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Caption: Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo SW9 58 rests near the railway's Aberdeen Roundhouse in Hamilton, Ontario, on Sunday, July 7, 1968. GMDL built the 1200hp switcher in nearby London, Ontario, in January 1951, serial A-124, as their 25th production unit. The 58 was the last of four ordered by the TH&B in 1950 to complete dieselization of their switching services. Retired in May 1988 and sold to Atlas Steel in Welland, it was resold that year to Lukens Steel's Brandywine Valley Railroad in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, as their first 8206. It was transferred to the Upper Merion and Plymouth at Conshohocken Pennsylvania in 1991, where it continues to operate as their second 9007.
Facing the switcher is NYC E8A 4003 fresh from an early morning run from Buffalo on Toronto-bound Penn Central Train 371. Connecting Train 57 had departed Grand Central Terminal the previous evening with coaches and sleepers for Toronto. My friend, Bruce Mercer, was on duty at Port Credit that morning and reports that CP RS10 8575 handled the last 39.3 miles from Hamilton to Toronto as Train 322.
New York Central 4003 was built as an E7A at LaGrange in March 1945 with serial 2868. It was involved in a wreck at Conneaut, Ohio, on March 27, 1953, and was rebuilt by EMD as an E8A. Not long after, it was on the September 1956 cover of Trains Magazine in an image by Phil Hastings and featured in the particularly famous story by David Morgan: The Mohawk That Refused to Abdicate. The unit was retired in June 1973.
The TH&B completed its line between Waterford and Welland, Ontario, via Hamilton in 1895. NYC (73%) and the CPR (27%) purchased the railway in 1895. In 1977 CP Rail bought the former NYC shares and merged it entirely in 1987.
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This is awesome. Wish I was old enough to visit Chatham St in my formative years. I may have driven by as a kid though, but….. at least I can stare at this and daydream
Thanks for sharing.
Great pic and history Bill. Thanks!
Wonderful picture and excellent write up Bill. Well remember NYC E units hauling the overnight Toronto-New York City sleepers between Hamilton and Buffalo, and in 1959 sometimes a Royal Hudson between Toronto and Hamilton. I never did understand why there was a power change in Hamilton. In the very early 1950’s, at Easter time when there were extra sections to and from New York, a NYC Hudson would show up at John St for the day layover. Thanks for posting.
Bill, when I started in 1973, CP ran a6 day a week “Aberdeen Turn” out of the east freight pool. It often went spare because it was low pay & lots of work. If the regular men wanted a break from the daily pool grind, that was the trip to miss. If we booked rest, the train crew slept in the van & the hogger in a room in the back of the roundhouse. More than once, I recall waling through the shop on my way to the yard office. I recall the “sputnik” an old red & yellow painted sedan with steel train wheels, and a steam engine tender. I think it was still kept for water if the No. 1 auxiliary was called out. I never walked through that roundhouse without seeing at least one rat skulking about. For that reason I was quite happy to sleep in the van instead of the shop bunkroom.
To clarify, the Aberdeen Turn pool job was out of London, Quebec Street Yard.