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I think it's difficult to say which branchline in Toronto holds the strongest memories for me. Having lived in Scarborough for a bit when I was little, I remember this area well, but it's also been a long time since I've been to Golden Mile. Thanks to word from 546's crew the day before at Manse Valley, I made a trip up to the GECO branch to catch 546 early Thursday morning. Like the Port Lands spur, it is commonly believed the GECO is abandoned. Sadly, both are just skeletons of what they used to be. However, the GECO still receives a fair amount of business, including Home Lumber, Griffith Labs, and Ipex. Together, they were able to turn out about 12 cars. Here, 546 switches Griffith Labs with CN 7058, 4730. Griffith, having just opened the door to plant, has allowed 546 to back in to pick up a loaded hopper. On the other track is cars for Ipex. Once done at Griffith, 546 will pull out with the hopper, back onto the rest of the train on the right, pull forward, and back the last car into Griffith, which is an empty. The entire GECO job took about three and a half hours. Eventually, it picked up the rest of its train at the Birchmount runaround, and backed all the way onto the Uxbridge and back onto the Kingston Sub. After that, full throttle back to Oshawa. Again, like the Port Lands Spur, drivers that cross the GECO seem to think this line is abandoned. A driver, who saw the lights activate at Birchmount, must've thought the lights were malfunctioning, and got a rude surprise when 125 tons of metal started crossing the road. That driver hit the brakes pretty quickly. As said previously, Toronto still has some active industrial spurs left. As for the public, be aware and don't assume. If the top of the rails are the least bit shiny, they probably have seen recent use. As for railfans, look for that shine. Perhaps one day you'll get lucky. The last picture of the GECO on RP.ca I believe is from 1991. Come on guys... You're slacking. Then again, I don't know many railfans who want to foam in a rather sketchy neighborhood at 3am on a weekday night, so it's understandable.
Copyright Notice: This image ©Daniel Odette all rights reserved.



Caption: I think it's difficult to say which branchline in Toronto holds the strongest memories for me. Having lived in Scarborough for a bit when I was little, I remember this area well, but it's also been a long time since I've been to Golden Mile. Thanks to word from 546's crew the day before at Manse Valley, I made a trip up to the GECO branch to catch 546 early Thursday morning. Like the Port Lands spur, it is commonly believed the GECO is abandoned. Sadly, both are just skeletons of what they used to be. However, the GECO still receives a fair amount of business, including Home Lumber, Griffith Labs, and Ipex. Together, they were able to turn out about 12 cars. Here, 546 switches Griffith Labs with CN 7058, 4730. Griffith, having just opened the door to plant, has allowed 546 to back in to pick up a loaded hopper. On the other track is cars for Ipex. Once done at Griffith, 546 will pull out with the hopper, back onto the rest of the train on the right, pull forward, and back the last car into Griffith, which is an empty. The entire GECO job took about three and a half hours. Eventually, it picked up the rest of its train at the Birchmount runaround, and backed all the way onto the Uxbridge and back onto the Kingston Sub. After that, full throttle back to Oshawa. Again, like the Port Lands Spur, drivers that cross the GECO seem to think this line is abandoned. A driver, who saw the lights activate at Birchmount, must've thought the lights were malfunctioning, and got a rude surprise when 125 tons of metal started crossing the road. That driver hit the brakes pretty quickly. As said previously, Toronto still has some active industrial spurs left. As for the public, be aware and don't assume. If the top of the rails are the least bit shiny, they probably have seen recent use. As for railfans, look for that shine. Perhaps one day you'll get lucky. The last picture of the GECO on RP.ca I believe is from 1991. Come on guys... You're slacking. Then again, I don't know many railfans who want to foam in a rather sketchy neighborhood at 3am on a weekday night, so it's understandable.

Photographer:
Daniel Odette [155] (more) (contact)
Date: 09/24/2015 (search)
Railway: Canadian Pacific (search)
Reporting Marks: CN 7058 (search)
Train Symbol: CN L54631 23 (search)
Subdivision/SNS: GECO Extension (search)
City/Town: Toronto (search)
Province: Ontario (search)
Share Link: http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=20808
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Photo ID: 19678

Map courtesy of Open Street Map

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3 Comments
  1. Thanks for posting these shots! As a kid I used to take the Warden bus and remember there was a small 4 track “yard” right at warden where there were often a pair of SW1200rs waiting or switching. They used to pull long strings of autoracks from just across Eglington Ave. Good to see the spur still in use.

  2. No problem. That’s scary to think. At Warden, there was only one track when I went there. Those autoracks would’ve been from the GM Van Plant. Good times those must’ve been, luckily you were around for them.

  3. Daniel, Great work, your last series of images have been fantastic and an excellent effort.

    Also appreciate your captions and the stories you have weaved. Keep it up! That’s what this site is all about.

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