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Caption: Long before becoming a well known excursion locomotive, CPR 1057 was just another D10h 4-6-0 working the branch lines of southern Ontario, on this day, handling mixed trains 715/716 on the Walkerton branch. Seen here on arrival from Orangeville approaching the small yard at Walkerton, 1057 will run around the consist and complete any work in town before departure back to Orangeville.
Canadian Pacific's Walkerton Subdivision originated as the Walkerton & Lucknow Railway, incorporated in 1904, construction would begin in 1906 and be fully completed in 1908, splitting off the Owen Sound Subdivision at Saugeen Junction and running west via Durham and Hanover to it's namesake town. The CPR would lease the railway beginning November 1906, and the line would open for service in August 1908. Per a 1909 timetable, there were at one time four scheduled passenger trains over the line daily except Sunday, plus other freight movements. During the 1930s, effects of the Great Depression were felt on most branch lines and passenger services were reduced or eliminated. By 1932, the Walkerton branch passenger services were replaced with a daily except Sunday mixed train. Service on the line continued as such until August 3, 1957, when mixed trains 715/716 would be discontinued, leaving the line freight only. Mixed trains 753/756 to Teeswater also ran their last miles on this day. July 1983 saw abandonment of the Walkerton Sub from a point west of Hanover to Walkerton, with the condition that ownership and operations of industrial trackage within Hanover would be transferred to CN. By transferring service to CN, CP would be allowed to abandon the remainder of the Walkerton Sub from Saugeen to Hanover. By 1984, the Walkerton Subdivision would be abandoned, the switches at Saugeen Junction removed by October, and the entire line removed by December of that year. *Information from a number of UCRS Newsletters.
Original Photographer Unknown, Jacob Patterson Collection Slide.
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A Nice branch line scene from the past. Thanks for sharing it.
If this is 1950 then 2 yrs later D4g class engines took over from Hanover to Walkerton as the bridge over the Saugeen had a weight restriction put on it. # 484 was photographed here a few times. 1057 is on the engine house lead. In 1954 after Hurricane Hazel the bridge was condemned and a D6b hauled the last train out with anything that would roll with Ed Brawly at the throttle and my father firing.
In addition by the exhaust and valve gear setting 1057 is shoving the combine and caboose up the slight incline, which have been turned for the trip back, and the crew would coast the whole affair to the yard. then put the engine in care of the night watchman in the one stall house to the left.
@berknkp765. Thank you very much for this information. If you have any photos of these operations they’d be great additions to the site. Happy New Year!
I should have qualified the move with D6b 526 as this was the hospital train of what
was left in the yard on June 19 1954 before the Hurricane. The photo is in the Patterson-George Coll. On the return trip the light engine, D4g or D6b was switched out at Hanover for a D10. There was a aggregate quarry at Durham that the CP serviced and the little guys couldn’t lift more than one car up the grade out of the pit.I rode this train as an 7/8/9 yr old going to my parents cottage at Inverhuron twice a year. My Dad was the engineer and the whole family went. Switching at Hanover and the pit both took over an hour each and there were other stops as well. Both D4g # 484 and #445 were assigned here at times. Helmet Osterman has photos of the #484 in the yard 1953/4.There are very few photos of this line. Iam slowly getting up to speed on this digital world and have a large collection of ORA stuff from the mid 70s. Hope to post some in the spring