Mid-week Progress on Switch Installation!

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Thursday afternoon was another productive effort by a TRHA team who spent the afternoon building track. By the time we finished about six o'clock, the second switch at the platform crossover/wye exit location was in place and 2/3 connected. The south wye switch at the depot lead track now has its frog point installed and point blades in place but not finally fitted.
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It was a good productive afternoon and gives us a head start for the weekend. We are now down to only one more switch and a "mess" of crossing flangeways to complete before the main loop can see its first test train.
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Posting by Michael Guy; Pictures by Lance Gleich
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TheTH&B Caboose after Cleanup

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We took a series of pictures of the interior of the TH&B caboose after it was cleaned up by last weekend's work crew to aid in the planning of its restoration. The above pictures show it as it appears after that cleanup work was completed.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Michael Guy
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More Progress on Restoration of Don Station

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These three pictures show that, now that Cabin D is nearing completion, the Murison restoration workers are beginning to address renovation of Don Station. Here we see them removing old shingles in preparation for the building to be pulled back together and lowered onto the foundation.
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Posting & pictures by Michael Guy

More Progress on Restoration of Cabin D

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The above three pictures of Cabin D show the Murison restoration workers putting final coats of paint on the exterior. The signal cabin is geting closer to restoration of its external appearance.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Michael Guy

Progress on Completing the Miniature Railway Trainshed

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At the left above, we see a fine show of the roundhouse from the turntable at 5:00 a.m. on a recent morning.
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In the remaining shots we see that progress is being made on completing the trainshed. The steel roof has been installed. The roof will eventually be a "green roof" in keeping with ecological concerns. The interior shot of the miniature railway depot shows that the power panel is also now in place.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Michael Guy & Lance Gleich
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Weekend Report - Sunday's Progress

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The weather was kind, as forecast, today and we achieved the goal of placing a switch at the south end of the platform.
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Festivities commenced about 9:30 and came to an end around 3:30 when the last two of us standing decided to finally called it quits. The good news is that as well as installing a switch, we were able to complete the next switch needed to complete the platform approach crossover. Although I was pushing to get both installed today and that did not happen, we are still several days ahead as the second switch was going to be next week's project.
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Thanks everyone for a great weekend of work. We did really well.
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Posting by Michael Guy; Pictures by Michael Guy and Lance Gleich
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Weekend Report - Saturday's Progress

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'Twas a lovely day no rain but we stayed indoors anyway. We all got so engrossed in the projects that when someone said "its four o'clock" the collective reaction was surprise - where had the day gone?
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The TH&B van was emptied of junk and swept clean and the lights made to work again. We then recorded the interior after which the two tables were removed (gently) to improve access to the panelling. It seems likely that the three bunks/settees/storage lockers will need to be removed also as there is substantial rot in behind them. More investigation will take place next week.
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Meanwhile we also attended to the Sweet Creek loco, blowing any water out of all the lines in preparation for freezing temperatures. A few of us then spent the rest of the day finishing off the mechanical details of the next miniature switch on the bench. This is now complete and will be installed tomorrow (Sunday).
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Below, we find some of us inspecting a CNR handcart and steamer trunk newly donated to the the museum by Paul French.
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Posting by Michael Guy; Pictures by Michael Guy and James Rasor
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Field Trip Report: The Berkshire Scenic Railway

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Last week, we were vacationing in the Berkshire Mountains in the western part of Massachusetts about a 5 hour drive from the Canada border at Fort Erie. Always on the watch for heritage railway sites to learn from, I discovered the Berkshire Scenic Railway in Lenox, Massachusetts. They operate on weekends when the railway they use, the Housatonic Railway, si not moving freight down the line. The Housatonic is a Class III Railway operating in New England. The Berkshire offers the visitor a 90 minute round trip between Lenox and Stockbridge through the valleys of the Berkshires.
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The railway was closed when visited it during the week. However, one of the 7 volunteers who operate the museum and railway was there and I had an enjoyable conversation with a kindred spirit. In the pictures above we find the volunteer, Paul, restoring one of their old clerestory coaches. In the pictures below we see a replica of a small yard masters office which they faithfully replicated including an authentic interior. The picture also shows the mainstay diesel used for their tourist train rides, an SW-xx switcher. They also have one of the Housatonic's back up RS-3 switchers in their yard which they use when five or more of their 8 Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Pullman passenger coaches built between 1911 and 1925 are pressed into service. Below you will see their string of old coaches. Not shown here is their fully restored New Haven caboose built by the Standard Steel Car Company in 1927.
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Posting and pictures by Russ Milland
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Historical Note: Night Train from Omemee

