Going west in the corridor

In early June, my family took the train to Toronto so we could take in a Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre. The trip west from Fallowfield Station was my first time taking Via Rail since 2015. It was also the first time I took the train between Ottawa and Toronto since 2009, when I used Via Rail to travel for business. For my daughters, it was their first time on a train that wasn't the O-Train.

We began our day from Fallowfield, as mentioned, before 6 a.m., as we waited for the 5:45 arrival of Train 41, which was the earliest train out of Ottawa. Our consist was led by P42 918 and it featured four silver streamlined HEP cars. My family was in the fourth car. It was an ex-CP coach and it was a bumpy ride. My wife and I were assigned seats at the end of the car, which gave us more leg room, although our window was half the size. Makes it hard to take photos!

As I mentioned in a previous post, the first thing I noticed trackside was a long line of empty intermodal cars parked on what blog readers confirmed to me was the last remnants of the CP Chalk River Subdivision. I was told that CPKC sets cars aside on this track when they are not in use for long periods. I was told that it is not uncommon to see grain cars parked on this track for long periods.

It was in Brockville that I captured my first photo at CP Chelsea, where the former CP Brockville Sub takes a sharp turn to the right for westbound trains, which forces the train to slow down. You can really hear the wheels screeching as the tight turn applies pressure on the train. It was on this turn that I attempted my first "Dutch door" style photo of a train. This was the best that I could do. It was at milepost 27.57. I was happy to catch the two signals as well.

The old windows on our coach made for less than stellar images, but I still like the fact that I could get a shot of our train from this vantage point. This is the first type of image in this style that I have ever captured. While we were in Brockville, I made sure to get a shot of the station. I have been through this town on the train many times, but I never have taken shots of the station.

This was about as much of the station as I could shoot from my narrow window in the fourth HEP car. There wasn't much else to see in Brockville during our stop, even though this is a good spot for railfanning, as this is a good place to see the convergence of the CN and CPKC's eastern systems. I did see a few flatcars, though.

I kept my eyes peeled for interesting scenes trackside. When we approached Kingston, I looked out for something on one of the two station tracks but I wasn't on the right side of the train to see what was on the other track. It wasn't until I was west of Kingston when I caught a quick glance at the abandoned ex-GTR, ex-CN Ernestown station, which still sits trackside, having long since hosted its last passenger train. This station continues to be a source of fascination for railfans and history buffs in the Kingston area.

I made sure to saunter down to the end of our car at times to get a shot of the tracks as we raced through Eastern Ontario. The harsh early morning sun was not my friend on these shots. But, as this train was not a double-ender, you could at least get a shot of the scenery rather than the back of an engine.

It wasn't until we arrived at Belleville that my vigilance finally paid off. As we approached the station, I saw a parked container train just east of the station. The engines did not seem to be idling, so I'm not sure if it was a case of a crew timed out and a train waiting for its next crew to bring it further west. I tried to get a shot as passed the head end. But again, the narrow window imposed limits to what I could do.

As we waited for our train to ease off the Belleville platform, I wandered to the back of the train to see if I could get a shot of the container train. This time, I was able to get a more complete shot. I was much happier with this shot. There is a bit of window glare in the bottom of the image, but I was happy that I could capture the curvature of the tracks and the contours of the train as it stretched into the distant horizon.

I also tried to frame the train with the overhead walkway of the Belleville station. The shadows were pretty harsh as it was still relatively early, so the freight train is a bit lost in the shadows, but I figured it was worth a shot.

I got a quick shot of the Trenton Junction Station, as I don't recall taking much notice of this stop when I took the train in the 1990s. I know there was a time when Via service was discontinued in Trenton for a time. The roof of the station needs to be replaced. It looks rough.

When we approached Cobourg, there were a couple of ballast cars in the yard, all with tarps covering the tops. The station in Cobourg looks very similar to the Belleville Station, only on a smaller scale.

I thought it would be fun to capture this scene in Cobourg, where you can see both rail lines over the water. There's a sizeable stretch of tracks where both the CPKC and CN lines are within eyesight of each other.

Those were some of my observations in June as we travelled from Fallowfield to Toronto. I will continue with Toronto observations in the next post. 

Note: I have aimed to post three items a month on this blog, but that will not be case this month. As I mentioned recently, my family is closing in on the final steps that will see us move. We are very close to wrapping up the process, but it is dominating my time. Thank you for your patience.

Review: Riding the rails where the Ventures roam

This past week, I took my daughter to Montreal, as part of a late birthday gift. She is a big hockey fan so we went to have a tour of the Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens. We then followed that up with a trip to the team store, where she got her first Habs jersey. A fun day in a city that I love.

