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About wmthomson

An enthusiast interested in trains since my high school days (1939-45) at Port Credit High School (beside the CN main line), although not always with a camera. Recently moved to Guelph from Kingston Ontario. Still have my Pentax K1000 but mainly shoot digital now. *All photos copyright Bill Thomson. Editors note: Bill passed away in July 2022, his page is being maintained by RP.ca staff in his memory. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/guelph-on/william-thomson-11195826

wmthomson's Railpictures.ca photo upload statistics

Number of images: 715
Total gold: 10836
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Number of comments posted : 21
Total views: 2342316

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wmthomson's 715 photos on Railpictures.ca:

Another view of Canadian Pacific Railway 6275 (a U3e class 0-6-0 build by CP's Angus Shops in 1912) during its final year serving as Goderich's regular steam switching power, parked by the turntable near the roundhouse (front view <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=23837><b>here</b></a>). In the background is the yard lead to the mainline, a few sidings, and some industries including the nearby grain elevator and silos.<br><br>Diesel-powered <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=29867><b>CP DT2 17</b></a> replaced 6275 as Goderich's regular switching power. The roundhouse was demolished, but the turntable survived well into the <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=31222><b>diesel era</b></a>.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1958
Location:	Goderich
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 19 Favourites

CP GP9u 8203 and C&O GP38-2 2574 are seen parked at the service area in CP's Chatham Yard on May 16th 2001. Note the blue flags hung on the nearby utility pole (affixed to a track rail in order to provide "blue flag protection" when a unit is being worked on). Also noteworthy is the orange and white "Sclair" covered hopper in the background.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	05/16/2001
Location:	Chatham
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 20 Favourites

Canadian Pacific 894 (a D10g-class 4-6-0 built in 1911) is shown on display with a CP snowplow near Riverside Park in Preston, Ontario in 1961. It was donated in 1964 to the Doon Pioneer Village (Waterloo Regional Museum) in Kitchener, where it resides today (for a Bruce Lowe photo of it being delivered, see <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=43058><b>here</b></a>).

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1961
Location:	Preston
Province:	Ontario

1 Comments | 8 Favourites

CPR P2e 5370 (built by CLC in October 1926, scrapped November 1960) leads a westbound CP extra freight over CN's Oakville Sub, crossing over Cooksville Creek (at Mile 11.8) east of Port Credit near "CN Lakeview". Trailing behind the power is a fresh-looking Atlantic Coast Line boxcar, ACL 22491.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1958
Location:	Port Credit
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 20 Favourites

Another photo of the NRHS Buffalo Chapter fantrip over CP in July 1959: CPR D10's 1098 and 1092 head under the bridge at Cataract, travelling up the Orangeville Sub enroute to <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=28583><b>Orangeville</b></a> (approach photo <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=28108?<b>here</b></a>).

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	07/19/1959
Location:	Cataract (Caledon)
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 13 Favourites

CPR G5b 1221 (built by MLW in October 1945, scrapped February 1960) heads eastbound over CN's Oakville Sub, crossing over Cooksville Creek (at Mile 11.8) east of Port Credit near "CN Lakeview".

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1958
Location:	Port Credit
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 13 Favourites

Ontario Northland Railway SD75I 2103 and GP9 1602, ONR's newest power mixed with some of its oldest, are seen leading a train parked at Swastika due to a strike. At the time 2103 was only a year old, while 1602 came out of the same GMD London plant in 1957 and was pushing 42.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Ontario Northland
Date:	10/05/2020
Location:	Swastika
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 12 Favourites

Normetal Mining 219, a former Temiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway 4-6-0 steam locomotive, is seen stored in the Ontario Northland Railway's yard in Cochrane ON in October 2000. At the time of this photo it had been stored in Cochrane for nearly two and a half decades and was is looking more than a little worse for wear, haphazardly stored out of the way at the end of a yard track with the rear tender truck shoved up against a pile of ties and dirt mount.<br><br>T&NO 219 was built by MLW in 1907 as one of six 4-6-0 units, originally numbered 119 and later renumbered 219. TN&O sold the steamer to Normetal Mining in Quebec in 1938 who used it for industrial switching. It was sold to a private owner in 1976 who had dreams of running excursions with it on the Spruce Falls Power & Paper Company line. It was moved to Ontario Northland in Cochrane for work, but the owner passed away and plans fell through, so eventually ONR (successor of the T&NO) came into ownership of the old engine. 219 was stored for nearly three and a half decades in by ONR in Cochrane until 2012, when it was sold off and acquired by the Northern Ontario Railroad Museum & Heritage Centre (NORMHC), who moved it to their museum in Capreol in 2014.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Ontario Northland
Date:	10/05/2000
Location:	Cochrane
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 10 Favourites

