On Track

And by 'On Track' I don't mean everything is going as expected. I mean on the subject of track, like On War by von Clausewitz or perhaps 'The Art of Track' like The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Literary references aside, I've had three some interesting experiences with my Hanley Spur HO scale track recently. 

Fellow blogger Chris Mears has been laboriously but languorously toiling on some track work lately and posting the results. Unlike me, Chris builds from the ground up. I just screw down track on plywood and maybe there's some pre-existing scenic material there for some texture, and maybe there's none. The top photo shows one section of track I might as well call the Mears Track or even Mears Tribute Track because it exhibits some shading that reminds me of Chris' much better work. I brushed some various colours on various ties and I like the look of it. For most of my spur, I want weathered track. That means painting the sides of the rails and having weathered-looking ties. I generally keep vegetation off the track so the locomotives don't ingest it.

There's one spur that is now directly in front of a small sliding workbench I've installed and it's a well-lit spot. The spur serves Canadian Dredge & Dock, Shell Oil, Anglin's lumber yard and I Cohen Steel. Not all four industries have cars at once, because if they did, they might as well stay coupled. In HO terms, it's one piece of flextrack and another short section - around 40 inches. (Unfortunately, I'm too impetuous and never sure of the outcome, so I often don't take 'before' pictures of the project. These are all the 'after' photos!) Overview of the spur here:

There was some old scenic material there from my previous Manitoba iteration - buff-coloured ballast. It didn't look Kingston-ish and I decided to do something. So, I took a strip of The Moss Collection MossyMat Peel 'N Stick and removed the backing paper. (I found this material handy during my Vermont iteration to give a quick, green hillside in Rutland. In that case, I left the backing on and scotch-taped it to the blue-painted drywall. Done!) Below - peeling and sticking is over, and you can see the moss covering the edge of the fascia and the sliding workbench below the grey fascia:

Anyway, the MossyMat really sticks and it now covers the edge of the fascia. I trimmed it to leave a couple of scale feet for ballasted track. Then I decided to cover up that buff-with some diluted brown craft paint. I liked the look. I also painted the rail-sides. So now this four-spot spur is a bit more Mears-like i.e. realistic. Upgraded track at right, with short remaining section at left and the CD&D freight dock. It's pretty invisible and might get more attention from me later:

Looking down the spur from the other end, with the water bottle resting on my workbench and the gondola of scrap, UP boxcar then CN boxcar in distance spotted at CD&D. The process of track-level photography gives me some apprehension, but the finished product points out things that my eye doesn't catch! You might think of it as The Fallowfield Effect.

Another up-close shot of the Anglin's platform (below). I added some vegetation behind the upgraded track to get rid of the 'line' separating the ballast from the platform:

Due to my gnat-like attention span, I can do a short section of track and then operate a train. I'm unlikely to ever spend 16 hours painting every inch of track on the layout!

Orange Meat!

In 1897, Alderman Henry Mooers established a 575,000-bushel grain elevator at the foot of Gore Street, site of the old Robertson spice mill. These ladies are enjoying a cruise along the waterfront, captioned 1902, with the Forwarders' elevator in the background (top photo). Designed and built by the Tromanhauser Brothers of Minneapolis, contractors and builders of grain elevators, the elevator had space for one vessel on either side. J.H. Tromanhauser claimed the elevator, extending out 220 feet from shore and 130 feet tall, could be built in 80 days at a cost of $100,000. The total 74x221-foot elevator structure comprised 48 bins measuring 14x15 feet and eight smaller bins plus six shipping bins. Tromanhauser, born in Guelph, first arrived in Kingston in February, 1897 having operated his business for at least 12 years already. Seemingly the least-photographed and western-most of the three major waterfront elevators, it had a 500,000-bushel capacity. 

Three cars of spiles had arrived in July, 1897 and 160 workers were hard at work. While supervising the elevator's construction, Tromanhauser was injured - an August 20, 1897 Whig clipping (below). Lumber came from Ottawa, the marine leg from Chicago, and engine and boiler from Galt. By the end of September, 600,000 board-feet of lumber had been used, with another 350,000 to be delivered and the elevator was expected to be ready to receive grain by November 15, 1897. Vessels carrying 60-70,000 bushels of grain could be unloaded. The elevator was not without controversy (beyond the scope of this post), as the Montreal Transportation Co. was also planning an elevator along the waterfront.

