Weekend Report: Preparing for Halloween Eve!

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This weekend was the last of the season for the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre. Sunday was a chilly day in Roundhouse Park and we even saw snow falling as captured in the picture of Cabin D at the upper left. Despite the nippy weather, visitors did enjoy rides on the miniature railway as shown above.
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But the main order of the day was to prepare for our Halloween Eve operation. Our volunteers did a terrific job as can be seen in the images below and in our next news posting.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Lance Gleich
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Weekend Report: Continuing the machine shop clean-up!

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As we move into our winter projects season, one of our priorities was the cleaning up of the machine shop area to allow us to use more of that space for upcoming projects.
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Saturday, Jim, myself, and Bob spent the morning working with Jordan and Karl, two volunteers from Leon's on furthering this cleanup. The main project of the day was to dismantle the old floor base used for the meeting room tent so that the pieces could be re-used for a new upcoming project next week. Karl and Jordan's extra help allowed us to get everything done on time and on schedule. Everything was completed, the machine shop has a new clear area for sorting, and we are ready to go next week with the next project.
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Posting and pictures by James Rasor
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EXPORAIL's Maritime Railways #5's Restoration Completed!

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The Maritime Railway was a 12 mile steam powered line which operated in Nova Scotia from 1887 until 1961. The line ran between the coal mines in Joggins and the Inter Colonial Railway (IRC) mainline at Maccan. The line began operation as the Joggins Railway, being incorporated in 1883, and opened for operation on November 3, 1887. The railway line operated until September 23rd, 1961 when it ceased operations for good. Two of the company's last three steam locomotives were sold for scrap but # 5, a ten wheeler, was sold to Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum. Cosmetic restoration of the engine has just been completed and the pictures shown here are of the restored engine being moved into place at the museum.

You can follow events and progress at Exporail at their website or their Facebook page.

Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Jean-Paul Viaud of Exporail

EXPORAIL Celebrates the 125th Anniversary of the Driving of the Last Spike

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A number of us have visited Exporail (as reported here) which can legitimately lay claim to being Canada's National Railway Museum. Last summer I visited the site of this monumental event in Canada's history as documented in this TRHA News Blog posting. This year is the 125 anniversary of the driving of the last spike. Exporail will be celebrating this special event and invites everyone to join the celebration as follows as follows:

"Relive one of the most memorable moments in Canadian history, when the eastern and western portions of the Canadian Pacific Railway met at Craigellachie, British Colombia 125 years ago, on November 7, 1885.
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Visitors coming to Exporail, the Canadian Railway museum, will be able to climb aboard the business car “Saskatchewan” used by William C. Van Horne, the director under seeing the construction of the Canadian Pacific railway. This magnificent car, equipped with all the conforts of the era, transported Mr. Van Horne from Montreal to Craigellachie, B.C. to assist in this historic moment. Small group of 5 or 6 persons at a time will be able to board the car, visit the different rooms and discover the history associated with it.
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As well, visitors will be able to imagine themselves taking part of this historical occasion. The public can stand in the company of Donald A. Smith, William C. Van Horne, Sandford Fleming and many other historical figures by inserting themselves into the photograph (see image above) that was taken at the driving of the last spike."
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These activities will be occurring at Exporail on Sunday, November 7, 2010, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
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Click here to read the next of our series of TRHA News postings on the 125th Anniversary of the driving of the Last Spike on the CPR.
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Posting by Russ Milland

Chasing the Credit Valley Explorer!