For the purposes of this blog, the trip was also a great opportunity to take the train. In this instance, it was my first chance to ride Via Rail's new Siemens Ventures train. 

This was the scene at Ottawa's main train station as our Venture was parked a few tracks over from a more traditional F40-LRC consist that was headed for Toronto. Our train was Via Train 24. My first impressions of the new Ventures coaches were that the centre aisle was wider than what you'd find on an LRC or silver HEP car. The interior is very white. The area for people with disabilities was spacious, much more so than the spaces you'd find on more traditional Via equipment. There was no shortage of space.

I've been reading some interesting commentary online about the new Via equipment being relatively scarce outside the Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City route. There was also the Via "announcement" that its entire corridor now features the new Siemens trains, which is a bit of a stretch, to be sure. For my daughter and I, taking the train between Ottawa and Montreal meant we rode on a Siemens Venture set both ways. This seems to be the route where much of this equipment is being tested.

These digital signs were spread out along the car, which told you (roughly) where you were on your journey and how fast the train was moving. The Alexandria Subdivision is almost exclusively Via territory, save for the occasional CN freight train. On our way to Montreal, just east of Ottawa, our train managed to maintain a steady speed of 151 km/h for a long stretch, which was pretty impressive. As we got closer to Alexandria, the pace slackened a bit. Our train was given priority over a westbound train as well as a CN freight train closer to Coteau. As we neared Montreal, we yielded the main line for a westbound train, which caused us to pull in to Montreal's station a few minutes late, but nothing noticeable.

The train sheds at Montreal's Central Station were filled with new Siemens trains, but it's hard to get photos there, as it's so dark. The platforms at this station are as high as the coach doors, so there is no stepping down to the platform, as you have to do in Toronto. However, Toronto's train sheds are much brighter after the installation of much-needed windows there. It's a very different experience once you get off the train in Montreal.

The ride itself was incredibly quiet and smooth. Earlier this summer, I was on the last car of an all HEP consist on the way to Toronto. The difference in ride is not even close. The new Siemens coaches are a massive upgrade in terms of ride quality. I will say, however, the seats themselves felt a little stiff to me, although they weren't uncomfortable by any means. The leg room was more than enough and it was definitely a step up from the older coaches.

I mention the quiet. As someone with a hearing impairment, I have to wear hearing aids. I could hear all the announcements on the Ventures. I should clarify. It's not sound that is my problem, it's sound clarity. The acoustics of the Venture's sound systems are a massive improvement. Many details were well thought out in these new trains.

My daughter insisted on a platform shot, so I happily obliged. It's not easy getting anything decent on the Montreal platform, but I like this shot. My daughter and I had a wonderful day in Montreal. They locals treat you well when you're wearing the team colours!

The experience at Montreal station was pleasant as well. The Via personnel were very kind to us. We had to check one bag as we could not bring it on the Bell Centre tour. The gentleman at the baggage desk allowed us to check it for free, as he was enchanted with my daughter. I will have more to share about the Montreal station and my railway observations on this trip. Those will be for future posts.

Summer Observations in Eastern Ontario

These last few weeks have epitomized the line from a Tom Petty song: "The waiting is the hardest part." My family is trying to sell our home, which is a difficult task. Until we do sell it, we can't move on to next steps that will prepare us for a new life in our new home. Even though I was unsure that I would have much time for blogging, I am making an effort to do the things I love, which helps me deal with the stress of this time of transition.

I decided it would be fun to share some odds and ends that I have collected over the last little while and put together an observations piece. 

I'll start with a recent observation of Via Rail Train 59 in a new place. As you might have read in this blog recently, I am trying to find new places around Ottawa to capture some railway photos. I captured some nice shots of Train 59 on the Rideau River bridge, just north of Hunt Club Road. A few weeks ago, I decided to get a shot of the same train crossing on the Riverside Drive flyover. I have never attempted a shot from this spot before, so I figured it was worth a shot. Here P42 916 leads the train west toward the Rideau River bridge and Federal Junction.

A few weeks later, I was at the Hunt Club Road overpass, as my time was limited while waiting for my daughter's dance class to wrap up. I waited for Via Rail Train 43 making its way east to Ottawa Station. I haven't been to this spot in a while. While there, I noticed that the remnants of the old industrial spur to Bentley Avenue were still not cleaned up trackside. The tracks beyond the fencing are still in place, but the rails removed from the Smiths Falls Sub are still lying to the west of the tracks, along with the old switch stand. You can see the remnants of the rails in the weeds as Train 43 passes by.

