1943 - LC Gagnon Travels to Ottawa and Toronto

Early in November, 76 years ago as I post this, my sixteen-year-old father was making a trip from Montreal to Ottawa and Toronto 

to (probably) attend the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto.

Here are a couple of quick letters he sent to his sister to share and document his experiences.

My father was staying at the Canadian National Railways' Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa. Hudson is a Quebec community which was located on the 'fast' line of the Canadian Pacific Railway which ran south of the Ottawa River. The 'big shots' would have been business people, politicians and military personnel travelling between Canada's seaport metropolis (Montreal) and the capital. The identity of 'Joe' is lost to time. 

LC Gagnon's grandfather, WJ Rodger, was probably arriving to meet him after travelling via the original CPR line along the north shore of the Ottawa River which passed through Lachute - near the location of WJ's farm.

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A party of Lachute dairy farmers was travelling together between Ottawa and Toronto on the CPR overnight train through Peterborough. Jack Black was a relative and a legendary Ayrshire breeder and exhibitor who made it his business to win prizes at cattle shows. It seems likely that WJ Rodger was taking some of his Ayrshire cattle for show or sale at the Royal Winter Fair, as well. Cattle would probably have travelled on a separate freight train between Lachute and Toronto.

Looking at the envelope details, you will notice that my father's letter went 

from Toronto to Montreal by air mail - arriving at his home (Montreal) within 24 hours,

on a Sunday morning.

While in Toronto, my father attended a CBC radio game show.

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When he was thirteen years old, my father travelled with his grandfather to Quebec City.
WJ Rodger's son (Stanley) and another relative were also on this trip.
This composite image shows both sides of the sticker

$100 in 1940 dollars would equal about $1700 in 2019 dollars.

It seems likely that transportation and accomodation in Quebec City 

would have been included in the provincial government's prize.

While everything from writing paper to train travel was in short supply during World War 2 - during which both of these trips occured - agricultural productivity was essential to the war effort. Consequently, a semblance of normalcy would have been maintained to reward and publicize the accomplishments of farmers. And some of their grandsons - who might follow in their footsteps, after all - were also able to experience these events.

July 1966 at Como

Our grandmother had a summer cottage at Como - just east of Hudson, Quebec. To the east was an abandoned sawmill. To the west was the property of the Lanes'. And to the north was the Ottawa River. These colour slides were taken over the period of a few days in July 1966.

Our 'joint birthday' is celebrated on the screened-in veranda.
Part of the sawmill can be seen behind.

The birthday parties (above) will actuate the party cracker and retrieve the party hat within.

An afternoon diversion was often a trip to Hudson to see the CPR train known as The Canadian.
This westbound came through around 1515-1530hr on its way to Vancouver.
Today's visit is later in the afternoon.
At the crossing east of the station's crossing was the Legion with its anti-aircraft gun.

An armistice has been declared.




I think the Hudson rock may have been at the station.
There is no sign of either it or the Legion in 2019.
In spite of the silver paint, it became quite hot.

Rowboat ride on the Ottawa.

Looking west at the Lanes' property and up the Ottawa River from the kitchen window.

Edwin Riddell (my grandmother's brother) dropped by.
The identities of the two women are not recorded in the slide index.

1959-1962 Eaton's Train

From a number of family 'caches' I have put together photos of the 'Eaton's Train' during its final few years of operation in Montreal. 

As you would expect, the black and white photos aged the best. The 'bad Ektachrome' slides of the early 1960s slid into their usual rusty, sepia type stain but were restorable when I scanned them a few years ago. Some 60-year-old colour prints had aged to an almost white appearance, but it was possible to darken these enough to obtain colour details.

If you have not already seen it, at the end of this post is a link which will download a PDF version of the November/December 2005 edition of Canadian Rail with its excellent Peter Murphy article about the development, technology and operation of the trains commissioned for Eaton's Toyville operations.

From my perspective, the 1960s in Montreal presented a procession of wonders. Above all were the railway experiences ... from the Eaton's Train, and Turcot Yard ... to the developing CRHA museum at Delson, and the mainline steam and branch line wayfreight excursions which operated out of Montreal.

It came as a surprise that these things were not eternal. Gradually, many of the Montreal railway wonders met their natural ends.

As you see, the view above comes from 1961. Until I read the Canadian Rail article yesterday, I didn't realize how long the Toyville trains existed before I first boarded one.

In fact, my father might have been just a little older than I was (above) when he first rode the train. He probably took his younger sister to ride on it as well. 

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The idea for this post was precipitated by finding this clipping (a number of years ago) in my father's thick files of Montreal history. Eaton's took a full page ad. The top of the page promoted the train, the lower half showed particular toys, including those small orange plastic tractor tricycles, and pairs of battery-powered toy 'morse (Aldis) lamps' - like those used for naval ship-to-ship communication.

Check the date of the Montreal Star advertisement.
Even back then, the day after Halloween was the first retail day of ... Christmas!

The 1959 colour prints above and below are good for representing the 'bewitching little world' through which the train operated. The low-light, sparkled features were sometimes animated. The scenery was unique in my experience, but the train ride was the main point of being here. I don't think I ever bothered to spend time with the Eaton's Santa.

The view above shows crew change time for lunch.

The image below shows the position occupied by the engineer when operating the train.

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The print from 1961, above, shows the train on the move. The multiple light fixture reflections are probably from plexiglass panels designed to prevent excited children from getting on the right of way.

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Eaton's Train photography had reached the point of its highest technology by 1962 - the final year of the train's operation. My father had graduated to slide photography. These three colour images are provided in enlarged form so you can see details of the track and engine.

Two key points I discovered from the article ... 1) Those are 'blind' drivers (without flanges) so the rigid frame holding them can get around the tight curves. 2) The leading passenger car provides the electric motive power - the actual driving wheels and rods are there for effect only.

As you've observed, the equipment is dual-gauge ... narrow for the locomotive model, broad to hold two child passengers per seat.

The photo below provides some detail on the construction of the cars.

My father's disposable flashbulb, below, was blocked by the lineside fence. However, you can see the care that was taken in constructing the locomotive details and the pride CPR employees put into it - including the miniature builder's plate.

I remember the engineers using the bell, but not the whistle - I just don't remember the sound. The ride was very quiet - with the electrical equipment 'purring' its way around the oval. Out of necessity, the train operated at a slow, smooth speed. 

*  *  *

Finishing with an image from 1961, you can see some detail of the tailend car.

*  *  *

The Canadian Rail of Nov/Dec 2005 has a history of the multiple Eaton's trainsets.

Not given a 'permalink' by their IT folks, my link to that edition went dead.