Caption: CN GP9 4535 sits at the north end of the Bowmanville Town Spur, at the back of the Goodyear rubber plant in Bowmanville. The rare view is looking north from Durham Street crossing near the back of the plant, with houses along Duke Street visible on the right. The siding on the left ran to the south end of the plant, and the other track to the north end.

CN's Bowmanville Town Spur was located at Mile 290.6 CN Kingston Sub, and ran north for over a mile into town to serve the Goodyear rubber plant, its only customer. It was notable in that is crossed Ontario's Highway 401 at-grade, and ran north along the side of Hunt Street along the edge of people's front lawns before reaching the plant. In 1982, a bridge was built over Highway 401, eliminating the old at-grade crossing. During this time, the bottom of the spur was re-aligned to the west, and switch moved to Mile 291.4. The eventually line fell out of use and was removed sometime in the early 2000's, but the Highway 401 bridge remained until it was removed in July 2011. At some point in earlier years, there may have been another siding that ran north of the plant into town as far as King Street East.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company of Canada Ltd. plant in Bowmanville manufactured rubber conveyor belts, such as those used at shopping malls for elevators or for assembly lines in factories. The plant took inbound carloads of carbon black and other ingredients used in rubber manufacturing, and shipped out finished conveyor belts in large rolls on flatcars. The plant originally opened in 1910, but demand for rubber was so great during the first World War that a second plant was opened in New Toronto in 1917. The plant, run by Goodyear Canada for most of its existence, later became Veyance Technologies Canada, then ContiTech Continental, before closing in mid-July 2016.

Wayne Hannan photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection slide.