It's time to talk about the O-Train again

I've avoided it long enough. Mostly, my neglect of the O-Train has more to do with the fact that I no longer commute to work. But with federal public servants mostly mandated to be in an office three days a week, there is a good reason to check back in with Ottawa's ongoing efforts to convert its public transit into a well-oiled rail network. 

So far, the results are understandably and predictably mixed. That's being charitable.

We all know that the Confederation Line, which will soon run from Orleans in the east to Crystal Beach in the west, has been a failure from the get-go. It was built poorly and opened too early with trains that were not suited to Ottawa's climate. And many, many details were overlooked. That is likely the shortest way to sum up years of light rail turmoil here. The scariest part is that successive city councils deliberated over the best way to establish a citywide rail network for many years and the process still produced very few positive results. All that time and we still got it wrong in many ways.

I have blogged about the O-Train and its failures many times in the past. In fact, I looked back to the last actual post I completed that was solely about the O-Train and it was in 2020. Since that last post, we have seen news about trains with improper trued axles, tracks that were not built correctly, trains that had to slow down on turns due to the track issues, frequent weather service disruptions and the list goes on. Let's skip ahead to something a bit more positive.

As people in Ottawa know, the north-south Trillium Line, which is now called Line 2, has been operational for a few months and it seems to be operating well, as the diesel trains are much better equipped to deal with Ottawa's temperamental winters. I took this shot in the evening, facing west, from the Bank Street bridge several weeks ago. Most know this as the Walkley diamond, although in truth, it's a half diamond. 

The longer Stadler FLIRT trains are roughly twice as long as the old diesels and they now ply a 19-kilometre route between Bayview Station, on the western edge of the LeBreton Flats, and Limebank Station, on the northern edge of the Riverside South subdivision. Much of this extension of Line 2 follows the right-of-way of the old CP Prescott Subdivison, some of which was still in place up until a few years ago. 

The route has additional stops including Corso Italia (Little Italy), South Keys, Leitrim and Bowesville. The original O-Train line, the old CP Ellwood Subdivision, was the main focus of city council's rail ambitions years ago, when local politicians wanted to build on the success of this line. The thought initially was to extend the north-south line, as the right-of-way was already in place. However, that made too much sense, so that plan was shelved for far too long in favour of an electric east-west line (Confederation Line or Line 1). The rest is a miserable local history.

One bright spot about the new Line 2. Some might recall that, in the original plans, local politicians insisted that a new maintenance facility was going to be built in Bowesville, which despite the name, is largely unoccupied land on the edge of airport lands. At the time, the owners of the Ottawa Central Railway questioned why the city didn't want to make use of existing capacity at Walkley Yard.

Luckily, saner heads prevailed. Looking at Walkley Yard now versus what it was years ago, you would be amazed. The shot below is from the Bank Street bridge in 2017.

 And here's what it looks like now, in 2025. Walkley Yard hasn't been this busy in decades.

The area just south of the Walkley diamond is South Keys station, where Line 2 has a junction with what is now known as Line 4, the spur to the Ottawa International Airport. This line is also being served by smaller diesel trains that only operate between the airport and South Keys.

This shot was taken near the EY Centre, a convention centre near the airport, which has a station stop for people going to a convention. The trains are small compared to what is used on Line 2. The issue that has been raised in a recent opinion piece in the Ottawa Citizen is that the airport spur does not provide through service to the end of Line 2 at Bayview. Instead, those wishing to get downtown from the airport need to take the airport O-train to South Keys, then hop onto a Line 2 FLIRT train to Bayview, before transferring again onto an electric train on Line 1. 

This lack of through connections has been heavily criticized, as the process of linking a major source of passengers, in this case the airport, is not seamless. In reality, the Line 1, Line 2 and Line 4 trains all work independently of each other. Not a great option for someone unfamiliar with the city.

Comparisons have been made to the other major airport links in Canada, like Toronto's Union-Pearson Express and Vancouver's Sky Train. The consensus is that Ottawa's rail link falls well short of these other services, particularly since the airport O-Train station is not terribly visible unless you are in the departures level of the airport.

This shot, above, was taken when I was dropping someone off at the airport recently. As you can see, unless you are on the second level of the airport in the departures area, you might be hard-pressed to find the O-Train station. That is the criticism, anyway. I'm sure the station was well thought out and every effort will be made to ensure the station is well promoted within the airport. 

