The Ghosts of Bedell, Part II

As I mentioned in my last post, Bedell is an interesting spot on the Canadian Pacific Winchester Sub. It's an area that has rich history. Now, as much of its old infrastructure has been removed, it's also a testament to how railways have evolved. Small towns are rarely much more than a passing landmark to freight trains these days and Bedell is no exception. There are no diamonds here, the interlocking is long gone, the station is only visible in old photos and much of the former Prescott Sub connection has been removed.

So what is there to see in Bedell these days? Well, in the last few years at least, there was a fair amount to see, to be honest. The Canadian Pacific has been very busy reshaping the Winchester Sub, which connects Montreal with Smiths Falls. The double tracks have been slowly merged into a single track governed by modern signalization. Bedell retains some extra trackage, as the railway still makes use of passing sidings, but most of the old remnants of the Bedell rail yard have disappeared. 

The image above is a shot I took in February last year as maintenance of way crews continued their work in the area. Much of the consist was parked on the South Prescott Spur. The caboose, which had the modern CPR letting on it, seemed to be the crew breakroom, where they could escape to a warm place and get out of the howling winter winds. You can see the smoke rising the smokestack, indicating that there is something cooking or running inside the old car. The earliest photo of this caboose I could find was from 2004, meaning it's been assigned to engineering services for nearly two decades.

This shot above shows you a hint of the gondolas on the South Prescott Spur. The entire consist was being marshalled around by a flatbed truck equipped with flanged wheels for use on the rails. I was disappointed to see this. It would have been cool to see one of CP's old MoW locomotives on point, possibly with some old multimarks on the long hood, but it was not to be.

What's also striking about this image is the fact that so many old ties were piled up in the area. In the several times I have been to Bedell in 2020 and 2021, the amount of rail ties was pretty impressive. It seemed like this was the spot where many of the old ties were dumped. The shot below was taken in July 2020. This pile was just the tip of the iceberg.

I haven't been to Bedell in more than a year to see what it's like these days, but seeing those cabooses when I did was incredibly gratifying, especially for someone who is old enough to remember when trains still had cabooses. I remember the debate when railways unions pressed their cases about the issue. I still have a pin somewhere that says "Trains are safer with a caboose." It was given to me by a Teamsters union representative that was pleading its case at a Sarnia mall in the 1980s.

When you drive through Kemptville these days, you wouldn't know you were in a railway town. The last remnants of the old Prescott Sub were lifted shortly after I took this photo in 2014. In fact, you won't find that old industrial building anymore either. It's all been razed. Nothing but a flat expanse of development land for sale. 

Despite the removal of much of the infrastructure at Bedell, it still remains one of my favourite spots to sit trackside. Go there in the summer and listen to the sound of the wind swishing through the trees. It's a very peaceful spot. Catching a train there is tough, given the decreased frequency of traffic, but the newly installed modern signals will give you some clues. You can see these signals safely from the Bedell Road crossing, which might be able to let you know if you will be waiting an entire afternoon or whether you might be in luck. 

You see? Progess isn't so bad.

The Ghosts of Bedell, Part I

This post was supposed to be the first stop on my blog's reunion tour, as I called it when I restarted things in August 2021. Since then, I have accumulated much more material, which has pushed back this post for months and now more than a year. It's not a bad problem to have.

Bedell, Ontario, a spot along the Canadian Pacific Railway's Winchester Subdivision. Bedell once housed a station and an active rail yard. Over the course of my extended hiatus from blogging, I did manage to visit this spot a few times. Truthfully, I wouldn't have been able to visit this spot were it not for the fact that I had surgery on my knee at the Kemptville District Hospital and subsequent follow-ups with my surgeon a few times. That meant a few free passes to railfan at a time when I would usually not be able to get away from Ottawa.

Those who know their history know that Bedell once boasted a station, a tower, an interlocking crossing between the Canadian Pacific and the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Railway and later a diamond that connected the CP Winchester Sub to the railway's Prescott Sub. Read about the history of Bedell's rail operations here.

