Field Report: Historic Railway Structures in Vancouver, B.C. – Part 2 of 3
Click on each image for a closer look! . In the image at the upper left, we view the former CPR Waterfront Station in a picture taken from Grandville and West Cordova Streets in Vancouver, British Columbia. This station designed by the architectural firm of Barrott, Blackader & Webster and was built by the CPR in 1910 to be the Pacific terminus for Canadian Pacific Railway's transcontinental passenger trains from the east. Today it is used as the terminus for SkyTrain, Trainbus, West Coast Express and SeaBus services. More information can be found at Wikipedia. . The Pacific Central Station in Vancouver was designed by the architectural firm of Christopher Bozyk Architects and opened as the Canadian Northern Pacific Railway terminus on August 28, 1915. It served as the Great Northern Railway terminus from 1917 to 1965. The building was designated a heritage railway station in 1991. The West Coast Railway Association’s website has a fine period photograph on this webpage of Pacific Central Station). . Wikpedia tells us that today ….
“Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is a railway station which acts as the western terminus of VIA Rail’s cross-country The Canadian to Toronto, and the northern terminus of Amtrak’s Cascades to Seattle. Until VIA Rail took over operations around 1979, Canadian Pacific Railway’s passenger trains went further west to Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver, which is now used by the SkyTrain and the West Coast Express commuter railway.” . Jason Pelton of the TRHA visited the station as well recently and offers these images (beginning at the middle above and going clockwise):
Two images of the Pacific Central Station taken from Thornton Park at night
Two large murals on the walls of the McDonald's restaurant of a CNR 6400 series streamlined 4-84 Northern pulling passenger trains
A picture of the interior of the station
. Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Jason Pelton .
Field Report: Historic Railway Structures in Vancouver, B.C. – Part 1 of 3
Click on each picture for a closer look! . As our readers have noticed, TRHA folks are fond of making field trips to other railway museums and restored railways for both personal enjoyment and to get ideas to guide our museum development. Jason Pelton of the TRHA recently visited Vancouver, British Columbia on the west coast of Canada and has taken a number of images of interest to us and no doubt our readers. The first set of images we are posting above are of the Drake Street Roundhouse which is mentioned in the Wikipedia article titled “Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia” in the following paragraph: . “Vancouver was founded in 1886 as an adjunct to the arrival of the railway. The CPR was given extensive lands in the Vancouver area—the West End, lands west of Cambie street, False Creek and the southlands area stretching to the Fraser River. Posh subdivisions came about due to railway influence. The Drake Street Roundhouse was built on False Creek, and so Yaletown emerged. The City of Vancouver was incorporated on 6 April 1886, the same year that the first transcontinental train arrived.” . Drake Street was only one of three roundhouses (all CPR) in Canada which were exclusively devoted to passenger hauling locomotives, the other two being our John St. Roundhouse and the Glen in Montreal (Source: Old Time Trains). In the pictures above, we see the following (from left to right):
View across the turntable pit
View of bays 1 to 7
View of bays 8-10
Today, the Roundhouse houses the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre whose website, aptly named www.roundhouse.ca describes a busy community centre and its activities. Buried deeply in the website, there is a history of the roundhouse and its transformation into a community asset. There is also a very impressive "virtual tour" where you can click on one of six 360 degree tours of different parts of the roundhouse including the train hall where #374 is displayed. More about #374 will be found in a subsequent posting.
Below, Jason has taken photos of three historic plaques at the Drake Street Roundhouse. . Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Jason Pelton .
Weekend Report: Steady Progress on the F7 Cab, Caboose & Depot
Click on each picture for a closer look! . A crew of eleven volunteers worked on many different projects on Saturday. Work continued on the F7 diesel cab as shown in the images above. Joshua, our newest volunteer, applied test paint patches to the CP #7020 using a multi-mark red colour, to the Pyke crane using a yellow colourand to the TH&B #70 caboose for a second test of the red colour and a second test of yellow colour. Inside the caboose, five of our volunteers continued to work on the caboose finishing the tongue and groove covering on the left wall and began work on the right wall. As shown in the middle image of the caboose interior, we carefully reinstalled the boards with the Christmas message we discovered last year and which was featured in a Christmas posting here. . On Sunday, Michael Guy led an expedition to visit the Golden Horseshoe Live Steamers in Hamilton, Ontario on the occasion of their monthly meeting. At that meeting, Michael, Arno and I delivered a slide show presentation on the development of the TRHC miniature railway facility. At the end of the presentation, we solicited their support in providing additional equipment and manpower to help us entertain what we expect will be very large crowds of visitors on our opening weekend on May 29th and 30th. We also took the opportunity to repatriate the remaining two of our four passenger riding cars which were being tested and stored at the GHLS track. . Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Dan Garcia , Lance Gleich and James Rasor .
