Why I remember

Remembrance Day is always a solemn and meaningful day in Ottawa. I have lived here in this city long enough that I still remember attending ceremonies at the national cenotaph downtown and being able to see World War II veterans parade around the National War Memorial. 

You can make fun of Ottawa a for lot, and many do, but this city remembers and I am proud of that tradition. A few years ago, a colleague of mine from Carleton University sent me a message thanking me for convincing him to go to the national ceremony years earlier, as our university professors told us it was worthwhile to do so, as budding journalists and as Canadians. I had to confess that I don't remember much of that ceremony, but I'm proud I made a small difference that day.

Here's a story from my family that makes me think about war; how it sometimes brings out the best in us when we fight against the worst in us.

My grandfather, Egidio, grew up in relative poverty in northern Italy. When World War II broke out, he was forced to enlist with Mussolini's forces. My Nonno, as I called him in Italian, was part of the occupying forces in what was then known as Yugoslavia. As we all know, the Italians eventually overthrew their dictator and killed him in 1945.

When that happened, the country's army essentially disbanded, which meant my Nonno and his friends were stranded in Yugoslavia, amid the very people whose country they occupied. Making matters worse, the Germans were hunting down the Italians as traitors.

I don't know the particulars of much of the story, as it was told to me in pieces by my Mom and my Uncle John. They told me my Nonno and his friends ditched their uniforms and relied on the mercy of the various people living in Yugoslavia, as they moved by night to get back to Italy by foot. I was told they slept in barns, begged for food, were given clothes to pass as civilians, and kept out of sight. 

As if crossing a country on foot while being pursued by Nazis wasn't bad enough, my Nonno and his friends had a friend who was injured and could not walk. Although he told them to leave him to die in Yugoslavia, they refused. They fashioned some sort of makeshift sled and pulled him, using their belts. 

They dragged him home to Italy. 

This is the part of the story that always gets me. When asked why they would risk so much for one man, their answer was simple. They could not return home and face that man's family if they left him behind. That type of selflessness and heroism is but one example of countless acts of bravery.

My Nonno and I at Heritage Park in Calgary, 1991 

I know this is not a heroic tale of what Canada did during the wars. I love my country and have mixed feelings about my family's war history. 

We Canadians all know what a sterling war record our country has, a legacy that sadly was built on the blood and sacrifice of millions of people, many of whom whose stories will never be told. I can still recite In Flanders Fields word for word, as it was drilled into us as kids at school. That poem, to me, is the ultimate tribute to those whose stories will never be told, but whose actions paved the way for the Canada we enjoy today.

But I mention my Nonno for a reason. After the war was over, he made his way to Canada to work for the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia, so he could earn enough money to bring his family over. Eventually, the family settled in Windsor, including my mom. 

I will never know more of my Nonno's story as he spoke mainly Italian and spoke very little English. I will also never know what effect the war had on him, but I'm sure it did. I do know that, were it not for his bravery, another man's family would have a very different history.

I also know that, had he not come to Canada, my own story would never have happened. 

In his house in Windsor, my Nonno always had a small Italian flag in his front room. Beside that flag, he had a Canadian flag. As proud as he was to be Italian, he was equally grateful that Canada took him in, a person who was an enemy just years earlier. That type of mercy is part of the reason I am here today.

That, to me, is Canada at its best. It's people doing their very best at a time when people are doing their very worst. 

Lest we forget.  

A Canada Day doubleheader

When I visited Sarnia this summer to spend time with family, I was lucky enough to have some time trackside at the Sarnia rail yard, which is always a treat for me. I already shared some images of my time in Sarnia, including shots of my first mainline freight train this summer, along with my commentary on the enthusiastic railfans down there, not to mention the oddities I saw off the main line.

