Comments on: Abandoned tracks through Kanata North provide the best path for the littlest hobo.

By: RonaldB

RonaldB — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 20:47:30 +0000

As a retired railroader, I find this shot very troubling. Children should be taught that it is never acceptable to walk on railway track. On one trip we nearly struck a child of this approximate age, who was walking between the rails, albeit on a busy main track We were going 60 mph at the time. The child was being “minded” by another child perhaps 10 or 12 yrs old. As noted above, we never know what might come down any track. We used to run to Port Burwell on CP, less than once a week and the rails were rust coated. We still operated (legally) at 35mph at the time, on that weed covered rusted rail.

By: Ottawan

Ottawan — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 20:13:37 +0000

This is the Renfrew Subdivision. Formerly CN, the City of Ottawa now owns the right of way and Nylene Canada owns the infrastructure.

CN (OCR) services Nylene Canada in Arnprior once per week, with loads of Caprolactam going in – usually only a few cars at most.

By: booms19

booms19 — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:27:04 +0000

Thanks, and yes safety is also on the mind.

By: booms19

booms19 — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:26:34 +0000

Thank you for comment and your opinion. I couldn’t find the location online either to double check the usage there. It cross March Road and also crosses Terry Fox Road in Kanata if that helps you find it.

By: Joe Harrison

Joe Harrison — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 05:10:53 +0000

I really like this shot and think it could be cropped, in my humble opinion, just behind the second to last tie, bottom frame. This would concentrate the focus on the subject, which is of course the child.

On first glance I would have thought that the tracks were abandoned, based on the condition of the ties, presence of weeds etc. I know that this is not always the case but if booms19 is local to the area he should be able to determine if it is or not. I tried looking the location up but couldn’t find it. Great shot in any case.

By: tyler93

tyler93 — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 04:11:12 +0000

Great photo but remember, any track, any direction, any time!

By: booms19

booms19 — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 03:02:58 +0000

Good to know. Never seen anything on the track and it runs through a heavily used 4 lane road so just assumed it was unused.

By: Chris van der Heide

Chris van der Heide — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 01:32:48 +0000

Neat shot, but this track is definitely not abandoned. Look at the top of the rail surface, it’s a dull steel colour and not uniformly rusted over. Something has travelled that track recently, and probably within the previous 24-48 hours at the most.