This is the interior of Ottawa Union Station, which still stands today but is no longer a railroad station. It is a government conference center.
It IS significant because it was modelled after Pennsylvania Station in New York City and is a half size reproduction.
Sadly the train sheds and all the tracks are gone, gone, gone, ain’t never coming back. Where the trains and tracks are in the Photo of the Day is now an expressway. No trains into the heart of Ottawa…you have to go to this suburban outpost about 20km away.
Firelock- Yes, I feel bad for the kids at Halloween up here. Coming from Southern Ontario my winters were no different than Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania and Halloween was just spooky, not snowbound and freezing cold, but it sure is where I am now. Guaranteed.
I’ve mentioned it before but up in Churchill they send up helicopters on Halloween to monitor and scare off the Polar Bears that wonder what all the little appetizers are running around. Thats not a joke. They DO NOT shoot them, just scare 'em off. With the choppers they can see them coming all around and from a great distance.
Yes there were some draft dodgers up here. Worked with a fellow from McKees Rock along the P&LE. He simply finished his last 3 years of university up here. Never went back, I think he was afraid to. He did not talk about it much nor did I ask.
NDG- Are you saying that the Algoma Steel rail from Sault Ste. Marie that is now used as a border fence with Mexico came from Ottawa? I thought it was from a long prairie branch line starting from North Battleford.
Maybe both?
Who would have known that rolled rail from Algoma that served the Canadian Pacific Railway, built a country, supported all those steam loco’s c
Don’t sell America short. It now is unofficially the United Trump Kingdom with King Donald starring in the award winning forthcoming motion picture Leader of the Pack which will be released soon in a Porta-Potty near you!
News Flash: Model railroading technology has just made breaking news headlines with the introduction of a cattle car that is capable of releasing the authentic smell of cow manure when it runs over and trips a revoutionary new track center mounted device! The World’s Greatest Hobby just got better!
NDG- The border can be quite intimidating these days. Has been that way since 911…what can you do. I stopped going to NTrak meets in the US with my modules and trainsets because it became a nightmare at the border, both coming and going. You used to be able to get a green sticker which they affixed onto a module and then every time you went across you pretty much sailed through but that is long gone.
The computer knows all…every parking ticket, every story, even what you will have for lunch before you even thought of it! Big Brother is there. Also of course every customs officer has an opinion and wants to be a star. Usually it’s no trouble but sometimes trouble can come out of thin air. Had trouble once at Port Huron/Sarnia coming back from NTrak meet from Canadian Customs…my truck had broke down stateside and required a tow and repairs and I showed them the receipts …they told me I had to tow the vehicle back to Canada and do the repairs here. Really gave me a hard time. Was there hours as they went through everything. I was worried about my trains, but had an itemized list when I went over and they checked it all. Paid a hefty duty on the repairs.
Loved those cat whisker curb feelers. Used to twang them just for kicks. Grandpa’s Studebaker had them. I don’t know how well they worked but a scuffed up whitewall looked like hell. Big thing in the fifties along with dingo balls and marker lights.
Yes NYC out of Ottawa all the way to the border long gone and tore up. It was never a big money maker but they sure were proud of that line. They had their own funky station and passenger service. FM high hoods H20-44 when they Dieselized. Spans across the St. Lawrence came down in '57 and '65. The trackage on the US side is still in use by CSX.
Colour of the future? Despite all the political polarization going on, arms build up in the zany countries requiring responses from the West and the threat of nuclear proliferation and the
You guys scare me to death. I’ve sent my application to the US Consulate in Frankfurt for a new passport as my current one will expire 3/27/17. I enclosed a really ugly photo and form so the fee can be paid with my Master Card. The new passport be valid for ten years…in ten years I’ll turn 81 if the Good Lord permits me to live that long…
Cost of passport: $110.00. Two tracking mailers from the nice folks at Deutsche Post DHL: $22.00. (One to send my current passport; the second one to get it and the new one returned to me). The new passport will require a permanent resident stamp from the German authorities. Ten years ago it was FREE. I won’t be surprised if I have to pay up front this time!
Took my wife and son on a vacation to Canada in April 97. We flew to Toronto and had a wonderful time. We decided to visit Buffalofor a day and an American Quick Draw McGraw A-Double-S Hole immigration officer on the border gave my family a hard time for no reason other than he probably had got up on the wrong side of the bed that AM.
We had a Canadian registered rent-a-car and when I presented my US passport and my wife and son’s German passports the SOB looked at us like we were spys! After spending the afternoon at a Buffalo mall we started back to cross the border into Canada and I told my family I bet we’ll have problems. None at all! When the Canadian immigration officer asked me if we had anything to declare, I replied no sir and offered to open the trunk of our rent-a-car for inspection. He said there’s no need to and told us to enjoy our Canada vacation and waved us through.
In April 2007 I took my daughter with me to Dallas for a ten day tip to visit my cousin. She gave me the name “Train Nut” back in 1960 but did so with a smile and love in her eyes! Anyway, when we arrived at D/FW a first class US immigration A-Double S Hole
Station from original location at the end of Station Road became a shed just south of town, the former freight shed was on the same property as a home. Both were torn down in 2014.
This is the interior of Ottawa Union Station, which still stands today but is no longer a railroad station. It is a government conference center.
Crysler, Ontario