First taste of the main line

The Railfans

Off the main line

For this post, I simply wanted to share photos of more mainline action from my time in Sarnia. As much as I love reading railway blogs (and I do) and learn from the commentary and knowledge of my fellow bloggers, I also like to read posts about just being trackside and capturing a passing train. It's a simple pleasure in my life. Sometimes, it doesn't need a whole lot of overthinking. So with that in mind, let's go trackside on the Strathroy Subdivison. 

This is my first glimpse of a westbound freight that was making its way to the tunnel when eastbound Via Train 84 made its way east of the platform of Sarnia station on July 1. I always love to catch a meet, but it's always a challenge to get the light cooperating at this vantage point. Sometimes, the early morning sunshine and the haze makes some compromises inevitable. 

By turning my camera away from the sun and having the Via Rail Venture set out of the way, I was able to get a better view of the westbound CN with a long line of empty autoracks making its way to Michigan. It's interesting how the glare from the Venture set seemed to influence the lighting of the shot in the first image. Take that distraction away and shift the direction of the lens and the sky comes into focus. But it wasn't until the train came closer to the platform that I was in for a true surprise.

 

 

Behind CN ES44DC 2228 was a Canadian Pacific-painted unit. I'm not going to say that shared or leased power is rare on this main line, because I have seen outside power here in my limited time trackside. But I don't recall seeing CP power here before. I'm sure it's more common that I think, but it's still the first time I have seen CP (sigh, okay CPKC) power on the Strathroy Subdivision. 

 

 

The engine was CPKC ES44AC 8907, in the railway's basic red scheme minus the golden rodent and badge logo. One thing I've loved about modern CP engines is how, even after the railway migrated to a more modern paint scheme following its longstanding action livery, the railway still kept its unit operating numbers in the same white italic font. It's a little detail. I'm sure there wasn't any deliberate thought put into this, but I like that it reminds me of days gone by when I would see CP action red units in Windsor with the same operating numbers on the cab. It's the little things that make me happy.

It's weird seeing these two rivals side by side. Look at the difference it makes when you're not fighting the morning sun! The eastward facing images make it look like a cloudy, overcast day but the westward images reveal that it's really another typical Southwestern Ontario sunny summer morning.

Here's a quick shot of Via Train 84 making its way toward the Indian Road overpass while the westbound autorack train picks up momentum as it glides down the descent toward the Paul M. Tellier Tunnel beneath the St. Clair River. 

And speaking of that CPKC railway, here is the unified railway's logo. The beaver and the maple leaf are still prominent, letting people know which one of these former companies was the buyer. 

 

And here's a shot of that action red scheme, which you can still find on occasion on old covered hoppers and autoracks. I've seen a boxcar with the old action scheme in recent years, but that is truly rare. Check out that image of an old CP Rail clad boxcar in this post from London, Ontario: Serving up suds?

 

And here's one final shot of the train making its way down the grade to the tunnel as the rear markers cross the signal gantry. All in all, a cool start to my Canada Day.

 

MESSAGES CHECKED DAILY

 

I want to assure you that I check my messages on the blog each morning in an attempt to encourage everyone to be able to add their comments without fear of censorship. The only comments I delete are spam messages. That was why I switched to moderated messaging. It has nothing to do with anyone that reads here. It has everything to do with the relentless stream of spam messages that plague these blogs.

 

So keep messaging me, by all means. I love to hear form you.

 

hammondDOTmichael77AT gmailDOTcom

 

Michael H. 

 

 

 

 

  

Some random photos from summer and fall

This summer and early this fall, I have been able to collect a fair number of random railway photos that don't quite fit in with any particular theme or topic of a post. As I have done in the past, I usually give myself some time to store up a few and explore them in detail in a random post.

I suppose if there's a theme or topic that unites these photos, it's as follows. When you blog about railways and live in Ottawa, you need to be ready to take a railway photo anywhere and everywhere you can. To go one step further, you also need to constantly think of new places and new vantages points to take photos, so you can present some shots that aren't constantly covering the same ground. 

