Manitoba is perhaps Canada’s most forgotten province. Most of our 10 provinces have something unique about them – Nova Scotia, the ocean; Newfoundland, the accents and screech; Quebec, French and poutine; and so forth. Manitoba has polar bears, I suppose, but otherwise we are pretty dull.
Author Terry Gainer recently published The Soo Line’s Famous Trains to Canada and shared a few Soo Line timetables from his research. I’m happy to be able to share them here for reference.
I was browsing a used bookstore recently and came across a copy of “Unlucky Lady” by Len Barrow and Emile Beaudoin. This is the story of the first HMCS Athabaskan, which had a short service life in World War 2 before it was lost in action. I bought the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. At … Read more
One way to overcome the boredom of living in the USSR was to go on vacations. It wasn’t easy. There were restrictions on travel outside of Moscow, and you had to file a trip plan and get approval before you were allowed to go.
At one time, rails reached Musquodoboit, Nova Scotia. They ran over a pretty circuitous route from Windsor Junction to Dartmouth, through Shearwater, Lawrencetown, Three Fathom Harbour, Petain, Chezzetcook, and into Musquodoboit and even a little beyond. This timetable from June 1, 1919 shows a lot of stations that don’t exist on a map today. Back … Read more
I’m reading the book “An Anthropologist on Mars” by neurologist Oliver Sacks. He presents seven unusual cases, including the “Memory Artist”, Franco Magnani. Franco has the unusual combination of an almost eidetic memory, an artistic talent, and an obsession with the town of Pontito, Italy. He spent most of his childhood there, until his father … Read more
I want to wish blog partner Eric Gagnon a hearty “happy anniversary” on this auspicious day, the 15th anniversary of the start of his great blog, Trackside Treasure.
I was in Toronto recently. While walking toward the UP Express to get to Pearson, I came across the exhibit “We Are Still Here” by Blake Angeconeb. This is a collection of six paintings on display in the west end of the station just outside the great hall. From the artist’s statement: ‘In Anishinaabemowin, “Mino … Read more
I love train stations and I love abandoned buildings. The old station in Piney, Manitoba ticks both of those boxes! Our family took a road trip to Piney in April 2017 to see the old station. You can read this post if you wish. That one post ended up getting more than 14,000 views and … Read more
The world’s economy is shifting toward greener technologies – far too late – and one part of that is changing what fuels we use to power our trains.