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Bob Dickson of the TRHA has provided us with a second letter written by his great uncle James William Campbell Dickson (as pictured at upper left). The first letter was published by us here.
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Today's letter describes a trip from Omeemee (see map at upper right) to Montreal. The middle picture is of Omemee Station in 1927 taken by Bob Dickson's grandfather.
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Here is Bob's story about the letter:
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The Night Train from Omemee

"My great uncle James Dickson started working for CN in Toronto in 1929 as secretary to the comptroller. In 1932 they moved the office to Montreal. He worked for CN for 44 years. My grandfather for 27 years. Both my grandfather and great uncle grew up on the railway as my great grandfather started working for the railways in 1883, with the Northern and NorthWestern R.R. in Georgetown as Station Agent. Later with GTR and CN until 1935 where he retired in Omemee.
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I relate this information because my great uncle was a great story teller and I have many of his stories of the railroad. I have heard others talk of the service Via provides, some good , some bad. But the main theme running through them is how much better the service used to be. However they are mistaken. Here is one of my great uncle's stories "The Night Train From Omemee". I'm not sure of the date of his train ride, but the story was written in a letter to my aunt in 1964.
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Bob Dickson, TRHA"
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The letter is too long to post here but you can either open it or download it from the Resources page on the TRHA Website. Click here to access the letter.
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If you have artefacts, stories or other items of historical railway interest to donate or make available to the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre, contact us.
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For more information about Omeemee Station and the history of railways in the area, visit Charles Cooper's Railway Pages.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures, story and letter courtesy of Bob Dickson and the Dickson family; Omeeme Map from the Ontario Archives

Only Regularly Scheduled Steam-Powered Railway in Ontario in 2009!

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This year there was only one regularly scheduled steam-powered passenger train operation in Ontario. The Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway was closed this year to allow for construction of facilities for the G8 Summit in June of 2010. The South Simcoe Railway continues to work on rebuilding CPR 136, a wonderful old steam locomotive which had run for a number of years there before requiring further rebuilding. A few other steam locomotive in Ontario operate only on special occasions and excursions.
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In Port Elgin, Ontario on the shore of Lake Huron, a steam driven passenger train, has run as the Port Elgin and North Shore Railway for many decades. This past summer, the railway operated excursion trains along the beach on a 1 mile (1.6 km) route in downtown Port Elgin. The round trip took approximately 20 minutes. While it is now closed for the winter season, we look forward to visiting it next year.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Peter Stamford of Port Elgin
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Today is CP #7020's 65th Birthday!

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CP #7020 is a Class DS10-b locomotive and carries serial #72855. It has been preserved as part of the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre collection. In the picture at the upper left taken by Lance Gleich in July of 2009, #7020 is dsiplayed today at Roundhouse Park. More information about #7020 can be found here on our website
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As mentioned in earlier TRHA News postings, Derek Boles, TRHA's historian, publishes a daily posting on the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List. These postings document major events in Canadian history that happened on that day of the year. Among the items in today's posting is the following:

October 18, 1944: (65th Anniversary)

"Toronto newspapers report favourably on the new diesels being delivered to the Canadian Pacific Railway for switching freight cars in West Toronto, Parkdale and various downtown yards. The first of these was No. 7020, an S-2 switcher built by the American Locomotive Compnay (Alco) in Schenectady, New York. The municipal enthusiasm for this new type of locomotion was due to concerns over the amount of smoke being discharged by the estimated 117 CP and 175 Canadian National steam locomotives that operated daily within the city of Toronto. No. 7020 was donated to the City of Toronto in 1986 for inclusion in the railway museum at the John Street Roundhouse, where the locomotive is currently undergoing a cosmetic restoration."
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If you wish to read these daily postings from Derek, simply join the Yahoo Group by clicking here.
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In the picture at the above right from the City of Toronto Archives, we see #7020 on delivery in 1944. In the picture at the left below by Pete McKintosh, we find CP Rail #7020 working West Toronto. In the picture at the right below by Dave More, we see #7020 clattering across the diamond at West Toornto headign towards Lambton in 1980.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Lance Gleich, Pete Mackintosh, Dave More (Helmut G. Osterman Collection) and City of Toronto Archives
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