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About mercer

Originally from Burlington ON; lived in Brantford, Aldershot, Chatham, Brights Grove and currently Brantford (2nd time), retired in 2014 from Ontario Southland Rly; also worked for CN, TH&B, C&O/CSX. Began photography in 1963 taking B&W and colour prints; began taking slides in 1966. No longer active in photography, enjoy helping younger fans with their aspirations in sharing my experiences.

mercer's Railpictures.ca photo upload statistics

Number of images: 100
Total gold: 1469
Number of comments recieved : 213
Number of comments posted : 680
Total views: 232392

mercer has 1 image in the Time Machine

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mercer's 100 photos on Railpictures.ca:

Today it is CPRail's turn to be operating a Nanticoke Steel train. Prior to the "Cainsville Fill" landslide, this train operated from Aberdeen Yard in Hamilton, west to Waterford, then onto the former LE&N right of way to Simcoe, then on to the CN Cayuga Sub to Garnet, then south again to Nanticoke. In this timeframe, CP is using leased B&O and C&O GP38's, either in pairs or trios, to handle the train. So here we have B&O 4806 ( with C&O 4823) pulling a CPRail train, on former Lake Erie & Northern trackage, and using the steel truss bridge to cross overhead of Conrail, former NYC, Canada Division mainline ! (and technically the last few cars may still be on the former TH&B Waterford Sub).

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	9/1/1984
Location:	Waterford
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 15 Favourites

After the TH&B Port Maitland job has departed, I took a couple of views of E&O interlocking tower. This guarded the NYC crossing of the TH&B. Years later there was a rumour that a nearby farmer had purchased the structure and used it as a storage building, but this has never been substantiated to my knowledge.

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	New York Central
Date:	1/8/1973
Location:	E & O tower
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 9 Favourites

TH&B 73 and 402 are southbound on the Dunnville Subdivision with over 45 cars of phosphate rock for ERCO at Port Maitland. They are passing by Penn Central's 'E&O' interlocking tower as they clunk-clunk across the Canada Division mainline. PC employee, Operator/Leverman WA Webster has locked the armstrong levers into proper position to allow for this movement. The 3 wooden structures ( tower, outhouse and coal bin) are well weathered at this stage.

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	Toronto Hamilton a…
Date:	1/8/1973
Location:	Attercliffe Statio…
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 19 Favourites

Using the inbound power off The Kinnear, CPR ran an early morning "Hamilton Extra" with 3 TH&B geeps. The westbound move had gone to Hamilton prior to 9am but the bright sunny day was not conducive to photography at that angle. So I waited for his return and was rewarded with this image. It was one of those biting cold January days where even in bright sun the snow doesn't melt. I kept warm by talking with the First Trick Operator Stan Roskovich, until the TH&B dispatcher informed the CN dispatcher that the train was on the move eastbound from Aberdeen yard.

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	Toronto Hamilton a…
Date:	1/xx/1973
Location:	Burlington
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 14 Favourites

Looking for TH&B photos ? Looking for steam operating on the TH&B ?? Well, you found it !!
Credit Valley's famous pair, 136 and 1057, are putting on a show on a drizzly morning in May 1974 as they attack the grade at Sulphur Springs Road. An excursion sponsored by Ontario Rail Association has brought a steam spectacular to " the west end ". And just in case, there is an SW9 shoving on the rear. My people-filter was not functioning at 100% this day but I would say, the show being put on cancels any of that.

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	Tourist
Date:	5/xx/1974
Location:	(near) Dundas
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 24 Favourites

Westbound NS train 27, St. Thomas to Windsor, passes by the newly constructed CN Chatham East office and is about to cross the CSX diamond. A piece of track machinery is taking care of the eastbound roadbed, while covered hoppers fill the CN/CSX interchange. Train 27 has obviously stopped at one of the on-line elevators, as evidenced by the two hoppers behind the power. Barring further delay or work to be performed at the small CN yard, the train will be yarded at the water's edge in Windsor in about 90 minutes.

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	Norfolk Southern
Date:	4/9/1987
Location:	Chatham
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 10 Favourites

A Mike McIlwaine photo.
A matching ABA set of F7's idles at CN Stuart Street engine facility, awaiting their departure on 'The Nanticoke Steel' run. Soon they'll be gingerly tip toeing on the Ferguson Avenue street running as they make their way through the south end of the city, and climb the escarpment towards Rymal, Caledonia and beyond. A lot of things in this photo are gone. But thanks to Mike, and others, we can see what used to be. How these units came to Hamilton is an interesting story ( for non-employees ) - they were no longer required at places like Prince Rupert and Edmonton, so the Assistant Manager of Motive Power asked the Hamilton shop foreman if he would be interested in having 2 ABA sets based here. To his surprise the Foreman said 'Yes' and the rest was railfan heaven !

Name:	Bruce Mercer collec…
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	4/27/1986
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 18 Favourites

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	Other
Date:	9/24/1983
Location:	London
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 25 Favourites

A Doug Lawson photo.
In early January 1984, CN borrowed a pair of 1-year old Seaboard SD50's to test the latest offerings from EMD. It was a mutual deal, as CN provided SBD with a near-equivalent in horsepower by loaning the U.S. road 3 SD40's - 5124, 5127 and 5130. The test period was 30 days and basically took place between Vancouver and Edmonton. Here an outgoing crew is about to take charge of the LaGrange products coming off the shop track, while other London-built units await their turn.

