It’s somewhat remarkable that these Train to Steamship connections lasted as long as they did.
I have written about and detailed the homecoming of the ‘Keewatin’ back to Port McNicoll, Ontario here on Classic Trains Forum, but alas now things have changed. A new owner has taken over the development and the Keewatin is no longer wanted. Fate unknown.
Boat train with G5 class steam engine and buffet-solarium cars Bermuda (hidden) and Antigua
Note the imaculate grounds*.* Canadian Pacific/James A. Brown Collection
Assiniboia and Keewatin were both similar size lake boats. Canadian Pacific photo.
Passengers walk short distance from Steamboat train (with one-of-a-kind buffet-observation-parlor car 6630) to the S.S. Assiniboia. Port Mc.Nicoll, August 15, 1964. Two views. Ted Wickson
Midland Mike–Yes indeed Port Arthur, now known as Thunder Bay.
It was built in 1907 and in the Edwardian style and is the last surviving ship built in the style of the Titanic.
This is disturbing news and I hope it finds a new home in Owen Sound. I took this once on a bicycle journey. Once under way I found out that I could get a bed overnite in my own little room for 10 bucks. Had the round windows and the whole schtick. I remember them vividly coaling her up while I was on shore.
Civilization is dead my man, dead.
Should I expire one day hoping I wake up in that bed in that room that morning with my John Players Navy Cut pack on the side table.
Class, pure class, just what you’d expect from the CPR in the old days.
Amazing, Keewatin is five years older than the Titanic, and it’s in a hell of a lot better shape. Please God I hope it stays that way! What a gorgeous ship!
A wonderful representative of maybe a saner day and time.
And for all those “Yes, but…” sourpusses who want to pile on about all the faults of the Edwardian Era let me say “Certainly, but it wasn’t all bad.”
And if, God forbid, Keewatin isn’t wanted anymore, by anyone, hoist the old Canadian “Red Ensign” to every masthead, tow her out to the deepest part of Lake Huron, and scuttle her. Scrapping her would be an abomination, let her sleep out eternity in the depths of the lake.
Two and a half days one way. Half a day was spent going through the Sault Locks.
When the last piece of the Trans-Canada Hwy was completed through the incredible tough and rugged Shield north of Sault Ste. Marie in 1965 that was the end for the Passenger ships. The Keewatin and Assiniboia continued on in freight service for 2 more years and then that ended as well.
Firelock–Hard to believe this incredible asset has become such a hot potato…if Midland, Ont. or Owen Sound, Ont. do not want it the talk is to bring it back to Scotland. The Mayors of both towns are not enthusiastic at all.
1965, the last year of it’s passenger run was also the last year the Red Ensign was our flag. I don’t mind your suggestion. It’s romantic and who knows what kind of shenanigans are going on. Unfortunately things like what you suggest ‘happen’ to collect on an insurance policy…just saying I have a bad feeling about all of this. Going back to Scotland would seem a viable option. They could even run a steam boat train again and the Scots know well what they are doing.
Port McNicholl was once called the Chicago of the North. The railroads, grain elevators and Great Lakes ships were vastly important. Now all of it has disappeared and it is virtually a Ghost Town. Unimaginable.
The Red Ensign was a beautiful classy flag. They say it was too complicated and people confused it with other flags…nonsense. The new flag, after much debate, was supposed to have blue bars on either end representing the Pacific and Atlantic but the ruling Liberal government snuck in an under the radar Friday midnight long weekend switcheroo and put in the red bars instead ( the colours of their party) and that is what we have today. What a world.
Bringing the ship home to Scotland wouldn’t be a bad idea either, over in the UK not only are they showing the world how steam locomotive preservation’s done they’re doing a damn good job with ships as well.
Flags and flag histories are a hobby of mine, pretty fascinating when you get into it, so I know about the proposed blue bars on the new Canadian flag, “Pearson’s Pennant” I believe it was called. Honestly, I think it looks better with the red bars anyway, but not as classy and dramatic as the old Red Ensign was. I own several of them by the way, found them at antique shows here, and usually display them on World War One and Two anniversary days. I even scored an old Newfoundland Red Ensign on a trip there in 1997! Looks like this…
I remember when Canada changed it’s flag in the 1960’s. Many of us here in the US said “Huh? What for?” But then, it wasn’t our call.
