Driving Tour of Railway and Cataraqui Streets

Overcast and a few spots of rain, and I'd seen media coverage of the rebuilding of the Bailey Broom factory, so it was time for a driving tour of some of the remaining (formerly rail-served) buildings of the Hanley Spur. Along Railway Street, the Weston's Bakeries on the factory tower is fading, replaced with a somewhat soulless 'Weston Foods' sign above the offices. 

Across the parking lot was this neat-looking Furniture Warehouse. Formerly Gamble-Robinson, the truck-loading dock has an interesting loading dock. Along the rear wall was the former spur location:

 Side wall for posterity, paralleling Railway Street:

Across Railway Street is the moving warehouse, formerly MacCosham Van Lines. The two-spot boxcar-loading doors are still visible, where the track had crossed Railway Street. A third paralleling spur reached I. Cohen and Pilkington Glass farther south:

For orientation purposes, here's a 1957 aerial photo from the city's Snapshot Kingston site. The Railway Street industries and spurs are shown (Weston; G-R = Gamble-Robinson; Mac = MacCosham and To Cohen = the third paralleling spur across Railway Street:

Hang a right, down Rideau Street to the Bailey Broom factory. The office remains, but the concrete wall along Rideau Street had been reduced, potentially for future residential units:

I'm reminded of the Vietnam War-era military justification: "We had to destroy the village to save it."

Cataraqui Street side view of the office:

and the to-be-rebuilt wall along Cataraqui Street:

 Across Cataraqui Street, the National Grocers building is still in use:

Former spur side:

 Paralleling Rideau Street:

Let's reminisce just a little, back to the year 2001 on a similar driving tour:

 The faded National Grocers sign was still in place:

CP Wayfreight at Cataraqui St.

During an earlier run down CP's waterfront trackage on my HO scale home layout, one area that I didn't photograph the wayfreight at was the Cataraqui Street area. Granted, Cataraqui Street hasn't really been 'paved' yet, but I took the opportunity to place my point-and-shoot camera down at track level to record the scene for posterity. Let's go B&W!

Looking towards the lake, my National Grocers is at left, with the Woolen Mill behind the train at right (above). Looking back north, here's the opposite view, with Cataraqui Street to be added in the foreground:

Looking towards the lake again, we're slightly closer to the Santa Fe ice reefer spotted at National Grocers:

Now an overhead view, showing the same scene from a different vantage point. Interesting that a balsa-wood loading platform handcrafted by my Dad has found a home on my layout! While the prototype National Grocers building was not curved, this structure was formerly part of the Ogilvie Flour Mill on my Winnipeg layout, also serving in my Vancouver and Vermont locales!

Cars on the train are scrap from Cohen's, coal for Macpherson's, a non-flour covered hopper of flour (!) for Weston's, two Chessie cement cars for Gus Marker, and steel for Presland ahead of the van. Taken from the roof of National Grocers, the script-lettered van is just under the River Street bridge! Now, time to get that train in motion, switch the customers and head back to Smiths Falls!

Don McQueen's Waterfront Photography

In my continuing quest for photos of Kingston's Hanley Spur, I contacted prolific photographer, data-keeper and author Don McQueen, with good results. Don kindly shared some images taken during various visits to Kingston, where he also studied at Queen's University. On July 3, 1969 CP RS-23 8031 was trolling along the granite-laced waterfront with the Spirit of Sir John A in the background (top photo). Don was at Kingston Junction, where the CN Hanley Spur met the then-Gananoque Subdivision, on October 10, 1959. CN RS-3 3000 was at the junction switch, as an eastbound behind CN Geeps 4494-4308-4322 with a healthy head-end cut of ice reefers hustled by:

Patiently waiting...some harbour buildings are visible at left (above) and the building sign advertised A. MacLean & Son Wholesale Grocers:

 Gaining the mainline, pushing a caboose:

On April 7, 1960 Don caught CN and CP working the waterfront. CN RS-3 3002 passes under the River Street bridge southbound, with a CN boxcar in tow.

