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  #861  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2019, 3:36 PM
Keith P.'s Avatar
Keith P. Keith P. is offline
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You may well be correct on the museum's location. Yet I have a nagging memory of seeing that old rolling stock closer to the main tracks, in an area just north of the Armdale station platform and roughly parallel with the main line. Maybe we are dealing with semantics here and are actually in agreement.

It is rather amazing to think that Simpson's Sears did so much business back then that they had their own siding to handle railcars filled with merchandise.
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  #862  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2019, 4:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Keith P. View Post
You may well be correct on the museum's location. Yet I have a nagging memory of seeing that old rolling stock closer to the main tracks, in an area just north of the Armdale station platform and roughly parallel with the main line. Maybe we are dealing with semantics here and are actually in agreement.

It is rather amazing to think that Simpson's Sears did so much business back then that they had their own siding to handle railcars filled with merchandise.
No, you are right. The museum track was roughly parallel to the main line, kind of just below the Simpson's parking lot. There was a time I could have pinpointed the spot but I'm a little uncertain now. But I think they built the temporary switch off the Simpson's siding, not off the main line.
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  #863  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2019, 7:46 AM
ghYHZ ghYHZ is offline
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I stand corrected…..The Georgia Peach was moved from Westville in 1972.

The Scotian Railway Society produced a glossy quarterly magazine and the Winter ’72 issue has an article on how the society member went about building a ramp at the Drummond Mine in Westville to load the locomotive on the flatcar and move it to Halifax.



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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
Thanks for that! I'd be interested in reading the rest of the article, if you have it scanned already...

Here you go......Enjoy!











Last edited by ghYHZ; Apr 1, 2019 at 4:38 PM.
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  #864  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2019, 9:21 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Thank you very much!

That is a great read. I had no idea how much trouble they had gone through just to get the locomotive to Halifax. This makes the final outcome even more painful, though.

Really appreciate your going to the trouble of scanning this for us. It is utterly fascinating, and I had not known prior to this thread that all of this had taken place.
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  #865  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2019, 9:38 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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I had intended to address your post in more detail previously, but each time I made an attempt, "life" diverted me to something else...

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Originally Posted by ns_kid View Post
With your question about the "Ethan Allen" I realized I made an error in my original account. NSP&P acquired the car in 1964; H.B. Jefferson bought it from them around 1970. (I've corrected this in the original.) Unfortunately, the source article in Canadian Rail (which is still published by the Canadian Railway Historical Society) doesn't say how the car made it from Vermont to Nova Scotia. But it does say the car was sitting on a siding in Port Hawkesbury when Jefferson discovered it, being used as accommodations for the construction manager in charge of building the Port Hawkesbury pulp mill at the time. Probably the most luxurious construction trailer that guy ever stayed in!
Quite a set-up for a construction trailer... I can imagine that he would have been inclined to change the customary coffee and donuts to Afternoon Tea and scones in such an elegant traditional setting...

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Historical preservation is a messy, expensive business, as other threads about our built heritage attest, and preserving old rail equipment is no different. Sadly, SRS is not the only group to founder in the attempt. I remember being quite bitter that no Nova Scotia institution was willing or able to step in. But I had moved away from Halifax at that time and I don't really know the details. It's quite likely there were real time pressures. It's also true that in many of these cases the enormous difficulty in maintaining these big artifacts outdoors means corrosion and decay advance to the point they are beyond salvation.
Having spent a number of years in the antique/collector car hobby I can only imagine how much more costly and challenging it would be to maintain rail equipment sitting out in the elements in our environment. Our humidity and wet weather is extremely hard on steel and wood, not to mention the freeze/thaw cycles of our winters. Of course, the ideal solution is to have them sit within a climate-controlled building, but that's when the costs soar to much higher levels...

I can relate to your bitterness, considering the rarity and significance of these artifacts, not to mention the expense and toil involved in acquiring and refurbishing them. It's a shame that there still isn't more enthusiasm from government or industry side for preservation of artifacts such as this, but it's the reality of our system which places little value on items that don't directly generate revenue.

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[Now this is veering completely off topic but, for anyone curious about what successful preservation looks like (and the deep pockets required to make it happen), in May the Union Pacific Railroad will complete its restoration of a 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" locomotive, the biggest and most powerful locomotive ever built (133 feet; 1,250 tons, 6,290 hp). The locomotive hasn't run in 60 years and it's taken five years to restore. UP won't say what it's costing but estimates range from $6-$8 million. It will make its inaugural run, from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Ogden, Utah, on May 9th, part of the celebrations around the 150th anniversary of the completion of the US transcontinental railroad.]
That is something I would like to experience someday. Presumably it will be used for tourist runs at some point? The "Big Boys" have always seemed like the pinnacle of the steam era for me, so of course I need to see this...