I have yet to ride on the new north-south Line 2, but I look forward to it, just to see the extension of the line into Riverside South. It was behind schedule and over budget, but at least Ottawa can say it has a light rail line that is reliably running. It's more than we can say for Line 1.

Higher ground

The winter here in Ottawa just won't let up, which I suppose is a sign that the climate is behaving at it normally does. Silver linings. As I write this, I am watching more late snow fall. Recently, during the March Break, a friend of our family made her way up to Ottawa for a visit. She arrived by train at Fallowfield Station. I took the opportunity to tag along for the pick-up, just in case there was something worthy of a photograph.

I'm sure some of you are thinking, Oh great, he's going to share another Via shot from Fallowfield. I can understand this reservation. I have tried to avoid Fallowfield to be honest, as I really can't see many more opportunities to see something interesting there worth sharing. But in this case, I knew there was something that might make for some interesting photos.

A small preface to the first photo. Amazingly, as my wife and I tracked our guest's progress from Toronto Union, we were stunned that her Venture set, Train 52, was right on time. I scratched my head over that, until one of my railway sources, with inside knowledge, told me that 52 was part of a J-train, as it was joined with a Montreal-bound Venture set all the way to Brockville. That would allow the train to avoid the curious CN speed restrictions on the Ventures, since it would have more than enough of the required axles to activate the signals. I won't get into that story, as I have touched on it in a past post. Go to Trackside Treasure for the full details. Eric Gagnon has done yeoman's work detailing the finer points of this fight between CN and Via over whether the new Ventures are a safety risk for CN crossings.

Anyway, with the Venture set on home rails from Brockville to Ottawa, the train arrived right on time, as there are no restrictions on Ventures on Via's own network (and somehow, the crossing guards all seem to work!). But, back to the problem of Fallowfield. What was the point of taking a boring extreme-angle wedge shot from the edge of the platform? I've already seen far too many of those in my own blog as well as on the railfan Facebook pages with Ottawa content.

But, lo and behold, there was an enormous snow pile on the east end of the station parking lot, which was about a storey and half high. And, the Venture set was the all-yellow set nicknamed Lumi. So the elevation shot was what I was after. It's one of the few blessings of this Ottawa winter. A drone shot, if you will, minus the expense of a drone.

This shot gives you a much different perspective of Fallowfield. It shows you how difficult it is to get a shot without cars blocking your view. This is why you almost always see shots from Fallowfield as tight wedge shots. I think those shots are getting boring, so I try to avoid them when I can. I like this shot because it puts everything into perspective. I wonder if the person backing up their pickup was wondering what I was doing on top of a massive pile of snow. I know my wife was shaking her head on the station platform. 

After getting my elevated shot, I thought of a few other different perspectives I wanted to get, just to see if I could find other different perspectives that bring this late winter scene to life. After coming down from higher ground, I decided to get low. Very low.

As I said, I don't like these tightly angled shots from the platform, unless I can do something that makes the image a bit more interesting. I took a few shots with the salt box out of the photo, but I found this shot to be more interesting. The grey sky certainly helped make this yellow train stick out. As I was in the mood for different shots, I figured something patriotic might be fun as well, hence the maple leaf below.

One other shot that I thought I would try. I've been experimenting with these slice-of-life platform shots for a while, trying to ensure I am not identifying anyone in the photo. I like this one, although this passenger is a bit lost amid the vehicles. I would have liked a cleaner shot of her on the platform. I had to be careful because I didn't want to take any obviously intrusive or unflattering photos of people. I made sure to keep my distance and take a shot with an iPhone discretely. That way, no one is identified and no one is alarmed.

So that was my recent experiment in getting some different shots at Fallowfield. I was thankful that the Lumi consist provided such an interesting contrast to an otherwise blustery, grey day in mid-March. 

In recent weeks, I've made some small trips around the city to chronicle the O-Train's newly operational southern extension (which is now part of the Trillium Line or Line 2 as it is also known). These diesel trains seems to be handling the job with no problem. I even made a quick trip to Walkley Yard, or as close as I could get to the yard legally. With CN's presence in the city but a blip these days, this trip proved to be quite informative. Stay tuned.
 

