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Caption: Back when CP trains to and from the US by way of Niagara Falls was commonplace, we see here a rather power-heavy #526; a Toronto to Buffalo train, rolling thru Queen Victoria Park. The Minolta Tower in the background is now the Skylon. Trains no longer traveled this route by early 1990, tracks taken up and valuable land used for construction of the massive Casino one sees there today. Mid-summer evening gave enough light for this lashup of CP 8228, 8240, 8224, 3060, 3119 and 8242 to be photographed. It was already past 8PM when the dispatcher was informed that 102 loads and 5 empties would be entering the United States. With several other trains doing this route daily, one has to wonder where all the traffic has gone..........
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Minolta Tower is now the Tower Hotel. Syklon Tower is a different tower. I wish I had gone with bro to shoot in Niagara Falls. I never shot a train in the Clifton Hill area.
Classic Falls shot…now all you get is the rare local train that goes as far as the switch on Portage. Sad stuff.
1990? It was 2001 arnold… November. I was here in September with my now wife and I remember seeing freights… long ones.
Funny, this past while I keep having problems with the years…….I keep losing a decade somewhere. And I have done it again. I was thinking “about 15 years ago” and instead mentioned 25. Oops. The year 1990 is a lot farther back than I thought. Heck, the photo is dated 1994. How do we say it these days?? “My bad”???? And to Mr. Smith: I have never even heard of “Tower Hotel”. I guess it is time I went for a refreshing Sunday morning drive to see what is still down that way as I remember it. Bewildering, to say the least.
Quite the lash up Mr. M.
Wasn’t the Minolta Tower originally the Seagrams Tower? I miss seeing those train through NIagara Falls. Were some of those loads SOO Lines to D&H? They must go through Chicago now.
I am very much enjoying the 70s-80s-90s Niagara Falls shots, awmooney!
So much change (tracks pulled out and skyline dramatically changing), it is very interesting, thank you!
PS – the three main towers of Niagara Falls were/are:
The Seagram/Panasonic/Minolta/Tower Hotel (the one in this photo) which opened summer 1962, changed names twice in the early 70s then was called Panasonic tower from 1973-1984, then was called Minolta tower from 1984 – 1995 then was rebranded as the Tower Hotel in 2010 (it is still in operation today)though they removed the clock and the tower is barely visible now, lost among the other newer skyscrapers that surround it.
The Oneida tower/Maple Leaf Village/Kodak Tower/Casino Tower (opened summer 1964 as Oneida until they moved their offices in 1974, became the Maple Leaf Village tower from 1978 – 1995, the site was turned into the Casino Niagara which opened winter 1996 and the tower was no longer open for public access from that point on)
Skylon Tower…opened Fall 1965, bought by CP from 1975-1986, always operating under the same name and still in operation today (ride to the observation deck, revolving restaurant on the top, retail space in base)
Information regarding the towers hugely appreciated.
THANKS!!