That's because Ottawa has very little to offer, obviously. 

I see this often online where railfans will take a shot of the same train at the same location at the same time of day. For them, it's fulfilling and worthwhile. That's not my thing anymore. I need to mix up the landscape and the background, not to mention the points of view, to keep things interesting. I think that's why a fair bit of my photography is now taken with landscape in mind.

I'll start with a shot that was shared with me by my sister. She and her husband were celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary in late September. They found their way to Alaska, where they took a ride on the White Pass and Yukon Route passenger excursion from Skagway, Alaska. 

 

Here's a shot of a few of the vintage 19th century vintage* coaches ready to welcome passengers for an excursion from Skagway to Carcross, Yukon, where the line currently ends. The railway, now owned by a company that includes Carnival Cruise Lines, operates in Alaska, northern British Columbia and Yukon. In recent years, there were talks about restoring service all the way to Whitehorse, Yukon's capital, but that has not materialized. Part of that discussion includes the line taking on freight service again, as mining interests still work along the route, although much of this traffic is handled via trucks. 

 

* - I neglected to mention in my original text that these vintage coaches are mainly newer builds made to look like 19th century equipment, although some are indeed very old and there are even some originals still in the railway's possession. Read the comments below for more.

 

It would be interesting to see this 3-foot-gauge operation back in action all the way to Whitehorse again, complete with freight operations, but this would require a fair bit of investment on the part of governments. I'm not sure there's a business case to be made right now.

 

A few days ago, I was on my way home from an appointment in Orleans, in Ottawa's east end, when I decided to avoid the westbound construction on the Queensway by taking some other city arterial routes back home. That path brought me by Ottawa's main train station on Tremblay Road. It was quiet when I arrived, save for this P42 and HEP consist pointed eastward, although the train was a double-ender. I am guessing this was a Montreal-bound train, as I have boarded eastbound trains on this track before. 

 

I didn't need to take another shot of a P42 and HEP consist, as I have hundreds of similar shots, but the thought occurred to me as I watched the train idle: How much longer will I see these trains? Even the engines with a face only a mother could love won't be around forever. The Venture sets are everywhere now and the legacy rolling stock is fasting becoming scarce. It's always worth a shot. 

 

In the summer, my family visited Sarnia and found our way to the Bluewater Bridge, which connects to Port Huron, Michigan over the St. Clair River. Beneath the bridge in Port Huron, near the Thomas Edison Inn, you will find this baggage/passenger car that once belonged to the Chicago, Detroit & Canada Grand Trunk Junction Rail Road. The railway connected Port Huron to Detroit beginning in the mid-1800s and became part of the Grand Trunk Western in 1928. 

 

Thomas Edison, a world-famous inventor born in Ohio, spent much of his earlier years in Port Huron, which is why the hotel is named in his honour. Edison also worked for the Grand Trunk, beginning as a young man when he told items, including newspapers and candy, to travellers bound for Detroit.  

 

Edison would later work as a telegraph operator for the Grand Trunk in Stratford, Ontario. You can read about his connection to railways in this earlier post. You can also see the historic Port Huron Railway Station behind the passenger car. 

 

 

This last image isn't exactly random as it's an image of Via Rail Train 84 headed eastbound toward Stratford Station en route to Toronto. I was lucky enough to catch this train while in Stratford this July, but I wanted to share this image, taken amid a sea of visial distractions. I liked the curvature of the tracks and the trees as a brackdrop. I will share my other photos of this meet later on, but I thought I would put this one out there to see what people thought. It was a bit of an experiment. I'm not sure about the concrete and metal poles framing the train. I like that there's a stop sign in there as well as some crossing signals. It shows you how the Guelph Subdivison snakes its way through the city in and around the station. In this image the consist is crossing Downie Street and making its way to Niles Street, which is the last street eastbound before it hits the station.

 

A bit of bric à brac from the last few months.