Kingston-Portage la Prairie Aboard VIA, 1983

My Dad and Mom made two trips from Kingston to

Portage la Prairie (locally known as Portage) aboard

VIA, to visit family there in 1983 and 1994. The first

trip was in July-August, 1983.

Neatly written in two

48-page coil notebooks are my Dad’s railfanning notes

from the trip, which I've transcribed below.
The notebooks cost a princely 49 cents

in 1983, and the price sticker (remember those?) is

from HILL’s EAST Drug Store in Portage! Interestingly,

1983 was the only year between 1978 and 1986 that I

did not make a summertime trip to Portage.

We are there to see Mom and Dad off to Portage la Prairie, MB aboard an

11-car No 1/55 led by VIA 6765-6618 on July 20, 1983 (top photo).

Departure on July 20 was from Kingston, aboard the

Corridor Canadian  with family there

to see them off and help with suitcases. My parents

were travelling in Bedroom F of Amherst Manor

designated as Car 122, but made it up to the dome of

Kokanee Park in the first two miles after departure!

The nightly RDC’s were eastbound at Port Hope, and

CN freights led by 2026 and 9654 were met west of

Oshawa. At Toronto Union Station, CN switcher 8515

coupled on to the rear of No 1. The trainman’s orange

CN lantern was visible. Also in the station were VIA

6767-6859-Chaleur Bay-5474, likely the eastbound

Cavalier. A GO train with five bilevels and six coaches

and passengers was eastbound around 2325.

Dad reported rough track leaving Toronto, before

encountering welded rail and heading ‘straight north

- moonlight’.

At 0400 on July 21, the Canadian was on an

embankment or viaduct at Parry Sound, switching to

CP tracks after a back-up move. Sudbury was reached

in overcast, though the ‘dumpy’ station failed to

impress, especially when the lunch counter had no

milk in cartons (cost would have been 65 cents).

My Mom stands patiently by at Sudbury after walking to the head-end to

see 6769-6619-6624 on July 21, 1983. (L.C. Gagnon photo):

Lunch in ex-CN diner 1363 was beef patty and chicken

salad. Chapleau around 1300 brought views of CP

switcher 7091 and Centuries 4714-4722 in the yard.

An eastbound CP freight of Japanese import cars on

auto racks was at Franz Junction at 1600, with another

CP eastbound in a meet at O’Brien 25 minutes later.

CP switcher 6549 worked the yard at White River at

1710. Dinner in the diner was beef and sole at 1815,

and both meals in the diner, for two, came to less

than $30. CP Century 4510 was at Schreiber, and a

meet with No 2 took place in the fading daylight at

2130.

The Ignace area featured a derailment around

0200 on July 22. Five or six freight cars on their

sides, one at right angles to the track! Big hook and

auxiliary on scene. No 1 passed slowly, though jolting

interrupted their sleep. Rennie and Whitemouth, MB

were reached at 0900, then the shuttered station at

Molson.

My Mom is at right, beside Amherst Manor, at Chapleau. (L.C. Gagnon

photo - above) My Dad with Kokanee Park at Chapleau servicing stop 

on July 21, 1983. (M.P. Gagnon photo):

Arrival in Winnipeg was about an hour late,

with my aunt and uncle from Portage meeting the

train in Winnipeg, followed by dinner at the Countess

of Dufferin restaurant. A drive around CN’s East Yard

revealed the Prairie Dog Central having just returned

with its excursion train. A chat with the engineer

ensued. Engine 3 burned West Virginia coal which

cost $167/ton at the time. The engineer pulled out

his silver-cased Waltham [pocket] watch with Roman

numerals. VIA 6507-6623-6611 were backing up to

take VIA No 2 east, including visible cars Laurentide

Park-Dufferin-Manor-Dunsmuir Manor. Duplex

roomette VIA I-series cars Intervale and Iroquois were

in East Yard.

A visit to the very successful 1983 NMRA convention

held in Winnipeg took place on July 23, with another

dinner at the Countess of Dufferin, the central dining

are of which resembled a dining car. 

A three-unit No 2 stops at Portage la Prairie in August, 1983. 

(L.C. Gagnon photo):

On the 26th,

No 2 arrived at Portage at 1630. The consist: 6502-

6607-6602-616-129-126-3214-500-5717- 5746-Edwardsville-

Edgeley-Elcott-Emerald-1363-Chateau

Closse-Chateau Jolliet-Bliss Manor-Amherst Manor-

Waterton Park, all of which had been on their westbound

Canadian except for the power, 5746, Emerald,

Chateau Jolliet and Waterton Park. A couple from

Australia arrived on the Canadian and the ensuing reunion

was the first time two brothers originally from

Holland had seen each other in 35 years!

An evening country drive on July 29 including a

chance encounter with VIA No 110 at Newton, MB.

Unusually led by CP 8812 assisting VIA 6518 with its

two coaches. Another drive on July 31 included a

westbound CN freight with locomotives 9420-9493-

9503 pulling an assortment of freight cars including

57-foot auto transporter CN 9502 in its ‘billboard

black & white auto’ scheme. No 2 on August 2 was

staffed by conductors and trainmen ‘wearing old style

caps with VIA badge’. 

