On the Move! Exhibition

It only took four months, but we finally made it to the Pumphouse Museum to view its On the Move exhibition. Highlighting different modes of transport in the Kingston area, from canoes to sleighs, airports to ferries, taxis and buses, and of course, trains! It was back in April that I delivered my small contribution, a diorama showing rail and truck transport and commerce at Cataraqui and Rideau Streets in downtown Kingston. 

Not only did displays take up the main display space inside the museum, they also extended into niches where the water-pumping steam engines and model train exhibits that are permanent. One could take a guided tour with student guides, but we decided to let our four year-old grandson be our guide, following him to his favourite exhibits. 

Interactive exhibits allowed visitors to hear car horns through the decades, make a string map of how far they'd traveled to the museum that day, or watch videos on the history of Kingston Transit. Each type of transport had its own space, with videos, signage, flip-boards holding most of the information, and artifacts under glass.

I'd spoken to curators Tom Riddolls and Jessika Tozer at the end of 2021, when subject experts in each area were being sought for the upcoming exhibition. Though Tom had wanted to tie Kingston into one of the existing O, HO or N operating layouts, I'd opined that would be a challenge. So we agreed on the stand-alone diorama. I also shared some information about some significant events in Kingston's railway history that might fill our the railway coverage.

Though I'd been concerned about the possibility of minor damage to details or structures like the National Grocers building, Woolen Mill and Bailey broom factory(seconded from my own home layout!), Tom had a very secure glassed-in case built around it. Even my grandson could only point, though I'm glad the diorama was at a height that even youngsters could see easily:

Local visitors might recognize the intersection, and if one looked close enough, my Cataraqui and Rideau Street roadsigns were visible in the foreground. Otherwise, there was no interpretation of what the diorama represented. But as I looked around the exhibition, I could see this was the theme - artifacts were presented largely without interpretation, but were clearly integrated into each mode of transport. Tom mentioned that the pandemic staffing challenges and competing priorities have prevented some final presentation additions, but that these will be added.

Tom was especially eager to present original documents with some of the modes, and indeed these were used effectively in railway, road and other areas. The flip-boards were also well-presented and conveniently located in each area. This large graphic oriented visitors to the space, though our grandson got much more out of pushbutton operation of the O and HO trains. Photos from the Queen's University Archives were also part of the large display:

I was interested to see some of the notable events in local railway history highlighted, such as building the Hanley Spur, the Outer Station, the 1968 Turbo crash and even the zoo train that I'd already blogged about here. Each flip-board had eye-catching graphics, bilingual text and usually a photo or artifact. Just the right amount of information for most attention spans:

The flip-board for the Turbo crash, about which I'd also blogged on my main Canadian railway blog, Trackside Treasure.

There was a nice blend of the past and present on the flip-boards:

This large signage backed up the flip-boards, showing a K&P passenger train on the switchtender-controlled joint section of track crossing Ontario Street:

If our grandson were to review his visit, I'm sure he'd list the button-operated car horns as #1! He also enjoyed the Kingston Transit bus mockup and anything that was literally On the Move, such as the stationary steam engine display next door, the trains, and the pushbutton-operated traffic lights (bright up close!). 

My review would include a nice balance of all modes as #1. There was inclusion of native canoe builders right through to the Kiewit construction of the Third Crossing bridge. The information presented was historically solid and interesting, the presentation was engaging, the lighting good and the pacing - at your own speed. I could have spent longer, but a thunderstorm gave us good reason to head for the van once we'd been around the exhibition. Adult admission is $7.50 and most visitors can see everything in an hour. Historians, much longer! The exhibition runs until November.

My thanks to Tom and Jessika for including me in this exhibition. Not only did I need to do further research on one of my favourite railway-served areas of Kingston, but it gave me a chance to do some off-layout modelling and get involved in our community museum!

SEPTEMBER 7 UPDATE:

Tom and Jessika have kindly shared my post on the Pumphouse's social media. This picture was taken when I delivered the diorama for display (below). There are some exciting plans for augmenting the exhibit, as well as extending its run!

