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| Ontario Northland Shop Tour -
April 20, 2001
The tour of the railway shops at North Bay began with a GO train ride from Burlington to Union station in Toronto. Here we met with the rest of the group and had a light dinner before boarding the Northlander train for the trip to North Bay. The train was late leaving due to a special train that was leaving ahead of the Northlander to protest the proposed closing the Northlander. |
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The trip from Toronto to North Bay is over CN tracks and is crewed by CN personal. The Northlander is given the lowest priority by CN, which meant that the passenger train had give way to all freight traffic resulting in even more delays. The trip was made more enjoyable when a VCR tape of the Ontario Northland railway operations north of North Bay was shown in the snack car. Even the CN crew found this tape to be interesting. Some of the other passengers did a double take when they saw the train they were riding on being shown on the TV. You know that you are a true railfan when you watch a railfan video while on a railfan train trip! |
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| After a short nights stay at the North Bay Travelodge near the station, we were greeted by a beautiful sunny day and everyone was up and ready for the tour of the shops at eight o'clock. A short safety talk by our tour guides and we were out to the shops. The tour was excellent. We saw every aspect of the maintenance and repair facilities that Ontario Northland has to offer. They can do every kind of repair and overhaul to all types of railway equipment. The locomotive shops and the wheel shops were especially interesting. A short cab ride in a trio of SD's that were being refueled was an added bonus. |
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Our guides were very accommodating and well informed. The timing of our trip did seem to make some of the workers wonder if we were just another group of potential buyers inspecting the property! |
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| The delays experienced on the trip north the night before turned out to be a blessing, as the return trip departure was also delayed. This allowed us extra time for the tour and time for a leisurely lunch in town before departing for the trip south. The trip south was a time to enjoy the scenery and talk about the things we had seen. The CN crew did a great job of making up time on the return trip and we made it to Union station in time to catch the 6:00 PM GO train to Burlington. |
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A special thanks to Bob McDowall for arranging the tour. Everything worked out as planned and everyone had a great time. |
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