The good doctor and I have been planning to get together to do a little railfanning and maybe poke around some of the old industrial areas in his neck of the woods for some time now. Hamilton, where Wayne lives is home to big steel so we met on the outskirts.
I'll just skip the part of the day where I missed the turnoff, made a slightly panicked cell call, and reached our rendezvous point half an hour late!
We started our tour near the famous Bayview Junction. No trains showed up but it was a great view from the bridge.
Next, we headed over to the gritty side of town, to see what we could of Stelco, one of Canada's 2 largest steel companies. On the way, we passed this loading dock. Always on the lookout for clutter to model I took several shots. Here's one of them.
Our first good look at part of the massive Stelco complex. Like most heavy industry in North America, Hamilton's steel industry is a shadow of it's former self. Still, lots of impressive structures remain.
Just as we got to the water's edge, they dumped some slag and this massive plume went up.
A closer look at one of the remaining blast furnaces.
Wayne can tell you in detail what each of these buildings are. I'm afraid that apart from the blast furnace I've already forgotten.
Couldn't resist this "arty" shot.
All this fun was making us hungry, so we hit the road for St Catharines, home of the Welland Canal, a nice little train store, and McDonalds.
On the way. we passed this van burning like crazy at the side of the road. For some reason Wayne didn't want to slow down to let me get a good shot... muttering something about exploding gas tanks he sped by!
Happily fed we head for the hobby shop. Sorry I don't have pix of all the goodies. Suffice to say I now have a new Rapido coach in CP livery, a way-too-modern-for-my-layout Chev Impala, and best find -- the brass switch targets I've been searching for everywhere. :thumb:
It was getting late in the afternoon by the time we got to the Welland Canal, a series of lift locks, but our timing turned out to be perfect for a little "ship-fanning".
We headed up to the observation platform -- a cold and windy place, upon whose chilly prow I refected that I could never be a sailor! Yes I am a wimp!
We were in luck though as we saw a big "laker" approaching on the horizon.
Ever the gentleman, Wayne suggested we find a warmer spot to wait for the ship. Ever lazy and self indulgent, I agreed.
The sides of the lock are about 80 ft high, and I'd estimate that the distance the ship is lifted is between 50 - 70 ft. A couple more photo's of the general layout of the lock.
Here she comes! It's a very tight fit with only about 5 ft on either side of the ship.
Night was falling fast, as I snapped these last 2. It's pretty amazing to watch how fast the ship gets lifted up in the lock.
All in all it was a great day out, with excellent company, perfect weather and a little bit of everything! Hope you enjoyed the photos.
Val
I'll just skip the part of the day where I missed the turnoff, made a slightly panicked cell call, and reached our rendezvous point half an hour late!
We started our tour near the famous Bayview Junction. No trains showed up but it was a great view from the bridge.
Next, we headed over to the gritty side of town, to see what we could of Stelco, one of Canada's 2 largest steel companies. On the way, we passed this loading dock. Always on the lookout for clutter to model I took several shots. Here's one of them.
Our first good look at part of the massive Stelco complex. Like most heavy industry in North America, Hamilton's steel industry is a shadow of it's former self. Still, lots of impressive structures remain.
Just as we got to the water's edge, they dumped some slag and this massive plume went up.
A closer look at one of the remaining blast furnaces.
Wayne can tell you in detail what each of these buildings are. I'm afraid that apart from the blast furnace I've already forgotten.
Couldn't resist this "arty" shot.
All this fun was making us hungry, so we hit the road for St Catharines, home of the Welland Canal, a nice little train store, and McDonalds.
On the way. we passed this van burning like crazy at the side of the road. For some reason Wayne didn't want to slow down to let me get a good shot... muttering something about exploding gas tanks he sped by!
Happily fed we head for the hobby shop. Sorry I don't have pix of all the goodies. Suffice to say I now have a new Rapido coach in CP livery, a way-too-modern-for-my-layout Chev Impala, and best find -- the brass switch targets I've been searching for everywhere. :thumb:
It was getting late in the afternoon by the time we got to the Welland Canal, a series of lift locks, but our timing turned out to be perfect for a little "ship-fanning".
We headed up to the observation platform -- a cold and windy place, upon whose chilly prow I refected that I could never be a sailor! Yes I am a wimp!
We were in luck though as we saw a big "laker" approaching on the horizon.
Ever the gentleman, Wayne suggested we find a warmer spot to wait for the ship. Ever lazy and self indulgent, I agreed.
The sides of the lock are about 80 ft high, and I'd estimate that the distance the ship is lifted is between 50 - 70 ft. A couple more photo's of the general layout of the lock.
Here she comes! It's a very tight fit with only about 5 ft on either side of the ship.
Night was falling fast, as I snapped these last 2. It's pretty amazing to watch how fast the ship gets lifted up in the lock.
All in all it was a great day out, with excellent company, perfect weather and a little bit of everything! Hope you enjoyed the photos.
Val