My family recently spent the weekend in Toronto, which allowed me to get months worth of railfanning in, which I will share in a series of future posts. I will share a few shots, however, closer to Ottawa. On our way home from Toronto as part of a J-train, I took a quick shot of the CP offices in Smiths Falls, or should I say CPKC. As someone whose family has a long history with the Canadian Pacific, I had mixed feelings seeing this new logo. I understand the nature of modern railways. There's no room for sentimentality. Still, I can't help but think we lose a little bit of our heritage when an iconic name becomes part of some corporate alphabet soup. I have similar issues with BNSF.

On our way to Toronto, I noticed that there was a long line of empty intermodal cars parked on a track near where the Smiths Falls Sub gives way to CP territory. Possibly someone with more knowledge can tell me if this might be the last remnant of the old CP Chalk River Sub? I know that railways often keep short stretches of old subdivisions for car storage purposes. I don't know if this is the case here. It seemed odd that these cars would be here rather than the CP yard, unless they were here so they could be kept out of the way.

While we're on the subject of the Smiths Falls Sub, there was chatter online about the spur at SynAgri in Twin Elm being disconnected. I can confirm from my trip to Toronto that this spur has indeed been lifted. There isn't much freight trackage still connected to the Smiths Falls Sub, save for the Kott Lumber facility on Moodie Drive. Here's a shot of some hoppers at SynAgri from 2015. I'm glad I have these shots now.

In the west end of Ottawa, rails have begun to appear alongside the Queensway, where the end of the second phase of the Confederation Line is taking shape. The project is behind schedule, which is no surprise, given that the pandemic pushed most projects back quite a ways. I have seen some MoW equipment on the rails lately near the Corkstown Road station, but haven't been able to get any shots.

This shot was taken from the passenger seat of our car, as my wife drove toward the Tanger Outlets further west. The next part of the O-Train system that will come online will be the long-delayed north-south Trillium Line (former CP Ellwood/Prescott Sub right-of-way). When it is complete, it will operate from Bayview Station, near the Ottawa River, all the way south to the Riverside South community. The spur to the Ottawa International Airport is also nearing a point where it will come online as well, which will give travellers another option for getting to the airport. 

One final bit to share. My girls are on a break from their evening dance classes, which means my Wednesday evenings trackside have taken a hiatus. Here is a recent shot of Via Train 59 at the Merivale Road level crossing. I didn't have any plan in mind. I just happened to be there so I took a few shots as the train sped by. You can see the symmetry of the Via wraps on the P42 and the first three cars.

 The end of the train was a bit different, as this was a double-ender.

So those were a few observations from Ottawa and Smiths Falls from the last few months. I have quite a bit to share from my trip to Toronto recently, but that will have to wait until life settles down a little. I am also going on a day trip to Montreal on the train, so I am hoping to have more to share. It's always nice to have too much material. A rare challenge for me.

Memories of Ottawa to Sarnia in the late 1990s (Part III)

Note: Although my time right now is dominated by a move, I have found some time to blog. This is the final entry in my reminiscences of taking the train between Sarnia and Ottawa in the late 1990s. The route between these cities on opposite ends of Ontario is filled with memories and items of interest for me. - Michael

In the second post of this series, I focused on a few points of interest between Union Station and Kitchener. Once you pass Kitchener on a westbound train, you get into the smaller, more pastoral stops that speak to railroading from another era. 

St. Marys

One of these stops is found in the beautiful community of St. Marys. The town is located in Perth County, has a population of 7,200 and boasts a few historic curiosities. It is the resting place of Canada's ninth prime minister, Arthur Meighen. It is also home to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, which I have visited. Finally, it is home to an historic stone railway station. The station is situated on a hill just beyond a large trestle crossing.

The station itself has been well maintained and still hosts daily Via Rail service. That additional platform you see is the Metrolinx platform that was used when GO Trains were run between Toronto and London in a pilot project. That service has since ended. Just beyond the station sits an impressive trestle that crosses a creek that wends its way over Rotary Park. This bridge shows you the impressive geography that had to be forded to operate railways through this terrain.

The last time I was in St. Marys, I made sure to walk beneath the bridge just to get some perspective as to how high it is over the valley. This view below gives you an idea of the size and height of this railway structure. This town is known for its limestone deposits, which explains the stone piers holding up the metal girders. Now you also know the origin of the St. Marys Cement company name. It's this town.

