Canada

Harry Zweers maakte in mei 2004 onderstaande foto's in North Bay, Ontario, waar het hoofdkantoor van Ontario Northland is gevestigd. Te zien zijn een stuurstandrijtuig en een restauratierijtuig van een vroeger TEE-treinstel, en de diesellocomotief die de plaats heeft ingenomen van de oorspronkelijke (en gesloopte) motorwagen. De caboose (conducteurswagen) die tussen de rijtuigen en de locomotief staat heeft weinig met dit treinstel te maken, evenals stoomloc 503 van "Temiskaming & Northern Ontario" die op hetzelfde spoor staat.

Op 29 maart 2005 is brand gesticht in de twee rijtuigen. Meer hierover verderop.

North Bay firefighters battle a fire inside three rail cars near Oak Street

Photo: Paul Chivers

'Difficult' fire damages rail cars on old CP line

Brandi Cramer. Local News - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 @ 08:00

The North Bay Fire Department was called to the scene of a blaze Tuesday evening which sent smoke billowing across Oak Street. Two train cars and a caboose parked behind the city's 503 Engine, at the end of Wells Street on the old CP Rail line, were under heavy smoke when firefighters arrived.

"The engine didn't appear to have any fire coming from it, but it did look like it had been vandalized," said Platoon Chief Richard Woodward. "The other two cars had heavy smoke emanating from them and crews had to make forcible entry to extinguish the fire."

The fire department received the call at about 6:30 p.m. and had the fire under control within an hour, said Woodward. "It's a steel type of car and it held the heat for a long period of time and it made firefighting very difficult," he said. "The crews were very exhausted from the interior attack. As you could imagine it gets very hot in there, like a pressure cooker." Woodward could not estimate the dollar amount of the damage.

The train cars, owned by the North Bay Area Museum, were known as tea train cars made in Switzerland. "They were brought here by Ontario Northland about 20 years ago as a test on the Northlander," said Ed Driedger, museum curator. "I believe the assumption was that it was fairly cold in Switzerland and they would be suitable for the climate here." But the cars were found unsuitable because they could not stay warm.

A Swiss group decided they wanted the cars as part of their own rail heritage, and refurbished the undercarriage to run them on the lines to Halifax, where they would be shipped overseas. "They didn't have enough money to do all of them so there were two cars left," Driedger said. One was a passenger car, the other a dining car. The museum acquired the cars about three years ago.

"They've been here, where they are sitting now for about a year-and-a-half in anticipation of bringing them up to the train station, I guess we'll have to wait and see what the state of them is at this point and whether or not we will be able to continue on with that plan," Driedger said. The museum hoped to refurbish the cars and possibly have them operate as a small diner, as well as a complete restoration of the caboose.

Woodward said the department was fortunate the fire was not in active rail cars which could have been carrying various types of hazardous materials. "The fact they were off-duty cars made it a plus for us. We could make an aggressive interior attack without having to worry about the crews," Woodward said.

Investigators from the North Bay Police Services and the fire department's fire prevention were to return to the scene this morning to investigate and determine whether the Ontario Fire Marshal should be called in. Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS

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