Perth / Napanee, ON
Ben and I get under way around 9:45, from Perth and head West on Highway #7, Ben is heading for Bancroft via Madoc and I will only travel with him for about 16km before I head South to Westport and on to Gananoque on the St. Lawrence River.
I am taking backroads down to Westport and cross over the CP Rail Main Line near Mud Lake Bridge, this is where I shot the CP Royal Hudson (steam train) back in the mid 1980's in April if I recall as it was cold and wet. But today is sunny and getting warmer. BTW no trains today, and I waited 20 minutes for something, but there was no action on the CP, there were trains in Perth around 19:00 and again at 21:00hrs.
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| Old CP Rail line to Tweed at Bolingbroke (CR#36) |
I arrive in Gananoque by 11:45, just in time for lunch and a stop at Thousland Island Railway locomotive #500, which was one of the early diesel locomotive in Canada, the engine is a bit worn and not that well cared for, but it is still sitting on the Gananoque Branch Line in Town. Details below:
Thousand Islands Railway 500, one-of-a-kind homebuilt diesel rebuilt by CN owned-Oshawa (electric) Railway from an electric locomotive. Trucks and traction motors from Oshawa 42 were utilized along with twin 125 HP Waukesha gas engines. Other parts were provided by Whitcomb, who assigned it their builders number 50006 12/30. This tiny 35 ton unit operated briefly on the Oshawa Railway before becoming Thousand Islands 500 in March 1931 where it operated on the tiny CN-owned railway. In 1947 it was re-engined with twin 142 HP Cummins diesels. It was retired in April 1963 and finally put on display in April 1966 in Gananoque where it ran most of its life.
Thousand Islands Railway 500, one-of-a-kind homebuilt diesel rebuilt by CN owned-Oshawa (electric) Railway from an electric locomotive. Trucks and traction motors from Oshawa 42 were utilized along with twin 125 HP Waukesha gas engines. Other parts were provided by Whitcomb, who assigned it their builders number 50006 12/30. This tiny 35 ton unit operated briefly on the Oshawa Railway before becoming Thousand Islands 500 in March 1931 where it operated on the tiny CN-owned railway. In 1947 it was re-engined with twin 142 HP Cummins diesels. It was retired in April 1963 and finally put on display in April 1966 in Gananoque where it ran most of its life.
I take my lunch back to the CN Main Line at Gananoque (it is Gananoque JCT) and within 20 minutes, VIA #63 charges by at 92mph followed by CN Freight #371 at 13:08. The main reason for Gananoque station is there is a once a day stop made by VIA #47 at around 14:27, plus the station still looks in good shape so it makes for a nice photo site.
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| Gananoque Station - CN Toronto / Montreal Main line |
Here is what I saw in a space of about 3 hours.
12:42 W/B Via#63 (90 MPH)
13:08 W/B CN#371 X-2891 (47 MPH)
13:13 E/B Via#40 (90 MPH)
14:16 W/B Via#65 (90 MPH)
14:27 E/B Via#64 (90 MPH)
14:47 W/B Via#47 - Station Stop 3-off and 4-on
15:11 E/B CN#?? (Unit Oil) + DPU (42 MPH)
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| Via #47 Gananoque ON |
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| CN# 371 W/B Gananoque ON |
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| Ken's Bike at Gananoque Station on a very sunny Sunday |
Once I repacked all the camera and video gear, it was time to head West to Napanee via the 401 highway, which was about 70km away. I wanted to be into the motel early tonight and this would give a chance to check out rail locations for the AM photo shot on Monday and find a restaurant for the evening as well. Plus tonight was the super moon eclipse and i very much wanted to see that around 10:45pm as well
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| Morley at Gananoque Station ON |
Morley resting in a Algonquin Chair at the Gananoque Station, or is he waiting for a train to somewhere? He sure liked the chair at the station, it was hard for him to leave.
I must say that this trip that Ben and I did over three days provided an opportunity to cover some awesome roads in Eastern Ontario, all of the routes we took I would recommend to anyone, even if you do them in a car, just get out and explore.
Overnight Motel is the Twin Peaks twinpeaksmotel.com, the price was right, but this place was built in 1950, even the projection 32" TV was +25 years old, but worked, room was large and clean, so it was OK, but for one night.
The restaurant in Napanee was not a gem, sorry, this town needs improvements. The place is called the Loaf and Ale Pub http://www.theloafandale.com/, food and service was fine, just of locals are a bit questionable, but most people keep there distance from "bikers" so one is safe.
The Super Moon Eclipse was a bit of a disappointment, I have on and off cloud cover so I got some on the HD Video but nothing on the camera, o'well well in 18 years I can do it again.
Weather:
Sunny !!, warm at +20c no rain, no clouds, no fog
Sunny !!, warm at +20c no rain, no clouds, no fog
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