Manitoba's grain elevators glide by VIA's Canadian, 1980

Comfortably seated in the Skyline dome, enjoying a Toronto-Vancouver trip aboard VIA's Canadian in 1980, it was easy to see wooden grain elevators appear on the distant horizon, glide by, and recede into the distance.

While researching future posts about this trip, I found a list I'd made of these elevators. Including a Winnipeg stopover, the following represents a ten-hour journey across southern Manitoba on CP's Keewatin Sub, CN Rivers Sub from Winnipeg to Portage la Prairie, then CP's Carberry and Broadview Subs until darkess descended, before the Saskatchewan border.

At the time, Manitoba's main grain elevator companies were Manitoba Pool Elevators (MPE), United Grain Growers (UGG), Cargill and Paterson. Some towns also had the smaller, turquoise elevators of Cominco Fertilizers (Elephant).

..... Whitemouth UGG
0900 Hazelridge MPE Pool 224
..... Oakbank MPE
1352 Mile 10.6 MPE
1410 Dacotah Paterson
1418 Elie MPE, UGG, Elephant
1423 Benard MPE
1433 Oakville MPE, UGG
1500 Portage la Prairie 2 MPE, 2 UGG, Elephant
1553 MacGregor MPE, Elephant
1559 Austin MPE
1620 Carberry UGG
1635 Douglas MPE
1710 Brandon 2 Cargill, 3 MPE, UGG
1731 Alexander MPE, Paterson
1741 Griswold 2 UGG
1750 Oak Lake MPE Pool 134
1820 Virden MPE Pool 129, UGG

Loaded grain trucks at Elie's elevators in 1984:

VIA's 12-car Canadian zings through MacGregor at 50 mph in 1984, behind 6504 - 6603.

Change on the horizon...an entire train of empty cylindrical covered hoppers heads west on CP Rail towards Brandon in 1986. In the distance is Burnside MPE, one of the last wooden grain elevators built. The high-throughput continuous-pour concrete elevators would soon make most of the wooden type listed above obsolete, thus numbering their days.

CN Train No 805 on the Rivers Sub, June 1978

Forty-foot grain boxcars were used to ship western Canada's grain, even after the advent of 100-ton cylindrical covered hopper cars.

The train journal of CN No 805 from Winnipeg to Rivers, Manitoba listed 65 empty CN boxcars to be placed at grain elevators along the Rivers Sub on June 21, 1978. Engines 9581 and 9472 left Winnipeg at 1100, and here's the information on 47 of those cars, and some views along the line taken in 1984. It's likely the first 18 cars were set out at MIle 10.6, Dacotah, or Elie.

At 1245, CN 420738 - 422884 - 420061 - 420288 - 485870 - 482424 were set out on track RV23, the siding at Benard.

At 1310, CN 425204 - 475868 - 423838 - 475418 - 478348 - 485450 were setout on track RV35, the United Grain Growers elevator at Oakville, and CN 474613 - 421763 - 480679 - 422310 - 423228 - 423346 were left on track RV29, the Manitoba Pool elevator.

No 805 set out cars at both of Portage la Prairie's four in-town elevators that CN served, between 1340 and 1400. Track RG54 United Grain Growers: CN 422874 - 483554 - 478515 - 425314 - 425104 - 425184 - 471867 - 420765, and track RG37 Manitoba Pool B: CN 422773 - 425757 - 420829.

The Portage Pool and UGG elevators are shown with trains passing on both the CP Rail (left) and CN (right) mainlines:

The westbound VIA Canadian passes the two elevators and grass-covered team track with work cars on it:

The remainder of the train went through to Rivers: CN 424079 - 424804 - 521093 - 482952 - 484168 - 420346 - 424764 - 420409 - 481128 - 424539 - 482798 - 422818 - 425941 - 422503 - 424719 - 425664 - 474123 - 423442 - caboose 79734.

UCRS Toronto to Gravenhurst behind 6060 September 29, 1979

CN's restored 4-8-2 6060 was a fantrip favourite. Occasionally, I saw it run light over the Kingston Sub between Montreal and Toronto, to be in position to pull a fantrip. Hearing a steam whistle and seeing a fast-moving light engine were unforgettable. One such fantrip operated by the Upper Canada Railway Society departed Toronto Union Station at 0800 under cloudy skies. The ten-car consist was: 6060 - 5734 - 5714 - 5573 - 5626 - 5487 - 5599 - 3 more VIA coaches - UCRS Cape Race. 