 

Montreal Street Underpass

I'm not sure of the correct nomenclature, but most references to this nifty bit of engineering are titled as above. Perhaps it's a subway or something else. Anyway, vehicles are passing under the Canadian National Kingston Subdivision Montreal-Toronto mainline, as well as a couple of lead tracks, near the switch to the waterfront Hanley Spur just east of the Outer Station. Fellow modeller Mike Hamer of Ottawa shared one of his father's pictures of Kingston. It shows a CN freight heading east over a car speeding north on Montreal Street, and was taken in 1951 (below). I'm not sure of the identity of that building at far right beyond the pole line. It may have been a sectionman's house. The second (slab-side) hopper would have been new, built by Canadian Car & Foundry in 1951:

You'd never know there was anything under the tracks in this photo, published to Vintage Kingston on Facebook, captioned 1956. It shows what appears to be a CNR U-2-a 6100-series Northern working hard to lift an eastbound passenger train out of the station and over the underpass. The rowhouses are visible at right, and there appears to be some graffiti written on the bridge.

Improvements were being made to the Montreal Street and Elliott Avenue intersection in July, 1966 (as shown in this Whig photo - top). The north side of the subway was being widened, though there was not much that could be done to improve visibility under the tracks themselves. A CN westbound freight train and the 'Grand Trunk Terrace' rowhouses on Cassidy Street are visible at centre. 

A 1966 aerial view (below) in which landmarks are the sectionhouse near top right, the Hanley Spur lead witih switch to the 'Chown' warehouse at far right, Cassidy Street rowhouses at left, and the sweeping 'S'-curve of Montreal Street at centre:

CN tracks seemed to pass over Montreal Street. More correctly, Montreal Street passed under the tracks, just beyond CN’s Outer Station.  In a February, 1970 Whig article, it was called, "a scruffy, square hole in the embankment over which Canadian National propels its sleek, up-to-date trains", noting there had been very few accidents because drivers were forced to slow down to about 10 mph to have any hopes of negotiating it safely! These March, 1966 Whig photos show the results of flooding, typical during heavy rainfall or snowmelt, as well as the narrow width and restricted height of the underpass!

Four tracks rested above on a 55 foot-wide bridge spanning Montreal Street’s not-quite-two-lanes. In fact, the street was 30 feet wide, the vertical height beneath the bridge 13 feet. Made of steel girders riveted together, open spaces between the girders were concrete-filled, all waterproofed by asphalt overlaid by roofing felt and tar. The underpass/subway became the city’s responsibility after annexation from Kingston Township in 1952. Another Whig photo from February 9, 1970 shows a reporter standing underneath, as two trucks pass through (Queen's University Archives, Whig-Standard Fonds, V142.7-215):

A transport truck was wedged underneath on October 29, 1969 as this Whig photo shows (Queen's University Archives, Whig-Standard Fonds, V142.7-126). Only deflation of the truck's tires could free it.

The crew of 3119, a CN RS-18 working the yard as a local roadswitcher, perhaps gloats at the competition's bad luck:

A screenshot from the 1970 short film 'Dear Landlord' shows this tribute to a local biker gang, graffiti'd onto the north side of the underpass span (below). Interestingly, the Hanley Spur is visible in the background, with a snippet of Montreal Street visible at bottom centre:

To show how seamlessly the underpass blended into the station scene, here's an L.C. Gagnon view of a westbound CN passenger train passing over it in August, 1970. The railings above the underpass are just visible to the right of the insulbrick section house, just to the right of the approaching train:              

As the city grew, suggested improvements were made: a realignment of the roadway, moving the south wall back 12 feet to provide two full traffic lanes plus a sidewalk. With the construction of a new CN passenger station on Counter Street near outer Princess Street, the CN mainline curve was realigned; the previous alignment over Montreal Street made obsolete. Access to the Hanley Spur was maintained from Elliott Avenue, with the former mainline tracks in front of the station stub-ended.

The bridge was removed by CN crews beginning on March 3, 1976. To facilitate its removal, a detour was built using dumptruck loads of gravel. The detour route began in the station parking lot, headed over the tracks just east of the station buildings, reached Cassidy Street thence regaining Montreal Street. Removal was completed by March 15, 1976. In his excellent book At the Bend in the Road Kingston, Gordon Smithson captured the removal on film for posterity.

A wider 1966 aerial view shows the juxtaposition of the underpass with the CN Outer Station at bottom, with the Frontenac Floor & Wall Tile plant across the station yard:

This is always a head-scratcher for me, both aerially and on the ground...trying to place the location of the former underpass on today's Montreal Street. Krown Rust Control is a good landmark, (paved lot at bottom left of the 2017 photo) and still there today. The Grand Trunk Terrace rowhouses are now along Montreal Street, no longer Cassidy Street. The 'Chown' warehouse is now part of the Village on the River apartment complex, visible as brown roof at top right of 2017 photo, with the Hanley Spur right-of-way still somewhat visible!

