Canadian Railroads > F-Unit Friday - CP's Canadian at Ashton, Ontario

This photo shows CP's #1, the Montreal section of the WB Canadian, coming up to the Highway 17 overpass just before Ashton on the Carleton Place Sub, between Ottawa and Carleton Place. I'd love to tell you the mileage, but I don't have a timetable from the era. It's Sunday, February 26, 1978, and I did not record the time, but the train was at Carleton Place at about 1425, not too far along. In charge are FP9A 1410, RS-10 8576 in very ratty script, and FP7A 1404. It was not a particularly cold day, whatever the photo suggests.
I remember it was a Sunday, because it was at the tail end of Reading Week/Spring Break at Carleton University. A bunch of us geology students had been in Florida looking at the rocks, woke up and checked out of our campsite on Saturday morning, spent all day and evening in Miami (watched Mel Brooks' High Anxiety, as I recall), flew a red-eye to Dorval, caught the Voyageur bus home to Ottawa, arriving around 0930 Sunday morning. Home with no sleep yet, and about to hit the sack, when Bruce Chapman called to see if I wanted to go to Smiths Falls. Of course I did. So this was on the trip there; the shots from the day were worth skipping sleep.
Fred

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Definitely worth skipping sleep.
Bob

Lovely shot Fred, in focus despite the lack of sleep...but we were young then, able to stay up all night and function the next day.

Ashton, ON was mile 23.0 on the Carleton Place sub.  The King's Highway was not 17 but Highway 7.  Highway 7 has been 4-laned and the bridge that you are standing on has been replaced by two lower bridges (more like large box culverts)  that span the Trans-Canada Trail which replaced most of the Carleton Place sub from Ottawa to Carleton Place.

Gerry Gaugl
Ottawa ON

moonliter Wrote:
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> Lovely shot Fred, in focus despite the lack of
> sleep...but we were young then, able to stay up
> all night and function the next day.
>
> Ashton, ON was mile 23.0 on the Carleton Place
> sub.  The King's Highway was not 17 but Highway
> 7.  Highway 7 has been 4-laned and the bridge
> that you are standing on has been replaced by two
> lower bridges (more like large box culverts) 
> that span the Trans-Canada Trail which replaced
> most of the Carleton Place sub from Ottawa to
> Carleton Place.
>
> Gerry Gaugl
> Ottawa ON

Gerry,
Thanks for filling in details, and correcting me on the highway number. In my mind it was Highway 7, but my log book had Highway 17 written in, so I trusted it rather than my 40-year memory. I drove that road often enough in the late 80s, I should have remembered. My log book has now been corrected. Oops. One day Bruce took me along on a chase that included catching a Chalk River Sub peddlar dropping off one box car at the Purina elevator at Ashton. Some year (or sooner) I'll scan and post.
Fred