It's a Marine Railway!

When I came across these photos in the Queen's University Archives, there were several reasons I was interested in them. One, the muddy, mucky and disorganized nature of the waterfront scene. Two, the clothing of the workers and their postures. Both of these contributed to my view of the Shipyards in their waning years. But just what were they building? I captioned them 'workers launching something at the shipyards' then the date of August, 1951. Was it some sort of scow or dock being built?

Well, it turns out this is a marine railway. In other words, a 'track' used to build, carry, transpost and/or launch a ship extending into water. There were several views, so I photographed negatives in strips together:

I realize that most recent posts on this blog seem to be centred on the water. Well, I've been searching for, and finding, answers to many questions raised by archival photos, so I'm riding the wave!

In September, 1951 Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering was fulfilling a contract for construction of a wooden minesweeping vessel for the Royal Canadian Navy. Contractually-obligated to build the minesweeper indoors, the end wall of a large structure was removed and the marine railway attached outside it, leading to the beckoning lake. This construction enabled an end launch into water of sufficient depth of the completed ship. These September 18, 1951 Whig clippings detail the revolutionary ways built under the leadership of T.G. Bishop:

(as always, click on image for a larger version)

The keel of the eighth of fourteen Bay-class minesweeper was laid on August 29, 1951. Three Queen's University Archives photos showing the launch of the HMCS Resolute on June 20, 1953:

Flag-bedecked hull sliding down the marine railway.

Timbers everywhere, with tug standing by.

The aluminum-ribbed but wood-sheathed Resolute was commissioned on September 16, 1954 to start her career which only lasted ten years. She returned to its birthplace in 1955 with other vessels of the First Canadian Minesweeping Flotilla -  HMCS Gaspe, Trinity and Ungava, with Resolute likely at right of this Wallace Berry photo taken from the shipyards crane: