John Mayell's Memories of the CN Switcher

This memory train keeps on running through some recently-published posts. First, I published a post on that 'tight squeeze' CN switching puzzle which then led to a correction to the original Whig captioning by fellow rail enthusiast and former Kingston resident John Mayell. That in turn led to a post on 40-year CN employee Ron Sturgess. Then, that post unlocked some further memories from John Mayell and led to the creation of this post!

(Top photo - CN 3103 at the Outer Station on June 17, 1977 with the CN Express shed and trucks in the background - Robert Farkas photo)

Here are John's memories of CN switching, the Outer Station, and even his potential railway employment! The good news for me is that John's memories shed some much-wanted light on how CN switched Kingston in my modelled era, especially since I have just backdated that era from circa 1970 to the late 1960s, coincident with the CP trackage moving out of downtown in 1966. Take it away, John...

Ron's name has sparked some good memories, I'd like to share a few with you.

Back around 1967 there was one yard job out of Kingston that worked some very long days. They switched the Hanley Spur, did Outer Station yard work, switched the Alcan plant and the Cataraqui Spur. Ron Sturgess was the Conductor on that job. At that time there was also a job called the Gan[anoque] Turn that ran east out of Belleville early every morning, usually with an RS-18 for power. Eastbound they worked C-I-L at Millhaven, sometimes they had set-outs at Kingston, then down to Gananoque to work the spur which always included cars for Stelco and occasionally Cow & Gate. Westbound back to Kingston, they usually arrived around 4 p.m. where they would pull into the north yard at the main line switch east of Elliott Avenue. Their Kingston work was to lift any Belleville cars that may be in the yard and then cross over both mains into the south yard (right behind my house) and grab the L-C-L express boxcar that was spotted next to the metal CN Express shed. This car was not ready to go until all the CN Express trucks had returned from their routes and their packages were loaded into the Belleville bound car. Many times they would couple up to the car and wait for the trucks to arrive, but they could only wait until a certain cut-off time. They needed to leave enough time to make the move back onto their train in the north yard and get out of town westbound to Belleville ahead of the passenger trains. This was back in the directional running and train-order days.

I was sitting on a pile of ties watching the Gan Turn switching in the yard after school one summer day in 1967 when I was invited into the cab by the engineer on this job, Mike Hogan. He had noticed me numerous times and realized I had been bitten by the 'railroad bug' and invited me to come back any time. Mike liked buttermilk, so I would occasionally go to Art's Groceteria across from the station with 35 cents, buy a quart of Brookside Dairy buttermilk and meet the train down at the switch where they entered the yard. It made Mike smile and I learned to like buttermilk too! I rode with them in the yard almost every day until the job was abolished, I think in the summer of 1968, and a second yard job was established in Kingston. Ron Sturgess was the conductor on the East Kingston job that worked the Hanley Spur, the yard itself and Gananoque while the West job worked Alcan, Permanent Concrete, the Counter Street team track and the Cataraqui Spur.

The two yard jobs alternated the weekend work, with Ron's job doing Saturday. They would usually only work DuPont and the goal was to get back to the west end of the Cataraqui Spur and out on the main eastbound before CN Passenger Train  No 60 showed up which was scheduled by Collins Bay at 1117. I rode with Ron's job almost every Saturday.

John continues the story with his hopes for a railway career...

Ron took a fall in the yard one winter and was off for a while with his injury. When he returned he took the Railiner conductor job that ran Kingston to Toronto and returned each day. I was trying to hire on to the railway but had to wait until I was 18 years old, so in the summer of 1970 I put my application at CNR Belleville, CPR Smiths Falls, CNR Brockville and thanks to Ron's generosity I got a free trip to Toronto on the Railiner to put my name in there as well. At that time CNR had just hired a bunch of guys at Belleville, so I was out of luck there. CPR in Smiths Falls put my application into the "no family working for CPR" pile and told me not to hold my breath. The Toronto trip was fun, but they already had a few hundred applications in the pile and my chances there were slim to none. The Brockville application was the surprise....

My father had an electrical business and I had worked there since I was 15 stripping electric motors, digging trenches for wiring, sweeping up and eventually as an electrician's helper. It looked like the dream railroad job wasn't going to happen, so my Dad encouraged me to register for an electrician apprenticeship. Back in those days you were indentured to the employer, so it was at least a 4 year commitment. I took his offer and was about 2 months into the apprenticeship when I got a letter from CNR offering me a chance at a brakeman position in Brockville! What to do? I recall the CNR official's name was I think a Mr. Jockinen, so I called him up and told him I was in an apprenticeship and was unable to take his offer. I'll never forget his reply: "You got a chance at a trade, you take it, and stay away from the %^&*$# railroad"!

CN 40-year Employee - Ron Sturgess

In a previous post, I included a miscaptioned Whig photo showing CN conductor 'Ron Stevens'. I heard from former Kingston resident and rail enthusiast John Mayell, who suggested the conductor's name was likely Ron Sturgess. It became apparent that John was correct. One thing, as it often does, led to another...

Ron Sturgess ran unsuccessfully for Kingston alderman in 1978, 1982 and 1985. He also noted his belief in the importance of representing the area one lives in, in this case Rideau Street in Cataraqui Ward. He'd lived at 342 since he was born. More specifically, still sleeping in the same bedroom in which he was delivered by a doctor in 1914! He was proud to note that he was the fourth generation of his family to live in the city's north end, attending Cataraqui and Robert Meek schools. Busy as a newspaper delivery boy, the papers included the British Whig, Daily Standard (amalgamated 1926), U.S. Sunday papers and even the Detroit Free Press from Morrison's restaurant.

He was often quoted in city columns sharing interesting details of his life along Kingston's industrial waterfront:

• as a boy, skinny-dipping near the [we now know] contaminated Davis Tannery property.
• his grandfather worked at the shipyards, locomotive works and tannery, apparently without any ill effects.
• he spoke well of the Davis family and how they kept 200 people employed at 25 cents per hour during the Great Depression.
• he recalled the original swamp in Swamp Ward, likely fed by a spring, also known as Caton's Pasture and years ago resembling a lake! A home for wildlife, though the fish were all in the river.

Having worked for CN for 40 years, and having survived several 'crashes', Ron Sturgess was mentioned in an amazing May 11, 1953 Whig story about a calamitous incident at the 'CN freight yards' at Place d'Armes. The above Whig photo appeared in the evening edition the same day. Talk about spot news! The caption notes that a member of the RCAMC and an unidentified workman endeavour to free driver George Bouyers of 2 Rideau Terrace. That building was adjacent to the Bajus Brewery - the incident occurred very close to his home! The unfortunate man's shoulder is just visible, and the efforts to free him took more than an hour.

Employed by KIMCO for five years, he was backing a stake-truck loaded with a 15-ton die up to the wooden unloading ramp at the 'CP siding' when the cargo shifted. It was his third attempt to reach the ramp and he braked sharply on an incline at the ramp. The wood blocking and the die slipped forward,  apparently bending the frame of the truck, driving the load towards the cab and crushing the unfortunate driver between the rear of the cab and the steering column. Providing aid to the civil power, RCEME members led by WO1 Jack Seymour and a wrecker from 207 Workshop were summoned from the Barriefield army base. Five RCEME NCOs were listed in the account, as were two mechanics, all before a large crowd of onlookers and a fire crew on standby.

The CN train crew was listed as Conductor Sid Lathangue of Belleville, Engineer Bruce Lynch, Ron Sturgess (a fireman at the time and the locomotive likely a steam engine), and Brakeman Earl Barnes.

Here's the most interesting part of the story, at least to me! While the army wrecker was used to anchor the front of the buckled truck, a cable was attached to the rear of the CN crew's locomotive in an attempt to lessen the weight of the die in the back of the truck. 

But...when it was decided to make use of the locomotive, three freight cars had to be 'moved off the siding' for access. The only locomotive in the vicinity was a CN one, and the crew did not wait for permission to 'switch the CP property'. The crew immediately stopped delivering their own cars to begin work on the rescue attempt.

I have to wonder if the CN crew used the mutual track across Ontario Street to gain CP rails.

Married to his wife Lola for 59 years, Ron Sturgess died in 1995.

Parked Car Parks Train

This little-known drama played out on October 21, 1969.

A CN switcher crew had barely made its way across Ontario Street with the Public Utilities Commission two-storey offices visible in the background (top photo). On their way to the Canadian Locomotive Co. (officially Fairbanks Morse Canada that point) property on Ontario Street to pick up an empty car. Operations had ceased on July 1, with the last load of product being shipped out on June 27 of that year. 

Only the top photo made it past the Whig's photo editor, with horizontal cropping removing much of the excess at top and bottom of the top photo.

The locomotive is not visible, nor is much of the Ontario Northland Railway boxcar it was pushing. We can see at least three crewmen in the photos, with the engineer likely remaining in the locomotive. The conductor eyeing up the Oldsmobile with the newly-built Holiday Inn and Shoal Tower visible in the background:

CN conductor Ron Stevens Sturgess told the photographer that he "did not have the mobility" to possibly manoeuvre his train, constrained by its sinewy steel pathway around parked cars behind the triangular shaped buildings fronting Ontario Street. Due to the then-infrequent movements along CN rails (the only one of two lines remaining after CP pulled out of its operations in favour of a land deal and the creation of Confederation Park) cars were apparently commonly parking on or near the tracks between Holiday Inn and Confederation Park.

Surprisingly, Whig-Standard photographer Bill Baird was there to document it (all three photos from Queen's University Archives, Kingston Whig-Standard Fonds, V142.7-120). Interestingly, the pile of cinder blocks in the photos was not impeding the train's progress. Another car is visible on the opposite side of the Oldsmobile:

Cars are still parking there, though the track has been gone for 55 years and no longer complicates the situation! Current Google maps image:

The movement's approximate location and direction of travel towards CLC:

Regional Emergency Services Ambulances in Kingston

Now that I've built an HO-scale version of the Ontario Street Kingston Fire Department fire hall, what about other emergency services in my modelled era? At the Kingston Fall Fair on September 12, 1968 an ambulance display was set up. Featuring one of three new Regional Emergency Services overseen by the Ontario Hospital Services Committee, the Ford ambulances operated out of Hotel Dieu Hospital. 

The archival photo (above - Queen's University Archives. V142-6-122. Kingston Whig-Standard Fonds) is quite different from the one that appeared in the Whig (below). Cropped closer and focused more on the people than the ambulance. Answering questions was driver-attendant William Pippy:

In action! A motor vehicle collision on Highway 401 between Sydenham Road and Highway 38 on December 3, 1969 was photographed by a Whig photographer:

The photos that didn't appear in the newspaper (below - Queen's University Archives. V142-7-157. Kingston Whig-Standard Fonds) show both ends of the ambulance. The striping was likely navy blue.  I remember larger Dodge versions in succeeding years. This was in the era of load-n-go, with little room in the back of the van for supplies or equipment:

Modelling the Ontario Street Switchman's Shanty

Probably the most important shack (of likely many shacks) in Kingston. The switchman's shanty guarded to northern entrance to the CN-CP mutual track across Ontario Street. Now that I'm modelling the CN-CP trackage across from City Hall, it's led to the yard [re]design, building of the K&P station, the Kingston Milling Co. and the Ontario Street fire hall, and this particular shack.

Imagine the job description for the switchman that inhabited this modest wooden structure. You will be responsible for clearing every train movement across the most prominent access point to Kingston from the east. Hours of boredom punctuated by moments of the panic of an approaching, but very low-speed train almost at the end of its run. Or the beginning. You will indicate signals to permit the train to cross the street and promote deconfliction with any other trains vying to occupy the same track, from either railway. You will also be a valuable witness for the cases of many motorists who insist racing the train sometimes not ending well! Shelter, stove and bench provided. 

The above photo, provided by Charles Cooper is the absolute BEST one I've found of this humble structure, not to mention the structures and scene in the background. I rummaged through my stacks of shacks and found one that had formerly been a boathouse on the Inner Harbour before I ran out of room for boathouses!

The shack had a brick finish, which I decided to cover over with horizontal siding. That meant sanding off some brick details, finding a roof with the right pitch, and reproducing the prototype doors and windows. The boathouse roof was grey siding, but needed to be shingles. I worked around the end door, added another one to a side wall, downsized one window and added another adjacent to the door. I rummaged around for a chimney, finding a nice metal casting from a train-show find $10 junk box.

I began the re-skinning, adding styrene strips for the corners. 

In the process, I decided the roof pitch was now good, but the shack was too long. I removed about three scale feet from each side and reassembled, cutting a hole in the roof for the chimney, then adding the signal superstructure and singular train-order signal blade. The whole structure was painted maroon, with the shingled roof black.

I added a bench for the switchman in nice weather, coal box apparently smaller than the prototype. On the layout, just awaiting some final scenicking. The mutual track is off to the left, with CN's continuous-run track over my 'Montreal Street subway'.

 

Modelling the Ontario Street Fire Hall

I didn't dream of building this structure...ever. But being in the neighbourhood with my repurposed CP yard across Ontario Street from City Hall and building the Kingston Milling Co. mill, the Ontario Street Fire Hall was literally in their backyard. And here we are.

The toughest part as always was finding the feedstock. It's not like a kit can be purchased to build it. So I made use of some $2 train-show find DPM brick walls as the right and left wings astride the hose tower. I used some parts from a Walthers Western Avenue Fire Station purchased from fellow ARK member Michael Pasch for the tower, with a DPM arched window. I used two Walthers warehouse windows to fill the top of the arches, cut to fit and painted white. Paper limestone for the foundation. You'll notice there's no front door, so entry will be via the big doors I guess!

I had some dormer windows from a mansard roof on a previous Ogilvie Flour Fill build. The only problem is that the roof slope was not as great as it needed to be. So this fire station has linebacker shoulders. I also didn't want the tower to be so tall that it would get in the way on the layout. So this build is my version of the prototype! I used some roof details from the Heljan courthouse kit for the roof base and filled in all the other walls and tower walls:

Black paint toned down the mansard roof, with paper limestone on the end walls.

Copy-paste-print from Googlemaps street views of the prototype:

Not too many in-process photos here. I was too busy building for two days. Michael Myers took and posted a picture of a limestone rubble wall at Peter's Drugs in Portsmouth Village and I copied-pasted-printed it for the end walls, as I did the quoins found online, fussy-cut to shape and glued on at the corners. I cut one of the DPM bay doors and glued it open, the other shut. The tower is made of black cardstock, and the end chimneys balsa wrapped in printed brick paper. 

I'm not at all sure where it's going on the layout, but it was fun to build. The fire hall has had so many lives, and is in storage use during my modelled era, after is days as a working firehall and before its 2014 makeover as a tourist eatery. The Waterous looks right at home:

On the layout:

 

Modelling the Kingston Milling Company

The interesting painted signage on this limestone building at the foot of Brock Street made me want to model it, especially when repurposing my layout's central peninsula into the CP (and CN) trackage in front of City Hall along Ontario Street. As always, space constraints kept me from modelling its full length, or even width. So the basis of this kit bash was finding sympathetic structures in my stock. This turned out to be a $7 build!

The top wooden storey is a $2 train-show find. It wasn't even assembled, it was four walls held together with rubber bands. The bottom storey is a $5 Walthers feed storage shed. I removed the roof and noticed that it fit on the upper-storey perfectly! I removed a lot of the station's wainscotting, revealing that pale yellow styrene.

Test-fitting the structure in the available real estate. I tried a couple of options for the limestone south-end that bore the cool lettering. I decided to use the office of my former Manitoba Pool Elevators concrete grain elevator!

Time to dress it up a bit. Not wanting to have all the limestone paper glued to structures I've built being the same, I printed this page a little on the pink side. I noticed in prototype photos that the limestone here was darker-looking, probably due to its workaday location and the passing of sooty steam engines directly behind it! I painted the upper storey brown; starting the limestone wrapping:

The opposite side, all limestone glued on. I kept the existing windows and doors:

Roof painted, paper glued on, trial on the layout:

I printed off some doors and windows, largely found on Pinterest, and decided to glue these on rather than cutting holes and trying to find window frames to fit:

I filled the upper-storey window openings and weathered the wooden surface, added the first-storey printed windows, and applied lettering using white and black gel pen:

Opposite end:

Now in place on the layout. Dollar-store modelling clay used to adjust the height under the end. Final scenicking and details to be done...

Track side, with the spur extended to the end of the building, keeping the CN/CP lead closely behind, just like the prototype!

Kingston Milling Company

The nexus of Kingston's downtown and the outer harbour led to the rise of Kingston's transshipment economy: lumber, grain, coal were among the commodities that comprised Kingston's commerce in the 19th century and later. It seems incomprehensible today that within this now-tourist area along Ontario Street, that large quantities of grain were brought here - for transshipment to local farmers, for milling to flour, and from local farms to the lakes and beyond. Kitty-corner to City Hall was this rambling grain operation, perhaps best known as the Kingston Milling Company, established in 1884. With painted signs showing tickets, steamboats and tours, this south end of the building was at one time a ticket office and waiting room. 

Above are two archival photos I used for prototype inspiration. CPR 424 poses in front during switching. An aerial view shows a spur leading to the building:

Two images from a 1911 fire insurance map do not show an earlier spur that served the lakeside of the operation, but do show the one closer to Ontario Street serving a shed labeled 'hay storage'. The three-part building later had a wooden third storey added for storage (dark blue outline):

Descriptions of the operation from the Whig. Nov 16. 1912:

Aug. 12, 1919

Another advertising feature, undated:

Somebody was fortunate enough to find an original flour bag. Hungarian and White Rose were two of the Kingston Milling Co.'s best-known flour brands. 'Hungarian' refers to the milling process used -developed in Hungary in the 1800s and brought to North America in the final quarter of the 19th century.

A 1920 advertisement:

A 1934 listing of flour mills shows that the operation could produce 150 barrels of flour per day. This operation was located behind the Ontario Street fire station, almost abutting it. That means the fire hall will be my next modelling project. A 1937 Whig clipping also connects the two:

The site was owned by the Allinson family since 1945, home to various businesses, including Brais & Brais General Contractors, Chapman Hardware and (W.J.) Allinson Farm Equipment. One could buy tractor chains, barn ventilators, chain saws, snowblowers, roto-tillers and water bowls for cattle! Whig ad, 1969 (below). In that year, barn and industrial parts were moved to their location on Highway 15, with lawn and small-motor machinery being sold from 237 Ontario Street.

In 1971, Smith Garden & Sporting Supplies was on the site. It's now occupied by the Confederation Place Hotel, built in 1978.