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| Track Work | |
 Harry Savile preparing the ground track roadbed |
The ground and elevated tracks have been restored and are ready for service after being temporarily removed to allow for sewer construction work by the city water works department.
A 36" concrete pipe had to be connected to a sewer vault that was located just inside the east loop. An 8ft deep trench needed to be dug across the right-of-way of both tracks. The work, which was originally scheduled to be completed in March, didn't start until April 19th. The contractor doing the work was very accommodating to our time constraints and completed his work and restored the ground across our right-of-way very quickly. On April 24th a small GHLS work crew was out first thing in the morning to start restoring the track so that it would be ready for the May 4-5 steaming days. The contractor did a god job of compacting the soil and supplied us with crushed stone and a vibrating plate compactor to help with re-building the ground track roadbed. |
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| With the help of Harry Savile's Bobcat the roadbed was soon ready. By the end of the first day all of the 7-1/4" track sections were laid and ready for the ballast. Also, the elevated track sections were laid out with all of the ground supports connected and ready for the safety rail.
The next day, Harry's Bobcat made laying the ground track ballast easy, with all of the stone installed quickly so that work could concentrate on the elevated track. Installing the safety rail on the elevated track was the biggest problem, as everything had to fit just right. It was like trying to assemble a giant jigsaw puzzle. By the end of the day though, the entire track was bolted back together and securely anchored in place. |
 Tom Stewart installing the ground track sections |
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 The restored east loop elevated and ground tracks |
The final leveling and grade check of the elevated track was completed on the third day. After only three days work both tracks were almost ready for use, with only the final super elevation and ballast cleanup to be done. The restoration work went much faster than was anticipated due to the help of the construction contractor, Harry Savile's Bobcat and the good weather conditions for working.
Thanks to Tom Stewart, Harry Savile, Barry Graham and Bill Kennedy for all the work they did in getting the track ready in time for the first steaming days of the year. |
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| Steam Gauges for the "Optically Challenged" by Russ Milland
Do you have "maturing" eyes like mine! Do you have trouble reading the traditional little steam gauges? Taking a tip from Tom Stewart, I looked for other options and found an excellent gauge at my local welding supplies dealer. It costs $15 plus tax and is a nice gold color that matches my brass fittings. The print is nice and big and very readable. It is 0-200 psi, 1-1/2" O.D. and 3/4" thick. It is part #SMI CPG78 from Xegas located at: 4 Commerce Court, Stoney Creek L8E 4G3 or Unit #3 - 1410 Speers Rd. (between 3rd and 4th Line on the south side) Oakville L6L 5M1 |
 Steam Gauge |
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| News from Other Clubs | |
 Tom Stewart (left) getting a personal tour of the Kingston pump house museum |
The Frontenac Society of Model Engineers participated in the Rail-O-Rama show in Kingston during the April 20-21 weekend. They had also invited the GHLS members to attend the show and bring some of their larger scale locomotives. Tom Stewart, Harry Savile and Russ Milland took some of their 4-3/4" and 7-1/4" locomotives and rolling stock to augment the Frontenac clubs 3-1/2" equipment. |
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| The Frontenac club members were excellent hosts. The club members provided lodging and food to the GHLS crew for the entire weekend. They also gave tours of the Museum and pump house facilities where the Frontenac club operates a 3-1/2" gauge track.
The train show appeared to be a great success with lots of model engineering displays along with the live steam locomotives. The GHLS have invited the Frontenac club members to attend our August 24-25 steaming days and club BBQ so that we can return some of the good hospitality they showed us. |
 Harry Savile showing a future engineer how to operate his 7-1/4" Consolidation at the Kingston Rail-O-Rama show |
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| Toronto Railway Historical Committee | |
 CPR John Street Roundhouse and Turntable - April 1976 After being overhauled by the Ontario Rail Association in the John Street Roundhouse, CP G5a Pacific 1201 returns from a break-in run. |
There will be a public "doors open" event on May 25-26 at the CPR John Street Roundhouse in Toronto. In preparation for the open house, a workday for the volunteers is planned for Saturday May 11th.
