Kingston-Vancouver aboard VIA, Part 2 - September, 1986

Arriving in Vancouver aboard VIA No 1 on May 23, 1986 I observed and photographed Expo86's Grand Parade of Steam. Well, it was less grand – it was backwards! All the locomotives were reversing, heading over to their static display area in the CN yards. Oh well, despite the major engines being no-shows, there was CPR 1201 from Ottawa, Prairie Dog Central 3 from Winnipeg, and many other small steamers from all over Canada and the U.S. Watch for an upcoming post with parade photos. The grandest engine there was CPR Royal Hudson 2860:

As I would for the next five days in Vancouver, I headed over to the Expo86 site. I took a cab (at rush hour, likely via the meter-running out-of-towner route) to my great-aunt Alison’s house. A gracious host, I hadn’t seen her and my cousins since I was five! She treated me to dinner at a nearby, typically trendy Vancouver restaurant. Note to self, “This town is all punks and hippies. Friendly, though”.

I got to and from the Expo86 site by riding Granville/10th UBC buses, or the Broadway/Victoria buses. I only stayed for the nightly fireworks once, as navigating back to the house in the dark in crowds was an adventure. I took in eighteen pavilions, like Kenya, Japan and Germany; open-air concerts by Winnipeg’s Argyles; demonstrations by the  Kaifeng motorcycle team and the boom-boat ballet; shows like RCMP’s Musical Ride, the Omnimax theatre and the BC lumberjack competition; and rides like the Space Drop and Scream Machine roller coaster.

Finally making it to the SteamExpo site on the 26th, I got my visit in before it started raining. All the locomotives were well-displayed, steamed up and some of the smaller ones shuttling back and forth. 

On the 28th, my cousin Neill joined me at the SteamExpo site. He enjoyed seeing a familiar BC logging truck on display (below). We went to a Latin-American restaurant for pork carnitas and Mexican ‘cervezas’! Neill was not only a train enthusiast, but also a world traveller. He had seen Beyer-Garratts up close in Rhodesia, and many more travels. That evening, as we sat down to chat after I finished packing, my aunt Alison asked me, “So, when are you getting married?”! I’d been working on my proposal and gathering courage to deliver it to Karen upon my return. On the 29th, aunt Alison drove me to the bus stop and I made my way over to the station to await VIA No 4’s departure. 

It was an enjoyable, though very hot, river canyon passage aboard VIA No 4. Our train at Boston Bar, BC at 1800, with CN 5413-5428-1280 in the yard (below). Having departed Vancouver at 1245, the coach’s air-conditioning malfunctioned, not functioning again until Kamloops that night. I had a fitful sleep across two coach seats, repositioning myself every half-hour. 

I was up and walking the platform at Jasper, AB at sunrise:

CN 5094-5061-4105 switching at Jasper (above). Our power refuelling:

Dome time on the 30th didn’t work out, but with Dutch doors already upon due to the reduced output of the air-conditioning, I stayed in the vestibule from Edmonton to Holden, AB and again from Biggar, SK into Saskatoon. I shared a cab ride with a “weird, bitchy pair” into the city from the isolated Saskatoon station located in CN’s yard. I checked into the Parktown Hotel around 2200. Reorganizing my stuff, I realized I was running low on film and money. 

I was up at 0700 the next morning. I had breakfast in the hotel coffee shop before walking over to the Bay store to pick up my rental car. I stopped at a gas station to phone Karen. This was a time before ATM’s and cell phones! I was soon on the road in my Chevy Cavalier for three days of elevator photography. I headed to Watrous, took in CN's Craik Subdivision then along the CP Colonsay Subdivision on the parallel, branchline-killing highway. I was attracted to the British-sounding town names on the map, like Penzance and Holdfast. At the latter, I got some cold Mountain Dew and Cherry Coke as well as some directions from an older lady shopper.

I soon found Findlater, before reaching my overnight stop – the Jubilee Inn in Davidson, basement (!) room 14. The homey Mills Family Restaurant supplied supper before I drove out to nearby Bladworth. So many of the towns I visited gave the impression of broken dreams and faded glory. I phoned home, and my Dad’s reaction to my proposal plans were, “Well, take things slowly.” He was 28 when he’d married Mom!