The Prescott Sub lasted until the late 1990s, when it was finally deactivated and the rail removed south of Ottawa. The rail in Ottawa was spared, some of which became part of the O-Train Trillium Line while the remainder was used by Ottawa Central and then CN in its local operations. A small portion of the Prescott Sub still ventured into Kemptville as the North Prescott Spur. That spur was lifted several years ago. The South Prescott Spur is still hanging on, as a turnout for eastbound locals on the Winchester Sub. That spur serves CP customers in Oxford Station.

So, what's left in Bedell these days? Not much but memories and a few ghosts no doubt. I've been here a number of times and detailed the ongoing process of rails being lifted and area being cleared of anything resembling a rail yard. 

This shot above was the scene on November 30, 2020 when I was in Kemptville for an appointment, which led me to Bedell, of course. Throughout 2020, CP maintenance of way crews were quite active in Bedell as the Winchester Sub was single tracked in many places, due to modern signalization improvements that do not require two tracks. For my purposes, I was interested to see the two old yard tracks removed on the north side of the area (left on the photo). One of the tracks was once clearly labelled as a bad order track. You could see the sign from the side of Bedell Road. The south track with gondolas marked the first time I have ever seen cars parked in this area.

The North Prescott Spur was being used that day as a staging ground for this maintenance of way consist, including a genuine caboose. I was quite surprised to see the last vestiges of the CP multimark on this car. The white scheme with no identifying marks or numbers was quite odd, although it might have been a case of a car being repainted after being heavily marked by graffiti. 

Here's a closer look at the caboose. You can see from the ends that its original yellow paint scheme is clearly visible. As if a caboose on a main line wasn't odd enough, this one had two paint schemes. I was disappointed that I didn't see any freight trains pass by, but this was a great consolation prize, to be sure. 

Still, I couldn't help but feel a little sad for the ghosts of Bedell. At one point, this was a real community gathering spot, where families embarked on long journeys or reunited. It once saw upwards up 30 trains a day. By most counts, it now sees anywhere from five to seven, based on what I hear from various railfans. Occasionally, there will be a seasonal extra, such as a semi-regular ethanol unit train, but the frequency is not really conducive to regular railfanning.

This Soo Line gondola has definitely seen better days.

 

Progress or is this the end of an era? Depends on your perspective.

 

Despite the fact that very little is left in Bedell from the area's heyday, it's important to understand today's reality. Canadian Pacific is definitely a railway in growth mode, even if it isn't evident in this area. The railway's purchase of the Central Maine & Quebec Railway (formerly Montreal Maine & Atlantic) gave CP its transcontinental connection to the East Coast once again. The railway has been promoting its new eastern terminus as a competitive advantage for shippers (read: intermodal and containers). The railway also clearly sought to establish a link to Mexico with its prolonged struggled to acquire Kansas City Southern.

 

So what does this have to do with Bedell? Well, if the minds running CP have their way, the railway is clearly going to be busier as a true transcontinental transportation concern once again. That could mean a few more trains passing through Bedell. They might not stop there anymore, but the ghosts would likely notice the increase and smile.

New life for the old Prescott Subdivision

I recently made it back to Bedell, Ont. on the Canadian Pacific Railway's Winchester Subdivision. When I arrived in Kemptville, I passed over the old remnants of the North Prescott Spur, formerly the Prescott Subdivision. The North Grenville government has made major strides in converting that portion of the old subdivision into a recreational trail. Most parts of the trail looked like this, with signs warning of herbicides being used to clear the trail's right-of-way of weeds. I like the fact that a sign was put in place to show anyone on the trail what is coming up. The shot below shows you the the old Prescott Sub right after it branched off the Winchester Sub at Bedell. This is a section of trail just north of Bedell Road.

This is what the same stretch looked like in the summer of 2014 from the other side of Bedell Road. The rails were in the process of being pulled when I arrived at the scene. Shortly after I was there, a reader from Kemptville told me that the remaining rails were taken up by the end of that summer.

