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Caption:
In the light snow
two SD40's at Leaside Junction,
CP Rail SD40-2 # 5749 west with SD40 #5539, have grain empties in tow
on the left mile is 0.2 North Toronto Sub, on the right is the Don Branch mile 206.4 Belleville Sub.,
note the 'return-to-train' push buttons near the base of each signal mast to allow crews to have a 'restricting' signal for each route ( to accommodate 'the push' engine(s) ).
the phone in the phone box at the base of the 0.2 mile signal mast is active.
And at the near right was the newly lifted siding switch into the Caterpillar dealership
and jointed rail everywhere !
at Leaside Junction, Kodak Tri X negative, December 22, 1979 by S.Danko
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I spend a lot of time in Leaside and it is always so amazing to see a shot from there. Only seen one other shot from this exact angle and it was from 2016 so this just made my evening.
Since this photo was taken a lot has changed in the area, but signal 2064 and 02-1 still stand tall, along with the signal cantilever in the background which now sits vacant after CP replaced the searchlights previously on it to a ground mast. The 2064 signal is hidden in some bushes with all its electrical components cut, making the only original signal still functional here the 02-1, which seems unchanged from this shot here, pinnacle and all. Thanks again for posting, amazing shot!
-Liam
Thank you for the comments Liam. A while ago, every summer evening, up to a dozen fans would gather at the Leaside platform. Especially Sunday evenings, with the westbound Havelock Budds’ arriving at 20:05, and again eastbound at 21:40. Those were the days of ‘ The Push ‘ , normally a S-2, 7064 or 7060, etc., and on the rare occasion even ‘The Canadian’ power (usually a single unit) would arrive from John Street – a real treat to see that FP7A on ‘The Push’. For the most part The Push was really ‘a pull’ – the crews would use those ‘return-to-train’ buttons for the restricting signal to access the freights’ head end. Interesting times…
sdfourty
What exactly are ‘Push Engines’? Thanks for documenting this.
BK: Thank you for asking, this has become an interesting exercise. Several regular, but unique assignments in the Toronto Region. The following is based on conversations from decades past with retired CP staff and further observations, insight, corrections, clarifications, are appreciated so anyone ‘in the know’ please do chime in:
In the CP Toronto Region, ‘The Push’ was common up to the early 1980′s. The name was assigned by the North Toronto Subdivision / Belleville ( Toronto Region) Dispatcher and /or the Agincourt Yard Coordinator and both would regularly use the radio call – ‘The Push’ to the CP crew handling the engine(s) that was tasked with assisting trains up the hill from Leaside to Don Mills to Kennedy to Agincourt yard. The assists I saw were pulls verses pushes..nevertheless…. CP regularly either maxed out the locomotive tonnage to the extent that helpers were needed and /or the locomotives – especially the first generation – were less than capable of handling the tonnage rating as officially assigned due to maintenance, age issues. Retired CP’ers explained that the original Leaside depot had a back track behind the station – likely this was prior to the hydro station – where the multiple ‘ push ‘ steamers ( hence the origin of the name) waited for the next assignment. At that time most eastbound Belleville Sub Don Branch trains – primarily the passenger trains to Ottawa/Montreal – required a push or more likely a pull up the steep Don Branch grade to Leaside and sometimes also up the hill to Agincourt. ( some where on the net there is a notable 1960 photograph by J.A.Brown taken at Leaside of The Push: Royal Hudson 2858 (?) ). By the seventies, the back track was long gone, the passenger service was only Budd Cars, however The Push was alive and well with a typically assigned unit such as an ALCO S-2, for example #7060 or #7064 from John Street regularly showing up at Leaside to wait for an eastbound to arrive from Lambton. Other power on ‘The Push’ that I witnessed included The Canadian power, usually a single FP7A ( up to 1978) , even a MLW M636 4700 series, or a MLW RS-10, all usually ‘paired’ with 7060 or 7064 or other unit. Interesting that I never saw or hear of a freight GMD getting the assignment – likely due to the GMD’s being too slippery. I never got any pics, as by the time I got to Leaside, it always was on a weekday evening and dusk or dark when ‘The Push’ would show up. By the eighties the need for ‘The Push’ diminished with the multitudes of SD40′s.
The other nearby regular steam era push territory was on the Galt Sub, west from Lambton up the hill to Guelph Junction and also up the hill to Orr’s Lake,
Rail pics example: http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=22158
Then there was The Transfer and referred to as such by the the Dispatcher and /or the Agincourt Yard Coordinator and both would regularly use the radio call ‘The Transfer’ – to the CP crew handling the assigned engine(s). The Transfer crew was usually assigned the one and only unique MLW RSD-17 #8921 ( aka ‘ The Empress of Agincourt ‘) for that task. The Transfer’s normal territory was, in no particular order: Lambton to Agincourt to the Don to Parkdale. Here is a shot of a double headed ‘The Transfer’: http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=12256
And the other regular Leaside sight, from the opening of Agincourt Yard through to 1973, was the Crew Budd – the name as such assigned by the North Toronto Subdivision / Belleville ( Toronto Region) Dispatcher and /or the Agincourt Yard Coordinator. From Dan Dell-Unto’s pic caption:
Canadian Pacific RDC-1 9053 on what appears to be the CP Employee Shuttle departs Leaside Station westbound, after letting off a load of CP employees coming from the nearby Toronto (Agincourt) Yard. CP ran daily RDC employee shuttles between West Toronto/Lambton Yards and the “new” Toronto Yard in Agincourt in order to transport employees who lived in the West Toronto area to the new yard, as transit service there was lacking at the time. Typical power was a single Budd RDC from John Street (some runs operated with two when a shift let out), but on occasion regular diesel power was used to help an ailing RDC. The shuttle made its final runs in 1973. Dan D’s pic: http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=44459
A lot more to this than I originally imagined! Sdfourty.
Ahh LEASIDE from LLL member 4744