Spring Cleaning Sale

I'm cleaning house here at Traingeek Mansion. The following is a list of HO scale model train stuff, as well as some paper railroad items. Prices do not include shipping. Please email me at steve@theboykos.com if you are interested! First come, first served. I prefer PayPal for payment.

CO 493374 86' boxcar, Kadee couplers - $10

CN 5075, dummy, Kadee couplers - $10

ACFB 52311, Kadee couplers - $6

CN 72952 caboose, horn-hook couplers - $4

Union Pacific shortie caboose, horn-hook couplers - $4

CP 1928 old-time boxcar, horn-hook couplers - $3

CN 669, rubber-band drive, one horn-hook coupler - $3

NIRX 232001 reefer, Kadee couplers - $5

RDC, rubber-band drive, no couplers - $5

CN 270 shortie flatcar, Kadee couplers - $4

RBOX 34627, unbuilt kit - $8

CNA 711816 autorack, Kadee couplers - $5

CN 79017 wooden caboose, horn-hook couplers - $4

SP 514002 open autorack, horn-hook couplers - $10

CP employee timetable #31, Saskatchewan Service Area 2004/07/19 - $5

Model Railroad Planning 2003 - $4

VIA National Timetable, January 15, 1990 - $4

VIA Atlantic Canada Services, April 30, 1989 - $3

VIA Quebec-Ontario Services, April 27, 1986 - $2

VIA Rail National Timetable, October 30, 1994 (2 copies) - $5 each

Railfan and Railroad, November 1999 - $4

Railroad Magazine, June 1974 - 75 cents!

Railroad Magazine, July 1976 - $1

Cliff Merritt's Scrapbook - 25 cents!

Japan Railway Timetable May 2009 - $1

Not a Sentimental Journey - $3

CN Operating Manual for Locomotive Engineers, September 1966 - $4

Full Steam Ahead - $5

CN Trackside Guides 2000, 2001, 2004 - $4 each

CP Rail 10 Year Locomotive Program - $1

CN Engineman Training - $5

Rail Canada Volume 1 - Diesel Paint Schemes of the CN System - $10

Amtrak System Timetable, Fall 2005 - $4

Railways of Winnipeg Volume 1 - $5

Official Railway Guide, April 1983 - $2

Official Guide of the Railways, November 1970 - $3

Cooks Continental Timetable, May 1971 - $2

The Road to the Sea - $1

Montreal's Streetcars - $1

Thanks for looking!

UPDATED

New Timetable Online

A friend passed along a scan of the Canadian Pacific employee timetable for the Montreal area for April 1975. It's at that link in PDF format. Enjoy.

For Sale

I have a few duplicates in my employee timetable (ETT) collection that I am offering for sale. I'm offering them to you, my loyal readers, first. I will offer them for sale here until the end of Tuesday, December 6, and then I will put the remainder on eBay. Prices listed are firm and do not include shipping. I may be willing to offer a slightly reduced price for a multi-item purchase.

I also have one book for sale, again a duplicate.

First come, first serve, by email at steve@theboykos.com. I will update this blog entry as items are claimed. I prefer PayPal but I will accept a cheque or money order.

All items are in good condition. 

For sale:

• Book: Railways of New Brunswick by David Nason: $15
• ETT: Canadian Pacific Railway, Manitoba Service Area, TT #20 effective January 28, 2001: $5
• ETT: CN Rail, Atlantic Region, TT #81 effective September 29, 1980: $5
• ETT: CP Rail, Atlantic Region, Saint John Division and Dominion Atlantic Railway, TT #19 effective April 24, 1977: $5
• ETT supplement: CN, Prairie Region, Supplement 1 to TT #36 effective August 1, 1990: free, postage only

Note that the last is just a 4-page supplement covering changes to the Meadow Lake and Big River subdivisions, not a complete timetable.