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Railfanning, described in an earlier TRHA News post) is a popular pastime pursued by many railroad enthusiasts. Brian Switzer is an avid railfan who shares the images and stories of his excursions on the Internet. His latest adventure involved the pursuit of the Credit Valley Explorer, a successful tourist train which operates on a shortline called the the Orangeville Brampton Railway which operates between Orangeville and Streetsville, Junction in Mississauga, Ontario (see map above).
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Here is an excerpt about this train from the Credit Valley Explorer website:
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“Winter, spring, summer or fall, the Credit Valley Explorer is southern Ontario’s premiere tour train experience. Each season offers unique views and different tour train services through the Credit Valley and Hills of Headwaters in the heart of Ontario's Greenbelt. Known for rolling hills, deep valleys, unsurpassed fall colours and being the headwaters of four major river systems, the Hills of Headwaters region provides a wonderful backdrop for the Credit Valley Explorer’s journey. Scenic highlights include the 1,146 foot long railway trestle bridge spanning the Credit Valley and the Forks of the Credit river, and the Forks of the Credit Provincial Park at Cataract. Most tours make a brief rest stop in the village of Inglewood to let passengers enjoy the charms of this quaint rural community. Travelling over a rail route established 130 years ago along the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, the 74km adventure aboard classic rail cars is sure to be a memorable experience!”
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Here are selected excerpts Brian’s full account on his blog of that adventure:
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“The plan for the day was to meet up with Marcus and photograph the Credit Valley Explorer between Orangeville and Snelgrove. We met at his house and headed off to Orangeville to check out the train. When we arrived it was loading passengers.
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Our first destination was Cataract. This is the former junction of the Canadian Pacific Elora and Orangeville Subdivisions as well and the location of a large limestone quarry. Here you can see the train run along the edge of the cataract at the ruins of the Cataract Electric Company.
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After our long but fruitful wait we drove out ahead of the train and caught up to it in Inglewood. Once again we made our way south to find another location to photograph the train while the sunshine held out. We settled on King Street near Cheltenham where we could photograph the Niagara Escarpment in the background.
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We followed along again and photographed the train one more time in Snelgrove just before the GP9 diesel engine switched ends to return north. Now that the train was returning north we headed back to Cheltenham for one last photograph of the train. By now the clouds had moved in so we called off the chase of the Credit Valley Explorer.”
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Brian Switzer has a great website where he shares his images as well as those of several other railroad photographers. Click here to pay it a visit and click here to read his blog!
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Click here to get your free copy of the TRHA's Guide to Railfanning in Toronto 2010.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Images by Brian Switzer.
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Weekend Report: Excursion through the fall colours!

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The past few weeks at Roundhouse Park have been very colourful as the leaves respond to the cooling temperatures. Last Saturday, James Rasor made a special effort to capture the fall colours as our miniature railway train ran through the park's forest.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by James Rasor.
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Weekend Report: Sunday was a very steamy day!

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It was an agreeable day with no rain to dampen proceedings but it was cold and damp enough that our steam engines made spectacular steam effects all day as we can see in these photos. The reassembled smaller steam engine, the Romulus, was steam tested it on the track late in the day. The news was mixed in that it steamed well but the valve gear is still far from correct. We discovered that the left side return crank had shifted sometime in the past by rotating the crank pin in the wheel. This should not happen and causes all sorts of havoc with the valve events when it does. The repair is straightforward but tedious. Romulus is presently way up in the air as shown in the photo below on the new lift table while we disassemble it yet again.
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Posting by Michale Guy; Pictures by Lance Gleich
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Weekend Report: Capitalizing on a Wiggles Day!

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Today was quite cool and cloudy but thanks to a series of Wiggles concerts durign the day for the wee folk at the Rogers Centre, there was steady visitor traffic all afternoon which kept the miniature railway busy. Meanwhile, inside the machine shop and the three stalls, teams of volunteers began our winter program of projects starting with the cleanup of the machine shop.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Images by Stephen Gardiner, Russ Milland & James Rasor
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Maintaining "The John Street Polish" tradition!

