotive roster of the Soo Line from 1958 are included. 

And eventually ... the events leading to the CPR's cross-border adventure south of Lake Superior become clearer.

From the 1950s, the CPR steamship Keewatin is seen leaving the Canadian lock.

'A restored portion of the original canal and locks at Sault Ste Marie.
This historic canal was built by the North West Company in 1797-8
 to float freight canoes and bateaux around the St Mary's Rapids.'

American forces destroyed that canal during the War of 1812. Neither of those vessels would fit in that lock. Various versions of this canal display appear in postcards.

*  *  *

from: Imperial Royal Canadian Atlas, An Atlas for Canadians; Smith and Branom; 1935; Geographical Publishing Co, Chicago.

Once again, here is part of the Canadian railway bridge. A great deal of Sault Ste Marie's history can be seen in this view of a steel mill, a paper mill and a power station. The Canadian canal and lock are seen with the swing span of the railway bridge across it.

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

Above is a 1915 railway map showing the lines between Sudbury and Sault Ste Marie. The Algoma Central 'railway territory' appears at the left. Two areas of Algoma Eastern turf can be seen - to Little Current and to Rock Lake (I think). The Canadian Northern is visible at the upper right corner.

from: Altitudes of Canada; James White; 1915; Commission of Conservation, Canada.

Railways supplied their surveyed points for publication in this government book.
The right column shows feet above sea level.
A coarse line profile can be derived from this data.

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

Here is another map from the 1915 government atlas. This shows the telegraph network. At the left, the Algoma Central's line is recorded as not being continuous. Not shown: A telegraph line descends from the CPR system at Franz to reach Michipicoten Harbour. The system features around Manitoulin Island are also interesting.

*  *  *

Vacation Photos from 1985

This view may have been taken from the Agawa Canyon train.

Power at the shop similar to views in the previous part.

Many people have photographs of this equipment.

I believe all of these views were taken on the north (roundhouse) side of the yard.

In an action repeated hundreds of times each day across the system,
a trainman throws his weight against a switch handle.

It seems likely this was inbound power from a westbound tying up at the shop.

*  *  *

Soo Line Crosses the Bridge

A US-bound Soo Line movement approaches the absolute semaphore protecting the swing span.
The bridge is lined for him, so the canal may be busy on the US side.

The Soo Line movement is taking his clear signal.

After some furious driving, you can just see the tailend disappearing beyond the swing span.

A evening shot from near the hotel of the common power arrangement used by the CPR to take a transfer over.

*  *  *

Old Postcards

The Hamonic is upbound to Lake Superior.
With the railway bridge behind the camera, you can see the emergency swing dam to the left.
It was last used in 1909 when a ship broke a lock gate and all of Lake Superior began to empty through the canal.

Except for the land supporting the camera, almost everything shown is north in Canada.

The Chicago-produced postcard above makes the image more interesting with added details.
It seems unlikely that canoes would travel through the compensating dam at the left.

Behind the canoe at the right is the emergency swing dam.

With your knowledge of the swing bridge,
see if you can explain why the train must be added artwork.

In this case, the compensating dam is to the right and the camera is facing south to the US.
The towering vertical lift span of the railway bridge over the US canals is seen in the distance.


*  *  *

Here is the Sault Ste Marie harbour in 1923 
as described in a Canadian government publication.

First, here is a modern map of the area from 1999.

from: Sault Ste Marie Canal, How to Lock Through; 1999; Parks Canada.

from: Canadian Port and Harbour Directory; 1923; Minister of Marine and Fisheries, Government of Canada.

from: Canadian Port and Harbour Directory; 1923; Minister of Marine and Fisheries, Government of Canada.

from: Canadian Port and Harbour Directory; 1923; Minister of Marine and Fisheries, Government of Canada.

*  *  *

To the American Side

Finding some helpful information in a Trains article from December 1958 about the Soo Line, I settled on that date as 'the good old days' for this quick exploration of what was going on over in the US - as it pertained to the Sault Ste Marie bridge. The next map below shows the lines which became CPR property. 

But how and why did the CPR go after these American lines when it had just gone to great expense to build its line north of Superior?

Some ancient history from the 1880s:

The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic; the Wisconsin Central; and the Minneapolis, St Paul and Sault Ste Marie became CPR properties in the United States. 

The last (eventually known as the 'Soo Line') began its corporate life as a second effort by flour millers in Minneapolis to build their own railroad to prevent 'Chicago railroads' from charging them unfairly - compared to the rates charged to similar enterprises closer to Chicago. 

... There were soon five or six railroads serving the Minneapolis area ... and many of them were able to make money from selling real estate from the land grants associated with their charters. The Soo Line received no land grants. So ... the Soo Line came to the area after other lines were established, it didn't have 'free land' with which to supplement its income in the early years. How can this story end well?

The DSS&A was the first railway into Sault Ste Marie, Michigan in 1887. The Dominion Bridge builder's plate on the Sault Ste Marie bridge displays the same date. Dominion Bridge of Lachine, Quebec probably built most of the CPR's large eastern bridges during its period of rapid expansion.

Having checked the contemporary biographies of Canada's great railway builders, and older and newish accounts of the CPR's corporate development, I found no clear explanation why the CPR obtained the US lines shown below on the map. There was some speculation about JJ Hill and WC Van Horne and their great visions for their continental systems ... or their playing chess to deny the other any advantage. 

