Been too long since we had something here
Thank you very much for that.
So many stories, I have one for so many of the scenes. Mom was a nurse at the Canmore Hospital (first town east of the Banff National Park Gates) and Dad was an operator all over the Laggan Sub. from 1948-52.
They met in the office of the Lake Louise Station.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
Guess it's time for a Rockies musical number, eh?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq7XPAzTxqU
Now we will follow that up with a Wilf Carter tune. Wilf Carter was from Nova Scotia, who came west and actually worked as a cowboy before he bacame a radio singer. He had a fifteen minute show from Calgary. Mom would go into radio announcer mode and do whole commercial from the livestock auction company that sposonred his show in the '30's, just like kids do with TV commercials today.
You put seniors on a tour bus and pretty soon they are having contests. Mom once won a yoedleing contest to this tune.
Now, without further ado, here is Wilf Carter, or as he was known on his American record label "Montana Slim", singing "Blue Canadian Rockies":
https://youtu.be/n90KkM2XVHw
Good stuff!
I thought I would post one story inspired by the video posted by Overmod.
About ten years ago I met a fellow who was volunteering at Railway Day at Heritage Park here in Calgary. He also happened to work with my Dad up at Lake Louise back in the day. In the video at about 5:05 you get a closeup of Selkirk 5921 and another 2-10-4 at about 5:30. You can see where the cab sides tapered in above the bottom of the window line to provide clearance through tunnels.
He was telling me how when you hooped 5900's you had to stand a bit closer to them than any other engines because of that taper. He was used to that and had mentally made marks on the platform about where to stand. There were two mainline tracks past the station. Once, there was a WB standing on the track nearest the platform and he had to go around the back of it to hoop an EB. He misjudged where to stand and lifted up the hoop and his jacket flared out under his right arm. As the engine went by his jacket hit the valve chest. Instantly, he realized he was going to have to stand perfectly still if he was ever going to survive.
As he told me this, he still couldn't believe he didn't panic and move, or he would never have been there to tell me the story. Unlike my Dad he left railroading in the 60's to work in the oil industry, but like me he was an Agent's kid himself. After he retired the pull was strong and he became a volunteer.
A couple more thoughts on Blue Canadian Rockies:
Doesn't happen often, but the number of active Great Lakes steamships increased by one today with the departure earlier this evening of the SS Arthur M. Anderson after a major refit. Canadian National's Great Lakes Fleet is keeping busy and needed the extra capacity, so put millions into her to replace well worn steel, a high quality paint job, and the obligatory five year survey.
Not my picture, but a Boatnerd.com user by the name of JohnH posted this a few minutes ago showing her departure today from Duluth a couple of hours ago.
A lot of people were worried the past few years that she was done. Only the repowering project to dieselize the John G. Munson in 2016 got her out sailing. Last two seasons have been spent at the wall.
That makes for five active steam powered freighters this season, with her two sisterships/fleetmates at GLF also keeping busy, the former Inland Steel fleet's Wilfred Sykes, and the cement carrier Alpena.
For ships with at least a glimmer of hope, only the Edward L. Ryerson is still at the wall in what's now her longest long-term layup yet (Since 2009). There's the American Valor at Algoma Central (Built to the same plans as the Anderson, actually), but nobody expects them to reactivate her and get back into the steamship businesss.
Nice. Very very nice. Thank you.
It's definitely an older boat with the bridge at the bow. How does CN get around the legal restrictions regarding ownership of a vessel in domestic service?
I'm going out on a limb here and say Great Lakes Fleet Inc. is owned by CN, whose head office is Montreal, and the ship's Port of Registry is Duluth Minnisota.
The midst of the Korean War in 1952 I believe is when US Steel had the Anderson built along with two sisterships (Commonly called the AAA class after an internal accounting code for the new ships that somehow became popularized). That's also when the John G. Munson, a near sister with self-unloading capabilities, was built for their Bradley Transportation division.
As I recall, CNR setup a US subsidiary called Key Lakes to own the boats when they bought Great Lakes Transportation to get the Bessemer & Lake Erie and the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway. Same deal when the European based ArcelorMittal bought Inland Steel and inherited the lake boats, which now sail for a US based subsidiary called Central Marine Logistics.
Was always said that Canadian National didn't actually want the boats and basically got stuck with them in a package deal, but it seems to be working out. They've even enlarged the fleet a few years ago with the purchase of a 70's era diesel boat that went off lease with the struggling American Steamship Corporation. That's originally what sent the Anderson, apparently the most well worn of the fleet, to the status of spare boat.
So it's nice to see them have enough cargo contracts to be keeping their entire fleet busy now.
So it's nice to see them all keeping busy now.
NDG So it's nice to see them all keeping busy now. Great to see a Laker back at work!!!! FYI., Ploughing with Steam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZTYc8yDRdo Thank You.
Strangest plough I have ever seen.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDStrangest plough I have ever seen.
Can't say as I've seen one like that, either. Cuts one heck of a furrow, though.
I have seen (at least in videos) the practice of towing a plow back and forth between the tractors.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
The Arthur M. Anderson, wasn't that the lake boat that was following the Edmund Fitzgerald and tracking it on radar the night of the disaster?
Yeah, they're the one that accompanied the Fitzgerald across Lake Superior and maintained regular radio contact with them on her last voyage.
They're also the ship that Captain McSorley spoke to for the last time, telling Captain Cooper aboard the Anderson that "we were holding our own". A few minutes later the Anderson entered a heavy snow squall and lost radar contact, and never restablished it when they exited the snow.
tree68 BaltACD Strangest plough I have ever seen. Can't say as I've seen one like that, either. Cuts one heck of a furrow, though. I have seen (at least in videos) the practice of towing a plow back and forth between the tractors.