The Frontenac Cereal Co. combined the operations of Kingston Elevator & Transit Co. and the Frontenac Milling Co. in 1903. There were two dredged vessel docking areas. In 1908, Forwarders Ltd. was using the site to trans-ship grain from lake vessels to barges destined to the seaboard. A 1913 Whig ad for the Forwarders elevator:

Interestingly, the unused cereal works were converted to barracks to house the half of the assembling Princess of Wales’ Own Regiment not housed at Artillery Park in late-1914. This March 10, 1915 Whig-Standard article describes their formation and preparations for the war front:

The elevator portion was demolished circa 1919. The Orange Meat product was launched locally in 1903. A 1906 ad:

In the year 1919 there were briefly three grain elevators on Kingston’s waterfront, from west to east: the Forwarders’ at the foot of Gore Street, now the location of the Admiralty Place building; Richardson’s at the foot of Princess, the site of the Holiday Inn since 1967; and the Montreal Transportation Co. (MTC) at the foot of Barrack, now the Wolfe Island Ferry dock.This early photo of the rail-served Frontenac Milling, captioned 1900, includes the name of the builders, Nordyke & Marmon. Another source shows that the spur to the elevator was built in 1916, when another company was ready to take over operation of the Forwarders Ltd. to manufactural cereals IF a spur were built to connect the industrial plants between William and West Streets to connect the three railway lines serving Kingston.

A July, 1902 Whig article described the mill's location:

And a February 18, 1899 Whig article discusses the construction of Frontenac Milling in detail (as always, click for a larger, readable version): 

So it's rare, but not an impossible feat to find a photo of the elevator section that jutted into the lake. Captioned 1900:

1920 other side, aerial view:

Factory and cereal warehouse 1909, foot of Gore Street: 

A 1911 view of the of the elevator taken from the Kingston Shipyards: 

This 1921 view (photos above and below - Kingston Shipyards Papers, Queen's University Archives) of the Canadian Coaster under construction at Kingston Shipyards shows the water-end of the brick structures with the elevator dismantled:

During World War II, the cereals building at the foot of Gore Street was bought by the Department of National Defence(DND) for $15,000 for as an ordnance depot. The building had been turned over to DND at the start of the war, with an elevator and heating added. The railsiding and location next to a dock made bringing in of supplies convenient.

Another life: Frost the Mover warehouse 1986:

Nobody gets the name Orange Meat, perhaps not even when it was being produced! A Prof. John Waddell of Queen’s University was enlisted to do a series of tests. The outcome? “Orange Meat contains over 45% of wheat sugars. These build up muscles and feed nerves and make people strong and cheerful. The mysterious ‘meat’ was in fact a breakfast cereal. According to the marketing folks at Frontenac, Orange Meat’s combination of ‘crisp flakes’ + ‘spicy malt’ + sugar = ‘fascinating tastiness’.

Michael Peters has done some amazing research on the Orange Meat story. He shared this image from Canadian Grocer magazine:

The Frontenac Cereal Company seems ultimately to have said ‘uncle’ around 1911 and pulled the plug on the product with the very strange name! 

Lots o' links:

• Village-Design post by Michael Peters
• Michael continues blogging about Orange Meat. Watch for more posts!

Drones over Downtown

Doornekamp Construction Co. recently created a video showing some of their past and present projects in Napanee and Kingston. Some screen captures are shared here, making me wonder what it would have been like to have drone photography available in the heyday of the Hanley Spur. It sure would have been useful for rooftop detail modelling. Smokestacks! No doubt the drone would have, or could have, negotiated clouds of smoke wafting upwards from factory and steam locomotive smokestacks. Top photo and below - the 9 North Street Imperial Oil warehouse being repurposed for living space, with Rideaucrest Home in the background. A styrofoam-form pseudo-oil tank has been built at the north wall: 

Air conditioners really don't represent the rooftop details of years past! Though that brick wall has kept watch for decades. Note the yellowish former Whig warehouse, visible at middle-right background, near 'ground zero' at Rideau and Cataraqui Streets!

Heading toward the lake, looking back at the Woolen Mill and Dyeco. Farther to the right is the brownfields site of the former Davis Tannery and obsolete smelting activity:

Formerly a piano factory and department store, the former S&R building frames Ontario Street with former feed and grain buildings, with the former Richardson headquarters visible at Ontario and Princess:

George Lilley did his bit, flying over downtown in the late forties and early fifties in a small plane and preserving lots of images still available at the Queen's University Archives. Imperial Oil warehouse and tanks, CP roundhouse and in between, steam locomotive in parts for overseas shipment!

 

A Foot-of-the-Lakes Terminal?

Kingston’s ambitious bid to become a foot-of-the-lakes terminal relied on the Inner Harbour. The only way to achieve an equal footing with major lake ports Midland, Port Arthur and Toronto would be substantial government funding. 