The elephant in the room

I grew up with a view of the United States from my bedroom window. At night, you could see the hydro towers and radio towers in Michigan pulsating red in the darkness. I grew up listening to rock radio from Detroit. My parents lived in Windsor and took with them a lifelong love of the Detroit Tigers, a love I too share. My mother, an immigrant from Italy following the Second World War, learned some of the finer points of the English language by listening to the radio broadcasts of Tigers games. 

In my hometown, an American railway was the main attraction for me, a young railfan that became fascinated with the giant machines because his family all worked for the Canadian Pacific. Heck, even now, that railway is technically CPKC, the KC standing for the old Kansas City Southern Railway.

For the first 18 years of my life, I could tell you the temperature in Fahrenheit more easily than in Celsius. To this day, I can translate C to F fairly quickly.

My point is, a good portion of my formative years were spent with the United States of America being a part of my existence.

So it is with mixed emotions that I watch the drama between my country and the U.S. unfold in real time. I won't get into the politics, other than to say I do not appreciate my country being targeted. Whether you feel these economic sanctions are fair or not, I feel there is too much history between my country and the U.S. for all of it to unravel like this. We fought together in two world wars, in Korea, and in Afghanistan. Those are just the most obvious examples of our shared histories.

I would like to think I have a unique take on this situation, given how much I understand about the U.S., having grown up on the border.

But to get into a long diatribe about what's happening is pointless. This is not a politics blog. It's a blog about railways and I want to assure everyone, wherever you are, that you are welcome here. I do not dislike Americans. In fact, I have friends and family in the U.S. I have many great memories of time spent in the U.S. There are many aspects of American culture that I think we can learn from as Canadians. 

I suppose my problem is with the one person creating this mess and those who are enabling him. I don't necessarily think this is even about left wing/right wing anymore. I see aspects of cognitive decline and mental health issues at play here. I say that dispassionately as someone who has experience in witnessing this illness for the better part of my life.

Like just about everyone involved, I just want us all to be friends. We don't have to agree all the time and we don't have to think the same way. In fact, it's better if we all just be who we are and respect the fact that these differences actually make life better.

The tracks ahead look rough. But here on this blog, there is just us railfans sharing our passion. Let's keep it that way.

The long, slow, strange journey of an antique passenger coach to Smiths Falls

The pandemic was cruel to so many people and many organizations, needless to say. I don't mean to minimize the impact it had on those who were sick or lost loved ones. But from a business standpoint, it was especially cruel to organizations like the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario in Smiths Falls. This museum is a tenacious operation that is the product of the success of its volunteer efforts. I love this place. The people who work here or lend their time are second to none. They are dedicated and passionate. This place does not exist as it is now without its volunteers.

That was why it was cruel that the pandemic put a huge dent in the museum's plans to showcase its new piece of rolling stock in 2020, a turn-of-the-century dining car once belonging to the Intercolonial Railway and later the Canadian National.

The car is so long, it's almost impossible to get a good shot of it from up close. To get a proper shot of it in profile, I had to take a less-than-ideal shot from across the parking lot. And yes, that is my family's RAV4 blocking some of the shot. I should have thought ahead when parking!

This old dining car could be one of the oldest pieces in a railway museum in Canada. It was built in 1899 by the Wagner Palace Car Company of Buffalo. If that company name doesn't ring a bell, perhaps its purchaser is more familiar: Pullman Standard. Pullman bought Wagner just a year after this dining car was built.

The car was used on the Intercolonial Railway between Halifax and Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, where the ICR connected to the old Grand Trunk Railway. Even though the car now bears the Canadian National script, it clearly did not belong to the railway when it was first used, as CN didn't exist until June 6, 1919, when it was founded and was given control over several failing railways (GTR, Canadian Northern for example).

The car itself was beautifully cared for by the Bytown Railway Society for years before it was transferred to the Smiths Falls museum before the pandemic. The car, according to the museum website, has five tables on either side of the aisle in the dining area. 

Interestingly, the builder plate for the car can be seen in the dining area on the floor. Beneath that brass plate, there is a kingpin, which is part of the wheel (truck) assembly. It's interesting that the builder's plate is found on the floor above the kingpin. I can't say I have seen that before.

Many of these details I picked up from researching the car. The last time I was at the museum, this old dining car's interior was off limits, due to pandemic restrictions.

