https://ottawasun.com/news/local-news/sad-sight-as-wakefield-steam-train-is-dismantled/wcm/3aa70ee2-da2b-4724-b25d-a42afc7ed195



SAD SIGHT: Wakefield steam train is dismantled


Gatineau PQ
May 1, 2019

There, eight train cars that for a quarter century or more carried tourists and railway enthusiasts up to Wakefield and back are being cut into pieces, final destination unknown.

Philip Jago is well aware of what’s going on in an industrial neighbourhood in Gatineau, near where St. Joseph Boulevard slips under the Highway 5 Autoroute, but he can’t bring himself to go look.

There, eight train cars that for a quarter century or more carried tourists and railway enthusiasts up to Wakefield and back are being cut into pieces, final destination unknown.

“I don’t want to see that,” Jago said. “I would rather remember the good times.”

A member of the Bytown Railway Society, and in particular its Dirty Hands Club of restorers, Jago served as a fireman on the steam train, making the round trip scores of times, including its very last journey, on June 18, 2011. Five days later, heavy rains damaged the tracks and operations were suspended. The estimated cost to repair the track was in the millions, and despite the efforts and hopes of many groups and people, the service was never restored. In 2011, the municipality of Chelsea took out about 20 kilometres of the track to convert the bed to a trail, thus ending any chance that rail service would return.

In its heyday, the Wakefield steam train carried thousands of passengers each year. The service, Jago said, began in the mid 1970s, when trains left from the Canada Science and Technology Museum on St. Laurent Boulevard and crossed the Prince of Wales Bridge into Quebec.

The most recent incarnation of the train — a Swedish-made locomotive and cars brought to the area after the previous 1201 locomotive was deemed no longer fit for service — ran from 1992 until 2011.

According to City of Gatineau spokesperson Yves Melanson, the steam locomotive that most recently plied the tracks to Wakefield has been sold to the Dalton Ecological Park in Gatineau, where it will be on display alongside a replica of the early-1900s Templeton train station later this year.

The cars, meanwhile, were sold to Alain Boucher, who said all but one were damaged beyond reasonable repair. The remaining one he intends to convert into an American-style diner, which he’ll move to Cantley, Que., where it will sit alongside the chip wagon he currently operates there.

And while Jago is saddened to see the remaining eight cars cut up for scrap, he recognizes their number was up. Apart from being dilapidated, he said the cars, because they were of Swedish origin that bore unique coupler systems, weren’t compatible with North American trains.

“But this is still a moment,” he said. “Words cannot describe it.

“I was there as a fireman from the fall of 2006 until the rain came. I was working part-time, fulfilling a childhood dream with the intent of making that a retirement career. I don’t know exactly how many trips I made on that train,” he added, “and once you get away from it, it’s never been enough, if you have any passion for steam.

“C’est triste.”

Sad sight indeed, I was a full time fireman on the HC&W between 1999-2005, my first paid steam job. Many happy memories and always an adventure going to work with a merry band of characters.








Thom

The cars had sat idle since a 2011 washout wiped out a section of the line. Time, the elements and especially vandals took their toll. People can be savage...This was once a beautiful train.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTkh8HZE4CY

Thom

Yes, it is truly a sad occasion. There was another Swedish steam engine and passenger cars that ran on a portion of the old Belfast & Moosehead Lake RR out of Unity, ME in the late 90s. Does anyone know what ever happened to that trainset?

It went to the Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tennessee.

https://www.penbaypilot.com/article/former-bml-railroad-equipment-headed-south/13949

Thom

Anyone know what happened to the former SJ diesel loco that was based there (seen in 2007) ?

So, in 2011 it was pretty clear this was not going to run again on that route. Too bad they did not go ahead and sell the trainset then.

They did try to sell it - for $550,000 (CDN), but there were no takers.
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/wakefield-steam-train-listed-for-sale-online/wcm/3b085da7-8e6b-49f1-afa8-c1935496c089

It eventually did sell - for $1,000...
http://www.bulletinaylmer.com/wakefield-steam-train-sold-for-1-000

70000 - I don't know what happened to the 244, the plow or any of the HighRail equipment used to support the line.

Thom

One of the rather unique restrictions on trying to get anything accomplished up there (from funding to operations to equipment) was that despite the locals interest in trying to find a way to keep it alive - this is Quebec- where all governmental correspondence must be primarily in French, so any attempt by anyone to come in there had that to clear that language hurdle along with all the usual problems of a tourist railroad. The engineering firm we partnered with in Canada had the same issues - even drawings had to be done bilingual.