Historic Image: CNR Northern #6213 in Niagara Falls October 3rd, 1958
Click on the image for a closer look! . Today we are publishing a picture taken by Al Paterson on October 3rd, 1958. It is one of the few pictures that we have of our CNR Northern 4-8-4 U-2-g Northern #6213. Here we find a dramatic image of our engine taking a ride on the turntable at the Niagara Falls, Ontario roundhouse where it was being prepared to pull train #93 to Toronto, Ontario. . Posting by Russ Milland; Image from the Al Paterson Collection
Donation: Name Board and Schedule Board from CPR Agincourt Station
Click on each image for a closer look! . “The Toronto Railway Heritage Centre recently received a valuable donation from John Kendall of Toronto who regularly rides past the roundhouse on his bike and is aware of progress at the museum. The donation consists of the name board and schedule board from the Canadian Pacific Railway Agincourt station. The photograph at the left above shows these two items in the Machine Shop. . Agincourt station was first established by the CPR in 1884 and was 13 miles northeast of Union Station on the main line to Montreal. As CPR passenger trains dwindled in number during the 1960s, Agincourt became less important as a passenger station. In 1964, CP established Toronto Yard at Agincourt, by this time part of Scarborough. In the early days, the yard was sometimes referred to as Agincourt Yard. . After 1966, the only passenger trains stopping at the station were the Dayliners for Peterborough and Havelock. These trains would have been serviced at the John Street roundhouse until 1982, then discontinued. VIA revived the service between 1985 and 1990, when they were discontinued once again. There is currently talk of establishing a commuter service along this line..The last timetable showing the times and train numbers indicated on the schedule board was VIA's June 17-October 27, 1979 edition. After that date, the trains were renumbered. Of course, all the CP passenger trains that passed by our own Don Station would have also passed by Agincourt, at least until 1969 when the Don Station was moved to Todmorden Mills. . Our appreciation and thanks to John Kendall, who had the foresight to preserve this aspect of Toronto's railway heritage long enough to find a suitable home for it.” . Posting & Picture by Derek Boles, TRHA Historian . "For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the specific location of the station, it was located on the west side of Brimley Road, just north of Sheppard Avenue. I suspect that it was closed down and demolished in the late 1970's, as the last person to hold the position of Station Agent at Agincourt was James W. Lahay, who moved to Streetsville to work late in 1974 or early 1975. This would have occurred probably a short time before Agincourt closed. So the station was probably torn down sometime after 1975 unless the section gang used it for a while, which did happen with some smaller stations. . Just west of Agincourt station at Kennedy Road, the CPR Havelock Subdivisio joined the Belleville Subdivision. Thus both the Belleville and Havelock Subs passed by Agincourt station, a fact that most people, even railroaders, don't know. There were two train order signals both on steel masts. One was located on the south side of the tracks adjacent to the station wall as shown in the photo by Al Paterson at the above right. The other was located on the north side of the Havelock Subdivision immediately across from the station. Both were controlled by the Operator in the Station. In the pictures below by John Mellow, we find TH&B #71 passing the station in 1970 (left below) and a CPR passenger train passing by in the summer of 1965 (right below)" . By John Mellow; Pictures by John Mellow and from The Al Paterson Collection .
Mid-Week Report: Busy-ness Prevails During the Week - Part 2 of 2
Click on each image for a closer look! . As shown in the pictures below, work is also progressing on completing the restoration of Don Station and Cabin D. Tom Murison, whose team is doing the work, reports regularly on their progress. Here is an excerpt about the deck work from his latest report: . “We have laid out the substructure for the Don deck and most of the Cabin D deck. The sleepers are set on the well compacted limestone base, and the decks are sloped to drain away from the buildings. The beams are generally 6 x 6 or 6 x 8 with the heavier pieces used at the perimeter or where the highest loads are expected. We have nailed the beams to the sleepers with galvanized 10" nails through pilot holes, driven with the sledge. At corners the beams are nailed to each other horizontally. We have allowed for air to flow through the deck with passages around the beam ends at the brickwork to allow the air to ventilate the space. This may become a critter haven, but is big enough for cats to rule.” . Finally, to wrap up a great week, we have the following "Friday" story from Michael Guy:
"Dave Fleming and I were working away in the three stalls this afternoon (as were the heating plumbers) when a woman arrived towing her eleven year old son. Her son Bennett is a train enthusiast and apparently spends much of his online time glued to TRHA.ca watching us from his home in the Junction. This young fellow knows everything there is to know about everything we own because he reads every word we publish. He led me on a tour of the museum describing the history of everything from the origin of the truck under the F7 to the fact that we got the Pyke from GO and he even knew that loco #1 was "originally" painted green! It appears that we are making quite an impact out there!" . Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Tom Murison & Michael Guy . .