As you would expect, the car also had a kitchen and storage area for staff. Cooking was done with the aid of charcoal. To load the food and supplies, the car had a hatch where crews could slide the food and supplies directly into the kitchen and preparation area. 

Originally, the car was lit by hanging kerosene lanterns, as you might expect from a car built at the turn of the century. There was also an emergency cord strung up on the ceiling, for emergency stopping purposes.

There are a few bits to this car's recent story that you might not know. First, the car was brought to the museum with the goal of using it as a cafe of sorts to generate extra revenue for the operation. Sadly, that was not able to happen due to the lousy timing of the pandemic and the strict health measures that prevented the dining car's use for food service.

Second, as you might imagine, the process of getting this car to Smiths Falls was also a chore. You might think it would be easy enough to ship the car on a special move down the old CN Smiths Falls Subdivision, but this was not possible.

Why? Well, the Bytown Railway Society no longer has access to the rail system, as its rails at the Canada Science and Technology Museum are no longer connected to local tracks. This has been a topic of conversation among railfans in Ottawa for years. Ask the BRS officially and they will tell you that this is not in their plans, nor is it a priority for the museum, I would imagine.

I say this without any malice. But I know many people are frustrated that a group like the BRS has no way to host excursions as it once did. I have spoken quietly to a few members of the society in the past and they told me that they wished there was a way this connection could be re-established.

Also factor in the times we live in, where the liability and the changing priorities of railways make it much more difficult to facilitate third-party excursions. I can't imagine this would be an easy proposition, given how busy local rail lines are with Via Rail trains. It's true that CN doesn't own much trackage in Ottawa anymore, but I can't imagine the company would be thrilled with a third party making use of what little of the Beachburg Sub is left. And when you factor in the 10 mp/h speed restriction on the Nylene Canada-owned Renfrew Spur, you can see the potential legal and operating issues that would get in the way of excursion runs.

All that to say, the old dining car had to be brought to Smiths Falls in two pieces on special trucks that are sometimes used to move houses. It's a sad commentary on what has happened to the rail system in Ottawa that a rail car cannot be moved by rail to Smiths Falls, even though a rail connection is very much in place.

This brings me to a final, somewhat sombre, point. The Bytown Railway Society can only do so much with the limited trackage it has in place at the museum. Still, the group has done some great events and continues to be a beacon of preservation. It still has some great pieces that are safely stored in the new museum collections building. It's a much better setup for the group than what it had previously. But the reality is, without any way of being able to do excursions or generate revenue through events, its options are limited. That is my opinion, anyway. BRS still publishes Branchline Magazine and the annual Canadian Trackside Guide. It also hosts history presentations.

If you follow BRS on Facebook, you will have noticed that it was putting out feelers on this wrecker (above). I was lucky enough to see this car out on the tracks last year. It's a wonderful old relic of the days when railways had full-fledged work trains. I'd hate to see this piece of history go, but it appears as though there's only so much room for what the society has.

You might also recall that the society's old CN passenger car is now residing in a New England rail museum, where is is paired with coaches just like it. I remember following the BRS's Facebook updates on the restoration of this coach. Again, I was lucky to catch it out on the tracks behind the museum last year. I'm glad I got this image, because it was the only time I was able to see this car in person. I'm sure it will be put to good use in New England, but it's still sad that it had to go at all.

The next time I go to the Smiths Falls museum, I'm hoping to get a better look at the inside of the old dining car.

It makes me wonder if we can't do more for rail preservation and history in Ottawa. We do a great job honouring history in this city in so many other ways. Why not honour our rail transportation legacy, like we do our aviation history? Also, given the collection of cars the science and tech museum has in storage, possibly there's an opportunity here to look at a transportation museum connected to the aviation museum?

We've spent money on worse ideas!

Song for a winter's night

Being trackside or on a train on a cold winter's evening makes me a bit sentimental, I must admit. It makes me think of the ways Gordon Lightfoot was able to conjure the feeling one gets on a cold, dark Canadian winter evening. 

The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top
The snow is softly falling
The air is still in the silence of my room
I hear your voice softly calling

Somehow, to me, you can't have a cold, dark winter's evening in this country without the lonely call of a train making its way through the snow, bringing people together and out from under the grip of the season's sometimes harsh and seemingly relentless grip.

I like that line about someone "softly calling." I can't properly describe the feeling I felt when I was young and I could hear the Chessie System freight trains motoring through my hometown at night, as their horns would nudge me awake. 