An August 3 drive to Winnipeg

netted the eastbound Canadian near Elie at 1705, its

three units and 17 cars visible from the Trans-Canada

Highway. The westbound Canadian through Portage

on August 5 included tail-end cars Chateau Salaberry-

Chateau Viger-Cornwall Manor-Butler Manor-Banff

Park. Its eastbound counterpart was operating three

hours late, observed west of Portage at 1955, again

with three units and 17 cars. On August 6, Burton

Manor and Lorne Manor were visible at the station

in Winnipeg when my parents arrived to board the

eastbound Canadian back to Kingston.

My Dad has his newly-purchased VIA ‘trucker cap’ in hand just before

boarding the Canadian, at Winnipeg station with Mom on August 6, 1983. (above)
It’s still light at 2035 as No 2 departs 

Winnipeg on August 6, 1983. Dad photographs the photographer 

from the dome of Prince Albert Park (below). (Wilf Schellenberg photos)

At 1700, it was a hot, dry 90-degree Fahrenheit day in

Winnipeg. In Winnipeg Depot, my parents checked in

to the sleeping car steward, before ascending to track

level and finding their accommodation in Bedroom

B of Prince Albert Park, designated as Car 229. The

train for Sioux Lookout, Nakina and Capreol had just

departed. Their porter, Fernand, welcomed them

aboard and they went back to the car’s dome at 2015.

CN switcher 7180 was behind No 2 and departure

was at 2035. 

The Canadian moved out of Winnipeg,

photographed from the parking lot by my uncle, and

finally headed straight east. In the dome until 2245,

five westbound CP freights before passed before their

train reached Kenora at 2305. Each train’s headlights

and ditchlights approached in the darkness, were

dipped for the engine crew of No 2, but turned up

by the time the Park car was reached and passed..

Flashing CP hotbox detectors also slid by at

trackside. Passengers came and went from the dome

in darkness, but it was seldom more than half-full.

The Park car bedroom was ‘a bit smaller than one in

a Manor car but had a bigger bathroom’. Original CP

beaver brown blankets were on both made-up beds.

The westbound Canadian was met in the Ignace area.

On August 7, a VIA woman representative gave my

Dad two lunch reservation slips. A small cairn north of

the track at Mi 102.7, commemmorated the last spike

driven on CP’s Montreal to Winnipeg segment on

May 16, 1885. Lunch in the diner was beef patty and

chicken salad, soup, dessert, coffee in the Jack Fish

curve area at an affordable $10.50. The Park car dome

filled up by 1100. A CP Dayliner was on an adjacent

track during a brief stop at White River. 

Though it looks like my Dad is missing his train, No 2 is actually stopped

for servicing at White River on August 7, 1983. Noted - rail is Algoma Steel

115-pound rolled in 1982. (L. C. Gagnon photo):

Spending the afternoon in their room, Fernand dropped by to

be helpful, and the VIA woman representative also

stopped by again and sold two suppers totalling $19.

The westbound Canadian with three units including

6539, and approximately 15 cars was met on the

south track at Franz.

Supper at Chapleau was chicken salad, with pie. At

Sultan, a multi-unit CP was westbound at 1855 with

5965-5542-5557-5781-5666-6007-5930-4712 and

van 434643. Doing 1 mile in 55 seconds at Mile 63,

Biscotasing was reached only five minutes late. In the

dome ‘a fellow in front had tin can repetitive music

coming from his headphones - 8:30 p.m.’ Sightings of

the train’s headlight were less frequent than during

the previous dome ride out of Winnipeg, leaving the

dome around 2200 after the train continued east

from the stop at Cartier, ON.

The last day on the train, August 8 began at Toronto

Union Station’s track 8. A tip for the ever-helpful

Fernand as he departed but my parents stayed on

the train for the trip down CN’s Kingston Sub to

Kingston. CN switcher 8513 removed the last four

CP cars, taking the next seven cars (Dayniter, two

Chateau cars, three E-series and diner 1365) over

to Spadina coach yard. A club car and three coaches

were added for passengers to Ottawa, Montreal and

points in-between. 

Dayliners, LRC 6901, several GO

trains, two Amtrak consists shared the trainshed

on this warm, sunny day. At 0825, the joint Ontario

Northland/VIA Northland was disembarking

passengers: ONR 1502-9654-755-ONR white/blue/

yellow 842-5594-Greening before being taken to

Spadina coach yard by CN 8515. My Dad walked to

the head-end before departure, photographing lead

unit VIA 6767 with Toronto trackside icons Royal York

hotel and CN Tower.

On departure, three Dayliners from Kingston were

inbound as the train reached 90 mph around Port

Hope. Arrival at Kingston was on-time. Cost for fare

and accommodation aboard VIA, booked through a

Kingston travel agent, was less than $1,500.

Watch for an upcoming post (or two) with other trackside photos that my Dad took during that 1983 trip to Portage!

Running extra...

The Associated Railroaders of Kingston are taking on two new projects - one is a November train show in Kingston (see link at top of sidebar) and modules depicting Kingston's Hanley Spur downtown/inner harbour trackage. Though the club emphatically does not want a club layout, this Hanley Spur module project will allow us to build and bring together parts of a larger layout of a very modellable prototype.

Who thought CN would ever run short of Geeps?  This week, I caught GMTX 2248-2273 on Belleville-Kingston turn CN No 518 (no camera at the time!) parallelling Bath Road, but fellow Kingston railfan Paul Hunter staked them out on CN's Cataraqui Spur. Blue and beautiful!

At the Invista plant (above) and Armstrong Subdivision trestle near Bath Road among the bullrushes (below). Thanks, Paul!