Caption: "Come to Marineland, where you can touch a whale in Friendship Cove, see the dolphins do their dolphin thing, and...shoot a train too?". Why yes!

CP Rail GP9u 8212 on a short local handles a single covered hopper inside Marineland, sitting by the switch to the Washington Mills siding at the main access road inside the amusement park grounds. The Geep is working the CP Chippawa Industrial Spur (around Mile 13.50) that runs south from CP's Hamilton Sub (the old PC/CR Canada Division line, aka the CASO, and now CP's Montrose Spur) down to the Welland River in Chippawa, where the line ends by the only other customer, Saint Gobain. A 1992 CP timetable specifically states only single unit operation is permitted on the entire spur, with a speed restriction of maximum 5 mph. The date of this blank, unlabeled slide is unknown, but judging by other photos of 8212 it was taken sometime in the 1990's.

Since Marineland is private property, gates block off this portion of the rail line through the park at both ends. Access here for a photo or two would have only been possible by paying admission to Marineland to get into the park (Marineland was the latecomer, having been built in the early 1960's along one side of the line, but it looks like they only began to expanded their park to the property across the tracks in the 1970's-80s).

This was once the old Michigan Central Niagara Branch that ran from Fort Erie to Niagara-on-the-Lake. A hydro corridor also rain south alongside part of it here. Research shows the line south of Chippawa to Fort Erie was abandoned in 1941, and the remaining section served as a short spur from there to the mainline to access a few local customers. The line passed through New York Central, Penn Central and Conrail ownership until CP acquired the old CASO from Conrail in the 1980's. When the main CASO line (CP Hamilton Sub) through the downtown Niagara Falls tourist area was lifted in 2001, it was removed only as far south as the switch to the Chippawa Industrial Spur, letting CP locals continue to have access to serve Washington Mills and Saint Gobain.

With all the controversy surrounding Marineland and its recent change of ownership, it should be interesting to see what becomes of the place and how this line fairs in the future.

Original photographer unknown, Dan Dell'Unto collection slide.