... Finally, in Lords of the Line (Cruise & Griffiths, 1988) an explanation appears over the course of 15 or 20 pages. 

... Here, I condense and comment: 

This pattern would repeat itself: George Stephen, Donald Smith, JJ Hill et al did very well on their investment in the St Paul & Pacific Railroad (1878) ... later the St Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railroad. This 'Manitoba Road' later became the key overland supply route to Winnipeg for the western construction of the CPR ... The CPR had not yet been built north of Lake Superior. Each investor made millions of dollars. Later, Hill would make this railroad the first section of his western transportation empire - the Great Northern Railway. Eventually the GN was very active in its attempts to siphon off CPR traffic by sending feeder lines north and just across the border.

To make another financial killing, Stephen and Smith quietly bought up the Soo Line early in 1886 and later the DSS&A. Van Horne and Hill had both passed up on these two Soo lines - both railroads needed too much work to get them in shape and they were a low priority as acquisitions. Despite their repeated denials, Hill eventually did find out that his two business partners (Stephen and Smith) were buying these lines for the purpose of selling them to either Hill or the CPR at a profit. Hill started a rate war against the Soo Line. On August 7, 1888, George Stephen resigned as the President of the CPR, immediately after buying the two Soo lines from himself for the CPR. Now the Soo lines were the problem of the CPR's next president - WC Van Horne. 

The story goes on and on - it seems Smith and Stephen betrayed President Van Horne's efforts to make himself and the CPR a lemonade with the two Soo lines. Van Horne purchased the Duluth and Winnipeg Railroad in 1893 - which almost formed a stringline from Duluth to Winnipeg through an area rich in iron deposits - the Mesabi Range. It seems Smith and Stephen were still directors of and investors in the 'Manitoba Road', which was becoming Hill's Great Northern. If the CPR lost, they won. Or they lost if the CPR won. 

Theoretically, directors have a fiduciary responsibility to their corporation, i.e. NOT to the shareholders. It is hard to see how Stephen and Smith could have acted in the best interest of both the CPR and the Great Northern at the same time. 

... CPR Directors Skinner, Stephen, Shaughnessy and Smith effectively conspired and forced Van Horne to sell the D&W to Hill in 1897. This resulted in a great future advantage for Hill's Great Northern at the expense of the CPR and Van Horne. In June of 1899 Van Horne resigned and Shaughnessy became President.

I own CPR annual reports covering the years of Smith's and Van Horne's deaths. I had often wondered why Smith warranted a long laudatory passage but there is no trace of a record of Van Horne's death. It is the victors who write history - including the CPR's corporate history.

The 1958 map below identifies the three discrete corporate identities and their lines. 

from: The Soo's Not Sleeping; William D Middleton; Dec 1958, Trains; Kalmbach.

After building lines for 30 years, the Soo Line was finally complete - according to the article. In spite of the loss of the Duluth and Winnipeg, Van Horne's connection to Portal, ND, and on to Moose Jaw, SK, provided the CPR with the enduring advantage of a shorter route from Chicago to the Pacific coast.

from: The Soo's Not Sleeping; William D Middleton; Dec 1958, Trains; Kalmbach.

The Trains article of 1958 states that the Soo Line's key freight was grain and flour. Cooperative moving of iron ore from the Cuyuna Range over joint trackage with the Great Northern was a lucrative source of income - this is somewhat ironic, considering the history. Lignite, lumber, pulp and paper were other commodities hauled. 

None of the 1958 freight was captive to the Soo Line - except for that associated with the area of Michigan approaching Sault Ste Marie. 

... The rest of the Soo Line's freight could be taken away by other railroads, by lakers on the Great Lakes, by barges down the Mississippi or by trucks. The Soo President at the time saw no future in the passenger business in the region due to the popularity of automobiles.

Wisconsin Central 

(the Stevens Point Division, above)

The Wisconsin Central built its first major line in 1877 from Menasha (near Neenah on the map) to Ashland. It reached Chicago in 1886. The WC came under Soo Line control in 1909. Like the Soo Line, the WC was a latecomer railroad to the area. Unlike the Soo Line, the WC had a million acre land grant. Under CPR control, the WC maintained its separate corporate identity, offices and accounts. After WC's bankruptcy in 1932, the Soo Line became its operating agent, with its crews running WC trains. 

*  *  *

Here are records from CPR annual reports which show 
some US subsidiary changes over the years.


From the 1914 CPR Annual Report

*  *  *

From the 1951 CPR Annual Report

*  *  *

From the CPR 1958 Annual Report

I include all of the other companies because they are interesting to think about.

Notice that one of the controlled companies is the Sault Ste Marie Bridge Company.

In his comprehensive Algoma Rails; 2009; Nickel Belt Publishing

... an excellent reference for the industrial and rail history of the greater Algoma region...

Dale Wilson includes 1943 employee timetables for the
Sault Ste Marie Bridge Co, and the Sault Ste Marie Depot Co.

*  *  *

From the CPR 1961 Annual Report

The list of controlled companies follows again, and notice the the Sault Ste Marie Bridge Company continues as a separate company.

*  *  *

Finally, for those interested in locomotives ...

Here is the 1958 roster of Soo power.

The Trains article author wrote that the Soo received a greater benefit from dieselization in 1955 than most of its neighbouring roads because most of its steam power was quite old and quite light.

from: The Soo's Not Sleeping; William D Middleton; Dec 1958, Trains; Kalmbach.