Wandering Wellington Street in Scale - Again

It's been a year since I posted photos of a walk down Wellington Street and other places on the layout. I'm always looking for new photo angles to capture everyday events in the Swamp Ward. Using a phone camera can get the view really low and perhaps more realistic. Like I was a little 1:87 scale HO photographer. So let's walk...

Bajus Brewery (top photo)  the City Steam Laundry (above) and Canadian Dredge & Dock, all on Wellington Street:

Oil products have arrived in a CN boxcar for the Imperial Oil limestone warehouse on North Street:

A series of photos around Anglin's coal and lumber yard, Sowards Coal unloading trestle and Millard & Lumb:

Home life in a typical Swamp Ward household:

Front porch sitting (above) and back yard conversation (below):

Scrap yards were always big business in the Swamp Ward - one man's garbage...

Heading home, let's visit CN's Outer Station parking lot: 

Weldwood on Railway Street gets another boxcar load of...wood!

Rideau Street's own Stuart Crawford, 1922-2022

Yesterday, a well-known Kingstonian and Swamp Ward native left us. Rideau Street's own F. Stuart Crawford was in his 101st year. As the Second World War set the world aflame, Stuart enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1942, serving as a bomb aimer with the rank of Flying Officer in 419 Squadron in Europe. He was on his second mission in a Lancaster bomber that went down over the Rhineland on April 8, 1945. Here is Stuart's wartime story, complete with Stuart captured on video!

Discharged in 1945, Stuart attended Queen's University then became the Kingston Whig-Standard's assistant circulation manager in 1950, then serving as circulation manager for 37 years. December 14, 1961 photo (above - Queen's University Archives, George Lilley Fonds, V25.5-28-208).

I had two connections to Stuart. He and/or his wife Mary would often pull into our neighbours' driveway in their van, to take the MacAulays for a jaunt to an event or painting class. Another time, at my wife's uncle's funeral, there was Stuart, come to honour his squadronmate. He introduced himself, (and there was a possibility he was also related to my wife's father's side!) and we had a chat at the funeral reception. He said he'd been in 419 Squadron. I happened to know that each RCAF Squadron had a woodland animal mascot/emblem, and that 419's was a moose. I said, "Oh, 419 Squadron, wasn't that the Moose Squadron?" He was speechless...."How'd you know that?" He had a twinkle in his eye. I think he always did.

Aerial and Drone Views, Then and Now

Lasalle Causeway

SkEye Stream, Kingston's best-known drone photography provider, has been posting a series of then-and-now photos on their Facebook page. A present-day drone-generated image is posted below an earlier, archival view taken from an aircraft. This series of photos is posted with permission. SkEye Stream provides a variety of services, from real estate and construction videos to marketing, music video and event coverage!

City Hall and Waterfront

Richardson/Crawford Wharf

CSL Dock and Fort Frontenac

Confederation Park with the same-named train

MetalCraft Marine and Inner Harbour

Outer Station and its devastation

K&P Station and waterfront

Kingston Shipyards and waterfront

Walking the K&P Trail North from McIvor Road

Locally, lovingly remembered as the Kingston & Pembroke, CP's route south from Renfrew to gain waterfront access at Kingston was not always an easy one. We walked the trackless but much-used K&P Trail from McIvor Road to the intersection of Bur Brook and Cordukes Roads. Earlier treks included the Binnington Court to Sydenham Road section in 2021, the starting segment of the trail in 2019, and the Wellington Street to John Counter Boulevard in 2018. Although we'd walked this particular section before, that walk was sans camera, as was another walk from Bur Brook and Cordukes Roads to Unity Road. The smartphone makes hiking and photography easy! We parked at McIvor Road, then ventured slightly south to find the next parking lot - Creekford Road just west of Gardiners Road. This took us under Highway 401 through this imposing culvert:

The view reminded me of a similar, though less imposing one photographed 65 years ago, in June 1957, taken from the tail-end car by George Lilley during one of the last runs of the CP mixed train. (Queen's University Archives, George Lilley Fonds, V25.5-38-29x computer monitor view)

Through the pastoral scenery we trekked, by swamp and pasture, through the Jackson Mills millrace and road realignment (a separate blog post in itself!) and passed this poured concrete garage at 1902 Jackson Mills Road (below and top photo):

A trailside graphic detailed an outcropping of igneous rock just to our west:

We really began to feel the ascending grade up and over 'Gibson's Hill' and I could only imagine a little CPR D-4 hauling 5-10 cars through rain and autumn leaves slickening the track! Up and around the hillside, the grade hoped to make the run north easier though less direct!

The pastureland along McIvor Road falls away to the west as we go higher:

Looking back from whence we came:

A few faces of exposed limestone beside the grade:

The pastureland is now far below us, though the grade is not finished with our calf muscles just yet. We had more to fear from descending cyclists than we did from any runaway train!

Another trailhead, of which all we encountered were more than full with cars. One at Jackson's Mills would be a good idea, to lessen parking along the side of the road!

