Description
W. H. N. Rossiter
Softcover
26 pages
Out of Print.
New old stock.
Back to Canadian Trains & Railways
Canadian Pacific in Southern Ontario (Volume Two)
$32.00
This book is covers the operations of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Southern Ontario focusing on the Locomotives.
In stock
Related products
The Armoured Train in Canadian Service
Armoured trains were perhaps the earliest real Armoured Fighting Vehicles, and appeared in various guises and places for many years. One unusual train was designed and put into service in Canada during World War Two. As the Japanese armed forces pushed through South-East Asia and across the Pacific, there were real fears of them invading the Western coast of Canada and some areas with strategic importance needed special defence measures.
One stretch of line where Canada borders Alaska had its own armoured train for this purpose. Built using standard rolling stock, it had a protected engine which pushed and pulled carriages for troops as well as armed cars with 75mm field and 40mm anti-aircraft guns. As such it would have been a formidable oponent to land forces, though like all trains it was vulnerable to attacks on the tracks and from the air.
The story of No 1 Armoured Train is interesting and unusual. While it is easy to write this off as "a train, not an AFV" it is both and as such should appeal to those interested in either field. It may never have been called upon to fight but that does not mean that its story should not be recorded.
That story is well told here, along with the background to the need for it there is an account of the assembly of the component parts including photos of the various gun and troop cars, as well as details of how the train operated including the problems of using the same tracks as working trains.
As this was a one-off, the account can go into considerable detail and the photos would give a modeller the chance to produce their own replica which would certainly be something different though even in small scale would be a big model.
Quebec Central Railway: From the St Francis to the Chaudiere
Derek Booth's story of the Quebec Central Railway, serving the upper St. Francis and Chaudière River valley regions of southern Quebec for over 130 years. The Quebec Central included links with Quebec City and Sherbrooke, providing through passenger service between those locations and points in USA, including Boston. Much specialized passenger equipment for QCR's service was manufactured at the company's shops. Quebec Central continued to provide passenger service between Sherbrooke and Quebec City until 1965.
The book tells the story of the railway from its earliest beginnings in the 1860s, when local business people in Quebec and Sherbrooke sought to implement rail service in their region. The largest of Quebec's regional rail carriers, the QCR was also, for some period of time, one of Canada's most profitable systems. After the Depression, the QCR entered a long decline culminating in its abandonment in 1994. Its subsequent rebirth under new management in 2000 added yet another chapter to the history of the railway, this one as a "short line". This most recent business incarnation of regional railways in Canada survived until 2006.
The Quebec Central Railway, from its beginnings to its reincarnation, was a model of innovation and adaptation in both its freight and passenger operations. The QCR was one of the very few regional carriers in Canada to manufacture a significant portion of its rolling stock in its own company shops, as well as one of the first to experiment with gas-electric passenger cars in the face of rising competition from automobiles in the 1920s.
Throughout its history, the QCR was primarily a resource railway whose freight traffic rested heavily on the forest and mineral sectors, particularly on asbestos products. With major market constrictions and production declines, asbestos contributed zero freight tonnage to the re-born Quebec Central. It was forest products that, from 2000, became the mainstay of the new Quebec Central, but economic events in 2006 caused declines in that industry that led once again to the shutdown of Quebec Central Railway.
While much of the Quebec Central's right-of-way, stations and other structures have disappeared, many still survive in altered form. These are detailed in an appendix devoted to the principal physical components of the system. Information is included on the conversion, in several locations, of the right-of-way from ìRails to Trailsî, thus permitting hikers, cyclists and snow-mobilers once again to travel the Quebec Central, albeit with a different means of locomotion.
Over 200 photographs, some in colour, cover all aspects of the operation of the railway. These photos illustrate not only details of QCR rolling stock and operational scenes, but also (through the extensive photographic archival holdings in the Eastern Townships) a full record of the regional economic and social impacts of the railway in relation to mining, agriculture, manufacturing, forest industries and urban growth. The year 2000 rebirth of the railway permits the inclusion of not only historic photographs but also of current ones. The book contains 160 pages, and over 200 photographs.
Myra’s Men: Building the Kettle Valley Railway, Myra Canyon to Penticton
It was not your standard railway. Instead of wending its way through the valleys, along the river banks and paralleling the mountain ranges like most railways, the KVR ran across the mountain ranges, down into the valleys, and then up the other side again. Instead of avoiding steep grades, sharp curves, heavy snow, and cold weather, the KVR faced all of these. Instead of traversing through a land rich in people and trade, it operated in a region in want of inhabitants; those who lived there were settled in communities no larger than a few thousand. No wonder it has been called Canada's most expensive railway.
Williams has focused his historians eye not only on the visionary engineers who oversaw the work, but also on the everyday lives of the immigrant labourers -- the navvies -- who blasted the tunnels, laid the tracks and built the soaring trestles on a spectacular rail line that has become one of Canadas most scenic historic treasures.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.