BaltACD Strangest plough I have ever seen.
Not a farmer - so I am wondering what the purpose of such a deep furrow is.
BaltACDNot a farmer - so I am wondering what the purpose of such a deep furrow is.
Euclid BaltACD Not a farmer - so I am wondering what the purpose of such a deep furrow is. It is to improve the soil for agriculture by blending layers of differing soil.
BaltACD Not a farmer - so I am wondering what the purpose of such a deep furrow is.
It is to improve the soil for agriculture by blending layers of differing soil.
So a field ploughed in such a manner must them be reploughed for planting of a crop then? Or is such a ploughed field going to be allowed to go unplanted and let the weather over the following year 'level' the field for normal ploughing and planting in the second year.
BaltACD Euclid BaltACD Not a farmer - so I am wondering what the purpose of such a deep furrow is. It is to improve the soil for agriculture by blending layers of differing soil. So a field ploughed in such a manner must them be reploughed for planting of a crop then? Or is such a ploughed field going to be allowed to go unplanted and let the weather over the following year 'level' the field for normal ploughing and planting in the second year.
I am not sure what is done after the deep plowing. I assume that some type of finishing work would be done. But the point of deep plowing is to mix upper and deeper layers of soil that have been naturally deposited. By blending these layers, a new blend of soil is created that is better for growing crops. So deep plowing tends to be a one-time conversion. Normal plowing is typically done seasonally to just turn the topsoil over and blend in the organic matter left from the previous crop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIN2R1iksog
EuclidI am not sure what is done after the deep plowing.
If you look in the background, you could see bulldozers working in another field.
I would opine that they are lucky to be able to plow that deep and still have good soil in which to plant. In many areas, they'd simply be bringing up clays and rocks.
Live steam, and a armstrong turntable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiTkqMkrn7o
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
1 Million percent enjoyable. What a beautiful place and trackwork too. Quite the trestle, serious serious stuff. Renews my faith in mankind.. oops, peoplekind!
Miningman1 Million percent enjoyable. What a beautiful place and trackwork too. Quite the trestle, serious serious stuff.
+1 What workmanship.
P.S. I wonder if the fellow holding the hose to refill the tender also raised bees and sold the honey, like the fellow who maintained the water tower at Irricana? My yougest niece though it was hysterical when I told her I was actually old enought to remember the day I discovered everyone didn't buy their honey out of the trunk of someones car and you could get it at the store!
AgentKidthe fellow who maintained the water tower at Irricana
I spoke about this a number of years ago before folks like Vince and Wayne were on the forum, so I thought I would mention it again.
When we left Irricana in 1965 it had a population of about 125. Eight years earlier, when we arrived it wouldn't have been that much bigger. It was a four elevator town, a common measure of status on the prairies and was served by both CP and CN.
Between the two railways, there were five men with families employed. On the CPR were; a roadmaster, a section foreman, a section man who looked after the water tower and the coal dock, and a station agent. The CNR also had a station agent.
The fortunes of the elevators was closely tied in with the railways. There were two Alberta Wheat Pool and two Alberta Pacific Grain Company elevators, one of each on each line. This supported four more families.
By July 1, 1965 all of the railway jobs were gone, one of the Wheat Pool elevators had burned down, and the Pool bought the two APG elevators and one man looked after all three elevators.
There are no elevators now and Irricana became a bedroom community for Calgary.
NDGThe Past. So much used to be interesting around the Railway in a small town. The Elevator, the Railway water tower, the Station and Express. Possibly a Stock Pen. In a Terminal there were a Water Tower, Coal Chute or Oil for Locomotives, Roundhouse, Rip Track, Station and Express, Ice House, Section Forces, both ways, and more. The Career Jobs that went with them. In turn those jobs supported the town thru their wages, taxes and so on. So sterile, now. The following films illustrate much that has gone. https://www.nfb.ca/film/grain_elevator/ https://www.nfb.ca/film/railroad_town/ https://www.nfb.ca/film/railroaders/ https://www.nfb.ca/film/thats_the_price/ I switched, dropped, spotted and scaled at Michel/Natal before the final film was made, now a half-century ago. Hand Brakes and Hand Signals, by day or by night. Often Sons of Martha. Thank You.
The 'railroad' the the Canadian Film Board illustrate in their movies still continued to exist into the 1970's with the number or railroad towns and their facilities decreasing year by year.
The biggest change was in the very late 1980's when, at least in the US, the carriers changed their operating rules and eliminated the Timetable and Train Order form of operations - instead creating either Direct Traffic Control or Track Warrant Control forms of operation on territories that did not have signal systems, with those systems having crews in direct communications with the Train Dispatcher via radio communication.
BaltACDThe biggest change was in the very late 1980's when, at least in the US
In Canada that process occured in two steps.
The first was in 1986 when the CPR came out with a rule book system known as MBS, but for the life of me I can't remember what the initials stand for.
Then in '91 or '92 (Jan. 16, 1990) the Federal Government(Transport Canada) came out with the Canadian Rail Operating Rules for all railways. It has been revised several times since. I downloaded a version dated 2016.
MBS = Manual Block System. It was the first Canadian method of control where clearances and other authorities in dark territory were issued over the radio by the Dispatcher, eliminating the need for lineside telephones or Operators. The current OCS (Occupancy Control System) is almost the same.
And from the Classic Canadian Pacific facebook group (photographer Henry Niznik), here is Irricana, AB in 1969:
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