Our trek at an end, we returned to McIvor Road, with these two swans having moved from the background, on our way up, to the foreground, on our way back down!

Here's an April 16, 1979 view at McIvor Road (below). My Dad and I had watched the CP train into Kingston do its switching, from our vantage point at Rigney Street. Knowing the train was about to depart north, we drove up to McIvor Road to await its speedy, smoky passage as it prepared to lift its short train up this same grade, past that now swan-swum swale! My photos are in this post and these numbered images of my Dad's are in this post.

River-Cataraqui-North Street Trackage Photos, 1970's

These photos of the CN Hanley Spur and CP Kingston Subdivision trackage were taken by an unknown photographer in the River-Cataraqui-North Streets area, dated 1980*. I had received reports of the Queen's University Archives digitizing significant swaths of its photographic holdings over the past pandemic and post-pandemic period. The goal should be to make holdings more accessible, searchable and useable.

I'd contacted the Archives, probably 25 years ago, after an early consultation about railway-related photos. I'd received some photocopies in an envelope of the original 3.5x5 inch black & white prints. I posted some scans of the photocopies in this 2013 post. But as a fortunate follow-on of this past summer's digitization, there is now online access to extra-large scans of the original images.

*I should add that the 1980 date may be a 'circa 1980'. CP's roundhouse was demolished in 1978, and judging by the state of the CN and CP leads, remaining CP yard trackage and of course the obvious presence of the roundhouse, these photos were actually likely taken prior to 1978.

Views of the River Street bridge, looking north on CP rails (above - Queen's University Archives, Kingston Picture Collection, V23-Rail-Tracks-1) and south on CP at the C.E. MacPherson spur switch (below - Queen's University Archives, Kingston Picture Collection, V23-Rail-Tracks-1_11)

 

A close-up of the diamond over which CP crossed the earlier CN, originally Grand Trunk spur, looking north on CP (above  - Queen's University Archives, Kingston Picture Collection, V23-Rail-Tracks-1_10) and north on CN (below -  Queen's University Archives, Kingston Picture Collection, V23-Rail-Tracks-1_1)

As the photographer moved south, a parting shot from east of the CP right-of-way (above -  Queen's University Archives, Kingston Picture Collection, V23-Rail-Tracks-1_9)

Two photos of the National Grocers warehouse at Cataraqui Street. Switchstand with characteristic CP horizontal oval target (above -  Queen's University Archives, Kingston Picture Collection, V23-Rail-Tracks-1_2) and stopblocks on the CN spur  (below - Queen's University Archives, Kingston Picture Collection, V23-Rail-Tracks-1_3)

Two views approaching the CP yard and roundhouse at North Street. Looking north, two CP switchstands, with what appears to be the CN switchstand (vertical oval target) to the Imperial Oil warehouse between them. Is that the photographer's moped parked at extreme left?  (above - Queen's University Archives, Kingston Picture Collection, V23-Rail-Tracks-1_5) A view south toward the CP roundhouse, with the large dockyard crane in line with CP's lead to their Ontario Street station across from City Hall.  (Queen's University Archives, Kingston Picture Collection, V23-Rail-Tracks-1_6)

Adding to the Vehicle Fleet

Crossing work is occuring on the CN lead to the Wellington Street express shed (top photo). Ready to go to work are my layout fleet's two newest vehicles that I purchased from fellow Associated Railroaders of Kingston member Bob Farquhar at the recent Rail Fair Kingston. Preparing these vehicles for placement on the layout has taken place during the autumn transition from the outdors back into the layout room.

The LifeLike stake truck/fuel truck model is a curious one. It seems out of proportion - the wheels too small and the load too far back over the rear axle. I poached two axles from a Tyco transport tractor, stretched the chassis a couple of scale feet, and placed a styrene flatbed, perhaps for steel cargo. The proportions seem much more realistic!

I did little to the Sealtest and CP trucks above. I did minimal weathering and added printed paper licence plates to all. The rust-coloured pickup truck is one I'd previously bought from Kingston Locomotive Works and repainted. Here are the vehicles ready for the layout:

Here we are back at the crossing (above). The two Brekina 1964 Dodge A100 vans in their earlier guise (below). The cabover design came in a range of body styles - pickup and sportsman. I gave the a couple of coats of primer and a couple of coats of orange paint, all painted carefully around the slightly raised ''Dodge' lettering fore and aft. I overpainted the shiny black tires and whitewalls. For the hi-rail, I added circular wheel covers to reflect the prototype. I've added some trial hirail equipment.

I used Microscale Decals MC4227 set for the CN logos.

Now, back to that crossing. Taking these photos, I realized my crossbuck signs need to be improved. I made a bunch of them while constructing my Pumphouse Museum diorama. They even say '2 tracks'. I just need to install them.

My sister and I are at the CP station in Valois, QC in spring, 1974. On the adjacent CN mainline, a similar CN hirail Dodge pickup van was heading towards Montreal. Both photos by L.C. Gagnon.