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Caption: Here's proof that indeed once upon a time a Southern FP7 powered a passenger train by the former Freeman, Ont., station now Burlington West. Unfortunately my notes regarding this run are lost, but it was apparently a US special bringing Suits to some gathering in Toronto. Would be nice if someone could shed some light on this. In this view, on a miserable overcast July afternoon, SOU 6141 and N&W 1518 power a long train of mixed heritage coaches back toward the US by way of Niagara. By the time the train reached Grimsby, the sky was so dark slide photography was impossible. The crowd at the station are taking little interest in this Special. I believe they were waiting for #85, the "St. Clair", which was soon to follow.Note foreground "rail" for moving Trackcars off the main. More history gone.
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It was the 1980 NRHS convention in Toronto..coinciding with a CN 6060 Steam excurison up the Bala Sub; the SOU train layed over in Spadina for the weekend before returning to the US as shown in your pic.
Great! Thanks!!
I did not see any of the Bala excursion due to work, which often seemed to interupt my railfanning life, and I had totally forgotten about the NRHS gathering.
Had no idea that this ever ran over here. Very cool….. Especially the ‘dude’ in the shorts….
Those shorts. Lol. You guys had all the fashion back then, as well as the best powered trains.
What’s with the crossing signal on the signal post?
Clinto: Train order signal, basically. It was there until the end,
http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=7377
And in 2005:
http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=2825
I spent a lot of time at Burlington West 2002-2005… this is one of the places I was brought to watch trains by my Grandfather and my Dad so I put my time in when the GO project started looming.
The signal has been preserved,but as far as I know it doesn’t stand with the station. The Freeman Station preservation group has successfully moved the structure a few hundred feet down to Plains Rd and at last check the train order signal was not standing, but I believe it is in their possession and not in the hands of a private collector.
For more infomation on the efforts of the Friends of the Freeman Station, visit: http://www.freemanstation.ca/
Arnold, thats not a ” trackcar” pull-off, it was to help the station staff walk over to the Halton Sub to hand off paperwork to freight trains. Except for using the former level crossing at Brant Street, there were no pull-offs in the immediate area of this station; there was one at the west wye switch, as that is where the sectionhouse was located “back in the day” when Carol was Large