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Above, we have a scene captured by TRHA volunteer Lance Gleich from earlier in the summer when it was warm enough for shorts to be worn! A weekend miniature railway crew wipes down TRHA locomotive #3 after a day's duty of giving train rides.
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Steam locomotives work on a "total loss" lubrication system where the steam cylinder oil is exhausted with the used steam up the smokestack. The resulting combination of oil and soot makes an excellent if messy rust-resistant coating over everything. This is one reason working steam locomotives were commonly painted black. When a locomotive for reasons of pride of corporate ownership was dressed in colour, much effort was expended to keep the machine looking good. The Canadian Pacific John St Roundhouse was, in pre-WWII days known for the splendid condition of its passenger locomotive fleet, which was said to have "The John St. Polish".
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Canadian Pacific's #2816 "The Empress" is kept in this clean and shiny condition today as can be seen in the image below from the Canadian Pacific's photo gallery at their corporate website. Cleaning is also necessary to keep the bearings of exposed mechanical parts free from grit and dirt to extend the life of those parts. "Cleaner" was often a first step up the promotion ladder to fireman, then engineer.
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The TRHA volunteers like to continue the "John St. Polish" tradition in a small way by keeping our #3 looking good.
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Posting by Michael Guy; Pictures courtesy of Lance Gleich and Canadian Pacific.
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Historic Images: John St. Interior - In 1929 and today!

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Further to yesterday's images of the John St. Roundhouse in 1985 as it was about to close, Derek Boles, our TRHA historian offers these two images to contrast how the interior looked in 1929 (Toronto Archives image) when the roundhouse first opened and what that area of the roundhouse looks like today with this space being occupied by Leon's. Note these pictures are of different areas of the roundhouse.
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For more notes and images about the construction of John St. in 1929, click here!
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Posting by Russ Milland; Images by Derek Boles.

Historic Images: Inside the John St. Roundhouse in 1985!

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"Back on February 20, 1985, I had the opportunity to visit the old CPR John Street Roundhouse near downtown Toronto. While Canadian National’s/VIA Spadina Avenue Roundhouse received more notoriety, John Street was an awesome place to visit. CP maintained a small fleet of aging MLW S2 and S3 switchers at John Street until the roundhouse closed up shop in 1986."
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So wrote Scott Snell of Easton, Pennsylvania as he shared these photos with us. We always appreciate being allowed to use historic photos of our artefacts or the Toronto railway scene to complete our coverage of the railway history of our area.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Images copyright Scott R. Snell and reproduced with his permission
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Trip Report: The National Railway Museum (NRM), York, UK

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One of the premier railway museums in the world, the National Railway Museum (NRM) was opened in 1975 as a dedicated museum for the national collection of railway artefacts. This interesting museum is located within a five-minute walk of the busy and architecturally stunning York railway station (which is itself worth a visit).
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There is a wide variety of locomotives, rolling stock and artefacts from Britain and also from around the world (there is a steam locomotive from China and a Shinkansen from Japan).
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The site is divided roughly into five parts: the Station Hall, housing luxury passenger equipment; the south yard, where most of the collection of diesels is normally stored; the Great Hall, housing locomotives including the newly-restored 6229 “Duchess of Hamilton”; the warehouse, housing only a portion of the massive collection of artefacts; and the works, where visitors can watch the ongoing restorations at the NRM. In recent years, the museum has worked to make its vast archives more accessible and the new “search engine” level does just this. There is also a viewing platform looking out over York station, with a live departure board.
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These photos show some of the many displays at the NRM. Clockwise from the upper left, the first photo shows the ongoing restoration work on D1023 and on 55002. The second shot shows one of “Flying Scotsman’s” two tenders, the rest of the locomotive is currently being restored off-site. The third photo is a view overlooking the artefact warehouse, literally jammed with interesting items and objects.
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The fourth and fifth photos (below) show two of the displays in the Great Hall, No. 737 (Wainwright D Class locomotive) and No. 6229, the newly restored “Duchess of Hamilton” which is part of the NRM’s display on Art Deco design.
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The final photograph (lower left) shows two of the five class 37 diesel locomotives on hand for the 50th Birthday of the locomotive type. D6700 (left) is the class pioneer and has just been restored to full working order.
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The museum takes a very long time to see properly and is an excellent day out for the whole family. Admission is free! More information can be found at Wikipedia and the the NRM website.
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Posting and Pictures by Thomas Blampied
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