When I took the train between Sarnia and Ottawa in the late 1990s, I always made a mental note to look out my window when crossing this bridge. It was cool to see people from my perspective atop the bridge. It always filled me with a sense of comfort to see people going about their business in this small town when the train passed through. As a small town guy at heart, I have a soft spot for this town. Also, there's an ice cream store near the station that has a dairy free option, which makes me happy. 

Stratford

I won't dwell on Stratford too long, as I have blogged about this town many times. I now have family living here, so I have made many trips to this station, which is one of the nicest in Southwestern Ontario. It really does suit the town, which has one of the richest cultural scenes of any community in Canada. The impact of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival cannot be underestimated.

London

London is the big city in Southwestern Ontario. If you are from Sarnia, it's the easiest big city to get to, as it is only an hour east. My first-ever train trip was between Sarnia and London when my Dad had an appointment in London. I remember travelling on a classic blue coach to London when I was quite young. I could not have been much older than 4 or 5, but I remember the excitement I felt as a train obsessed little kid. When I travelled between Sarnia and Ottawa, London was either the last major stop before I came home or it was the first major stop as I settled in for a long day en route back to Carleton University. 

Via's station here has been well maintained. It was not always this way, before the station was renovated in the early 2000s. This is not the station I remember from my travels in the 1990s. You can just make out an HEP silver streamliner to the right of the picture. As London is at the junction between rail lines going to Sarnia and Windsor, this station continues to host both Toronto-Windsor and Toronto-Sarnia trains in both directions. 

London's station has a small yard, which at times has hosted some oddities over the years. Here's an undated shot shared with me of the old GM Diesel switcher at the old London station. The last I saw, this old unit resided at the Lambton Diesel shop in Sarnia yard.

Wyoming

Between London and Sarnia, Via makes two stops, although in the 1990s, it made three. Heading west, the Via corridor trains stop in Strathroy and Wyoming. Just east of Wyoming in the 1990s, Via also made a brief stop in Watford, but that service has since been discontinued.

The Wyoming stop is a throwback to earlier days in railroading, when railways served small towns. Wyoming's former CN train station is long gone, as are the rails of the old rail yard, but there is still a tiny station just off Broadway Avenue, Wyoming's main street.

When I took the train in the 1990s, there always seemed to be someone who either got off in Wyoming in the evening or boarded the train in the early morning. It's somewhat of an anomaly that this town has Via service still, but given the population growth in this part of the province, the station might see more activity in the coming years. In my time on the train in the 1990s, Wyoming again was one of those stops where I was either itching to get off the train after a long day or it was where I was settling in for a long trip east. I have visited this spot a number of times to train watch. It's a great spot to watch mainline freights roar by.

Here's one of my meets with a passing freight in 2022.

Okay, here's a shot of the power. A shot of an autorack seems like a bit of a rip-off, I'm sure.

Last stop: Sarnia

I've disembarked on the Sarnia platform many times, always late at night when my train pulled in at the end of its run. My clearest memory of this station was when I returned home in October 1996. It was the first time I had visited my family after moving away to attend journalism school at Carleton University in Ottawa. I was homesick, as my first year hadn't gone all that swimmingly to start. My roommate and I didn't mesh. He was a good guy but I couldn't live with him. When the train pulled into the station, I had a window seat overlooking the station platform. I had already gathered my bags and was beginning to stand up to stretch my legs, as I was eager to get home. I recall my brother on the platform, jumping up to see where I was in the train, as he was excited to see me. I have never forgotten that moment.

As brothers, we don't often need to say anything to each other. We know we are each other's best friend. My older brother has been a great influence on me all my life. I have always looked up to him. When I saw how excited he was to see me, it reminded me of what family is all about. When people ask me why I am so sentimental about trains, that moment in 1996 is one of the reasons. Trains have brought people together for generations. That is what keeps me fascinated.

Thank you to everyone who has sent along their best wishes as my family tries to navigate through the last portion of a very difficult year. We're close to being free of this situation. I can't guarantee when the next post will appear, but I'm hoping it will be soon. All positivity welcomed.