Here's what remains of the old Harvex spur in Kemptville. As you can see (or not see), the old roadbed is grown over with weeds as the old fertilizer facility has remained vacant since the last time I shot photos here. The same Kemptville reader mentioned that Harvex's fertilizer facility moved to Oxford Station, along the CP South Prescott Spur. The other local customer in Kemptville was Highland Lumber, which was located just beyond the old Harvex facilities on Van Buren Road.

This is what the scene looked like 2014 when I shot the last remnants of this spur. The main roadbed is now a well maintained trail that looks to be just about ready for regular use. This part of the trail has also recently been sprayed with herbicides to keep the right-of-way clear. The Harvex spur, of course, is all but buried in weeds now. In 2014, you can see the weeds were already beginning to take over.

Here's a 2014 shot of a westbound CP mixed freight passing by milepost 104.3 right where the old North Prescott Spur branched off from the main line (you can see it on the left). This area is now fenced off and off limits to photographers. I managed to get this shot from well behind where the fence now sits, thanks to some creative use of the camera's zoom function.

All of this was all a prelude to some railfanning, of course. I have recently been told that the frequency of trains on the Winchester Sub is not what it once was, so catching trains of this stretch of track is not as easy as it once was. But I hung around long enough to see a fast-moving tank train. More on this next week. Here's a preview.

You can read my 2014 three-part series on Kemptville, the old Prescott Subdivision and Bedell, Ont. by clicking Bedell Part I, Part II or Part III.

Bedell Ontario Part III: Big Time Railroading

At long last, I am able to share some big-time railroading photos from my recent adventures in Bedell Ontario, a small hamlet south of Ottawa. Bedell is situated on the Canadian Pacific's Winchester Subdivision, the main line between Montreal and Smiths Falls. Due to computer issues, which have finally been resolved, I was able to recover my Bedell shots and back them up. Yes, this was a very good lesson for me to regularly back up my photos.

Click here to read Bedell Ontario Part I.
Click here to read Bedell Ontario Part II.

On July 17th, I made my first visit to Bedell and was able to capture shots of the remnants of the old CP Prescott Subdivision, which was being scrapped. After doing a little exploring in the weeds of that old line, I heard a westbound freight making its way toward my spot along the main line. For those unfamiliar with Bedell, it is a former CP stopover and servicing point. There is little left now, but the area does offer a spectacular view of main line action from an old parking lot and plateau perched trackside, both of which offer safe, legal places to shoot trains.

This freight was being led by ES44AC 8719 and AC4400CW 8565. After shooting mainly old geeps around Ottawa, it was refreshing to see some modern workhorses. As I was putting this post together, I thought about the last time I shot CP action and I realized that it was in 1992 in Banff, Alberta. You can read about those adventures here and here.

As you can see, I was unfortunately on the shadow side of the train, which wasn't a huge loss considering the lighting was decent. You can see the steel coil cars trailing the lead units above and below. In the shot below, you can also see a turnout for bad orders. This turnout was once part of a much larger rail yard in the area, most of which is gone. You can also see a bit of an old signal tower behind the trailing 8565 unit. You can see that tower in the final shot below.

Although it may seem I was right beside the track, I can assure you I was a safe distance from the train and using my camera's zoom.

As I have mentioned before, a mixed freight is the best freight to shoot, in my opinion. Intermodal double-stack trains are the most common, but they don't offer much variety. This train was a true mix. It reminded me of the mixed freights I shot along the CSX Sarnia Subdivision as a teenager. Boxcars closely followed the coil cars on this train, as you can see below.

It wasn't long before a few ballast cars came into view with some old CP Rail multimarks. I have a HO-scale blue hopper car painted in this livery at home, so I took a shot.

There was a long line of tank cars before a couple of hopper cars gave way to the double stacks at the end of the train. You can see the whistle sign in this shot, as well as old rail that had just been lifted from the old turnout that led to the abandoned North Prescott Spur, formerly the Prescott Sub.

The double stacks included a number of Canadian Tire containers, which wasn't unusual since CP is the retailer's main long-distance cargo hauler. The sunny blue skies, scattered clouds and full summer foliage made for a perfect backdrop.

