Orangeville-Brampton Railway (OBRY)

[Allandale25]

I want to take this moment to share some information about this line that people may not know.

Thanks for all that wonderful history alexanderglista. Great to know!

Also, I'm sure Rapido is still looking for donations to help restore the RDC so if you're in a position to donate here's the link: http://rapidotrains.com/saving-6133-update/

Every little bit helps!

 

[smallspy]

Over the years I've seen people post here that one option to reduce costs would be to abandon the OBRY track south of the CN Halton sub and interchange with CN rail. There used to be a connection track at the diamond before it was removed. Of course, this might not save any money because transferring cars via CN could take more time.

The connection to CN is a non-starter - CN simply is not interested in interchanging (directly) with OBRY, plus they'd likely lose a number of currently active industries south of the diamond.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

1 dead, another airlifted to hospital after car and freight train collide in Brampton
http://globalnews.ca/news/2626745/t...in-collide-in-brampton-peel-ems/?sf23989812=1

I don't agree at all with any crossing inside a busy metropolitan area like the GTA not having a crossing barrier protecting it. I don't care if it turns out these people were irresponsible idiots who clearly disregarded the available warning signs. Lights on a crossbuck off to the side of the road and bells alone are not sufficient.

Plus it's not just about improving safety for road users. I'm worried about the safety of train crews and their passengers. While the running gear of trains is far more solid and reinforced than a motor vehicle, the side of the engine cab itself can easily be penetrated by the resulting kinetic projectiles from a collision if they are deflected high enough and same goes for passenger equipment. Those thin aluminum shells are not going to protect you from injury or worse if objects from a high speed collision become elevated. While the line has no passenger service for now that might change in the future. It may not be viable to grade separate a roadway like Sandalwood from a short line railway but there is absolutely no excuse for the city not to install gates instead at a fraction of the cost.

If the Brampton CN third track goes in, doesn't the option to curve the OBRY onto it and sever the southern portion become more attractive given the need to replace the diamond with an even more expensive one in both money and operational compromises? They could look at a grade separation I guess to retain the CP routing but that would be challenging to put it mildly.

The one way low speed diamond might be more expensive to install but over the long haul it is exponentially cheaper to maintain since there is no gap for the frequent Halton sub traffic and there are no speed restrictions either. The very light rail traffic operating on the Owen Sound sub is instead limited to 10mph over the diamond. This greatly reduces the wear and tear compared to the previous set up.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

I don't agree at all with any crossing inside a busy metropolitan area like the GTA not having a crossing barrier protecting it. I don't care if it turns out these people were irresponsible idiots who clearly disregarded the available warning signs. Lights on a crossbuck off to the side of the road and bells alone are not sufficient.

Plus it's not just about improving safety for road users. I'm worried about the safety of train crews and their passengers. While the running gear of trains is far more solid and reinforced than a motor vehicle, the side of the engine cab itself can easily be penetrated by the resulting kinetic projectiles from a collision if they are deflected high enough and same goes for passenger equipment. Those thin aluminum shells are not going to protect you from injury or worse if objects from a high speed collision become elevated. While the line has no passenger service for now that might change in the future. It may not be viable to grade separate a roadway like Sandalwood from a short line railway but there is absolutely no excuse for the city not to install gates instead at a fraction of the cost.



The one way low speed diamond might be more expensive to install but over the long haul it is exponentially cheaper to maintain since there is no gap for the frequent Halton sub traffic and there are no speed restrictions either. The very light rail traffic operating on the Owen Sound sub is instead limited to 10mph over the diamond. This greatly reduces the wear and tear compared to the previous set up.

I agree - lights and bells are easy to ignore. 99% of crossings should have barrier arms.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

I was passing through Orangeville today, so I took the opportunity to take some pictures of the Orangeville yard.

Here is the GO Transit sign at the entrance to the station. As we all know, GO Trains don't stop here... but buses do!

Here is another angle, looking south at the yard, with the Credit Valley Explorer parked.

Here is the Credit Valley Explorer's dome car. Who said CP stopped pulling passenger trains!

This is Rapido Trains' VIA Rail Sleeper Car, Edmundston. It is currently being restored, and the new VIA blue paint job looks great.