Next we photographically find ourselves at the CP North Street roundhouse turntable, beside the Inner Harbour. CPR G5 1227 may have been one of the last steam locomotives in the area, and we are definitely in the dying days of steam - April 7, 1960 - as Don captures 1227 smoking on the turntable. The late Dunc DuFresne documents some of the last steam operations out of Ottawa West terminal, including the 1227 here.

After 1227 left Ottawa for Smiths Falls on the night of January 2 for Smiths Falls, it possibly stuck around there for the rest of the winter and into the spring. The Kingston job had been dieselized since at least mid-1959 using 8400's or 8700's. By October, one of three units 8028, 8029 and 8030 were the regular power. However, on five days in April 1960 the Kingston job was assigned steam: the 1227 April 4th, 5th and 7th and on April 6th the 1226 took a one-day turn. This is recorded in the Tichborne station register which has both Belleville and Kingston sub entries. And this appears to be possible for two reasons. First the turntable was large enough to accommodate them and secondly 1226 was not scrapped until June 1961 and 1227 not until September 1964 according to Omer's book. Notice some Service cars at right, with the retaining wall over near Rideau Street at left:

Here are some side views that Don took on the turntable. The Service boarding car on the next track is occupied:

Definitely at the end of steam - it's doubtful that shop forces would have previously let even a freight engine leave the ready track without a better appearance. But the shiny new diesels were in use! Note the yellow-painted 'Armstrong' turntable timber:

Must've been a late spring. Ice is visible in the harbour:

And in front of City Hall, here's 1227 coupled to some unknown equipment, in front of a portico-less City Hall also on April 7:

...and passing northbound under the River Street bridge. I can almost hear the 'chuff-chuff":

From a family album via Don and Bruce Rescorla, here's a 1910 waterfront view showing grain elevators, vessels and some interesting rolling stock in front of the CP freight shed:

A June 29, 1955 Dave Stevens photo of CPR 437 working hard to haul out new H16-44 8549-8550 past two vintage pickup trucks:

Thanks to Don for his gracious sharing of these photos, each representing an interesting era and engrossing operations!

DuPont Car Keeps Hanging Around!

Ever since I began modelling Kingston's Hanley Spur, I was not sure how I would handle cars that were characteristically Kingston-ish but had no modelled locale on the layout. For instance, DuPont's nylon plant, which was miles away from the Outer Station on the Cataraqui Spur. At first I thought I would create a track that could 'be' DuPont. But that seemed unrealistic. But I had the cars...so...what to do?

Check the prototype. Online auction site photo (above, captioned 1972) and CSTM photo (below, captioned 1978) and you can see DuPont cars in both. They were regularly seen at the Outer Station yard, waiting for movement to DuPont - always there!

So I brought my DuPont car online and there it sat in my Outer Station yard. Going to the plant, someday. Then it hit me...it doesn't really have to go. If they're perpetually seen in such photos, why can't the car just hang around? For a long time. It's so characteristic that it fits, and I can just switch around it, and it's always just...there!

So it's no wonder the car checker is scratching his head (above). He wonders why it's still in the yard. But that's OK. After awhile, I'll probably take it back offline. It'll go back to be loaded with feedstock and returned to the yard at some later date.

Just like millennials that move back home with Mom & Dad and seemingly just want to keep hanging around. Except in this case, it's OK!

***UPDATE - Will Murphy reminded me of another variation - SCLAIR covered hoppers or Hercules plastic pellet cars that would eventually wind up at Northern Telecom, four miles of the Outer Station. But that doesn't mean that they couldn't kick around the station yard for awhile! ACFX 52141, welcome to Kingston's Hanley Spur (that's my resident, under-utilized (until now)) Hercules car.

Visiting the Queen's Archives

Some years ago, I obtained several photocopies of photos of Kingston-area railway-themed photos from the Queen's University Archives: Davis Tannery, River Street bridge, Sydenham station and others.

Today I came face-to-face with some of those same photos, in the Reading Room of the Queen's Archives. They actually made me a card-carrying member! I hope to return and delve some more into their holdings. 

George Lilley was a well-known photographer, freelance and press, the latter for the Kingston Whig-Standard. Many of George's photos hold secrets that are sometimes in plain sight, sometimes in the background.

It was an amazing walk through time with George's work today!