Alas, all good things must come to an end, as did this manifest freight. You can see the bad order turnout more clearly in this shot as well as some angled crossing signals at the Bedell Road crossing. These lights are angled due to the path of the road, which parallels the track before taking a sharp turn at the crossing.

A few weeks later, I made sure to get a shot of the old signal tower, just in case the railway decides to get rid of this relic.

 

So that was my first encounter with a CP freight on the Winchester Sub. I am planning to return to Bedell very soon to see if there is anything left from the old Prescott Subdivision. Also, I hope I won't have to wait 22 years to shoot my next CP freight.

 



Bedell Ontario, Part II: Prescott Sub passes into history

A return trip to Bedell, Ontario proved to be quite sobering this past weekend. I had read that the Canadian Pacific has contracted a company to scrap the remainder of their North Prescott Spur in Kemptville. I decided to visit to see if this was the case. It turns out that this stretch of the old Bytown & Prescott Railway (CP's old Prescott Sub) is indeed being scrapped. Considering this line was the first to reach in Ottawa in 1854, I thought it was worth my time to take some shots and dig into the history a little more. I felt fortunate to get a few final photos, but there's always the underlying sadness to see history being taken away.

My first trip was to an old feed mill and grain elevator on Van Buren Street in Kemptville, which appeared to be one of the last rail-served businesses on this old line. I walked down the line from the Van Buren crossing, to see if there was a better vantage point to shoot the grain elevator. The overgrowth to the left, as you can see below, ensured that this elevator would remain mostly hidden.

Interesting fact: Kemptville owes some of its early prosperity to the fact that it was chosen to be a railway town, set up by the old Bytown & Prescott as a station stop.

When I arrived at Bedell, along the CP Winchester Sub, I found the old signal tower that stood next to the turnout for the North Prescott Spur, had been removed (below). Given the condition of these towers, I doubt they will have much use to CP.

 

 

This was the scene just two weeks ago, when the remains of the old signal tower still stood sentry over the abandoned spur (below). 

 

I also saw a stack of old rail trackside, waiting to be carted away to other parts of the Canadian Pacific network that are busier than this lonely old rural Ontario spur. A little way from this pile, another pile sat in the weeds, which included the rubber seals used for level crossings.

This was a little disappointing to me. The old Bedell marker had been taken down and left in the weeds. I turned it over to grab a quick shot of the sign. I was a little perplexed why the sign would be taken down. I suppose it's because this area along the main line will not be used for anything moving forward, but I thought the sign was a nice touch and reminder of busier times.

You will recall that just a few weeks ago, the sign was still standing in an area with wildflowers.

 

I made sure to return to the old feed mill to get a shot of the elevator, but this was as close as I could get from the parking lot of the shuttered facility. You can also see the storage huts for road salt and sand behind the fences. I have read that CP once serviced this road maintenance facility as well another on the South Prescott Spur.



 

Closer to the main line, many of the rails that had been pulled from the North Prescott Spur were labelled and ready for shipment. I'm not sure whether CP is sending a local to load these onto cars. It would be nice to shoot that.

As I noted in my previous post about this spot, Bedell was once an important stopover on the CP main line, where steam locomotives were once serviced and where an interlocking tower, rail yard and station were located. The area had an interlocking crossing between the main line and the old CP Prescott Sub at one point, but this was replaced by a diamond. The spot fell into disuse in the 1960s onward, when CP began to direct its freight traffic from Smiths Falls. The old Prescott Sub was officially abandoned in 1997, with the majority of the line torn up in1999 between Leitrim Road in southern Ottawa and Kemptville. The remnants of the remaining line, the North Prescott Spur, was officially abandoned in 2012. Now, Bedell and the Prescott Sub are pretty much historic footnotes.

And, yes, I did get some time to shoot actual railroading in action along the main line. I struck out this past weekend, since there were no freights hustling by when I was there, but my previous visit two weeks earlier resulted in a great encounter with a westbound manifest freight, with a number of interesting pieces of rolling stock. I will end my initial series on Bedell Ontario with that meeting next week. Here's a small teaser below. Can you make out what type of cars are immediately behind the lead units?