Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Rail line dismantled in St. Catharines

Above: Mar.31, 2008, by R. Bobak. Trillium Railway Lakeshore Spur line in St. Catharines shown crossing Dunkirk Rd. and heading under QEW Skyway. This line used to run through north St. Catharines all the way to Lakeshore Rd., where it crossed the Welland Canal at Lock One. The portion north of Welland Ave. was abandoned at least ten(?) years ago. Photo taken on the south side of the QEW Skyway overpass, just east of the intersection of Bunting Rd. and Dunkirk Rd.
Below: same spot Apr.2, 2008, showing the tracks being dismantled.

Above: Mar.31, 2008, Lakeshore Spur line crossing Bunting Rd.
Below: Apr.2, 2008, tracks removed.

Above: Mar.31, 2008. Tracks cross Bunting Rd.
Below: Apr.2, 2008. Tracks are removed. In the foreground on the tracks workers stack their tools and piles of railway plates and spikes.
Above: Apr.2, 2008. Rails cross Bunting Rd., then run parallel to Eastchester Ave. at upper left distance. Just on the other side of Bunting Rd., the Trillium line is still active. The track-end bumper can be seen in the middle of the tracks in the distance.
Below: Apr.2, 2008. Trillium Railway locomotive #110 is pulling freight on the same Lakeshore Spur track as shown in photo above, just maybe a 1/4 mile to the south. Yale Cres. is in the foreground. The track seen at the bottom of the photo is the Grantham Subdivision, to where the locomotive is headed.

Above: Apr.2, 2008. The rail line on the lower right is the Lakeshore Spur, pictured just after it crosses Yale Cres., and then joins into the Grantham Sub. Locomotive #110 seen in the distance is now travelling on the Grantham Sub. Note interesting "diamond" cross-track: the track running off to the right, crossing Yale Cres., is a long-unused siding which enters a site today occupied by a lumber mill.Above: Apr.2, 2008. Locomotive #110 hauling two tanker cars across Yale Cres. at Berryman Ave. The locomotive is returning to the Grantham Sub line from a short spur which leads north to a chemical plant on Welland Ave. The line also has a level crossing at Welland Ave. to reach the plant. Looking just to the left of the locomotive you can see straight down what once was the main Grantham Sub track right-of-way leading to downtown St. Catharines. The tracks now end just behind where the locomotive is seen at Berryman Ave.

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