In 1983,my Mom and Dad travelled to Portage la Prairie in Part 1 of this series. On August 5, this eastbound CP freight led by four Geeps had the sun at my Dad's back as he photographed. The Canadian was three hours late this day!
CN two-unit eastbound intermodal picking up orders at Portage:
In Winnipeg on a ridealong with my aunt and uncle, CNR 2747 is stuffed and mounted. The first steam locomotive built in Manitoba, specifically at Transcona Shops:
And no visit to Winnipeg would be complete without a stop at the Symington Yard hump leads. Check out the kaleidoscopic rear-view mirror view as Geep hump set has its portrait taken!
The depot when it still wore the wet-noodle. Oh sure, VIA was there in lower-case signage:
On the trip home, my dyed-in-the-wool Dad took a photo of this CPR beaver blanket, no doubt made by Ayers in Lachute, QC! Both mattresses in their bedroom B of Prince Albert Park were topped by them.
Ride the dome home! CN No 2 operated over the Toronto-Montreal Corridor, so their dome car brought them back to Kingston, with my brother recording their arrival. The ex-CN diner, two Chateau cars, three E-series sleepers and Dayniter were removed by CN switcher 8513 while the consist was in Toronto Union Station. A club car and three ex-CN coaches were added.
Tomorrow - the 100th anniversary of the Armistice to end the Great War. The War to End All Wars. Not.
My maternal grandfather, Lieutenant James Scott Parke (above, serving with Royal Artillery in World War I). Postcards home ('me' circled on postcard, top left - below) to his mother and wife. Without his sacrifice and survival into peacetime, there would be no humble blogger and no James Douglas - one who has no concept of war - James' great-great-grandson. May we all be channels of that peace.
5 comments:
TOFC and a caboose - marvelous!
That scene with the Geeps and the slugs at the Symington hump yard lead could be replicated today, with a lot of chain saw work. It might even be the same units operating there, 35 years later.
Yeehaw! GP38 behind 3 GP9s on CP(4 Axels with TOFC means that might be 562 Speed from Edmonton), CN Hellcats with the Speed, and lovely John Green(without the tires even). Thanks for sharing these color images Eric, even some of which aren't in Trains and Grains! The before time in the long long ago always seems so much more exotic than what we have now. But I guess the good old days weren't always great and tomorrow's not as bad as it seems. Thanks again for more excellent Portage material! I'll find a way to translate this onto the Rocky Ridge club layout soon enough!
Thanks, Steve and Elijah, for your comments.
Yes, things were different then. Better? For railfans, the answer is probably yes. More variety and just...different.
Indeed, I needed to fill a page in TRAINS Vol 1 that is, so my Dad's photos came in handy. Most of his best photos from 1983 are in this two-post series. I'm glad to have his photos to share. Since he was primarily there to visit his sister, he didn't spent quite as much time trackside as I did, but all four of them would be jouncing around the Portage yards in the Red Wing van any chance they could - great spot for an evening drive in any era!
Eric
Always nice to see the fabulous Portage content (TOFC with van!) and very excited to see the picture of 2747 in Transcona (the house I grew up in is about four blocks east of the "Train Park").
That TOFC/van combo is a crowd-pleaser! My Dad was a 'steam guy' so if he saw a steam locomotive, he was going to get a photo (without inconveniencing the driver of course) on the fly.
Thanks for your comment, Tyler! More Portage to come, of course!
Eric
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