The Overpass Debate

Note: Due to my ongoing efforts to move, my time online to pursue blogging is severely limited. I will be taking the siding for a few weeks, to focus on housing matters. The situation has improved, as we have bought a new home (near the Beachburg Sub!) and are in the process of selling our house. This is a stressful time for me, as I have mentioned in the past, so I appreciate your patience during this pause. In the meantime, here's a post that's been in the can for a while. I will continue with my Ottawa to Sarnia series when I return. - Michael

One of the things my family did in the early days of the pandemic was search for new exotic playgrounds for my children to play at throughout the city. In the summer of 2020, I took my daughters to a park next to the Smiths Falls Subdivision in Barrhaven. That was when I saw my first real glimpse of the overpass that now takes Strandherd Road over the Smiths Falls Sub. For those in the city, you know that Strandherd is an extremely busy road that is being widened and cannot handle its current capacity. The overpass really began to take shape over that summer. It also got me to thinking a bit about Ottawa and our railway etiquette in the city.

First things first, as we were leaving the park, I heard the familiar sound of a Via Rail corridor train heading east toward Fallowfield Station. I had my iPhone with me so I fired off a few shots of the train through the trees. I like this shot below the best.

I don't know that I've shared too many shots from my iPhone on this blog over the years, but I was glad to have it at that moment as the train went by at a fair clip. The sun was hiding behind clouds and making for some funny shadows, which explains some of the weird lighting in the shot. I decided to leave it untouched. 

Here's a shot of the tail end of the train, which was a double-ender with a P42 bringing up the rear.

This was pretty much the best I could do. I was trotting across a soccer field and trying not to use my phone's zoom function, which pretty much guarantees you a highly pixelated shot. As I have mentioned many times on this blog, I have really grown to like railway photos that place a train in its surroundings. I am as interested in the landscape around the train as I am in the train. I think there's so much more to the story than capturing an engine at the head of a train. This is why I like shots where the train isn't dominating the majority of the frame. I think the surroundings tell as much of the story as the train does.

But as I looked over at the Strandherd overpass, I couldn't help but think back to the years before 2020, when many of the signals and crossing guards were malfunctioning in Barrhaven, which had local residents suggesting all their level crossings should be switched over to overpasses or underpasses. 

I chuckled at those debates, as I have lived in cities with far more level crossings, many of which accommodate both long freight and passenger trains. Ottawa drivers don't know how good they have it. There is a high frequency of Via Rail traffic going through their neighbourhoods, but the inconvenience of a short, quick passenger train going by is quite minimal when you compare that to the time it takes for a giant freight train passes by. We're talking about the difference between a few seconds of waiting and a few minutes.

Having seen the delays these freight trains cause first hand when I lived in Kitchener, I know how these many crossings back traffic up, yet I don't recall much of a conversation about what needed to be done. Drivers accepted railways as being part of their landscape and learned to adjust their days according to the possibility of a delay. 

2016 shot of a flyover being constructed over Greenbank Road in Barrhaven. 

 

Greenbank flyover in 2023
 

I know I've made this point before, but Ottawa drivers really don't know how to live with railways anymore. The days of transcontinental freights going through the city are long gone, as are the days of more frequent short line traffic, like when the Ottawa Central Railway was at its busiest. 

 

While it is true that the residents of Barrhaven have more transportation headaches than many other parts of the city (they are also situated under the flight path approach to the Ottawa International Airport), the limited intrusions caused by Via Rail's corridor traffic are laughable when compared to what other cities have to live with. And never mind the once-a-week freight traffic, which usually consists of a freight train of no more than five cars.

 

I remember years ago when someone was complaining about the Arnprior Turn causing headaches for people in the Valleystream neighbourhood, when the once-a-week freight train rattled their homes with what the blogger described as "tar sands" oil tank cars. I was less than impressed with this blogger's ignorance, to say the least.  

Ottawa has become a spoiled city, where people think railways and crossings are a nuisance to be eliminated. Yet, they don't often think of the vital role Via plays in this city, or the role the rails could one day play in a future commuter transportation system.

Yes, overpasses are safer and better in the long run. I'm not suggesting they aren't the way to go from a safety perspective. However, I fear that people in this city have no concept of how to live with trains. A  collision between a Via Rail corridor train and pickup truck at the Barnsdale Road (country road, with clear views) level crossing is a good example. Anyone who thinks they can outrun a passenger train at this crossing is clearly not aware of the speed of these trains.

Sometimes, common sense is just as useful as improved infrastructure.

Memories of Ottawa to Sarnia in the late 1990s (Part II)

Taking the train across Ontario is a great experience, but it is also a long day, given that this isn't a pleasure ride through the Rockies or a eye-opening trek up to Churchill, Man. Taking the train through Ontario often means getting on in small town stations, at odd hours, changing trains at Union Station in Toronto and enduring the numerous delays when Via has to make way for CN freight trains. There's also the scenery, as I mentioned. Personally, I find the ride fascinating, but for some, I'm sure it's a bit of a bore.

