Caption: ON 1805 South stopped for a quick pickup with train "six ninety late" in Washago under the old signal tower that used to govern the 4 tracks previously running through town. Coming towards you from the far side you had the Newmarket main and the Newmarket siding, paralleled by the Bala main and the Bala siding. While only the Newmarket and Bala mains were used daily, it wasn't uncommon to see some work trains/through freights utilizing the Bala siding for leaving equipment/setting off bad order cars.
Plenty has changed from those days, now only the Bala main runs under the old signal tower, which has now been torn down and forgotten by most. The terribly unreliable Northlander (pictured here over an hour late) is no more, and the last locomotive to dawn ONR's Chevron paint scheme from the road power pool is mothballed waiting for an engine rebuild and slated for repaint in North Bay. I remember standing on the platform here as a kid waiting for one of the 8 signal lights on this old tower to change to any color, only to be disappointed when the Northlander came around the corner with a boring old Chevron unit. The things we take for granted...
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