Mid-Week Report: Busy-ness Prevails During the Week - Part 1 of 2
Click on each image for a closer look! . Even during the week, there is activity above and beyond the work being done by contractors. . On Wednesday, a small team of TRHA volunteers had a great day today working on the miniature railway depot tracks in the sunshine as seen in the pictures above. A full day of precision work on the tracks joining the depot to the turntable resulted in some serious progress on completing this connection. As well, applying shovels to the mud resulted in our properly completing the laying of the siding along the north side wall of the depot. The siding is now complete with ballast, is reasonably level and has a flower bed ready for plants between the track and the wall. . In the pictures below, we find the City of Toronto’s project team for Roundhouse Park meeting with members of the Board of TRHA and with Tom Murison who is restoring Don Station and Cabin D as we finalize details for the completion of these structures in time for the opening of the first phase of the museum on Doors Open weekend in late May. Subsequent to this meeting, the City folks and TRHA worked through planning for the opening event. . Finally, in the last image, we find that as of last Tuesday, a test pattern was playing on the Roundhouse Park signage suggests that soon we will be able to make announcements to the public passing by on Bremner Boulevard. . Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Michael Guy, Arno Martens & Russ Milland .
Next TRHA Union Station Tour on Saturday, March 27th, 2010
Click on each picture for a closer look! . The TRHA offers tours of Union Station on the last Saturday of each month at 11 a.m. Cost is $10 each payable on arrival for the tour. Reservations are not necessary and those interested should meet by the Traveler's Aid counter in the centre of the Great Hall at 10:50 a.m. For more about these tours, click here.
Weekend Report: Record Turnout of Volunteers - Part 2 of 2
Click on each image for a closer look! . Continuing our visual coverage of the weekend's progress, we see at the upper left the Fowler box car in an unusual appearance outside the roundhouse. This boxcar was a revolutionary Canadian invention in its time. The next two pictures show progress by Tom Murison's crew on building the station platform in front of Don Station. . In the images below, we track the progress that was made on the weekend in finishing the surfaces in the miniature railway depot and in installing the miniature railway turntable. . Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Stephen Gardiner, Michael Guy & James Rasor .
Weekend Report: Record Turnout of Volunteers - Part 1 of 2
Click on each image for a closer look! . Saturday, March 20th . Lots of activity today at the roundhouse and lots of public wandering through and watching the performance as we shuffled cars and locomotives for a photo shoot by Norm Betts, a professional photographer who has been documenting progress of the development of Roundhouse Park for some time. We actually hit an all-time record high for volunteers on site at one time. There were eighteen of us engaged in various projects. . A host of tasks were tackled which included the miniature locomotive workshop, the TH&B caboose, shuffling the rolling stock and engines, moving fences around to facilitate moves, operating the turntable, working on the F7 cab, sealing the floor in the miniature railway depot, installing the barrier arms on the crossing gates, and of course capturing everything in pictures. . The weather was perfect for working and photography being cloudy and therefore evenly lit. Not too warm in the afternoon though; we were getting occasional flakes of snow! All together it was a good day and I think everyone either had fun or felt good about achieving a goal on a project. Congratulations to TH&B caboose team as they were able to close up the west wall today with the tongue and groove interior panelling. . We also thank volunteer Dave Wetherald for his donation of four new fluorescent lighting fixtures. . Sunday, March 21st . I thought the coming of spring was supposed to bring warmth? It was better last week when it was still "winter"! Regardless, a small team completed installation of the mini turntable today. It revolves nicely and it is the right height. We can now proceed to complete the miniature railway tracks leading to the depot. On Sunday, work also continued on the task of stripping the caboose doors. . Posting by Michael Guy, Pictures by Stephen Gardiner, Michael Guy & James Rasor .
The Fort Erie RR Museum & Restoration of CNR Northern #6218
Click on each picture for a closer look! . As we have noted before, our CNR Northern 4-8-4 Steam Engine #6213 is one of several that still exist across Canada. One of the other members of this class of locomotive, #6218, is located at the Fort Erie Railroad Museu. This locomotive was built in 1942 and donated to Fort Erie in 1973. It has not been maintained since 1973 and has deteriorated seriously. . It has been determined that the locomotive is in need of repairs to cosmetically restore it that will cost a total of $429,000. Mary McLelland-Papp, of the recently formed Fort Erie Historical Railway Association, says an initial fund-raising goal of $73,000 has been set. A campaign to seek memberships from corporations, individuals and other volunteers who are interested in doing their part to make the train's restoration a reality is now in effect. The City of Fort Erie has also made an initial allocation of $50,000 towards the restoration effort. . For more information, read the recent article in the Fort Erie Times newspaper by clicking here. . I visited the Fort Erie Railway Museum site for the first time yesterday and brought back the images seen here of the museum and #6218. In this images we find that their collection includes #6218, a wood-sided CN Caboose, a fireless steam engine and the very classic Ridgeway railway station. Fireless engines were filled with steam or compressed air and then used in plant facilities where the existence of a fire would be very dangerous. The museum will open for the season on Victoria Day weekend. . Also found below is a video of #6218 operating in October of 1969 on one of the many excursion trips which she pulled at the end of her career, several of which I thoroughly enjoyed as a young railway enthusiast. . Posting and Pictures by Russ Milland . .
Click on each image for a closer look!