Name:	Bruce Mercer collec…
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	1/12/1984
Location:	Edmonton
Province:	Alberta

Comments | 9 Favourites

Another view at Sass Road, east of the Maple City. A pair of FPA4's are doing their MLW-best to lift train 74 out of town and up to track speed quickly. I'm no passenger car expert but I know the first coach is a Budd-built and I presume is either exCPR or one of the ones purchased 2nd/3rd hand from Amtrak surplus.

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	x/x/1987
Location:	Chatham
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 9 Favourites

Uva per Vino !
Early October and the California wine grapes are flooding the Toronto and Montreal markets. 9402 and a pair of C630's have several thousand tons of SPFE/UPFE reefers behind them, hurrying the tender fruit to the various brokers. No doubt this was probably a second section of train 392. The earlier dedicated Chicago-Toronto hotshot very likely had it's share of concord and chardonnay.

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	10/7/1986
Location:	Hyde Park
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 7 Favourites

Hyde Park/Denfield Road - most of us know this location.
I had the wife drop me off while she ran some errands and I was rewarded with a hastily borrowed GP40-2W on VIA's Windsor train 73 this day. The steam generator car is keeping the travellers comfortable on the early fall morning. Obviously something was amiss with older covered wagons that day but looking back, I'm not complaining now !

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	10/7/1986
Location:	Hyde Park
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 11 Favourites

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	9/2/1984
Location:	Dundas
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 8 Favourites

A Carl Bury photo.
Former CN F7 9080 was upgraded by the railway and renumbered to 9158. Carl found the engine in a nice pose at Prince George BC on his 1975 trip. I know of just two of these upgrades with louvers [versus the Farr screenings] - the other engine is 9166.
9158 was last known to be on the South Carolina shortline Waccamaw Coastline.

Name:	Bruce Mercer collec…
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	x/x/1975
Location:	Prince George
Province:	British Columbia

1 Comments | 12 Favourites

Ho hum, another day of wearing the white hat and making decisions.
I'm standing at the Sass Road crossing, recording the passage (and not-so-perfect meet) of NS train 27 with VIA number 74. Unfortunately I was not able to get the engines passing one another on this attempt, at this location. But what I did get shows a cross section of activity.
Train 27 with a pair C30-7's did not have any elevator switching to perform at Thamesville this day, so his train makeup is entirely automotive related. After passing my location, he is about to accept the CLEAR signal at the C&O diamond, as witnessed by the double greens on the dwarf signal, just ahead of the lead unit.
The high green signal is the Clear train order board at Chatham East. And except for the two fellows nearest my lens, all other personnel are standing off to the south of the eastbound main as VIA 74 looms in the distance.
Taken with a Hanimex 300mm mounted on a Canon FTb.

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	Norfolk Southern
Date:	5/22/1987
Location:	Chatham
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 10 Favourites

An Ollie McKee photo.
Not much to go on from the slide itself but with a little help from people that know the railroad, this appears to be at mile 101, eastbound, off the Regional Road 1 overpass. Given that Mr. McKee was a Brockville resident, this would be within his ' territory '. If anyone has a different opinion, I'd be happy to have the Editor make a correction.
In any event, a good overhead view of the yellow worm.

Name:	Bruce Mercer collec…
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	x/x/1976
Location:	near Iroquois
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 23 Favourites

Norfolk Southern and Norfolk & Western before that, and Wabash before that, all enjoyed the perks of serving certain customers along the CN Cayuga, Paynes and Chatham Subdivisions. While we were living in Chatham, I tried to find out when NS would be switching the elevator at Thamesville ( in 2017 known as AGRIS Co-op). The work was always done by westbound train 27 who would cut off the rest of his train east of Highway 2 and then perform a series of run arounds in order to accomplish the switch. After having pulled and respotted the customer, the power is about to tie back onto the outbound cars and then shove further east to put his train back together. The classic CN Thamesville station, although obscured by the movement, is still standing in this image. I never saw NS switch the other facility ( seen here to the left of the engines ) so obviously CN did that chore.

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	Norfolk Southern
Date:	5/8/1987
Location:	Thamesville
Province:	Ontario

5 Comments | 13 Favourites

A Ron Hagemeister photo.
During a heavy spring squall, 3 freight engines wait for the call to duty. A pair of C630's are bracketing F7B 9191 near the east end of Sarnia Yard.

Name:	Bruce Mercer collec…
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	4/17/1983
Location:	Sarnia
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 14 Favourites

Train 73 at Dillon Road after having crossed the diamond with CP's Windsor Sub.
6902 would turn out to be THE anomoly on the roster, and affectionately was referred to as The Magnet.
In this image all seems normal, a pleasant looking day in October, 6 Tempo cars ready to carry a larger revenue load on the eastward turnaround (train 76) and just a light exhaust from the Montreal-built product.
But in just over 2 years, 6902 would run into the rear of a standing train at Komoka; a year after that it would enter a lumber spur near Ottawa and receive more injuries; and a 3rd incident on the Alexandria Subdivision would further tarnish it's image. After retirement it was cut up at IRSI, Moncton NB in 2008.

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	VIA Rail
Date:	10/27/1985
Location:	Chatham
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 9 Favourites

Windsor-Toronto manifest 422 with it's usual heavy consist is about to cross the CP Windsor Sub. diamond west of Chatham in March 1987. Two GP40-2W's and two M420W's have salt loads and other mixed freight behind them as they hustle their way eastward. At the rear of the train are loaded auto racks from Chrysler that will be re-arranged at Toronto to go both east and west to their Canadian destinations.

Name:	Bruce Mercer
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	03/22/1987
Location:	Chatham
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 7 Favourites

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