UPDATE: Since I published this post in January, 2021 I have garnered additional information, presented in this enhanced post, published in August, 2025!

The city requested dredging of the Inner Harbour to a depth of 22 feet, connection of Belle Island to the mainland with the dredged sludge, and replacement of the old Cataraqui Penny Bridge. This would open up the Inner Harbour to lake shipping. The Inner Harbour was at the time only eight feet deep, though the Lower Harbour was only 15 feet, save for a channel dredged to the Montreal Transportation Company elevator of 18 feet. 

In May of 1911, The Cataraqui Bridge Co. had conveyed its dilapidated, 1828-built Penny Bridge to the city, who in turn ceded title to the Department of Public Works in June, 1912. Begun in 1826, bridge shares were sold for $100 to raise the $24,000 needed for its construction. At 25 feet wide and 1,800 feet long, the bridge opened for traffic in 1829, charging a penny per pedestrian. 

The Department of Public Works submitted a $1.8 million plan to the city in 1912 (above - Kingston Daily Standard clipping published May 8, 1912). The plan included a new rolling-lift bridge with 125-foot vertical clearance and dredging ($157,000) to open up the Inner Harbour via a new Lasalle Causeway. The Causeway’s bridge, 950 feet of dock and 1,700 feet of roadway ($230,000) were the initial steps in a grandiose plan to make the Inner Harbour a true Great Lakes Terminal! Further funds would be required for the envisioned five million-bushel grain elevator ($1,224,690) with further expansion to forty million bushels and fifty-car long loading tracks, coal-handling plant, docks, freight shed and a 500-car freight yard! The proposed Inner Harbour basin, its 53 acres dredged to 25 feet, would host 600 x 60-foot freight sheds adjacent to Belle Island. Wintering facilities for lake vessels would also be built.

The inner basin harbour area was planned to cover 53 acres, dredged to 25 feet to accommodate 15,000-ton lakers, with an aditional four acres dredged to 16 feet for canallers of 2,000 tons. A pier constructed on the west side of the basin would house the grain elevator. A map of the planned terminal, from Kingston - Building on the Past by Brian S. Osborne and Donald Swainson (below) raises some questions about the trackage and arrangements therein. Notice the loop track on 'Bell Island'. Since the docks were oriented for lake vessels, the tracks approached from the west shore 'backhand' and would have to negotiate a tight loop track to reach the docks, reminiscent of a similar wheel-and-spoke track plan in New York City! The CN-CP labelling of inbound tracks at top left should just read CN. One also has to question the downgrade to the Future Railroad Yard, and whether long cuts of cars could negotiate the grade up from water level. Moreover, it's unclear that many 600-foot lakers ever entered the Inner Harbour and whether this type of traffic was sustainable through a bridge that could become a bottleneck with limited navigable water in the Inner Harbour for vessel handling.

 

Another drawing of C. D. Howe's plans from 1919, as published in a Whig article:

However, aside from dredging the approach channel for 1,200 feet beyond the Causeway in 1920-1922 at a cost of $12,000, little else happened! The trunnion-type bascule bridge built by Hamilton Bridge Co. officially opened on April 16, 1917. Some of the history of the city's official applications to the federal government to improve the harbour facilities were discussed in this January 25, 1919 Daily  British Whig (below). A renewal of the original 1911 efforts was made in 1919, with the city's Board of Trade appointing a special committee on Harbour Improvements. The efforts recountedin the article included the original dredging the Inner Harbour to a depth of 22 feet; depositing the dredged material between Bell’s Island (the present Belle Island) and the city; and constructing a bridge between (Belle) Island and Pittsburgh Township to replace the old wooden Cataraqui bridge (the present LaSalle Causeway).

  

Throughout the 1920’s, there was rivalry between the cities of Kingston and Prescott for a break-bulk terminal. Involving the major railways delayed decision-making. Factors including flow of grain to the U.S. through Buffalo NY’s elevators, effects of pending Welland Canal improvements and St. Lawrence canalization were all considered. In the end, superior rail connections in Prescott tipped the balance in that city’s favour. Kingston’s supporters were stunned. 

Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) President W.H. Coverdale believed the Inner Harbour was indeed too cramped and too shallow for 600-foot lakers. With several such vessels including the mighty Lemoyne, CSL was poised to reap rewards of these massive Upper Lake boats transiting the Welland Canal to reach the Lower Lakes. Coverdale suggested two large terminals with suitable approaches, to be built at Kingston and Prescott. A site at Cataraqui Bay had all the attributes CSL needed. The company’s trans-shipment elevator opened at this location on September 15, 1930. (Top photo - Queen's University Archives, 1950).

