lorencetoutant
Once GTR finest - 2
It's hard to believe that we're standing on the former main double track of the Grand Trunk Railway linking Montreal and Toronto! And yet, during construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, huge sections of shoreline, including the area where workers had built the railroad in the mid-1850s, were flooded to raise the water level and make way for large ships. A 39-mile section of the railway, between Cornwall and Cardinal,ON was rebuilt inland and opened for service on May 17, 1957, with new stations, infrastructure and spurs to serve industries that needed rail service and were still connected to the old right-of-way. Cornwall's proximity to the U.S. border meant it quickly developed a strong industrial potential, and many of the world's leading industrialists settled here. As well as being served by the Grand Trunk Railway, and from 1919 by the Canadian National Railway, the Canadian Pacific Railway also reached Cornwall via the 27-mile Cornwall Subdivision, connecting to the main line at Soulanges, and the New York Central passed through, linking upstate New York with the Canadian capital, Ottawa. The need for service was so great that an in-house electric railway, the Cornwall Street Electric Railway, sprang up in the city streets, acting as a passenger carrier and serving several companies by interchanging with the Class 1 railroads. Sadly, as is all too often the case, time took its toll and industrial decline struck Cornwall. The NYC withdrew its tracks in 1957, the CPR in the early 90s. The Cornwall Street Electric Railway, or what was left of it, was acquired by CN in 1971 and its employees integrated into the company's ranks. In the early 2000s, CN was still protecting Cornwall with two separate assignments. The first was abolished shortly after, and the second relocated to Coteau-du-Lac around 2005, still operating on a 5-day-per-week basis. Over the next decade, other customers terminated their contracts with CN, or closed their doors altogether.
The 591 job, goes from five days a week to three and finally to two, serving the last two railway customers in Cornwall now only on Tuesday and Thursday.
Where eastbound passenger and freight trains once rolled thru this curve, expecting a clear signal indication for the diamond crossing with the NYC half a mile down here, this location now only see rare occasional steel wheels, when 591’s job needed some headroom in order to access Westend Warehouse switch, track CB45 or for photographic purpose like it was the case with today’s pictures. When branching off the actual Kingston subdivision mainline at Wesco, 591 take an usual path to access remaining Cornwall’s industrial area using the former NYC mainline (complete with NYC tie plates still in place !) and the former NYC/GTR/CNR connecting tracks near the diamond location to swing into the former CNR double tracked right of way. Interlocking tower’s foundations can still easily be found along with the concrete base where the rods were once pinned onto the ground, giving proper authority for train movements over the diamond crossing by the tower operator.
BNSF GP39M 2871, a former Southern Pacific GP35, was part of a small fleet of low horsepower units leased to CN and was assigned to Coteau-du-Lac since a week. It was an odd catch to have it as a leader doing the Cornwall Turn.
CN L59121-12
BNSF 2871 CN 4727
Wesco Industrial Spur
Cornwall,ON
July 12th 2024
Once GTR finest - 2
It's hard to believe that we're standing on the former main double track of the Grand Trunk Railway linking Montreal and Toronto! And yet, during construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, huge sections of shoreline, including the area where workers had built the railroad in the mid-1850s, were flooded to raise the water level and make way for large ships. A 39-mile section of the railway, between Cornwall and Cardinal,ON was rebuilt inland and opened for service on May 17, 1957, with new stations, infrastructure and spurs to serve industries that needed rail service and were still connected to the old right-of-way. Cornwall's proximity to the U.S. border meant it quickly developed a strong industrial potential, and many of the world's leading industrialists settled here. As well as being served by the Grand Trunk Railway, and from 1919 by the Canadian National Railway, the Canadian Pacific Railway also reached Cornwall via the 27-mile Cornwall Subdivision, connecting to the main line at Soulanges, and the New York Central passed through, linking upstate New York with the Canadian capital, Ottawa. The need for service was so great that an in-house electric railway, the Cornwall Street Electric Railway, sprang up in the city streets, acting as a passenger carrier and serving several companies by interchanging with the Class 1 railroads. Sadly, as is all too often the case, time took its toll and industrial decline struck Cornwall. The NYC withdrew its tracks in 1957, the CPR in the early 90s. The Cornwall Street Electric Railway, or what was left of it, was acquired by CN in 1971 and its employees integrated into the company's ranks. In the early 2000s, CN was still protecting Cornwall with two separate assignments. The first was abolished shortly after, and the second relocated to Coteau-du-Lac around 2005, still operating on a 5-day-per-week basis. Over the next decade, other customers terminated their contracts with CN, or closed their doors altogether.
The 591 job, goes from five days a week to three and finally to two, serving the last two railway customers in Cornwall now only on Tuesday and Thursday.
Where eastbound passenger and freight trains once rolled thru this curve, expecting a clear signal indication for the diamond crossing with the NYC half a mile down here, this location now only see rare occasional steel wheels, when 591’s job needed some headroom in order to access Westend Warehouse switch, track CB45 or for photographic purpose like it was the case with today’s pictures. When branching off the actual Kingston subdivision mainline at Wesco, 591 take an usual path to access remaining Cornwall’s industrial area using the former NYC mainline (complete with NYC tie plates still in place !) and the former NYC/GTR/CNR connecting tracks near the diamond location to swing into the former CNR double tracked right of way. Interlocking tower’s foundations can still easily be found along with the concrete base where the rods were once pinned onto the ground, giving proper authority for train movements over the diamond crossing by the tower operator.
BNSF GP39M 2871, a former Southern Pacific GP35, was part of a small fleet of low horsepower units leased to CN and was assigned to Coteau-du-Lac since a week. It was an odd catch to have it as a leader doing the Cornwall Turn.
CN L59121-12
BNSF 2871 CN 4727
Wesco Industrial Spur
Cornwall,ON
July 12th 2024