a CNR yard engine circa mid 20th century (During or just after WW2)
Toronto. One specialty by photographers is photographing trains, lines and train stations. In our January 2016 meeting speaker Ralph Beaumont and his ‘sidekick’ Rod Clarke presented the story of “Heckman’s Canadian Pacific“.
For many decades trains were the prestigious way to travel – until private automobiles and commercial aircraft took over. Even today, Canada has a nostalgic system call VIA rail running from Montreal to Vancouver over a mix of old CPR and CNR railway lines. When I travelled on it to Vancouver over two decades ago, the leisurely wealthy still owned private railcars that could be hooked to the train. On the way home, a tardy private car in Edmonton caused a long delay the train never overcame. The VIA train was hit by a farmer’s truck in rural Saskatchewan early in the morning – fortunately with no human casualties.
The railways are special to Canada. The Dominion was formed in 1867 to fend off any problems generated by the American Civil war. To attract British Columbia to the fold, the young country promised to join the colony to the rest of the dominion with an all Canadian line called the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) – ironically completed and run by a great American railroader named W C Van Horne who moved to Montreal where he lived and died.
A few decades later, the federal government formed a second country wide line called the Canadian National Railway (CNR) formed with many of the small regional railways. Ironically two of the largest railways in North America today are the CPR and CNR – neither government owned!
Photo collectors may already have ‘train’ photos in their collection. Photography collectors of all stripes need to attend our spring events to find more items for their collections (or user gear) and to meet old friends. Check the right hand sidebar for dates and places. Posts will be made closer to the events.