Though many bemoan the sorry state of the Outer Station, I don't think too many will mourn the removal of the Montreal Street underpass!

Rock Cut Scenery

It's not just limestone here and vegetation over there. This view taken from the Montreal Street overpass shows that vegetation eventually finds its way into limestone. Whether it's from soil being washing downwards by water into crevasses, seeds finding fissures, gravity taking branches and weeds down, or water working its wonders, the photo makes it clear that there is a juxtaposition between grey and green.

Perhaps a freshly drilled rock cut would be the only pure rock face. Otherwise, grab some green. I just may use this photo as prototype modelling inspiration! 

 

LaSalle Causeway - Then and Now

A recent walk onto the LaSalle Causeway reminded me of some archival views that I've seen. In this post, I attempt (as closely as possible, realizing that the westernmost span is no longer in place) to match current and past views. Definitely an important part of Kingston's waterfront, the causeway was a portal for vessel docking as well as letting vessels into the Inner Harbour.

1929 Richardson grain elevator and Canada Steamship Lines canallers

Hall Corporation ships tied up for the winter see spring in March, 1953

Another view from March, 1953 -  with work on the bridge certainly nothing new!

Walk for OXFAM - September, 1967

Heading In - tanker Imperial Cornwall - April, 1961  (Don McQueen photo)

Heading In - HMCS Inch Arran scrap tow behind tug Flo Cooper July, 1969

(Black & white and archival photos in this post from Queen's University Archives unless otherwise credited)

Montreal Street Remodelled

After researching the Davis Tannery, I decided it deserved a place on my HO scale Hanley Spur layout, complete with CN spur. But where? The only available real estate seemed to be where Montreal Street had previously been modelled. That streetscape included three buildings and a two-lane street leading to Rideau Street. It was perhaps scenic but added no operational possibilities. After removing the scene, I relocated trackage and added four new scenic elements, structures or operations.

At top left is the new Cohen scrapyard, served by CP. At bottom left is the Davis Tannery, served by CN as is the relocated CN Express building. In between is an ex-industry currently inhabited by some homeless folks. At bottom right is the relocated CN telegraph repeater building, and the newly-expanded Outer Station:

This black and white version shows elements of the former scene. The former CN lead is represented by the red line, with a spur serving CN Express. The street scene and structures lined the layout edge (above). Below is the best representation I found showing the former scene. The CN eight-hatch reefer is spotted at CN express, with the streetscape in the foreground. In 2020, there were still houses located here as placeholders.

A good magician doesn't reveal his tricks, and these overhead views make my layout make my layout look much smaller than low-angle trackside scenes. But I'm happy with the new space allocation, so why not?

Now to validate the new operational possibilities. Certainly the Outer Station has more room to breathe! And there is still a little four-inch square spot just past the repeater building that could be...something.

Outer Station Platform Scenes

Kingston's Outer Station, 1900. Eastbound Grand Trunk Railway passenger train. (Need I say...not my photo? Online auction site photo.) The curve and the photo angle show the sharp curve on which the 1855 station site was located. This is a super-archival photo, but I would also like to share more recent, perhaps more relatable more recent images in this post.

The CN Outer Station on Montreal Street was often a busy place. This post shows some of those platform scenes. December 29, 1966 (top photo). In 1948, reserve sailors from HMCS Cataraqui with their transport in the parking lot:

Girl Guides leave on a morning Railiner, August 28, 1966 to the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto:

Twenty-four Grade 11's departing for a week-long Adventure in Learning in Nova Scotia, sponsored by the Canadian Centennial Commission on July 27 1966

As part of the same federal-provincial youth travel program, 24 high school students form Saskatoon arriving at Outer Station August 25, 1966

Midget hockey players from the Centennial tournament depart Kingston on April 3, 1967.

A westbound train was two cars short, so players had to scramble for seats during a 30-minute delay after bidding their local billets farewell:

The Outer Station platform saw many departures and arrivals of troops during the Korean Conflict. This photo was taken in May, 1952

KCVI Army Cadets about to head to six weeks of summer cadet camp at Ipperwash, ON on June 28, 1952:

On November 10, 1959 Eskimos arrive for engineering training at CFB Kingston:

(Photos in this post from Queen's University Archives except for top photo)