On June 1, I was eating breakfast at the Mills’ and on the road by 9ish. I followed the CP to Hawarden and Milden, CN from Dinsmore to Wartime, and bought Coke and Dr. Pepper at Outlook. My overnight destination was Rosetown. I arrived just before a thunderstorm, enjoying a KFC supper as a CN train pulled in behind 5575 and two other units. Stopping beneath the storm sky and elevators, the crew walked over to the Highway Host restaurant for supper. I took an evening drive out to Sovereign, served by CP:

Leaving the second-floor room 24 of the Rosetown Motel at 0830, I headed to Magee (CN) and Herschel then Stranraer (CP). There, again attracted by the name of the place, I parked and walked up the ramp into the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool elevator. The agent let me have the run of the place. Above the weigh scale, under the annex, up to the walkway of cylindrical ‘Coke can’ hopper he was loading, though he cautioned me, “Don’t fall in – once you go in, you never come out.” Two farmers came in to unload, otherwise he was up and down weighing each hopper of grain before going up top and filling the car, then back down for the next. What a workout, in the era before PPE, just workboots. The Stranraer postmistress couldn’t understand why I wanted a Stranraer postmark put on my postcard to commemorate my visit.

I followed the CN into Saskatoon through Laura and Delisle. I returned my rental car and paid my bill of $260. I took a taxi to the Saskatoon, waiting for the train until 2300, departing nearly two hours late. I slept well, waking up at 0850 now three hours late at Portage, arriving at 0910. 

Rosemary met me at the station, and we met Wilf at the office before heading to their place. Then it was off to the Co-Op Restaurant for lunch. In the evening we drove around to see Tucker, Oakland, Burnside and MacGregor elevators. Rosemary was stunned when I mentioned my proposal plans! I spent four days with Rosemary and Wilf. I had the use of their car, so one day I drove to Burnside, where agent Fernand Legault, one of their dental patients, showed me the new Manitoba Pool elevator. Quite a contrast from Stranraer. I also caught CN and CP freights around Portage.

Rosemary and I were at the Portage station at 0830 on June 6, though my train didn’t arrive until 1015. Wilf arrived just before train time. I was in seat 30 of ex-CP coach 110, where I enjoyed their care package lunch at Winnipeg. CN 9151-VIA 6617 at Winnipeg:

We met a long No 1 at 1715, west of Dryden. At Thunder Bay, 64 grade 8’s got on, and they would not settle down until 0330 on the 7th. Microwaved meals on a mostly cloudy day, we met a ten-car No 9 at Parry Sound at 1742. Also heading to Toronto, their teachers thanked me for my patience upon arrival. All I could say was that it had been a character-building experience. We’d been running 3.5 hours late, but made up time and arrived only two hours late. I was soon stretched out in seats 59-60 of coach 5611 on the Cavalier and home.

NOTES:

June 6/86

Winnipeg - CN 5268-5227 with caboose 79522; CN 5560-5518 with 79854.

East of Kenora WB -  at 1530 CP 5695-4570 with intermodal and van 434327; at 1555 CP 5531-5549.

Dyment at 1818 - CP 3110-3098 with Jordan spreader 402884 and ballast train at pit.

Ignace - CP 5784-5001 with van 434414; 3054-3030 with 434519; 8630.

June 7/86

White River - CP 5597-6030 with 434657.

Chapleau - CP 5639-5947-KCC 107, 4727, 6016, 4703, 4705, 5535, 5534, 4739, 3095, 1596, vans 434692, 434583 and end-cupola 434029; Jordan spreader 402888.

East of Chapleau 1200 EB - CP 5791-5812.

Sudbury - CP 5724, 3032, van 434564; Sperry car 125.

South of Sudbury - CP 6045-5976-5988.

Parry Sound - CN 2544 with van 79278.

Washago - CN 9492-9561-9456.

Barrie - CN 4566.

Running extra...

During the re-design of VIA's parking facilities at Kingston station, the lot was massively expanded. Back in the late-1980's, benches were built for railfan relaxation at the then-easternmost end of the platform. Now with lots of parking lot east of them (!) VIA refurbished the benches, returning their 'Donated by Kingston Railway Fans 1990' plaque and adding a new one:

I do find it odd, however, that with all this real estate, the dog's leg route into the parking lot from the traffic circle is narrow and passes close to the accessible parking spots, in turn separated from the station by a wide expanse of concrete! Looked good on the drafting table, I guess!