Oshawa Ontario, 1986.
Shouldn’t there be crossing gates on that driveway?[(-D]
Not sure what I’m looking at. It’s a driveway, considered a private crossing, not a public one, so nothing more than a railroad crossing sign is really needed. As seen in the bottom pic. Just went on a ride a couple of weeks ago, the first grade crossing after leaving the station is the main street of the town, and there aren’t any gates or even flashers - the crew has to get off and flag the crossing. Next one you come to is more of a back road, it has flashers but no gates. Then there are several farm lanes that have nothing more than a basic sign.
–Randy
Awesome! I hope there were no young kids living in that house… And I wonder which came first, the house or the track?
Thanks for sharing.
Simon
I could just see the realtor listing that house…Close to transportation, cozy front yard, and the view out the front is to die for.
A rare time daylight shot no doubt… most of these moves in Oshawa were done in the very late evening or early morning hours when traffic was minimal. Screeching flanges at 4:00 am… may as well get up and have a coffee.
I’m thinking that house is AFFORDABLE!
Maybe they pay YOU to take it?
Ed
PS: Still, great railfanning on the front porch. Though a bit limited.
And if one of those cars climbs the rail - you can have a cup of coffee with the boxcar in your kitchen.
Of course if any one said that to your layout, you should usher them to the door in short order. Problem solved! [(-D]
I believe this has been posted before
I would love to have witnessed the negotiation on the mowing and maintenance of the grass on the track. Are there mower blades on the trucks or, flanged wheels on the mower?
Now either they built the house too close to the railroad or the railroad too close to the house but somebody somewhere didn’t really think that one through.
Are the tracks and the neighborhood still there? A lot can change in 32 years. I wouldn’t mind moving to Canada to live there and watch the local.
I was trying to find this on Google Earth. I found something that this was on Bruce St. Not sure if this is correct but there aare several houses that have similar gable ends. I suspect this particular house may be gone as the end house on the block is clearly newer.
I believe the tracks were torn up in the 90s and yes I think a small condo was built on the corner.
That was the route that served the Oshawa, Ont GM fabrication plant. I was working there when a new owner decided he would not pay the tax to keep the track in place. CN removed the track, that owner went bankrupt, two other owners failed, and the pland closed six years later.
The track is gone, the GM plant is gone, twenty feet down for cleaning, and the area is now retail operations, including Costco. A coiple of lumber yards north of the GM plant lost their rail connection, and part of the route is now a paved walking/bike path.
Dave
Randy: The train came along one street, went around a curve beside that house, and up Ritson road.
When the railline was put in Ritson was two lanes, when the street was expanded to four lanes if occupied the rail line, but both were used for years.
Dave
Oh yeah Neenah WI
And if you think that’s bad you should have seen the Soo Line on Division Street in Oshkosh WI, just a few miles south of Neenah.
Dave Nelson
Is that picture actually real? My kids would love to have a ral line parked along the street. There goes the neighborhood!
Maybe the engineer lived in that house and just parks in front of his house [:)].
Simon