On the trips I’ve made to Canada over the years I can tell who the conservatives are, they’re the ones with the old Red Ensign on their houses. The really hard-core conservatives fly the Union Jack!
I was unaware of the earlier proposal for the Canadian Flag. But with blue bars the flag would resemble the roundels on Canadian military aircraft, which had a blue circle surrounding a red maple leaf on a white ground. I can see that this would appear more familiar to Canadians in general.
I think a major reason for the change would have been to appease the French speaking population who would have been keen to see the Union Flag removed from the left top corner. With either colour of bars, the new flag was reminiscent of the French flag.
I think the new Canadian flag has been quite successful, and is ea
Not to mention largely conducted by recognized criminals…
Having spent considerable time in Oz, my comment would be that the name be changed from “National Day” to something slightly more technically accurate (I won’t propose any) and then establish some kind of recognition day for the ‘older’ parts of Australian civilization. It would be inaccurate and more than a little condescending to note this to be like “Kwanzaa” as an alternative to Christmas, but overloading the sense of memorial remembrance on a particular date (in the computer-language sense) might be a logical approach to consider too.
Just what would the Government propose changing the date to? There’s a sort of parallel in New Zealand in re-establishing Dominion Day as a counterpart to lessen the usual fun surrounding Waitangi Day. Is there an event, like establishment of the Commonwealth in 1901, that all Australians could rally around better than landing on the fatal shore?
26 January is called “Australia Day”, which raises the problem that the settlement in 1788 was called “New South Wales” at the time. Australia was used from about 1800 as the name of the island, but only became the name of the country in 1901.
I think that day should still be celebrated but with a name more reflective of the reason for the day being celebrated. Perhaps "Settl
The photo above shows the steamboat train after steam had been replaced with Alco/MLW FP2A’s. One thing that is noticeable is the high standards they kept up on this service. Look at the reflections of those people in the heaveyweight buffet parlour.
To me the New York Central and the Canadian Pacific Railway understood each other very well and had similiar high standards of service. They cooperated on these services especially with sleeping car service.
So here’s a nice little trip for us Classic dudes—let us take the NYC from Chicago to New York, doesn’t have to be the Century but something fast and comfortable, good food, enjoyable. We arrive at GCT and check into the Central’s own Commodore Hotel, marvel at the architecture and the huge rooms. More fine dining. Then we book a sleeper to Toronto in a heavyweight CPR car on the New York Central, arrive Union Station Toronto and walk through to the connecting tunnel to the Royal York Hotel. A pleasant evening in the Royal Yorks Blue Note Jazz Club with Lena Horne. Then we take the steamboat train to Port McNicoll were the Keewatin awaits us and we journey 2 1/2 days to the Lakehead at Port Arthur/Fort William. We find Stompin’ Tom Connors on the deck.
Someone please explain to me why this is not possible any longer.
I simply do not understand how something so perfect and functional , so important and a core of our society and who we are has just vanished.
( ok Lena Horne and Stompin’ Tom are no longer with us, I get that, added that in for fun)
If I’ve got it right, that should be “Morningtown Ride”
The seekers came from Melbourne, Victoria. There was line that ran down the east side of Port Phillip Bay to Frankston and continues on to Crib Point on Westernport Bay. There was a branch from Baxter to Mornington on Port Phillip Bay. There was an interesting operation where a pair of elderly suburban electric power cars hauled four conventional coaches to Frankston (the end of the electrification) where steam locomotives hauled the train onward to Mornington. This line closed about the time the song came out. But it seemed to me at the time that the references to “around the bay” came from that line.
I was quite taken aback by the videos. Australia didn’t get colour television until 1975 so any of the coverage of the “Seekers” was monochrome. I was impressed by the scenes in Abbey Road, although they were almost certainly not recording sessions.
A sweet little song, but I don’t remember it getting any air time here. The big hits for The Seekers here in the US were “I’ll Never Find Another You,” “World Of Our Own,” and “Georgy Girl.”
And wasn’t their lead singer Judith Durham a real honey?
I was surprised to see those Seeker color films from the 60’s myself, I can’t think of why they were done unless it was promotion purposes or release as theatrical shorts. I’m sure glad they exist though!