2026 update: on my brother Dave's Rolly Martin Country blog.

Around Union Station, at departure time:
GO engines 710, 704, 705
GO train 706 - 2077 - 2023 - 2029 - 2010 - 2012 - 2062 - 2028 - 907
CN 5456, 5620, 5449, Club St-Denis, 9622, 9662, 5207, 5222, 5195, 5203
CN engines 4017, 4016, 4101, 4104, 8228, 8522, 8234, 8184, 8175, 8214
CN cabooses 79512, 76549
CN RDC 6101
VIA 5386, 5495, 3032, 5738, Thunder Bay, Edmunston, 5648, 5640, Green Harbour
VIA engines 6780, 6785
CN Tempo coaches 363, 361, 343
CN Tempo engines 3150, 3153
CP 8142 with end-cupola vans 437237 and 437139

A water stop was made at Bradford. Here is the rear of the UCRS' car 13, Cape Race, complete with marker lamps.

A runpast followed at Barrie, and another water stop at Orillia. Around noon, a runpast was made at Mi. 87.3 Newmarket Sub. Upon arrival at Gravenhurst, more water was taken on, and 6060 ran around the train. The consist was pulled in reverse through some vibrant fall colours to Washago. Looking through the solarium end-door of Cape Race, 6060's unlit headlight was right there!

Upon arrival at Washago, a runpast was staged with 6060 running tender-first.

Three CN freights ran through before the train returned to Gravenhurst:

1427 W

9576 - 3212 - 9442 - CN and CP gondolas, CN stock cars and reefers - 79641

1450 W No 375

9642 - 9639 - 4523 - 79806

1455 E No 304 (pictured)

9509 - 9564 - 9643 - Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan and ACFX covered hoppers, Canfor all-door boxcar 20042 - 79649

We went to supper at Gravenhurst's KFC and returned around 1700 to find the train ready to return to Toronto. The return trip included a runpast at Mi. 95 and a water stop at Orillia. At Barrie, CN had snow-fighting equipment in the yard: plows 55206, 55368, 55406; flangers 56273, 56316, 56392, and 56444.

Back in Toronto, near Union Station:

VIA Enterprise, Alexandria Falls

CP engines 6523, 8777

CN engines 8512, 8513, 8517, 7026

Postscript: Kingston Derailment August 1986

Here's a different perspective on the August 26, 1986 derailment, as written in the BRS Branchline, January 1987 edition, by Rolland O. Lafleur. The article tells the story of the author departing Ottawa on August 25 for Toronto aboard VIA No 49/59, then passing the scene of the derailment in my Retro Railfan Account. Here's the excerpt:

"After a little detention, the train proceeded to inch westward. As I peered out curiously, I noticed how much brighter it got outisde, as if we were approaching a wayside shopping plaza. In reality, powerful floodlights from an auxiliary provided a whiteway for a wrecking crew at work. Luckliy, my accommodation on the fireman/helper's side gave me a vantage point in full view of a derailment.

Cars were strewn along the right-of-way. At one point, we came alongisde an enclosed automobile carrier, lying on its side, with one end down the embankment and the other - jagged and minus its truck - pointing upward obliquely, and closing in on our passage to something short of a two-foot clearance. The sight was awesome. A little further along stood the auxiliary train, in the clear. Our train moved at medium speed, making a station stop shortly afterward. The sign board read Kingston."

Thunder Bay and Sudbury, Ontario September-October 1985

I departed Regina on September 29, 1985 on VIA No 2 heading east, and arrived in Thunder Bay for a stop-over. There was a derailment of 35 cars of a CP freight west of Thunder Bay, so the following day's No 2 passengers were bussed to Thunder Bay, and VIA No 1's consist was turned to head east October 1 as No 2. We boarded about 2200 hours once the bussed passengers arrived, but earlier in the day, I found the consist wyed, steaming away and parked at the CP station: 6312 - 6618 - 6787 - 9656 - 100 - 3207 - 503 - 5716 - Thompson Manor - Christie Manor - Burton Manor - Emerald - Englee - Evelyn - Tweedsmuir Park.

Yes, that third unit is an MLW. They did occasionally operate west of Toronto. Had this train not been turned due to the derailment, VIA 6787 would have operated right through to Winnipeg and be turned back east from there. Switching the grain terminals were CP 8122, 1694, 1212, 1573, and 8110.

Upon arrival in Sudbury the next morning, I had time to walk over to CP Rail's shop. There I found an interesting collection of motive power, cars for repair and snow removal equipment.