Temiscouata Railway Train Orders

Ken Secrest posted two train orders to his web site from the old Temiscouata Railway. These are rare indeed!

What was the Temiscouata Railway? I'm glad you asked. It was a railway that ran from Connors, NB through Edmundston, NB and on to Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec. It began operations in 1889 between Riviere-du-Loup and Edmundston, and added the Connors-Edmundston section a few years after the first section began operation.



Over time the railway found itself changing because of new railways being built in New Brunswick. The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) paralleled the Temiscouata Railway (TMCR) west of Edmundston, and after numerous washouts a section of the TMCR was abandoned and they acquired running rights between Baker Brook and a point just west of Edmundston.

CN ended up taking the TMCR over in 1950, and it became the Temiscouata and Connors subdivisions. Over time the Connors sub became the Connors spur and was eventually abandoned. The Temiscouata subdivision was abandoned in stages during the 1980s and the 4.9 miles in Edmundston is called the Edmundston spur.

Interestingly, Google Maps still thinks the Connors sub exists. It shows as the line south of route 120. The satellite view shows the roadbed has no tracks but the map shows them.

Noted New Brunswick railway historian Wendell Lemon has a great article on the history of the Temiscouata Railway (also published in the February 2009 Branchline magazine).

If you drive west from Edmundston on the Trans-Canada, you will see and/or cross the former right-of-way a few times as you pass through the towns such as Cabano and St. Louis du Ha Ha. I kid you not, that's the name of the town.

I have two public timetables from the Temiscouata Railway in my collection.  The first is from December 1, 1933 (#85): page 1, pages 2-3, and page 4.  The second is from April 25, 1938 (#96) and is smaller: page 1 and page 2.

A few railway photographers took some shots on the Temiscouata, including Fredericton's Ken MacDonald and my friend Bill Linley. I'll see if I can dig some up.

Railroadiana For Sale

If you're looking for railroadiana at reasonable prices, check out Dean Ogle's site. He has railway timetables, both public and employee, for sale as well as many books.

Some people sell these for outrageous prices like this but Dean has good prices. For the October 28, 1979 CN employee timetable I just linked to, Dean charges $4.50 versus the $14.64 it is listed for on eBay.

Here's my general guidelines for ETT pricing. For CN or CP employee timetables, I'm comfortable spending $5-$6 for ETTs from the 1970s to 1980s. ETTs from the 1960s will be more, probably in the $7-$10 range. ETTS for the 1950s and earlier tend to be much more expensive, starting at $20 and going up. Modern ETTs are also more expensive than the 1970s timetables because they are more rare.

Anyway, check Dean's site out.

You can always go look at my railway timetables if you're doing some research. I don't have all of mine scanned (by a long shot) but there are a number of them online for your viewing pleasure.

Canadian Atlantic Railway Timetable

I see there is a Canadian Atlantic Railway timetable for sale on eBay. The price is $8.99 and includes shipping. These rarely come up on eBay. By the way, I don't know the seller.

Or, you can view it online with the other timetables (CN and CP) I have displayed. Your choice! :)

Canadian Pacific Historical Association

I wanted to draw your attention to the Canadian Pacific Historical Assocation's web site. The CPHA used to be known as the CP SIG, and one of their major efforts is to publish the excellent CP Tracks magazine. I've never been a subscriber but I have purchased quite a few at hobby shops.

The CPHA has undertaken a new project in the last few years, and is now making their documents library available online. The library contains a wide assortment of scanned documents, from freight and passenger car diagrams to dispatcher sheets to timetables and a lot more. A free registration is required. Check it out!

1919 Canadian National Railways Timetable Uploaded

Art Clowes provided a scan of the Canadian National Railways October 5, 1919 public timetable for me to upload to my web site.

Thanks, Art! link

Six Passenger Trains in Saint John

OK, it was 1980, but still... David Morris sent along the consists of 6 trains he and Bill Linley saw on December 20 and 21, 1980 in Saint John, all in 24 hours.

