North Country Ribbons
Flag Stop Pog
After an eventful four days on the river it was time to get back to civilization. VIA's Sudbury-White River service has at its core always been about connecting the remote communities of northern Ontario. The "flag stop" train allowing passengers to hop on or off just about anywhere in between - and so of course that's what we did - throw a red life jacket on the front of the canoe and wave while #186 eased into Pogamasing beneath the towering rock cuts (view from the top pictured here flic.kr/p/2qxHr8L).
Veteran Budd RDC-4 #6250 leads the way, built way back in 1955 for the Canadian Pacific and is acting as the baggage car for the trip. The RDCs are perfect for this type of service being able to stop quickly and accelerate rapidly, while doing passenger speeds in between. It will be interesting to see how much longer these are in service, but it was a pleasure to be able to both ride and capture them in their element over the course of the trip.
One final aside, the back track here is 100 lb rail from Algoma Steel dating back to 1932. There are a number of these backtracks on the Nemegos and White River Subs that used to house specialized school cars dating back to 1926. Commissioned by the Ontario Ministry of Education, the CPR brought the schools on rails to children living in remote areas with students attending classes for five days straight before being given three weeks of homework until the train's rotation returned. Apparently the school cars registered near perfect attendance with students who went on to traditional schools and universities excelling. These were retired in 1967 with over 4,000 students having received their education on the rails by then.
- MP 20 CPKC Nemegos Subdivision.
Flag Stop Pog
After an eventful four days on the river it was time to get back to civilization. VIA's Sudbury-White River service has at its core always been about connecting the remote communities of northern Ontario. The "flag stop" train allowing passengers to hop on or off just about anywhere in between - and so of course that's what we did - throw a red life jacket on the front of the canoe and wave while #186 eased into Pogamasing beneath the towering rock cuts (view from the top pictured here flic.kr/p/2qxHr8L).
Veteran Budd RDC-4 #6250 leads the way, built way back in 1955 for the Canadian Pacific and is acting as the baggage car for the trip. The RDCs are perfect for this type of service being able to stop quickly and accelerate rapidly, while doing passenger speeds in between. It will be interesting to see how much longer these are in service, but it was a pleasure to be able to both ride and capture them in their element over the course of the trip.
One final aside, the back track here is 100 lb rail from Algoma Steel dating back to 1932. There are a number of these backtracks on the Nemegos and White River Subs that used to house specialized school cars dating back to 1926. Commissioned by the Ontario Ministry of Education, the CPR brought the schools on rails to children living in remote areas with students attending classes for five days straight before being given three weeks of homework until the train's rotation returned. Apparently the school cars registered near perfect attendance with students who went on to traditional schools and universities excelling. These were retired in 1967 with over 4,000 students having received their education on the rails by then.
- MP 20 CPKC Nemegos Subdivision.