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Caption: Matching CN zebra-striped A-B-A F-units 9173, 9195 and 9166 handle #725 "The Steel Train" along the street-running portion of CN's Hagersville Sub along Ferguson Avenue, having just departed Hamilton (Stuart St.) yard for their run up the escarpment to Caledonia and on to Nanticoke. The train is seen passing by the Lockwood Motors auto body repair shop, approaching Kelly St. after having just crossed Cannon St. moments before. Timetables show this section of the line was limited to a pokey 10mph, for obvious reasons due to the traffic and pedestrian hazards present.
As others have mentioned in previous photos, the Steel Train was one of the last holdouts to regularly use this street-running portion of the Hagersville Sub through the downtown streets of Hamilton (and only running empty up the escarpment; it returned loaded on the Dundas Sub via Brantford), but not for too much longer. After a bridge in Rymal was damaged around 1987(?), CN elected not to repair it and fully rerouted the steel train over the Dundas Sub. The line between Caledonia and Hamilton was severed into two spurs, operated as the Ferguson Ave Spur from Hamilton and Rymal Spur from Caledonia, but didn't fare much better due to low rail traffic. The revised (and present-day) version of the Hagersville Sub uses the former Dunnville Sub (from Brantford to Caledonia) to access the original portion between Caledonia to Nanticoke.
This would also be one of the last great hurrahs of CN's F-unit fleet (notably catching them regularly assigned in solid A-B-A sets), as the remaining units would soldier on for a few more years until they were retired in 1988-89 and sold off.
Harold E. Brouse photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection slide.
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Amazing!!! You’ve even got something from the Brouse collection!!! Wonders never cease.
I’m not familiar with Harold, where did he hail from ?
Great capture, I’ll say !
Bruce: H.E.Brouse, who much preferred to go by his middle name, “Eddie”, lived in Lewisburg, PA and during his career with Conrail ended up yardmaster at Enola, where he died from a massive heart attack, age 59. This probably 10 years or so ago. Very likeable guy.
Excellent tow truck and business, perfect setting for an A-B-A of zebra F units!
Arnold, I’ve got a few from the Brouse brothers (Harold and Reuben, from what I’ve read they were both railfans from PA), it seems they made a few trips up to Canada over the years to shoot the local stuff and attend fantrips. Unfortunate to hear about the circumstances of his passing.
Mike: I knew you might like this one
I was confused at first about “brothers” as there was more than one Reuben. Youngsters were involved as well. Reuben, who went by the name Scott (middle name) died in early 2017 and Eddie in 2010, so I guess that is why the collections are on the market. I knew both of them quite well as we were all members of the Susquehanna Chapter NRHS in the late 70s. The group still operates out of an old train station in White Deer, PA.
Informative caption—thank you!
By August 1986 I was shooting the A-B-A using the Dundas sub rather than Ferguson Av. So it was very short-lived thru the city.
What a fantastic capture ! This part of Ferguson Ave. is now a bike route with a brick road surface and railway related paraphernalia that pay homage to its history. Needless to say this scene is unrecognizable today.
Lockwood Auto Body is still there,now a Carstar franchise.