Abitibi-Price RS3 1310 is pictured at Iroquois Falls in September 1993. The unit is former Ontario Northland 1310 (see Arnold Mooney's photo <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=43637><b>here</b></a>), and was acquired for switching Abitibi-Price's paper mill in Iroquois Falls in 1985 (AP had previously acquired Ontario Northland S4 1203 in the 70's as a plant switcher). In 1995, 1310 was acquired by the <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=27632><b>York-Durham Heritage Railway</b></a> out of Uxbridge, where it still operates today with it original number.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Industrial
Date:	09/28/1993
Location:	Iroquois Falls
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 16 Favourites

Steam-heated passenger equipment on Ontario Northland's train from Moosonee sits in front of Cochrane Station in September 1993.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Ontario Northland
Date:	09/20/1993
Location:	Cochrane
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 10 Favourites

ADSX U33B 3300 "COCOTE" is seen parked in owner Andrew Merrilees' yard in Lachine, Quebec. This unit was one of 137 GE U33B locomotives built (the 3,300hp version of their popular U-boat line). It was originally built in 1968 for Penn Central as their 2895, then becoming Conrail 2895. Later it was one of five U33B's sold to the Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern, becoming RBM&N 3300. <br><br>3300 was the lone unit sold to dealer Andrew Merrilees (reporting marks ADSX) in the late 90's, and retained its old RBM&N paint and number. It was then leased to Chemin de fer Baie des Chaleurs, and to Ottawa Central in 1999. By then it had become the last active U33B anywhere, and possibly the last one in existence. It's believed to have since been scrapped.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Industrial
Date:	05/21/2000
Location:	Montreal (Lachine)
Province:	Quebec

Comments | 10 Favourites

Former CN S13 unit 8511, now lettered as MLS 8511, is seen at railway equipment dealer Andrew Merrilees' yard in Lachine QC in May of 2000.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Industrial
Date:	05/21/2000
Location:	Montreal (Lachine)
Province:	Quebec

1 Comments | 8 Favourites

Ontario Rail Association's former CP 4-4-0 136 and 4-6-0 D10h 1057 (lettered for Credit Valley Railway) get serviced inside the International Harvester plant grounds off Burlington Street in Hamilton during May 1974, with some of ORA's other equipment stored in the background. They may have been here to use the old IHC steam facilities from when IHC ran ex-CN steam switchers to switch their plant in the 1950's.
<br><br>
Today, both 136 and 1057 are now at the South Simcoe Railway in Tottenham.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Tourist
Date:	May 1974
Location:	Hamilton
Province:	Ontario

6 Comments | 21 Favourites

A closeup of the builder's plate and superheater plate on the boiler of <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=42910><b>CPR D10h 1095</b></a>, on display at Confederation Park in Kingston. The unit was built by the Canadian Locomotive Company (CLC) at their Kingston ON factory in October 1913, and donated to the City of Kingston for display in 1965.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	November 2013
Location:	Kingston
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 5 Favourites

The former Canadian Pacific Railway D10h 1095, "The Spirit of Sir John A.", sits proudly on display by the old K&P Kingston Station at Confederation Park. Originally built in Kingston by the Canadian Locomotive Company in 1913 as one of CP's popular "D10" class of 4-6-0 locomotives, 1095 spent many of its later years in the Ottawa and Southern Ontario areas. It was retired at the end of the steam era, and donated to the city of Kingston for display in July 1965.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	November 2013
Location:	Kingston
Province:	Ontario

Comments | 8 Favourites

The bridge tender has moved the swing bridge carrying Penn Central's Canada Division line (the CASO) into the open position to let a ship pass through the Welland Canal during a visit in December 1969, resulting in a brief pause in rail traffic. Increasing levels of ship traffic through the canal was one of the reasons that lead to the new canal alignment and construction of the Townline Tunnel, which opened a few years later and ran underneath the canal, eliminating interruptions in mainline railway traffic for marine traffic. The PC mainline was also shifted south as part of the track alterations for the new canal and tunnel.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Penn Central
Date:	December 1969
Location:	Welland
Province:	Ontario

4 Comments | 10 Favourites

Another photo of a set of Union Pacific Alco FA1/FB1's working on Canadian Pacific, this time units 1627, 1616C and 1614B are shown leading a freight on the Galt Sub, south of Streetsville in 1964. Leased by power-short CP during 1963-1964, the old FA1 and FB1 units UP sent up were run together in sets of 2, 3 or 4 units, typically only running with other UP units during their tenure on CP. By this time the units were at the end of their lifespans, and upon return to UP they were used as trade-in units for new power.<br><br><i><u>More UP Alcos on CP:</i></u><br><br>Two sets at CP's Lambton Yard: <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=37872><b>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=37872></b></a><br><br>Passing the station at Guelph Junction: <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=16939><b>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=16939</b></a>

