Caption: 35 years ago today, VIA 663 (today numbered 85) is seen westbound through CN Guelph Junction. If on the advertised, the time would be 1206h. At right, cars are spotted in track XW22, one of the two loading tracks at the Guelph Jct. freight shed, the other being XW23 going out of frame at lower right. To the left the piggyback ramp can be seen which still survives today, though buried under piles of track materials and dirt. Behind the ramp is the Guelph Twines facility, served on track XW36. Long a face at the junction, the building, dating to at least 1929, has housed small motor companies from 1929 – 1972, starting as Leland Electric, becoming part of Sangamo Electric circa 1960, and finally as Prestolite from 1970-1972. Guelph Twines took over the building in 1972 after moving to Guelph from Brantford. The company still operates from this building today, receiving hopper cars from CN just a handful of times per year. Until steel siding went up around 2010, the words “Terminal Warehouse” could be faintly made out in old paint on the track side. Since 1971, the basement of the building has been home to the Guelph Model Railway Society.

VIA 6216 is an RDC-2, built in March, 1955 as RDC-3 9022 for Canadian Pacific, before being sold to VIA Rail in September, 1978. In October, 1981, 9022 would be rebuilt and renumbered at CN's Transcona Shops in Winnipeg from an RDC-3, with capacity of 48 passengers, RPO, baggage, into an RDC-2 by removing the RPO section, and increasing seating capacity to 70 passengers. It would emerge as VIA 6216, and continued in service until being retired and sold in 2000 to Industrial Rail Services in Moncton. It would be scrapped in 2016. An interesting note is the second RDC, painted with yellow VIA ends, but retaining the CN black stripe along the window section, and lacking blue VIA stripes on the lower section.

Peter Raschke photo, Jacob Patterson collection slide.