Front and rear views of single-track plow 401005:

A subsequent post shows more of the plows and cars that I encountered that day.

Double-track plow 400823 was coupled to two wood-chip service boxcars, with 31550 closest and three ore cars, including 376217 in the Canadian Pacific script scheme. Plows 401018 and 400777 were lettered CP Rail and spreader 402851 was also present.

Power on hand included switchers 7099, 6595 and 6588, plus 7090, 6594, Centuries 4704 and 4709, and C-424's 4214 and 4218, coupled to Conrail lease unit 7765. CP Rail was leasing 25 Conrail units and some Chessie System units in late 1985. The 6500's were being retired, so it's likely that some of these old switchers were very close to the end of their careers.

Kingston, Ontario August-September 1986

                

 Local newspaper Kingston This Week covered the derailment in its August 27 edition:

August 26, 1986:

Westbound CN freight No 399 derailed at least eight cars just east of Montreal Street, around Mi. 172 Kingston Sub. Four auto racks (two open, two enclosed), four covered hoppers, and a CN boxcar left the north track, and ended up straddling the Hanley Spur and swamp alongside the Cataraqui River. Power on the train was all MLW: 2555, 2027 and 2322. To facilitate cleanup, the headend of 399 backed into the trackage on the former mainline alignment into the outer station on Montreal Street. (see Top Photo)

An eastbound intermodal was held on Queens track 4, also all MLW-powered: 2000, 2319 and 2569. Late in the afternoon, the Toronto Auxiliary arrived. (see Middle Photo)

The consist was:

5312 - 5194 - 661622 flatcar with panel track - 59110 tie gondola - 57945 flat car with rail - 163747 gondola with ties - 57551 flat car - 50397 auxiliary crane - 59012 crane idler car - 60337 tool/cable baggage car - 57948 hazardous materials equipment boxcar - 43621 generator boxcar - 72909, 59345, 59215 crew accommodation coaches - 78338 end-cupola caboose.

Check out this post on the derailment on my brother's Rolly Martin Country site.

Throughout August and September, VIA corridor consists were varied, including GM and MLW cab units, LRC locomotives and coaches. Here are some sample consists:

August 29:

1932 W

6918 - 5536 - 3242 - 5589 - 612

1943 E

6765 - 9642 - 3248 - 5503 - 5443 - 5513

2044 E

6920 - 3473 - 3341 - 3318 - 3360 - 3475 - 3305 - 3304 - 3302 - 3310 - 3468 - 6916

September 1:

1933 E

6784 - 9613 - ex-CP coach - 2 VIA coaches

1935 W

6918 - Prince Albert Park (deadheading backwards) - 5558 - 5443 - 5503 - 3248 - 9642

September 3:

1944 W

6530 (newly-painted) - 3252 - 5562 - 610

Some typical CN freights from August 29, 1986:

1923 E No 208

2113 - 2310 - 2339 - intermodal - caboose 79870

2037 E No 202

9408 - 9448 - 9425 - 132 cars including CN 672002 depressed-centre flat car - 79525

2106 W No 305

9410 - 2334 - general freight and intermodal - 79700

September 13:

1910 E

4014 (chop-nosed GR-418b) - 3702 - 3128 - 2558 - 3720 - general freight

And locals switching the DuPont nylon plant on Front Road:

August 26

1355 - 79603

September 2

3720

September 29

3731

Welcome

Welcome to Trackside Treasure.

As always, we are left to ask "Why?" Why did Eric start a blog? What do I have to contribute to the internet? Perhaps just to fill a small corner of cyberspace with what I haven't found anywhere else. There are some excellent webpages out there, but much of the content is so immediate that I would like to add a bit of depth.

Right now, I plan to post some RRR's, that is Retro Railfan Reports. Each month, a different railfan report, but rarely from the present. The "Retro" part means it will be from the current month, but from some past year. "Railfan" means that these will be from different places. "Report" means there will be lots of consists, information and even photos that I hope you will find useful.

Treasure? Well I hope so, I know they are to me, and I hope they might be to you. I've heard lots of people say, "I watched and photographed lots of trains, but I wish I'd written some of this stuff down." I did, but what's the use of keeping it to myself, if it might interest someone else?

My top five rejected blog names:

1. Slack Action (kind of describes railfanning as well as train dynamics)
2. CCC: Canadian Consist Cornucopia
3. Oops, I started a blog
4. CRTC: Canadian Railfan Train Consists
5. Is this anything?