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Wow, beautiful shot. It would have been great to see this in person, but i was only 6 back then. FYI, the subdivision speed may have been 60mph, but railways have speed restrictions over diamonds, so most likely they would have being doing only 30mph
Beautiful!
The second unit…659….became 3659…and we all know what happened to it; as recently chronicled on here.
To Clarify, the overall Subdivision speed limit in the 1960 timetable was 60mph for freight. At specific locations the speed was lower and at such time the diamond at Canfield ( Cayuga/Dunnville) was 50mph, as per timetable Special Instructions.
Hey if anyone knows…Mercer would..after all..this was your era too…Eh Bruce?
This is nothing short of amazing.
@mercer… hey do you have a timetable from that era? I find it interesting that the diamond would be good for 50mph way back then. Modern diamonds on CN have had very slow restrictions until the last few years. It was not long ago that all CN diamonds in Ontario were restricted to 30mph. Only in the last 5 yrs or so has the diamond at Brampton been raised to 50mph and thats because its not really a diamond anymore, same with the one at Carew which is good for 60mph The Doncaster diamond is still 30mph and the diamond at Melrose is 25mph. Perhaps the speed limit in the timetable was for passenger trains? I know in some locations passenger trains are allowed faster speed than freights.
Phil, From the October 26th 1975 Timetable, for the Cayuga Subdivision under “Interlockings” shows
“3.2 – Railway crossing at grade
Crossing Dunnville sub…..mileage 42.8….. automatic. Permissable speed 50 miles per hour.”
Even the TH&B Crossing at 34.3 (E&O Diamond?) and the Penn Central Double main track crossing near St. Thomas is listed as 50 MPH.
And that was 10+ years after this photo was taken!
@ Stephen.Good to know. Funny that train speeds over CN’s diamonds are (were) slower now than before. So much for progress. Still 30mph and Doncaster and 25mph at Melrose!
Anyone consider that when these speeds were posted…locomotives and cars were much smaller and lighter…We’re talking the 40 foot box car era.
Yes snake, thats why i think the diamond was rated for a higher speed.
I have to jump in now. You need to ask the question – why are those CN diamonds, today, only 30mph ?
I have a CN TORONTO AREA timetable from April 1968 and all three diamonds on the York Sub were the same as the overall subdivision speed limit – 50mph. The Cayuga Sub was laid with 100 or perhaps 110 lb. rail and carloadings through the 1960s were limited to gross 263,000 lbs. So the comparison to today’s railroading, at 122 lb rail and gross loading limits of 286,000 lbs is relevant. So again, how are we making progress if 50 years ago the diamond speed was 50mph and today it’s 30mph ??
@mercer. Possibly the trains were much shorter and lighter and did less wear. In 68 the York Sub was also fairly new as Mac Yard was only a few years old then.
There is now only 1 diamond on the York Sub at Doncaster (30mph) the other 2 were removed. The former diamond at Brampton is not a true diamond anymore as it is straight railed for the CN and is good for 50mph as is the one at Carew which is good for 60mph. As I said before Melrose on the Strathroy is 25mph. Progress right.