When I was a university student at Carleton University in the late 1990s, I rode the train dozens of times between Ottawa and Sarnia in both directions. For someone who grew up fascinated by trains, I loved travelling by train. Sadly, I was not in the habit of taking photos at the time, but I have plenty of memories of those times spent travelling across Ontario. In the last post, I shared some memories and observations of the stops between Ottawa and Kingston. This time around, I'd like to continue heading west.

Via westbound corridor train meets an eastbound CN freight west of Kingston Station, July 2016 

 

Between Kingston and Toronto, depending on what corridor train you are on, the most likely stops you will notice are Napanee, Belleville, Cobourg, Port Hope, Oshawa and sometimes Guildwood (Scarborough). It depends on whether you are taking a train that is considered a milk run or an express. The express trains usually stop in Belleville, Cobourg and Oshawa. Selected trains can stop at any of the above mentioned towns.

 

In the 1990s, this was the part of the trip where I was usually immersed in reading, chatting with friends or writing. There is some impressive scenery between Kingston and Oshawa, particularly when the tracks edge close to Lake Ontario, like in the Clarington area, just east of Oshawa. The small town stations are nice, although some, like the original Grand Trunk stonework Port Hope station, are lightly used. Given that Via has recently reinstated some service in the busy Ontario-Quebec corridor, that means more trains for towns like Port Hope.

 

When I rode the train in the 1990s, Belleville station had yet to be completely transformed, so my memories of this stop are quite a contrast with what is there today. The new station is a modernists' dream and features a number of modern amenities, but I'm sure there are many people who think this place just doesn't have a classic railway station feel to it. For a town the size of Belleville, this is an impressive structure. I can't think of many towns this size that have such a large, modern station. It pays to be on the main line between Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.

Toronto

I have lots of memories of Union Station in Toronto, going back to 1983, when I rode a train from Sarnia, through Toronto, into Quebec City on a overnighter, back when Via still did that. Union Station was the place where I saw a complete CN passenger train under the sheds, not knowing then that it was a Via corridor consist that somehow had not been repainted in the blue and yellow yet. 

In the 1990s, I spent a good number of hours in the Union Station, after my train to Toronto finished its journey and I had to wait for the evening train into Sarnia. This usually meant finding some fast food option. Unlike today with all its renovations, the Union Station of the 1990s was not the same place. In fact, you could argue it was a little rough around the edges. 

Still, the feeling you get when you enter that great hall was the same then as it is now. Back in the 1990s, it was never lost on me that entering the hall was like entering the pages of history. How many stories include this hall? How many people have passed through here? Why did they pass through here? I would venture to guess my mother passed through this hall in the mid-1950s when she was arriving in Canada for the first time, en route to her eventual home in Windsor. Like I said, countless stories.

Back in the 1990s, the train sheds were dark and dismal, charred by decades of diesel smoke. In recent years, efforts were made to brighten this space with windows, as part of the station's renovations. It makes for a more welcoming experience in Toronto than when I used to get off trains in the 1990s. The image below shows you how dark the sheds were before the renovations, as two Via eastbound corridor trains approach the station before the retrofits.

I have many memories of sitting on my luggage in line near the gates, which are located below the great hall. Many times, lunch or dinner was a hot dog purchased outside the station at a cart on Front Street, across from the Royal York Hotel. 

I will mention this memory passed along to me by a Via Rail employee, but I will not name them in any way. This person told me that, when they were working on a crew that helped pack the baggage cars, there was an incident one day when a coffin was brought down to the platforms. This person told me that, for some reason, there was a miscommunication between the people coordinating the move of this coffin into the baggage car that resulted in the contents of the coffin tumbling to the tracks. You can imagine the scene. Obviously for the family of the deceased, this is horrible. Decades have passed since this happened and this person can now smile just a bit at this story, if only to shake their heads at the absolutely awful luck and bad form that resulted in this happening. It pays to work in brighter light, I guess.

Guelph

I will deviate a bit from the 1990s theme to share one memory of my time at the Guelph railway station. In 2009-10, I had just been laid off from my job in the media in Kitchener and had moved back to Ottawa to work for the government. I was engaged at the time and my now wife was still living and working in Guelph. We used to visit each other every six weeks or so between the time she finished her job in Guelph and moved to Ottawa with me, after we were married. This was a period of about 18 months apart, while engaged. Not a great time, but a good test of our commitment.

Guelph has a historic railway station perched on a hill overlooking the city's chic downtown. At the time, the city's historic 6167 was displayed in the area, but has since been relocated to an area near the River Run Centre, just on the outside the downtown core.