David Garon, who is the driving force behind the railway museum project, wrote: "Anyone interested in participating in some housekeeping at the John Street roundhouse and in preparing to work as on-site hosts for the "doors open" event May 25-26 should plan to attend the volunteer day on May 11th. We'll start at 10:00 AM with historical and safety orientations and then go over to the roundhouse with the intention of putting a little order into the various stalls. This and the "doors open" event will probably be the last time most people will get to see the roundhouse more as less as it was - construction work will start soon after and the building and site will forever be altered. So bring your cameras." There is no requirement for GHLS volunteers at the May 25-26 "doors open" weekend to show up at this clean up but as it says, it will be the last opportunity to see the inside before they start construction for the TV studio. If you are interested in being a volunteer contact Michael Guy (call 416-802-2844 or send email) or Russ Milland (905-469-3373 or send email) |
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| John Street CPR Roundhouse, Toronto from Engine Houses and Turntables by Edward Forbes Bush | |
| The original 15-stall CPR John Street roundhouse was built in 1897, with additions in 1907 and 1918. With the opening of the new 32-stall roundhouse on this site late in October 1929, the old roundhouse was at once demolished. To illustrate the increasing size of locomotives, and hence of the facilities to house and service them, the John Street stalls in 1897 were 70 feet in length, increased to 80 feet in 1907, to 85 feet in 1918, and in 1929 to 110 and to 130 feet. The main contract went to Anglin-Norcross, Toronto, the same firm which had the construction contract for CNR's Spadina roundhouse a little over two years before. The 3-point turntable was 120 feet in length, compared with the original 70-foot turntable in 1897. Like its CNR neighbour, the CPR John Street structure was built on concrete foundations, with piles sunk to bedrock, and the walls were brick, likewise the roof was mill type, with tar and gravel roofing. In all particulars, the two roundhouses resembled one another closely. The floor and engine pits were concrete throughout. The monitor roof was glazed on both sides, the windows hinged from the top. The side walls had spacious windows which together with the monitor windows gave excellent light.
The outstanding feature of this roundhouse was its direct-steaming facility, the first such in Canada, although closely followed by the TH&B's Hamilton roundhouse. The fires were drawn at the ash pit, and once in the roundhouse, the boiler was connected to a steam line which maintained boiler pressure at a reduced level, being increased to the operating level when the locomotive was ready for the road. At the firing-up track the coal, which had been thinly spread on the grates after the fire was drawn, was ignited by a portable oil torch and rapidly readied for the road. As with the neighbouring CNR roundhouse, this one drew its steam from the Toronto Terminal Railway's central heating plant located at nearby York and Fleet streets. Direct steaming offered several advantages, the most obvious of which was faster handling of locomotives. Moreover, with direct steaming, locomotives were always dispatched with a clean fire, making for more efficient operation. Also, boilers filled with a mixture of hot water and steam, as was the practice with direct steaming, heated more uniformly, increasing operational efficiency of the locomotive. Direct steaming made for better working conditions in the roundhouse, with the elimination of smoke and gases ever present in some measure despite the use of smoke jacks. Lighting within the roundhouse was also improved with the elimination of smoke and steam, not to mention the reduction in the noise level, since boilers no longer needed to be blown into the air through use of the steam-stack blowers. Not only that, but stationary boilers, which could use low-grade coal, were more efficient than locomotive boilers, hence there was a savings in fuel in raising steam to ready the locomotive for the road. The machine shop, snuggled against the west wall of the roundhouse, was extensively equipped with lathes and shaper drills and included a blacksmith's shop, compressor room, locker room and lavatory within its 84-by 178-foot dimensions. The fan room also opened off the machine shop. The engine house was a quite modern structure by the standards of it's time and survived more than two decades after the passing of the last steam locomotive. |
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