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Union Pacific
Date:	1964
Location:	Streetsville
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 16 Favourites

An aerial view of the downtown railyards in Toronto from 1953 yields a very different picture than today. Taken from the air looking east near Bathurst Street, Spadina Avenue is visible crossing over the railway yards. Steam is still dominant, and one can count the white puffs of smoke from many of the steam engines working around the yards. Notable former railway landmarks are CN's Spadina Coachyards, CN's Spadina Roundhouse, CP's John Street Roundhouse, the "High Line" freight bypass running south of both roundhouses (on the right), Union Station, and the CN & CP freight sheds north of Front Street.<br><br>The downtown location of the railway yards was to be in close proxility to busy Union Station, back when train travel was a very prominent and important mode of transportation across the country. Passenger cars would be cleaned, serviced, stocked, and assembled into trains, while the locomotives that pulled them would be coaled, watered and serviced at the roundhouses between runs. The steam era ended on Canadian railways at the end of the 1950's, but the steam era facilities in downtown Toronto continued servicing passenger equipment and diesel locomotives here until they were either closed down or moved to more modern facilities in the 1980's, clearing the way for redevelopment of the old downtown "railway lands" in the following decades. <br><br><b><i>Some more downtown Toronto photos:</b></i><br>Alternate angle in 1953: <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=23318><b>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=23318</b></a><br>Looking east from Spadina Avenue: <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=28556><b>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=28556</b></a><br>Steam at Spadina Roundhouse: <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=24444><b>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=24444</b></a><br>John Street roundhouse, Union Station & the Royal York Hotel: <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=38504><b>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=38504</b></a><br>Spadina Roundhouse in 1980: <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=32212><b>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=32212</b></a><br>Bathurst St. in 1987: <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=41906><b>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=41906</b></a>

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Toronto Terminals …
Date:	1953
Location:	Toronto
Province:	Ontario

3 Comments | 14 Favourites

The morning CP-TH&B-NYC train from Toronto to New York speeds westbound on CN's Oakville Sub through Park Royal in the Summer of 1962, headed up by a pair of steam generator-equipped MLW FPA2 units with CP 4082 in the lead. According to schedules at the time, this would be CP train #321, departing Toronto Union Station at 8:05am and scheduled to be at TH&B's Hunter Street station in Hamilton for 9:10am. If running on time, this photo would probably be around 8:35am. CP had trackage rights over CN between Bathurst Street and Hamilton Junction, used by CP passenger trains travelling between Toronto and Hamilton, as well as freights and locals coming off the Canpa Sub. <br><br>Park Royal is located at Mile 17.6 of CN Oakville Sub. The train is approaching the level crossing at Winston Churchill Blvd., the border between Toronto Township (now Mississauga) and Oakville. Track maps show the spur to the right lead to Diversey Canada Ltd. (cleaning and food industry products). Next door further down the line was Canada Salt, who also had their own rail sidings.

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	Summer 1962
Location:	Toronto Township (…
Province:	Ontario

5 Comments | 29 Favourites

Canadian Pacific RS2 8406 and RS18 8745 lead a freight northbound over the West Toronto diamonds, passing the old West Toronto Junction interlocking tower as they cross over from the Galt Sub (via the Galt-MacTier connecting track) to the MacTier Sub. The bisecting tracks they are about to cross are for CP's North Toronto Sub, heading east through midtown Toronto to Leaside, and further points east on the Bellville Sub. This photo offers a better view of the old grade crossing tower in the distance at Osler Street, near where the MacTier Sub split off to the north.<br><br>CP had just four MLW-built RS2 units, 8405-8408, which were overshadowed by their well-known Alco RS2's (8400-8404, that lasted into the 1980's on CP's lines in the US) and the fleet of more populous MLW RS3 (8426-8461). Unlike the Alco-built units, 8405-8408 all had MU, so were often seen operating in mainline freight service mixed with other units. 8405 & 8408 were traded in to MLW for C424's in 1965, while 8406 suffered fire-damage and was retired in 1969. 8407 lasted through the 1970's in yard service out of St. Luc in Montreal, until retirement in 1982. By that time, CP's six remaining units were some of the final RS2's in operation.<br><br><i><b>More at West Toronto:</b></i><br> A view inside the interlocking tower: <b><a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=28987>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=28987</a></b><br>CN steam power in the winter: <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=16093><b>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=16093</b></a><br>CP 8917 "Train Master" in transfer service: <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=15874><b>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=15874</b></a><br> NYC power on the Starlight heading westbound by Osler Street: <a href=http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=15002><b>http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=15002</b></a>

Name:	Bill Thomson
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1958
Location:	Toronto (West Toro…
Province:	Ontario

6 Comments | 26 Favourites

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