We'd done a lot of work in Ontario, really enjoyed Canada, but even though I speak high-school-level French, speaking FrancoSteam in technical railroad jargon was beyond me. It's hard enough to explain trains to politicians that all speak in English!

I worked with the Swedish equipment on BML, and it had a most unusual set of FRA waivers, so it was legal to operate, but as a connected set. There was even a waiver on the oddball flange on the center driver of the 4-6-0. The workmanship on the cars was really very good, some truly beautiful interior woodwork on the first-class coaches and sleepers. I don't think it ever got the credit it deserved. The 'retired' cars from Sweden were in far better condition when acquired than many in-service Amtrak cars at the time. The only thing the FRA drew a solid 'no' on was mixing cars due to the differences in air braking systems. The left-hand drive cab with Swedish gauge lettering was about the same experience as being in the cab of one of the Chinese steam locomotives - keep the pressure out of that red area.... you don't need to read the language to figure that out. And as pointed out to me once, there's nothing in the CFR that says it has to be in English....

Randy - I never had an issue with language while working there (with the exception of one of the hoggers, Nickoli, who couldn't speak english and barely spoke french -still a helluva nice guy), but then again I grew up in the Ottawa Valley. One funny language/culture thing that did happen.....we were sitting in the station in Hull getting ready to depart. I was sitting on the fireman's seat (on the RH side!) facing the parking lot. People would drive in to watch us pull out and frequently walk right up to the engine. Well, on this particular day this fellow pulls up, walks up to the engine, looks it over from pilot to cab then asks me (in french), 'How's she steaming?'. I replied 'Like a dream'. He asked if there were any problems (an unusual question), using some good old fashioned Québécois slang I was not quite familiar with. I didn't think I had heard him right but I replied (again in french) 'No, everything is good'. He gave me a thumbs up, pulled out a clip board, scribbled some notes down, handed me a paper, gave a kind of salute and went back to his car. I looked at the paper....Province of Quebec boiler inspection form. Apparently we passed with flying colors. I handed it to my engineer, he looked it over, chuckled and filed it in the daily inspection binder. Vive Québec!

Randy i am québecois, i speak french and i try my best to speak and write in english just for share my hobby with you. I love the USA rail history and i project to coming in your country in the future.
Wakefeild ,the only steam locomotive to operated in my province, has never get my interest because i was a North American railfan.

The first problem of Wakefeild failure was the flood in 2011 and the lack of money after this. Also Chelsea city pulled up 20 km of the track that get the end.

But for me the fact is simply the origin of the train.
The steam locomotive was preserved and is good but the rest of the train, 1940s-built Swedish passenger cars, has not historical value for the province and my country.

Bonjour, monsieur Big!

There is still steam operating in Quebec - Exporail in Saint-Constant occasionally runs the replica 2-2-2 'John Molson' on their museum site.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN29HURCtN8

Salut, à bientôt!

Thom

Salut monsieur Royal

Sorry, i forget this replica

It's still kind of a shame when equipment doesn't get any love because it's 'different', or because there's a disconnect on the historic relevance issue. I know I was amused on the BML that many of the passengers, and myself, laughingly tried to translate the remaining Swedish labels and signage intact on the inside of the cars and it didn't seem like a negative as the cars were still well-maintained, had big windows, and were clean. I know I started out skeptical and came away impressed with the result, but then I also still own a 1956 Electrolux vacuum that is still running...

The 3025 2-8-2 up on the Essex, remember, is the Chinese 2-8-2 from the Knox & Kane, with some cosmetic surgery applied to make it look more North American. Nobody every tried to do much with the Swedish steam. I do know that's the most confused I ever felt in a steam locomotive cab, but the designs kind of grew on me.

BTW, the 'obvious concept' of using some of this European-appearing equipment for a wizard-themed train that cannot even be named was met with Legal Hostilities of the highest order at the time. It's not like nobody ever thought of it, but unlike some other concepts we all know and love, was met with complete and total legal resistance on licensing discussion.

We were contacted by the local government after the washout, and obtained copies of the relevant bid documents for both the washout repair engineering and a feasibility study - that was being publicly funded. And yes, it had to be submitted in French as the primary business language, with an English translation. One of my coworkers has an adult daughter that speaks fluent French (now has dual citizenship) and is also enough of a railfan to have student engineer certification...and it was even above her pay grade. So we reluctantly passed, and so did our engineering partner in Ontario - they really did not want to work in Quebec due to those regulations.