Last edited by OldDartmouthMark; Apr 1, 2019 at 10:21 PM.
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  #866  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2019, 10:20 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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No, you are right. The museum track was roughly parallel to the main line, kind of just below the Simpson's parking lot. There was a time I could have pinpointed the spot but I'm a little uncertain now. But I think they built the temporary switch off the Simpson's siding, not off the main line.
I can't trust my memory as I was quite young at the time, and for some reason thought there was more than one locomotive...

Going by the brochure map posted by ghYHZ, which appears to not have been accurately drawn, I would estimate the museum's location to be approximately where I drew the red rectangle on the map below. I'm hoping I will find an aerial shot sometime with the rail artifacts in place that will show without a doubt...



What isn't abundantly clear, however, is where there would be enough room between "Simpsons Lane" and the tracks to house the museum.



Halifax Municipal Archives
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  #867  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2019, 10:25 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Here's another obscure piece of old Halifax trivia: When I was a kid in the 60s Santa Claus arrived at Simpson's each Christmas for several years by train. His arrival would be announced with a big ad in the Herald featuring the Jolly Old Elf himself astride a CNR locomotive.)
That is something that I do not recall, but wish that I did. Thanks!
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  #868  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2019, 9:45 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Here's a pic from the municipal archives that clearly shows the siding at Simpsons (timeline about mid-1960s)...



Halifax Municipal Archives
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  #869  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2019, 9:55 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Additionally, in this pic from the Municipal Archives, dated 1978, there appears to be rail cars in the background to the right of this bus... could that be a view of the some of the artifacts being discussed?

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  #870  
Old Posted Apr 3, 2019, 2:05 AM
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
Additionally, in this pic from the Municipal Archives, dated 1978, there appears to be rail cars in the background to the right of this bus... could that be a view of the some of the artifacts being discussed?
Thanks for that, ODMark. Your ability to ferret out great historical images always amazes me. Yes, some of the Scotian Railway Museum rolling stock is visible in that picture. Sadly, it's a bit too distant to make out much detail or pinpoint the located precisely. But the yellow car just visible in the photo is the former Intercolonial Railway car baggage car, built in 1875 as a coach, as I recall, but later converted to a baggage car. (I'm pretty sure the car was never yellow when it ran on the ICR but it was part of a CNR museum train that toured the country in the 1950s and was painted yellow with gold lettering for that train.)

My first thought was that the adjacent red-coloured car was the 1907-built CNR caboose that was part of the collection but on second look it seems too large. That may be part of the "Ethan Allen" business car, which I believe was green originally, but may have been primed. So still some question marks.



In response to your earlier question, I'm fairly certain there was never more than one locomotive in this collection. In addition to the "Georgia Peach" switcher, the caboose, baggage car and business car, there was a former CN steel baggage car that was intended to house a model railroad display but I'm not sure that ever got built.
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  #871  
Old Posted Apr 3, 2019, 6:37 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Aha! Now we are getting somewhere! I'll continue to look for more photo evidence... you never know what you'll find.

My comment about the second locomotive was more just a commentary on how unreliable my childhood memories can be... I have no doubt that there was only one locomotive based on your posted information.
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  #872  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2019, 5:20 PM
JET JET is offline
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Instead of 'Old Halifax', this thread should be renamed 'Old Dartmouth Mark'
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  #873  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2019, 6:19 PM
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Keith P. Keith P. is offline
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Instead of 'Old Halifax', this thread should be renamed 'Old Dartmouth Mark'

Well, he does have "Old" in his name, so...
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  #874  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2019, 7:43 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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LOL... I just happen to be particularly interested in this topic...

Regarding my forum name, it was intended to relate to 'Old Dartmouth' as grew up there many years ago, however with each passing year it is closer to becoming a descriptor for myself...

Fortunately, it appears that some posters still have an edge on me in that regard...

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  #875  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2019, 10:02 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Keeping on the railway topic, I've long been fascinated with the Intercolonial Railway station that was located approximately at the corner of North and Barrington Streets in Halifax.

According to Wikipedia:
Quote:
The North Street Station was the railway terminal for Halifax, Nova Scotia from 1877 to 1920. It was built by the Intercolonial Railway in the North End of Halifax and was the second largest railway station in Canada when it opened in 1878. Damaged, but repaired after the Halifax Explosion, it served until the current Halifax terminal location opened as part of the Ocean Terminals project in the city's South End in 1919.
I've heard little bits and pieces about the station over the years, mostly surrounding the Halifax Explosion and how it sustained serious damage, but I've never really put the bits and pieces together before.