--December 20--

1. VIA #616
RDC-1 VIA 6105, RDC-2 VIA 6202

2. VIA #11 (First Section)
VIA 6775-VIA 6871-CP 8561
VIA 9645-5426-5409-5389-752
5722-5734-GREENBANK-RIDEAU RIVER-1369
BONHEUR-ELCOTT-EVANSTON-REVERSING FALLS-EXPLOITS RIVER

3. VIA #11 (Second Section)
VIA 6768-6628-6864
VIA 9636-5621-5405-5394-3035
426-5714-FORTUNE BAY-1374-CAPE TORMENTINE
GREENBUSH-GREENDALE-PYRAMID FALLS-FITZWILLIAM

4. VIA #615
VIA RDC-2 6211, VIA RDC-1 6107

--December 21--

5. VIA #12 (First Section)
VIA 6772-6634-6773
VIA SISIBOO FALLS-EXETER-EVELYN-HARMONIE-1348
ECUM SECUM RIVER-GREENLANE-5701-5733-765
5297-5306-5197-9646-BEDFORD

6. VIA #12 (Second Section)
VIA 6776-6865-6780
VIA 9627-5580-5407-3039-432
5702-BUCKLEY BAY-YUKON RIVER-1365-CAPE CANSO
GREENCABIN-GREENRIDGE-RAINBOW FALLS-RESPLENDENT

What's up with the first and second sections? This dates from the timetable & train order period. Scheduled trains like VIA 11 and 12 ran on the times from the employee timetable. Sometimes there was more traffic than could fit on one train, so the dispatcher would run a second "section" of the same scheduled train after the first section. The trains would be referred to as "first 11" and "second 11" to show there were two sections. There could be third, fourth, fifth, etc. sections too.

For example, a January 29, 1957 order to train 113 reads: "No 113 Eng MEC 711 Meet Second 68 Eng 5302 at Bailey". So train #113, led by Maine Central 711, should meet the second section of train #68 (led by CP 5302) at Bailey.

The second section would have the same precedence over other trains that the first section had, and nobody could run in between the two sections unless a train order overrode that. The lead engine of the first* section flew green flags to indicate a second section was following.

(more reading about timetable and train order rules)

* actually, the lead engine of every section except the last flew green engines to indicate another section was following.

1907 Intercolonial Railway Timetable Online

I recently purchased the July 20, 1907 Intercolonial Railway Timetable on eBay for a price I'd rather not mention (*cough* $24.88 US *cough*, actually quite a bargain). I have scanned all 24 pages and put them online for your viewing pleasure.

There are lots of interesting details in this timetable. I was amused to note that the Indiantown Branch was still in existence at this time, served by a single mixed train. That branch went southwest from Newcastle and basically paralleled the Northern & Western line that became CN's Miramichi subdivision.

Go view and enjoy!

1931 Dominion Atlantic Railway Employee Timetable

There is a scanned copy of the June 21, 1931 Dominion Atlantic Railway employee timetable online at the DAR DPI. I love employee timetables.

In later years the DAR's timetable was combined with CPR's timetable. It looks like it happened between 1968 and 1972, because the April 28, 1968 timetable does not have the DAR lines in it, but the April 18, 1972 employee timetable does.

The Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative (DAR DPI) is a project to make available materials on Canadian Pacific Railway's Dominion Atlantic Railway, which ran from Yarmouth to Windsor Junction in Nova Scotia. Have a look at their site!

Wanting

I would love to bid on this 1883-1884 Intercolonial Timetable. But $94 is too rich for my blood. As you may know, I collect timetables, train orders, and so forth and I'd love to have that in my collection. Maybe next time! when I win the lottery

For today, I'll go to the Halifax Train Show and buy cheaper, newer timetables. ;)

McAdam Subdivision Timetable

I put a modernized version of the McAdam Subdivision timetable online. This is based on old CP timetables plus current observations. I do not have an NBSR employee timetable, so I have no idea what theirs actually says. Please have a look and offer your comments.

