A Glimpse of the Essex Terminal Railway

I was in southern Ontario again last week and spent a bit of time one evening looking for signs of the Essex Terminal Railway. The ETR is a shortline that runs between Windsor and Amherstburg, Ontario. The Essex Terminal Railway theoretically runs from a point on the VIA (former CN) Chatham subdivision through to mile 19.50 after Amherstburg. The interchange with VIA is out of service, so it really starts at the Ford plant in Windsor at mile 0.25. They have a detailed history on their web site.

I visited their home area at mile 1.50. There is a four-stall engine house, a smallish yard and a concrete water tower there, as well as two cabooses ETR 1600 and ETR 1610. "No Trespassing" signs are prominent.


The engine house is the large white building in the background. I took this shot over a chain-link fence. Like I said, there are many "No Trespassing" signs and I did not want to trespass.


This was shot from Lincoln Road. If you want to go here, set your GPS to 1600 Lincoln Road in Windsor and it will take you right here.

Here's a somewhat side shot of ETL 1610. I know it says ETR on the side but the Essex Terminal Railway's reporting mark is ETL.


I did not see any locomotives at their home area. Perhaps some were in the engine house but there was no way to look in.

I drove down to Amherstburg to have a look around, and on the way I stopped at the large complex south of Windsor that includes Morterm, Ltd., a company that transloads between rail, truck and ship, as well as an ADM Limited grain elevator and other customers.

ETL #105 was sitting just outside Morterm and the port area. This engine is either an SW9 or an SW1200, depending on which source you look at.


The Essex Terminal Railway lists a complete roster on their site. In addition to #105, they have two GP9s, an SW14 and an SW1500. They also own a steam engine, an 0-6-0 built in 1923 that is resident in St. Thomas, Ontario and is undergoing restoration by the Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society.

They serve about 15 customers in Windsor and on the line between Windsor and Amherstburg. In Amherstburg they serve a BP site as well as Don Hearn and Sons Ltd., a freight shipper. The Trackside Guide lists four Alco locomotives for them and I believe I spotted #317, an S-3 built in 1953.


This is a much better photo of it. Note the baggage car behind it (again, better photo), former CP 4769.

I also saw this little old switcher at the ADM grain elevator south of Windsor, also served by the Essex Terminal Railway. This is a 25-ton Plymouth engine.

Again, here's a much better photo of the engine.

Myles Roach has a great album of Windsor railway photos.

The End of CP 8131

The end has come for ex-CP SW1200 #8131 in Winnipeg. If you recall, it arrived in Winnipeg in mid October 2009. The photo above shows it in Symington Yard. It ended up along Chevrier Boulevard near the old Manitoba Sugar building. It has been moved a couple of times but always in the same area near Manitoba Hydro.

I shot it in early September and it looked intact and essentially undisturbed after almost a year in Winnipeg.




I drove on Chevrier Boulevard on Wednesday morning and I saw that the engine had been moved. I took a bit closer look and I could see that people were working on it, and I saw the front and side panels were off the engine. There were sparks coming from the nose.

I came back a while later with my camera and took this one shot with my long lens. It has been moved back and it is not as accessible as it was last month.

As you can see, pieces have been removed from the engine. The horn, plow, MU hoses, and some handrails are gone, and obviously the panels are off. It looks very much like the other engines that were scrapped at this location in the summer of 2009. Too bad.

Kenora's Railway Museum

When we were camping near Kenora, Ontario I shot a few pictures outside the Lake of the Woods Railway Museum. The museum itself was closed but I took some outside photos and walked through the caboose.

The two major outside exhibits are engine CP 8120 and caboose CP 437473. There is also a velocipede and a baggage cart, and a very nice mural.

CP 8120 is a SW1200 built by GMD in September 1958. It was retired in 1997 and donated to the museum.

Caboose CP 437473 is holding up well. It was built in 1954.


There are a number of displays inside the caboose. I noticed this banner from the Kenora CP Rail Retiree Club.


The sign in the window of the station says "TRAINS TRAINS MODEL TRAINS - See the largest model railroad display in NW Ontario." The museum is open Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 1-4 PM.

I plan to go back to Kenora next summer, and hopefully I can time it so I can go in the museum!

NBSR 3703

NBSR 3703 is now in Woodland, Maine working the reactivated Domtar mill. I believe it arrived there on November 30. 3703 lay dormant in Saint John for two and a half years before being reactivated. It received a lot of work to its cab and had a complete paint job.

Gary Lee saw it in McAdam in transit and sent me a few photos. Thanks, Gary!






David Morris saw it at Harbour Station in Saint John on November 5 and took a few shots. Thanks to David for passing them along.

The consist was 3703, 3702, 9801.

Another SOO 4203 Update

I mentioned back in early October that SOO 4203 was saved from the scrapper, to be renumbered to SVGX 8625 and sold to the Savage Rail Services Group. Well, it was renumbered but it is still in Winnipeg, two months later.

Note the painted-over 4203.

A few weeks after I talked about 4203's new life, I saw SW1200RS CP 8131 in CN's Symington Yard in Winnipeg. In late October it was moved over to Chevrier Boulevard and coupled up to SVGX 8625.

Since then, they have been moved a few times along the former Manitoba Sugar spur but they are still there today. I wonder why they haven't been shipped out?

On a related note, I found a few photos of the same units I was watching the scrappers dismantle all summer, here.

Oddities in Winnipeg

I drove by CN's Symington Yard just before noon today, and I saw two unusual sights in the yard just south of the hump.

Ex-CP SW1200 8131 was sitting there by itself. I understand 8131 has been dead for quite some time.


GO Transit bilevel car 2499 was very near 8131. This is probably the same GO car I saw yesterday on the end of a freight. The last time I saw I saw a GO car in Winnipeg (Boxing Day 2007), it was coming from the Bombardier plant in Thunder Bay, Ontario.


A more normal sight was a freight at the south end of the yard, presumably getting ready to head out on the Sprague subdivision. CN 5776 and 2648 were at the head of a container train.

Note the ubiquitous Canada geese in the field. They are everywhere in Winnipeg!