Canadian Railroads > Triple tracked now

Since the end of last year, CP's Westmount sub (used exclusively by AMT commuter trains) in Montreal has been triple tracked its entire length.  Here are two shots I took yesterday morning from an overpass about a mile east of Montreal West station. Check out my post from a bit over a year ago to see how this line looked when it was double track.

1-AMT 16 from Vaudreuil heads east on the new track with AMT 1368 leading

2-AMT 178 from Saint-Jérôme heads east with AMT 1368 leading, while AMT 1346 pushes a deadhead movement westwards in the distance.

Michael Berry

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I'm guessing the reason that the right of way is wide enough for three tracks was the presence of a commuter train storage yard between Westmount and Montreal West.
I'm not sure if it was ever used, but it was present in the 1960's and early 1970's and may have had a yard lead track connectiing to Glen yard at Westmount. It was south of the two track main line.

eminence_grise Wrote:
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> I'm guessing the reason that the right of way is
> wide enough for three tracks was the presence of a
> commuter train storage yard between Westmount and
> Montreal West.
> I'm not sure if it was ever used, but it was
> present in the 1960's and early 1970's and may
> have had a yard lead track connectiing to Glen
> yard at Westmount. It was south of the two track
> main line.

Yes, this is certainly before my time, but I know there was a yard known as the Glen Extension a bit east of Montreal West.

By 1976, it was mostly unused and a place where some CP freight cars were stored. CP put an LCL freight facility there for a few years, but eventually that closed, too.

Pictures from 1976.

Ray  

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Ray_Murphy Wrote:
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> By 1976, it was mostly unused and a place where
> some CP freight cars were stored. CP put an LCL
> freight facility there for a few years, but
> eventually that closed, too.
>
> Pictures from 1976.
>
> Ray  

Very cool Ray! Are both pictures looking south? Know which building had the smokestack in the first photo?

Mberry Wrote:
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> Very cool Ray! Are both pictures looking south?
> Know which building had the smokestack in the
> first photo?

The second picture was taken in the area of the track fan-out, which started just west of the Cavendish Boulevard overpass. The first picture was a little farther west of that.

The whole area has changed considerably, and I don't think many of the buildings still exist. There's now a large nondescript industrial facility covering most of the former yard area, as well as the Gazette printing plant. 

Ray 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/16 17:50 by Ray_Murphy.