They were softly calling. 

It's not unlike when I heard the foghorns from the passing Great Lakes freighters on the St. Clair River. It's something that's always comforted me and made me feel as though all was right with the world. That feeling is hard to come by, as you get older.

Being sentimental doesn't obscure the fact that there are serious problems with our passenger rail system right now in this country, but I wanted to briefly try to describe what a cold, dark winter's night does to me, especially when it's combined with my love of railways.

Recently, I took my daughter to Montreal for a Habs game. I will get into all the railway moments from that day in a later post, but I will share these brief observations. On the way home, after our train arrived more than 20 minutes late at Montreal's Central Station, my daughter and I got into the cab control car of our Venture set as we set off for home in Ottawa.

Being at the very end of the cab control car, we could hear the train's horn continually, especially when it sped through Eastern Ontario villages like Casselman, Vankleek Hill and Vars. That had me wondering if people in these communities took any comfort in hearing our train speed by on a cold winter night.

Or were they annoyed? 

It seems more and more people are now inconvenienced by a train horn. That's just not me. The train, to me, is a powerful symbol of our vast nation, and it continues to play a role in keeping us together, despite our internal differences, regional cultures, languages, creeds and differing outlooks. Not all of us have the same affection for Via Rail, but I think we all have a certain appreciation for what trains do for us, even if much of this work is done out of sight and in general anonymity. The geography of our country is challenging to say the least.

Standing trackside, waiting for a loved one, bouncing on your toes to keep them from freezing, watching your breath get stripped away from you by the fierce winds . . . it's a feeling that transcends generations. It's no different than what people did 100 years ago, with the exception of the mode of transportation to and from the train station. My chariot no longer requires a horse, but I'm sure it shivers just the same in the wind. This mere act of waiting for someone connects me with our country's storied past.

There's another factor we don't often consider. What about those people operating the train? I often wonder what goes through their minds as they do their work to get their customers or their goods from place to place. I wonder on those winter nights, when people are under the covers, dreaming warm dreams, if the bleary eyed people keeping the country moving feel the same way Gordon Lightfoot felt when he wrote Song for a winter's night. 

Do they wish they were with loved ones, enjoying a quiet moment in front of a roaring fire? Or do they take pride in the thrill of movement, as their motorized charge pierces the darkness and sprints to its next stop? Or is it just a job? I find it hard to believe that anyone would work these hours and not feel some sort of duty or excitement in their vocation. I don't know that you just decide to be a railroader without feeling something for trains.

There is so much uncertainty in the world right now. Our country has problems, both internal and external. Yet, as uncertainty mounts and hockey games become geopolitical proxy wars, I sometimes just feel like we should appreciate the constants and the eternal truths. 

Trains are as much a part of our country's history, heritage and soundtrack as anything. Their presence makes me grateful for this big, beautiful country. They make me grateful because they bring good people together and remind us of what it means to be human, to want to be somewhere, to want to be with someone, to share a moment, to love. 

I say all this because there's so much vitriol and hatred in the world right now. I think sometimes we need to remind ourselves of how liberating it is to be grateful for what we have. Trains make me feel that way.

Some rare mileage for some rare cargo

In November, I went to see family for a quick visit and to drop off some Christmas presents. It turned out to be a stroke of genius, as the postal strike scotched any mail delivery for Christmas shortly after my visit. I shared some details of my visit to Windsor on that journey, but there were other cool rail sightings and meets that weekend, including this incredibly lucky shot I snagged at Sarnia yard, as a CSX interchange move contained a most unexpected surprise.

I dropped by the yard late on a damp November morning, and it appeared at the outset that nothing was happening.The yard was largely quiet, except for the string of diesels idling at the refueling pad near the old roundhouse (more images from that to be shared in a later post).

Deep in the yard however, east of the Indian Road overpass, I could see something happening in the yard through the fog.

A CN yard engine was idling there for a few minutes before I spotted an engine with a yellow nose emerging from the refineries and industrial operations east of Indian Road. I was a little surprised, as I have never seen a CSX train this deep in Sarnia Yard. I will admit that my time spent at this yard is quite sporadic, so it might be quite common. Still, every time I see CSX in Sarnia yard, its transfer or interchange jobs are usually situated closer to the Via station in the west end of the yard. So this train being this deep in the yard was unusual, at least to me.

