A Streetcar Named Derelict

Near the town of Morriston, Ont., on Highway 6, can be found this interesting sight—former Toronto Transit Commission PCC streetcar 4427 sitting, derelict, in a farmyard.

It’s been there for 16 years, about the length of time I’ve been traveling that highway between Guelph and Hamilton while on business.

4427, a TTC A-7 class PCC car, was built in 1949 by Canadian Car & Foundry/St. Louis Car. Co. It was equipped for multiple unit operation, and ran paired with another streetcar in Toronto until 1980 when it was sold to a hotel in Brantford, Ont. The hotel closed in 1992, and 4427 was moved to another location in Brantford, where it served for as a refreshment stand. It hit the road one more time, moving to Cainsville, Ont., before ending up in its present location in 1996.

I spoke to one of the owners in 2002, and was told he hoped to one day return it to use as a restaurant—but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon.

Sad as it might be to see it like this, at least its been “saved,” in a manner of speaking, and can be seen by travelers on the busy highway.

Get by with a little help from my friends

The CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota Sub. is a one-person creation. Except for a little help holding some lumber during the early days of construction, everything on the layout has been built by myself.

Not everyone wants to do it that way, or can. Which is why it's nice to get a little help from friends. Like the guys who built the Port aux Blaireaux module, seen on display at the 2011 Calgary Supertrain show.

While admiring the great modelling, one of the creators explained to me that he belonged to a small group of four or five modellers who helped build each other's layouts. The way it works is that they work together on one module, display it a couple times, and then the owner gets to take it home and incorporate it into his home layout.

Not a bad system, if you ask me!

Video of the Aberfoyle Junction

In addition to taking photos of the Aberfoyle Junction during its last weekend open house, I shot some video--an overview of some of the action on the magnificent O scale layout. You can find here on my YouTube channel.

And what action it was! Unlike on most display layouts, where the trains go round-and-round, the Aberfoyle Junction was a working layout--trains not only traversed the lines in a structured way, but they also stopped and did switching in the various yards. Locomotives were also cut off, turned and serviced before heading back out to the road again.

Some of the switching took place in the name-sake Aberfoyle Junction, where cars were transferred between the CNR and the CPR in a small yard. The CNR worked one end of the yard, off its main, while the CPR worked the other end.

What made the switching all the more remarkable is that it was controlled from an elevated booth in the middle of the layout, and from one on the second floor of the quonset hut at the end of the layout. Operators needed sharp eyes to spot the hidden uncoupling magnets in the tracks!

But all that has gone quiet now; the layout is to be dismantled and reassembled in the nearby tourist town of St. Jacobs. Club members say it will take up to 18 months to put the layout back together.

In the meantime, you can "see" the layout again and again through this video or, better yet, buy one that the club had professionally made. Not only will it give you great enjoyment, it will give the club some much-need cash as they make the move to a new location.

Railways and Postcards (or can you say "Deltiology?")

Postcard of the VIA Turbo.

People collect all sorts of things—stamps, coins, shaving mugs, beer cans and much, much more. (Some people even collect model trains, or so I hear.) Until recently, I was unaware that some people collect postcards—also called Deltiology.

A 1970s-80s view of the Spiral Tunnels.

A little bit of searching revealed that collectors assign postcards to periods such as the Golden Age (1898-1919), linens (circa 1930-1950), or modern (after 1940); the eras can also be divided into even more specific times according to the type of postcards (e.g. private mailing, divided back, white border, photochrome, etc.).

An older view of the same scene.

(A short history of postcards can be found at Shiloh Cards. A more extensive report can be found on the website of Seneca County, New York. Interestingly, many websites devoted to collecting postcards claim that it is the third largest hobby in the U.S. Coin and stamp collecting are, apparently, one and two.)

Some postcards were made for
advertising purposes.

Postcards are collected by individuals, but also by historical societies, libraries and genealogical societies. Of particular interest to historians is how postcards show how cities and places looked at a particular time.

What Toronto's waterfront looked like before
most of the railway tracks were removed.

For model railroaders, postcards are a similar source of information—what did that old station look like in 1940? A quick Google search shows there are many postcard images on the Web; some for sale, some just for showing off. 

For those who model western Canada, one of the best is Prairie Postcards, a service of the University of Alberta. They have over 15,000 postcards on their website—like this one, taken sometime before 1920 at Slave Lake in Alberta. It was sent by Harold to his wife.

The message says: "Dear Wife, A little P/C for you this time. This is a photo of our little loco on the trestle with a load of logs and shingle [bolts]. You noticed the [lap] just throwing off a bolt. Photo take by Heap. Son of the Great Mogue & Manager at Ruskin. Good photos & a source of revenue for him. They sell in [camp] here like hot cakes at 10 [cents]. Gives you a good idea of scenery here . . . I'll send you p/cards of any thing interesting when I can get them no more on this, love from Harold."

This one doesn’t have a personal message, but the description tells you a lot about the locomotive on the front of the card: "Canadian Pacific R'y, Loco No 5813 S2A C.P.R. Montreal, Canada July 1920 at Calgary, Alta Feb 6th 1921. Field 1930, Medicine Hat 1952, Scr Oct. 55."

This one shows a winter scene in Winnipeg in 1906. The sender didn’t have enough room, so he wrote on the front; on the back, it says: "We are in the heart of our winter season with plenty skating, sleighing. I am sending you a card of my own work showing a C.P.R. Engine after a run of 130 miles from the west. I took on New Year’s day 1906 in the mammoth yards of the CPR in Wipeg."

Back before the Internet, postcards were a way to share newsworthy events, like this derailment near Carberry, Man. Says the message: “Hello M - Am writing you soon - This is derailment of Imperial Ltd. no. 2. Just west of me a few miles (June 6th) Quite a tie up over 12 hours. Put 10 psgr. trains by here following day in 1 hr & 10 mins. Going some, Write, H."

It’s all fascinating stuff. But sometimes we can look at postcards just for fun, like the following.  Enjoy!

Last Look at the Aberfoyle Junction

The Aberfoyle Junction--the great O scale club layout near Guelph, Ont.--held its last open house May 12-13. Luckily, business took me out to Toronto that week, and I was able to stay over a day to make one last visit to the layout.

The namesake Aberfoyle Junction.

Earlier, I reported the Aberfoyle had lost its lease, and would be moving. I also published the club's official press release about the move, along with news that a new home had been found in nearby St. Jacobs, Ont.

Club members indicate that it will take 18 months to two years to get the Aberfoyle up and running again in its new location. During that time they need to take everything off the layout, cut it apart, move it and reassemble it in its new quarters--no mean feat. I wish them all the best as they undertake this huge project.

Meanwhile, if you couldn't make it to the last open houses, enjoy these last photos of the layout in its soon-to-be-former location; a large set of photos (68 in all) can be found on my Flickr photo site. And in the near future I hope to add a few videos of the layout, too.

So, goodbye, Aberfoyle Junction--see you in 2014!