I was under the impression that this caboose was being temporarily being stored here, but the "ORXX" lettering makes me think it is going to be here on a more permanent basis. In the background is the Glad plant, a customer on the OBRY.

And a final shot of the Credit Valley Explorer, lead by CP power, parked at Orangeville Station.

 

[smallspy]

I was passing through Orangeville today, so I took the opportunity to take some pictures of the Orangeville yard.

Here is the Credit Valley Explorer's dome car. Who said CP stopped pulling passenger trains!

CP has been running their own passenger trains for quite some time - look up the Royal Canadian Pacific.

And for the record, that dome is an ex-Wabash dome, later owned by Amtrak. It has never been owned by CP.

This is Rapido Trains' VIA Rail Sleeper Car, Edmundston. It is currently being restored, and the new VIA blue paint job looks great.

That is a temporary coat of exterior latex paint. It will get a proper coat of automotive paint later this year.

I was under the impression that this caboose was being temporarily being stored here, but the "ORXX" lettering makes me think it is going to be here on a more permanent basis. In the background is the Glad plant, a customer on the OBRY.

It is temporarily being stored here, but it is also owned by the same organization that owns the dome car and one of the two ex-CN coaches - Ontario Rail Enterprises.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

CP has been running their own passenger trains for quite some time - look up the Royal Canadian Pacific.

And for the record, that dome is an ex-Wabash dome, later owned by Amtrak. It has never been owned by CP.



That is a temporary coat of exterior latex paint. It will get a proper coat of automotive paint later this year.



It is temporarily being stored here, but it is also owned by the same organization that owns the dome car and one of the two ex-CN coaches - Ontario Rail Enterprises.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

Thanks for the clarity! I know the dome was Wabash, but I didn't know about Ontario Rail Enterprises owning the two ex-CN coaches. Any idea of what it costs the CVE to use them?

 

[crs1026]

And if it wasn's said previously, the CP locomotive on the OBRY is a temporary loaner. The OBRY's own power failed recently, and will be replaced shortly. Any resemblance to OBRY being a CP operation is unintentional, or at least an act of nostalgia.

- Paul

 

[SaugeenJunction]

And if it wasn's said previously, the CP locomotive on the OBRY is a temporary loaner. The OBRY's own power failed recently, and will be replaced shortly. Any resemblance to OBRY being a CP operation is unintentional, or at least an act of nostalgia.

- Paul

We've been lucky in the past few years to have seen so much CP power on the OBRY - a blast from the past!

 

[smallspy]

Any idea of what it costs the CVE to use them?

I don't, nor have I ever asked. But considering that the two organizations are somewhat related to each other, I'm sure that whatever arrangements they've come to are mutually beneficial.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[ShonTron]

The caboose looks like it used to be the property of Babcock and Wilcox, which did (still does?) its own switching at its Cambridge plant.

 

[steveintoronto]

The caboose looks like it used to be the property of Babcock and Wilcox, which did (still does?) its own switching at its Cambridge plant.

Shon: I believe from an earlier reference, you're a Guelphite. I used to have a studio for five years until 6 months ago on the 'Y' @ Alice St in The Ward. There was an early steel caboose resident on the spur behind 'the old tire factory' @ Huron and Alice. That spur now pulled up about a year back, and the 'kept' caboose gone. That was my first thought when I saw Alex' pic, but you might be right on Babcock and Wilcox one. Guelph also had a CP line running through (with overhead rights on the Guelph Junction, which made a 40% take of all shipping fees CP got from customers served even on their own extension to Goderich.)(No wonder CP let their lease lapse) The track west of Guelph for about a mile is still extant, (and ostensibly now owned by GJR or the City directly, which owns the GJR) then becomes the Kissing Bridge Trail (multi-purpose, as intended for the Dufferin Trail, but *excellent* for cycling, very smooth and fast, albeit getting overgrown fast) @ County 39. Especially now the trail is being opened all the way to Goderich http://www.g2grailtrail.com/ the last link into Guelph appears as an oddity...so I had to delve on why. Like Orangeville, and a number of other orphaned RoWs, that last remaining 'spur' is more than just a headshunt for the remaining track. In Guelph's case, it's because a good chunk of the land adjacent is owned by Cargill Foods, and they intend to build rail transfer silos.