As the train began to slowly make its way toward the station and toward its home rails, I noticed something interesting with the power, to say nothing of an oddity at the end of the train. First, the power.

You can see from the rebuilt cab that this is not the typical GP38-2 unit that has been the power of choice in this area for decades. This unit, with a boxier cab is actually a rebuilt GP40, from what I could find online. I see it referred to as GP40-3 6547, part of a series of old geep rebuilds that have been rolling out of CSX's Huntington shops for years. From what I could read, the new cabs are safer and more resistant to crashes.The units are also equipped with new heating and air conditioning, new control systems, new positive train control technology and refurbished starters. Both units pulling this train were rebuilds. The new cabs remind me a bit of the old GP30 cabs, which were a bit more boxy than their peers of the time. I think I might like these rebuilds better if the cabs had curved corners like the GP30s, but that's just aesthetics.

You can see from the photo above that I tried to capture the CN unit deep in the yard in my shots. I love capturing multiple railways in one shot. 

Here's a better shot, below, of the power from the side. You can see the noses and the cabs both look much boxier than the old geeps, with the headlines in the nose recessed and other features that have been modernized. Not sure what I think of this new look. It's something different for CSX in Canada for sure.

So let's focus on the back end of the train, with that impressively large cargo bringing up the rear. I was pretty stunned to see anything on a CSX train other than tank cars and covered hoppers. Its customer base is almost exclusively industrial operations in the Chemical Valley in Sarnia and related industry south of the city. The goods it carries are always in a tank car or hopper.

A giant tarp-covered piece of industrial equipment sat on a 12 axle centre-depressed flatcar, buffered by two empty gondolas.This is a serious piece of machinery. But what is it? For that answer, I turned to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canadian Division Facebook group, where people much more knowledgeable than me had an answer. There is writing on the tarp, which says Do Not Hump. That seems obvious, but a good reminder nonetheless.

 

 

I was told this car was carrying a gas turbine used in stationary power generation. It was produced by GE Energy in Greenville, South Carolina. From there, it was shipped via Norfolk Southern to East Point, South Carolina.

 

At that point, CSX took over the move as it moved it to Wixom, Michigan. 

 

From there, it was taken through to Flint, Michigan via Lake State Railway (LSRC). 

 

From Flint, CSX power took it to Port Huron on CN H710. 

 

In Port Huron,CN brought it through the tunnel under the St. Clair River into Sarnia. 

 

From there, CSX took it back to home rails where it was delivered to a customer in Courtright, a small town south of Sarnia with a number of industrial customers in the area, including the CF Industries plant (formerly Tera, C-I-L).

 

UPDATE: The one missing piece of information that I could not figure out was the identity of the customer that needed the turbine. That was, until the day I put this post online and a Sarnia local told me the turbine was delivered to Greenfields Energy, a cogeneration plant beside the CF plant. There are a number of power generation facilities in the Sarnia area that are producing vast amounts of electricity, some of this generation being fed by the output of refineries themselves.

 

So that is the story of how this piece of industrial equipment found its way to Sarnia and how I just so happened to be around when it made its final move onto the CSX Sarnia Subdivision. Here's a going away shot below of the train making its way around the tunnel gantry on the rails curving by the roundhouse.

 

 And one more shot around the gantry.

 

 

I didn't stick around much longer, as I didn't want to keep my family waiting. But it was nice to have a few quiet moments at the rail yard and be treated to a surprise.

 

I have shot mainly CN and Via Rail photographs in the past few years, so it was nice to be able to capture something different. In a way, the fog and cloudy skies also helped, as they cut down on the shadows that usually plague shots in this area on clear days. Some good railway karma for a change.

I'll take it.

Updated: New life for Windsor terminal?

This year, I'm trying to focus the blog on a little bit more rail history, and I wanted to research a few posts on the crossroads of Eastern Canada, Windsor, Ontario. Windsor is a town not unlike Winnipeg and Chicago. It has a long history of being a major junction for all kinds of railroads, much like Winnipeg and Chicago continue to be. 

