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Old Posted Mar 23, 2012, 5:39 PM
alittle1 alittle1 is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 446
Main Street CPR underpass

Ever wonder what the deal was with the two center lanes under the CP tracks? The two inner lanes were where the street car tracks used to run. There was some ornate lighting fixtures that lit the underpass, but it seemed to fade away after the old Royal Alex Hotel was torn down. The wiring was probably attached to the Hotel at one time. So, just for kibitz, when you go under the underpass, which lane do you drive in? Those two center lanes seem too narrow for a car to fit in, but they really are regular size lanes. Next question, do you old guys still honk your horn or rev your motor when you go through?

Even in Regina, my wife used to rev her engine up on her '56 Olds with Hollywood mufflers (glas-pacs) as she went under the Broad Street CPR underpass.

I can remember about ten years ago, on a Sunday night Cruize, I sat with two other cars at the light at Higgins. We had a Fox body Mustang in the sidewalk lane, a '66 Wildcat next to him and I sat in my Chevelle in the center lane. All three of us hit the gas right that night, those that had front row seats behind us must still talk about it. The guy in the Mustang ponied up and hit the 'GO' button on the NOS just before the underpass, the Buick hit a hard second gear with his beefed-up slush box tranny and the Chevelle was still putting power to the rear locker as the rpm's hit 7000.

Other people who noted the spectacle said that, through the tire smoke and exhaust all you see was the odd blip of flames and tail lights, but the roar of raw horsepower echoed through the underpass long after we were gone. Summed up by one of the old vets of the street, " One of the best, if not THE best street race I ever seen......and I don't even care who won".

When we popped out of the underpass on the northside, the Buick had slipped back a car length, the Mustang was running out of rev's and the Chevelle was looking for turning room to miss the center barrier on the long dog leg lane that cuts back on to the three lane street section. The right side air bag caught the weight shift and the tires settled back on the ground as I lifted off the gas pedal, the engine growled as the tranny still gripped second gear, and took the speed down. The two guys in the Mustang were just bouncing around inside the car, giving high fives and enjoying the moment. The guy in the Buick tipped his hand to salute both cars, braked hard and turned off at Dufferin. My Chevelle and I exited at Euclid, as the two guys in the Mustang were sitting at the light screaming, " WOW.... WOW...." .

On the dark back streets of Point Douglas, I dimmed the lights, stopped and check all the vital signs on the gauges, the temperature slowly sank below the 200 mark as the extra cooling fan pushed the cold night air through the overheated radiator. The unwelcomed rumble of the exhaust caused a few window curtains to flutter and the odd porch light to come on in a few houses. Pulling the shifter back into 'D', I let the car rumble down the darken street before turning the lights back on. Sirens whaled down the main street, but they were all for not. The only thing that remained was six strips of rubber laying under that old underpass on Main street and the sound of cars gone by.

And YES, I still hit the horn and buzz the gas a time or two, remember the times we had.....
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