CD&D Tugboat Project

 

A garage sale aficianado dropped by some months ago, leaving me with an HO scale operating train station novelty. I wedged the station off the base, and wondered what was inside. Undoing the screws, I found the small motor and gears which appeared seized. No matter, I decided to make a gondola car load out of it. It's boxy:

But, I started thinking it looked boat-like. I then decided to make it into one. Grabbing a brick of dollar-store plasticene, I carved it into a rough hull shape. I decided to set the motor in the hull. Without any in-progress photos, let's go directly to the finished product. It's a stubby little tug - in fact only about 40 feet in length. But that's the extent of my drydock, and I wanted this tugboat to be an in-drydock refit scene at Canadian Dredge & Dock.

I filed, sanded, cut, painted, added styrene, trimmed the hull some more, added a bridge made of plasticene, also a plasticene lifeboat and davits, built up the stack with plasticene, added CD&D logos to the stack and chose the CD&D tug name 'Traveller'.

Down in the dock (below). I also labelled my previous plasticene tugboat RCL No 11, another CD&D tug name.

At least the mirror gives the impression of it being not-so-stubby.

Here's a model/prototype comparison. On the left, my drydock. On the right, an aerial view of the prototype from a 1983 CD&D booklet:

Canadian Locomotive Company Builder's Plate

A generous customer did a socially-distanced mailbox-pickup of his copy of my latest book yesterday and brought by a CLC plate that had been "just gathering dust". I assured him I would give whatever artifact emerged from the bowels of CLC years ago, a good home. Well, the plate just about fit in my mailbox, being slightly larger than my book! It definitely has patina, acquired over the ensuing 71 years!

In their seminal volume Constructed in Kingston, Don McQueen and Bill Thomson describe this phase of CLC's builder's plates, noting that smaller cast plates were used for the Indian 4-6-2's of 1949-50, and that they were placed on the pilot end of the running board. Noting that with the arrival of Fairbanks Morse in 1950, the era of the cast plate was over, though the diamond shape was retained by the new owners. All CLC-FM power would have an aluminum plate stamped in black with natural finish lettering.

The builder's plate feels like aluminum, is unused, stamped 1949 and numbered for the 2500-series CLC serial number. This means it would have been destined for an Indian Government Railways export 2-8-2 steam locomotive, part of order C-611, one of only a very few such plates of this type. The hole at top was likely drilled for brag-wall display by one of its post-CLC owners, as the two holes at its sides remind undrilled for application to the locomotive's running boards.

Local railfan and builder's plate collector Malcolm Peakman kindly informed me that the small numbers 54-103 on the obverse is a pattern number. The specific 2500-series builder's number would be added on the foundry floor to complete the 25xx number. Malcolm also noted that Baldwin switchers and Indian 4-6-2's completed at the plant in that year would have had a small variety of plate. 

I suggested to Malcolm that if an amnesty or bounty was offered on any such CLC artifacts reposing in basements and garages, an interesting haul of items might be the result! I thanked the customer and indeed assured him it would find a good home here!

Postscript: Kingston's Canadian Locomotive Co.

In the previous post, we examined the history of Kingston's own Canadian Locomotive Company. There's just too much good material from the latter years of CLC to squeeze in, hence this postscript. Scans of various print advertisements, brochures and magazine articles comprise the collective in this CLC cornucopia. One-of-a-kind Trainmaster H24-66 CN 3000 in CLC's storage yard in July, 1955 (top - CNR photo) presented to CN in August. Here's a memo covering CN 3000's break-in trips later in the year:

CP also accepted a Trainmaster, CP 8900, built in Beloit, WI presented to the railway in a Kingston ceremony in July.

July-August, 1955 Canadian Pacific Spanner employee magazine article

Two pages of another Spanner article, this one from 1945 profiling the long history of locomotive production in Kingston for Canadian Pacific:

A hint of CLC's reluctance to change - producing export steam locomotives well into the mid-fifties diesel age, as shown in this September, 1955 issue of TRAINS magazine

CLC 1953 C-Line troubleshooting manual:

Responses to my Dad's letters to CLC, during an era in which companies would respond to requests for information on their products.

This August, 1955 photograph from a Whig-Standard CLC retrospective article shows steam lifting CN 3000 and two other diesel successors at the CLC plant:

CLC advertisement, 1952:

CLC Opposed Piston production from November, 1964 TRAINS magazine (above and below from Rolly Martin Country)