It might surprise some people to know that the following railways once called on Windsor: Great Western, Wabash (through trackage rights), Norfolk and Western, Norfolk Southern, Pere Marquette, Chesapeake and Ohio, Chessie System, CSX, Canada Southern, Michigan Central, New York Central, Penn Central and Conrail. Some of these railways are, of course, one in the same (CASO, MCRR, NYC) and some are successor roads (Wabash, N&W, NS as well as NYC, PC and Conrail). Still, that's a lot of rail activity for a city with an urban population of 300,000, including suburbs. 

Today, the Canadian Pacific (CPKC for the less sentimental), Canadian National and Via Rail still serve the city, alongside one of Canada's oldest short lines, the Essex Terminal Railway. 

There are many reasons for Windsor's heavy rail presence throughout its history, not the least of which is Windsor's longstanding status as a major automaker. 

Car ferry on the Detroit River in the 1950s. Photo from Library and Archives Canada

 

But when you think of Windsor's rail history, you might be missing an important piece of the puzzle, which is Hiram Walker, the man who founded a distillery in what was then the independent town of Walkerville. The historic community, which was annexed amalgamated into Windsor in 1935, is in the northern* part of the city, the oldest area of which contains the Hiram Walker distillery, which dates back to Hiram Walker himself, who founded the business in 1858. The Canadian Club brand lives on, although it is owned by Suntory Global Spirits now.

 

(* - On a map, the tip of Walkerville is indeed in the northern part of the city next to the Detroit River, but as my friend from Windsor points out, locals do not use the term North Windsor, rather they describe the city more on an east-west axis. Walkerville, it should be noted, also extends quite far from the city's northern boundary with the Detroit River.)

 

Long story short, the distillery created a town, which eventually began to attract the automotive industry, and the railways were there to serve all industry, of course.

 

Photo from the Southwestern Ontario Digital Archives at the University of Windsor. Photo is meant for research purposes only and should not be copied or used in any other way.

Walkerville should be a familiar name to rail passengers, as the city's station was commonly known in Windsor as Walkerville. To the unwary traveller unfamiliar with Windsor, the dual names might have been confusing, much like Fallowfield in Ottawa might be today.

The first railway to have a major passenger station in Walkerville was the Pere Marquette, a Michigan road that was eventually folded into the Chesapeake and Ohio. Its station in Walkerville, like the city's other stations, was impressive.

Photo from the Southwestern Ontario Digital Archives at the University of Windsor

 

This shot above shows what the station looked like in 1957 before it was torn down. By this time, passenger service had long since vanished. C&O's predecessor Pere Marquette stopped most of its passenger service in Canada in the 1930s, including its operations from Sarnia to Chatham and its operations in Windsor.

 

I won't get into all the permutations that followed among Windsor's many railways, as that can be shared in subsequent posts. For our purposes, Walkerville once again hosted passenger service a little way down the line from this C&O station when CN ran its passenger operations out of its station, beginning in 1961. That station served CN and its successor, Via Rail for many years, until the city's new station was built in 2012.

 

This shot above, courtesy of blog reader Kevin O'Neil, shows what the old passenger station looked like in the early 1980s. Kevin helped me sort through the many bits of Windsor rail history, which was helpful in putting this first Windsor post together.

The new station for Via Rail was completed in 1012, at a cost of $5.3 million. It acts as the western terminus of Via Rail's operations in the Quebec City-Windsor eastern corridor. Here's a shot I took when I visited the station last November, as an eastbound Venture set was ready to begin its trip to Toronto. This shot is from the west end of the station.

In what might be a full-circle moment, the Via Rail Windsor station might once again host through trains, as Via Rail and Amtrak have discussed resuming cross-border passenger service between Chicago and Toronto. The initial plans called for a 2027 startup of service, pending the appropriate customs procedures are in place and track upgrades between the Michigan Central rail tunnel beneath the Detroit River and Walkerville Station. At one point, Via and Amtrak enjoyed popular demand for their service between Chicago and Toronto. I rode the Amtrak from Sarnia to Kitchener once, when I went to visit my sister at university. It was the only time I rode a Superliner.

It will be interesting to see if international passenger service could resume, as this service once enjoyed great success. Windsor Station still boats steady business. It is one of Via's busiest stations, given its multiple trains going to and from Toronto each day.

In a way, it would be a full circle moment for rail activity in the Walkerville neighbourhood. It's not as if things are necessarily quiet, but they are certainly not what they once were. Maybe some international rail service could spur additional rail investment in this historic part of Canada's rail network.