In this post, I want to put together a couple of those bits, not to tell the whole story (which I couldn't because I don't have the whole story), but just offer up a few things I've found on the net and perhaps start a discussion about it (or not).

One of the things I've never been able to pinpoint in my mind is exactly where it was located. I know it was on the corner of Barrington and North, which is now largely in the shadow of the Macdonald bridge, but oftentimes I find that one little piece of physical continuity will be like turning a lightbulb on for me.

In this case, the cast iron rail that ran along Barrington St. at the upper side of the station turned on that light.

From NS Archives comes this photo:


At the left side of the photo, you can see a substantial rock retaining wall, at the top of which is a cast iron rail running along Barrington Street. If you click on the archives link above and zoom in, you can see it more clearly:


I never paid much attention to the rail until I read Stephen Archibald's blog post about cast iron rails and was able to actually place the rail, which looks like it was above HMC Dockyard:

Quote:
Imagine my excitement about 1975 to discover a remarkable survivor on Barrington Street, just north of the MacDonald Bridge. There, on one of the busiest streets in town, were some sections of iron railing, the last remnants of the Richmond Train Station. The railings were on top of a retaining wall built beside the Terminal, that was famously destroyed in the 1917 Explosion.


Quote:
A post-Explosion photo, in the Public Archives of NS collection, shows the railing and the giant train shed, with its roof collapsed.

Quote:
The last remaining section of this railing was removed in the 1980s. Oh well.
Then, poking through the Halifax Municipal Archives, I found a few more, from 1964 which clearly show it at the base of the bridge and continuing north from that...






So there it is... if you can stand along that area of Barrington and gaze towards the Macdonald Bridge, you can almost see the old station there (if you have a vivid imagination like mine...).
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  #876  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2019, 11:24 AM
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Keith P. Keith P. is offline
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That adds some context to a memory of mine. Back in the mid-60s our family lived in the north end on Kaye St near Russell. We used to buy our treats at the Marine Corner store which was at the corner of Russell and Barrington across from that fence. By then the vertical pickets had disappeared and all that remained were the vertical posts and horizontal metal rails, not very safe even to my kid's eye. At the bottom of Russell lived a kid friend who I played with. One day there was a huge crash and we saw that a dump truck lost its brakes going downhill on Russell, shot across Barrington into and through the fence and down into the rail cut.

I seem to recall that the driver was injured but survived. The fence and its concrete base were not so fortunate. Months later a new section of concrete base was poured and a new section of fence was installed. You could see the different newer section for decades after.

When the old concrete began falling apart the 1960s section remained relatively intact.

https://goo.gl/maps/hERDN2KBm6R2

Last edited by Keith P.; Apr 5, 2019 at 4:25 PM.
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  #877  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2019, 2:41 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Hmmm... Looks like he might have taken out a fire hydrant if that had been in the same location. It's always interesting to hear the stories of happenings about the city - one would have seen the newer concrete and perhaps never imagined that a dump truck flew through it!
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  #878  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2019, 4:40 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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To further the North Street Station topic, I found this image at the NS Archives, circa 1880:



The image I posted previously was circa 1902, and looks like the sheltered path/stairway to Barrington (this section was actually called Lockman St. at the time) and the King Edward Hotel had been removed by then.

What I like about this photo is that it shows the bottom of North Street coming down in front of the station, thus locating it a little better in my mind.

The city atlas from 1878 confirms this (from NS Archives).



Just trying to get a better "feel" for the station. I'm hoping to find some pics of the inside (pre-explosion). There is also a bunch of post-explosion material to look at as well.
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  #879  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2019, 8:03 PM
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Keith P. Keith P. is offline
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
The image I posted previously was circa 1902, and looks like the sheltered path/stairway to Barrington (this section was actually called Lockman St. at the time) and the King Edward Hotel had been removed by then.
Forgive me, but I went back and looked, and I have no idea to what you are referring re a sheltered path/stairway? I couldn't spot that.
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  #880  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2019, 10:03 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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No worries, I don't always express myself as clearly as I'd like to.

I meant the structure noted on the photo below. I recall reading somewhere that it was intended to provide a covered route for rail passengers to get to the hotel above in typical Halifax weather. That said, I can't see a continuation of the shelter for crossing the street (which would turn to mud in wet conditions) to finish the journey to the King Edward Hotel, so it was probably only partially useful...



Here's a postcard on ebay that was colorized:

Source

King Edward Hotel:

Source

After the 1911 fire:

Source

Apparently the hotel was rebuilt after the fire, BTW, survived the Halifax explosion and was torn down in the 1940s or 1950s...
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