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Caption: CN 1211 trundles back into town after working the Esso depot that used to occupy the south side of the harbour just to the west of the CP Parry Sound trestle. The huge black storage tanks are long gone, replaced by modern boat marina, and with it went all the industrial trackage in Parry Sound. This view shows a string of tank cars, and the CP trestle is above it. Rough old photo, but this is one location where at absolutely no time of the day was the sun in a favourable position. So dull days were needed. The track connected with the CN mainline at mile 149.2, and also with the CP main, at the north edge of town. One could call this an early effort at shared assets, as CN used it at certain hours and CP other hours, with CN permission. When not in use this switcher was stationed along Great North Rd about 200 ft behind me, this side of Bowes St. What I do not know, however, is what year the local service ended and the track was pulled.
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Wow! That’s a rare view of Parry Sound. Local oil tankers is another type of railway traffic that is no longer. Most of the fuel for that region now comes from Toronto in “B-Train” trucks.
Wow, I’ve never seen a photo of a train on that spur. This is a rare image
Reminds me of the old CN Marmora Sub that used to run through Trenton. Many memories…
By chance, young man, did you catch anything around Trenton back in the heyday of freight by rail?
Young? Some days I am, most days not.
) Unfortunately, I caught almost nothing out that way; for even back then the Great Wall of Toronto discouraged me from traveling out that way from St. Catharines. I recall rust on the rails at such places as Anson Jct and Bonerlaw, meaning I was a few years too late. The only “action” I caught was the boarding up of the station at Madoc after a fire.
Oh well, at least I have my memories. The CN Marmora Sub ran underneath the CP Belleville Sub almost identically to this photo. I remember seeing a pair of switchers running alongside Division Street with loads from Domtar, the paper mill served by both railroads, to get to the yard beside A&P to make it’s turn for Trenton Junction. Imagine the joy of spending your lunch hours at Queen Elizabeth Public School watching F units back into the yard at Domtar. Literally on the other side of the fence. That was almost 30 years ago.
Much like anything else, it’s all gone now. Even the school I attended is history.
Love your photos, Arnold.
All the best!
Clinton: Yes, memories. If we had known how vital to our well-being they would be in later years, we would have tried harder to preserve them while we could. Thanks for your comments; I am glad you have enjoyed the postings.
I was CN’s resident Car Inspector at South Parry from Dec. 1980 to Sept. 1985. The Imperial Oil (Esso) and Shell tanks were painted all white, some of the Shell thanks up on the hill may have been silver. It was the Ultramar tanks at the end of Bay St. at Bob’s point that were black.
As the car inspector I had to make a safety inspection of the car making sure the safety appliances periodic inspections were up to date as well as maintaining the wheel bearings and brakes and ensure that the shipper secured the dome covers.
I also had to service other cars at South Parry and cars stored at Depot Harbour in accordance with Transport Canada regulations.
The CN only switched the oil plants, but the CP did bring cars down to the joint section, west of Bay St. There was a run-around track below Belvedere Hill and the CP cars were left there overnight. Usually there was almost enough CP transfer traffic that I could begin my day at the CP station to ask if there were any transfers, because I couldn’t tell if I drove to the end of Bay St. I’d have to walk 100 feet before I could see any cars. Otherwise I’d start my shift at South Parry and have the cars there inspected before the yard engine crew came on duty.
The oil and gasoline from the Imperial and Shell was brought in by ship and although most of it went out by rail to their agents in Northern Ontario. Most of the cars were in captive service so I could keep the cars in good shape as the workload wasn’t that heavy. The Shell got a discount for the cars they shipped, because they also provided the CN with diesel fuel for Capreol and Hornepayne. Most of the tanker traffic was in the Autumn before the close of Navigation, but it remained steady through the winter and things got a little slow before the opening of Navigation when the tanks were almost empty.
The Imperial plant closed about 1982, but Shell kept going providing us with a steady flow of traffic. In 1983 the company reorganized my territory to include inspection of open-top cars at Huntsville. On that job I worked close with the Huntsville road switcher crew, but I still had my other duties at Parry Sound. I found myself going to Huntsville three times a week.
By the late winter of 1985 there was a lot of truck traffic in and out of the Parry Sound Shell Oil terminal. Tudhope contracted with Shell to transport fuel oil and gasoline to agents not connected by rail and to gas stations, but by that time they were trucking it from Toronto to Parry Sound, so Shell could ship it out by rail and qualify for their CN discount. CN stopped receiving oil shipments at that location that summer and my job was abolished on September 6th.
Brian: Thank you VERY much for your input and for taking the time to write. I was unaware of the timeline for the demise of the oil business, and I had wondered why it had all shut down. I did take pictures of track to Parry Island being lifted, and think that was around 1985 as well. Certainly a lot of rail history around Parry!
I think it was after 1986 that the rails were lifted from Parry Island. I remember being there (off duty) after someone released the brakes of a boxcar that was stored there. It rolled down the hill onto the iron ore company’s property and derailed over the pit of the shaker house. One axle was straddling a rail over the pit. They stopped shipping ore there about 1979.
Found my notes. I shot pics of equipment at the end of rail lifting as seen from the bridge near CN Boyne on October 7, 1987. End of an era. Track removal was probably going on all summer, but being only a visitor to the area, and without this now great internet communication, I was unaware of it all.