The G2G wasn't ready when I inquired to one of the trail groups last Summer, it looks like a wonderful trail, my heart raced just viewing the map at that link, plus this one: http://www.g2grailtrail.com/maps-icon/

I fully intend to do the Dufferin Trail (Called the CP Trail in some communities it runs through) up to Owen Sound when it is finished. If I can get a train ride w/bike in the same trip, so much the better! Rail Trails are not only excellent re-uses of the RoWs, they retain the possibility to reopen the RoW to rail again. One of the most exquisite runs is Cambridge south to Brantford, then the old TH&B into Hamilton, or various RoWs south to Port Dover, or a third RoW from Brantford to Hamilton, lesser known.

Thank you Alex! It's not warm enough to do distance yet, but articles like this get the blood flowing. I've crossed that RoW years back cycling distance down from Orillia west to come south to Toronto. (The Hwy 11/404/400 corridor is to be avoided at all costs when cycling, with few exceptions). And of course, the exquisite Elora-to-Cataract CP branch off the OBRY is now rail-trail. ( http://trailway.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ECTA-Trail-Map.pdf )

I thought this string topic was a bit odd at first glance, but reading all the comments and the premise, it's a treat.

 

[crs1026]

The B+W Caboose, which is originally a CN mainline caboose, was used by B_W as a "Rider car" - occupied by a B+W employee overseeing shipments from the B+W foundry. Since most of their products were dimensional loads (ie, oversize for clearances along railway lines) they required special handling en route. The B+W rider was sent along as a set of eyes that ensured that the railroads did everything they ought to do to get the load to its destination safely. The caboose was their rolling dorm and office.

The car was declared surplus to B+W's needs and purchased by a private individual. I don't know what its intended use is at Orangeville.

- Paul

 

[steveintoronto]

The B+W Caboose, which is originally a CN mainline caboose, was used by B_W as a "Rider car" - occupied by a B+W employee overseeing shipments from the B+W foundry. Since most of their products were dimensional loads (ie, oversize for clearances along railway lines) they required special handling en route. The B+W rider was sent along as a set of eyes that ensured that the railroads did everything they ought to do to get the load to its destination safely. The caboose was their rolling dorm and office.

The car was declared surplus to B+W's needs and purchased by a private individual. I don't know what its intended use is at Orangeville.

- Paul

http://dbisho.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3323527

Interesting story on that, Paul! Perhaps this particular caboose was redundant to need as this video shows an even 'cushier' one being used for B-W shipments, which would often sit for days at the Alma St yard in Guelph on the GEXR route (ex-CN mainline to K-W and west) after coming up the old GWR from Cambridge...*very* slowly. Track is in very poor shape. That line was extended by the GWR to....Orangeville! (Edit: Corrected in following post. The original Galt to Guelph was extended both ends, but Elora, Fergus, Palmerston was the next extension north by the GWR, eventually to Southampton) http://www.niagararails.com/cgi-bin/img.cgi?/maps/gwrr001.gif

That section torn up some decades back, parts now cycling trails. Remnants of the GWR (the Harrisburg section) are being used Sunday for the Paris to Ancaster Bike Race.

Uploaded on Aug 7, 2009
GEXR 580 shoves dimensional load from Babcock Wilcox Canada Inc. around the wye then heads west on the Guelph Sub.

 

[ShonTron]

The GWR through Cambridge was the CN Fergus Sub, which ran from Lyndon (between Brantford and Hamilton) to Palmerston, via Galt, Hespeler, Guelph, Elora, Fergus, and Alma. It never ran to Orangeville, but theoretically, a train could interchange from GWR/GTR/CN tracks to CP tracks near Fergus and head up to Orangeville via the CP Elora and Orangeville Subs.

Only the tracks from Galt to Guelph still exist, operated by GEXR.

I'm not from Guelph, by the way. I've done the Kissing Bridge Trail by bike from Silvercreek Parkway north of Guelph to Elmira. It is a nice trail. But since the bridge over the Grand River was removed, cyclists must detour around, through West Montrose and the covered bridge. I'd love for a better extension to Guelph, even if it meant paved shoulders along County Road 39 and bike lanes along all of Silvercreek in Guelph.