The station itself is another of the original Grand Trunk stations and has served the city since 1911. The building was renovated in 2016-17, to help preserve its historic character. The station is used by Via as well as Metrolinx, which provides commuter service between Kitchener and Toronto daily. So, here's my story about this station (picture was sourced through Wikimedia Commons).

After a weekend with my then fiancee, I had to board a train back to Ottawa. I remember standing on the platform on a reasonably warm spring morning, not relishing the thought of returning to Ottawa and working at a thankless job in media relations in the government. The platform was fairly full, with about 20 or so people ready to board. The quiet was shattered by the angry yelling of someone in Italian. I know it was Italian because my mother's family is Italian. And, though Italian can sometimes seem like an angry language, this isn't the case. There's expressive Italian, which I remember well, and there's angry Italian, which was what this was. When this person emerged on the platform, it was clear he was suffering from some sort of mental health episode as he continued to yell at no one in particular. I mention this story because it's my clearest memory of this station. I don't share it to be funny or make light of what this person was experiencing. 

Kitchener

Having lived in Kitchener two years, I have more recent memories of my time at this station, which is located on Victoria Avenue just north of the city's downtown. Kitchener's station is another of the classically built heritage stations between Toronto and London, on the Guelph Subdivision. It has an annex to its east of the passenger side that was once used by the Goderich Exeter Railway, which once operated freight services in the city prior to CN taking over that business in recent years. I do remember taking an Amtrak Superliner into  Kitchener one weekend when I was in high school, to visit my sister at the University of Waterloo. That was a fun weekend and a good memory. On my trips to and from Ottawa, Kitchener was always an area of fascination with me, as the station is built among some vintage brick industrial buildings. Many of these buildings have been repurposed. That, combined with the nearby University of Waterloo health sciences buildings and technology incubator in the old Lang Tannery mean this area is changing. It was a little rough when I passed through in the 1990s.

There's also the relatively recent addition of the Metrolinx GO Train service to Kitchener, which means this station is much busier than it was when I passed through in the 1990s.

The final leg of the journey requires an extra post, as there are a number of small stations and vivid memories for me of this time spent on the rails. Once past Kitchener, I could always feel anticipation rising in me as I returned home to see my family. I will save those memories for another time.

Memories of Ottawa to Sarnia in the late 1990s (Part I)

I wasn't in the habit of taking rail photos in the late 1990s when I began my post-secondary education in Ottawa at Carleton University in September 1996. In retrospect, it would have been a fun time to take shots. That's because every one of my trips home to see family at that time meant spending the better part of a day on the train. It was a time when you could still buy your student-discounted ticket at a Travelcuts travel agency on campus and the ticket you got might still have the red carbon copy. That quickly changed to those thick cardstock paper, one-fold tickets with the perforated lines to separate each leg of your journey. For me, taking the train regularly over those four years (1996-2000) was an eye opener, as someone who had seen almost no part of Ontario beyond Toronto for the first 18 years of his life. So, let's take a journey down memory lane and across the province back in the glory days of the late 90s.

A quick note about the equipment. As far as I can recall, every one of the trains I took were pretty much the same consist. I don't recall ever riding behind a P42. It was always an F40PH-2. The cars were almost exclusively LRC coaches. I don't recall riding in an old silver HEP car once during my university years. I don't know if that's a coincidence, but I'm almost positive of these facts. 

Ottawa

It's important to mention this off the top. In all my time taking the train in university, there was no Fallowfield Station. The train would roar through Barrhaven in Ottawa's south end and throttle up for the short leg to Smiths Falls. That meant all trips started at Ottawa's train station on Tremblay Road. Despite the fact that Ottawa doesn't have an historic train station as in Toronto, the east end station in Ottawa is a fascinating building, which is an award-winning architectural work from the 1960s. Given what many buildings of a similar vintage look like in Ottawa, the central train station is downright beautiful. Its main hall, with an endless wall of windows facing the tracks, is a bright, welcoming space. The circular ticket office in the middle of the hall is a creative way to create separate areas. The underground tunnel from the outside platforms is quite beautiful as well, especially the circular ramp to take you back up to the main station. The Via Panorama Lounge is well appointed as well, although I have only been there once. That was when I accompanied my friend, a person with a disability, who was accommodated in the Business Class (formerly Via1) car. All in all, the building hasn't changed much since I frequented it in my university years. The biggest change might be that there is no Harvey's at the station anymore. The food options are not great. Also, the rail yard is much smaller and the old Governor General's cars are no longer there. A small complaint.