New Timetable Online

Thanks to the generosity of John Falconer, I have a new public timetable online for your viewing pleasure here. This is the Canadian National Railways (and Grand Trunk Railway System) public timetable issued April 27, 1941. I scanned the first 25 pages, which includes all of the Maritime schedules and the national ones as well. There are 86 pages inside the covers and I couldn't see ever finishing scanning the whole timetable!

An Interesting Phone Call

I get the occasional email or phone call out of the blue. People do a web search and stumble across my web site and/or blog, and then contact me about their question. I usually enjoy getting these contacts!

Last night I took a call from a woman named Nikkie who was looking at a house in Ontario that was near some tracks, and wondered how heavy the rail traffic was. I was curious how she decided to contact me, in New Brunswick, about Ontario rail traffic. It turned out that she knew the line was a Canadian Pacific line, and was searching for CP timetables and came across my site. As it happens my site is #1 on Google for Canadian Pacific Timetables. (try it yourself: Google)

I told her I didn't have any idea what the traffic would be, but I knew where to find out. I took down her address and contact information, then posted a message to the Yahoo groups C-P-R mailing list. Within a couple of hours I was told that the house was on the CP MacTier subdivision, CP's main line between Toronto and Vancouver, and that traffic would be quite heavy. I called her back and left a message to that effect.

One poster pointed me to the Proximity Issues web site, run by the Railway Association of Canada, that has maps of different regions of Canada showing which railway owns which line. That's a useful resource!

Ain't the Internet great?

Quebec Oriental Railway and the Atlantic, Quebec and Western

I received a very interesting email a week or two ago from Michel Simard. Attached was a public timetable for the the Quebec Oriental Railway (Matapédia-Paspébiac) and the Atlantic, Quebec & Western (Paspébiac-Gaspé) from May 4, 1926. There was a daily train each way on the route now run by VIA's Chaleur.

On May 30, 1929, both railways were sold to the Canadian National Railway for a total of $902,800 dollars (source (PDF)).

The train took 10 hours and 20 minutes to go from Matapédia to Gaspé in 1929. VIA is scheduled to do the same run in 6 hours and 37 minutes, so speeds have picked up in 79 years!

Click on the images for a larger version.





Thank you, Michel!

Mike's Train Blog and other things

A quick shout out to Mike's Train Blog, a new blog about... trains, by... Mike. He said a kind word about my site, so right back atcha!

I didn't know about Take a Model Train to Work Day, this coming Friday, November 16. I will be on the road to Halifax that day, so maybe I'll bring one to work on Thursday. Most people at work are already aware of my train obsession, so this won't surprise them. Heck, one person who met with CN gave me the CN 2008 calendar they were given. It`s done with CN employee photos - very nice indeed.


Just a quick note - I put the first few pages of the November 1, 1993 CN Employee Timetable for the Atlantic Region online. This is the last CN employee timetable that I own.

Groupe-TRAQ mention

I was pleased to see a link to a section of my web site (CP timetables) was published in Groupe-TRAQ's latest email newsletter. Groupe-TRAQ "is a non-profit association dedicated to supporting rail transportation and industry interests in the Quebec province." They put out a fine newsletter.

CN 1955/09/25 public timetable online

In response to an email inquiry, I scanned the rest of the September 25, 1955 CN public timetable and put it online. A gentleman was looking for information on the CN passenger equipment of the time, and also information on the Sorel Subdivision where his father worked. If anyone has any employee timetables mentioning the Sorel sub, I'd appreciate a scan or photocopy of the relevant pages to pass along.

A bit more scanning

Now I have Canadian Atlantic Railway (CAR) timetables 16 and 18 online. I didn't scan much of 16 because it is almost the same as 15, but timetable 18 (1993/05/02) is quite a bit different.