Smiths Falls

Heading southwest, the first stop was (and is) always Smiths Falls, which had a classic railway town feel the moment you eased into the old platform at the former Canadian Pacific station on the edge of the CP yard. Of course, in those days, that old building still functioned as the Via station, which has since changed. The new Via station is more of an enlarged kiosk on Union Street, on the edge of the town.

The old station is now a centre for the arts and seems to be well used. Depending on which way I was travelling, Smiths Falls was either the stop where I was getting restless or the stop where I would be settling in with a book, magazine or my walkman (yes, I still listened to cassette tapes then). It was a town I didn't know much about until I learned of its history. It was the longtime home of the Hershey's chocolate factory and was once a very busy division point on the CPR, the dividing point between the Brockville, Winchester and Belleville subdivisions. It still is, but the Brockville Sub is now exclusively Via controlled while the Winchester and Belleville subs continue on as the eastern leg of the CP system to Montreal (and now beyond, once again). But the activity here is not what it was in the 1990s.

Brockville

Brockville is another town that I must confess that I still don't know a lot about, other than it is still sees plenty of rail action each day, as the CN and CP eastern main lines converge here. There's plenty of history in Brockville, including its famous old railway tunnel, not to mention its name, which pays tribute to Sir Isaac Brock. Brock was a British military leader who many credit with preventing a successful American invasion of the Canadian colonies in the War of 1812. The red coat that he was shot and killed in on the Queenston Heights in the Niagara Region can be found at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. A gruesome relic, but a fascinating story.

Gananoque

This town was probably the most surprising stop in my early years taking the train to and from Ottawa. I didn't know the town existed, to be honest, and was absolutely shocked when I saw its railway station for the first time. I wondered what kind of one-horse town Gananoque was. I didn't understand at the time that the town's train station was actually not in the town at all, but in a rural area named Cheeseborough to the north. This station remains a vital link where Gananoque is connected to the main line. A short branch line south into the town itself served Gananoque as a passenger link until 1962 and as a freight spur until 1995, when the last freight service ended and the rails were pulled up. However, the first time my train stopped there and I looked around the station area through the window, it was hard to comprehend how a station could be placed in the middle of nowhere. That's what it appeared like to me, anyway. You can read about the town, its famous engine the Susan Push (below), and its heritage in this post, where I explored some of the town's railway history.

Kingston

Prior to my university years, I had only been to Kingston one time. Over the years, I have made some visits and I really do love the city. It's an eclectic mix of historic charm, academia, Upper Canada Loyalist, blue collar ethos and innovation. The city's history, of course, is what underpins much of Kingston and its beautiful downtown and waterfront.

From a rail traveller's perspective, there isn't much to be gleaned when you stop at Kingston station. The Via Rail schedule here is packed, as Kingston sits arguably about half way between Toronto and Montreal and also hosts a number of corridor trains to and from Ottawa. I suppose my memories of Kingston in the 1990s are closely tied to my high school friend Chris, who went to Queen's University to study engineering. Chris and I often found ourselves on the same train between Sarnia and Ottawa, although rarely on the return trip west. Chris was (likely still is) a real card back in high school and university. He had a gregarious personality and didn't mind making fun of himself in a crowd if it meant drawing laughter.

My clearest memory of our rides together on the train happened when we somehow got onto the topic of Stompin' Tom Connors and his famous ditty, The Hockey Song. I'm not sure how it came about, but I remember Chris singing the entire song word-for-word on the train, just loud enough that the people around us could hear him, but not too loud that he would annoy them. I think he left a few people befuddled, to be honest. 

Chris made many a train trip a little more bearable, although I should point out that I had no problem sitting by myself, reading, writing or listening to my cassette tapes. I do recall that, in the days before everything was available online, my brother would sometimes tape a cassette's worth of my favourite radio morning show from back home, which I used to listen to over and over. 

I should also mention that Kingston to me is closely tied to nearby Ernestown, a railway ghost town if ever there was one! The old stone station still stands trackside and it was on my rides between Ottawa and Sarnia that I first saw that old abandoned station. Back in the days before everything was online (man, I'm sounding old now), the story of that station remained a mystery to me, which I think was part of its appeal. Later on, I was filled in on the Ernestown story by Trackside Treasure's Eric Gagnon, but back in the 1990s that old station was the stuff of my imagination. 

These rides featured many other memories and lessons for me, but these are the ones that stick out as part of the Eastern Ontario portion of my journeys. I'm grateful for that education.