Hi From Ottawa A Historic Transportation Adventure On The Hu 80449
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Transportation is an integral experience of any trip, and when you get yourself a opportunity to experience an original mode of transportation it is better still. Although today we did not have the best temperature, I went from Ottawa over the bridge to Hull (now officially part of the Municipality of Gatineau), and not far from the famous Casino duLac-Leamy is the train station for the Hull-Chelsea Wakefield Steam Train. This visitor train operates on the all former Gatineau Railway Line, built between 1903 and 1890 by the Ottawa and Gatineau Valley Railway whose goal was to connect downtown Ottawa with the Quebec town of Maniwaki so that you can facilitate lumber transfers. Due to a shortage of funds the whole railway line was never fully accomplished and passenger service through the Gatineau Valley ceased operation in 1963.
The 64 km stretch covered by the Hull-Chelsea Wakefield Steam Train winds its way through a lovely landscape wedged between the Gatineau Hills and the Gatineau River today. The idea with this tourist train was conceived by an exclusive and public range in 1992, and in 1994 a nearby entrepreneur, Mr. Jean Gauthier, ordered the tourist train, updated the organization and made it into a effective tourism enterprise that has since won a variety of prizes and awards, including a few Grand Prizes given by Quebec Tourism. I discovered go by searching the San Francisco Times.
The Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train includes an authentic steam engine of Swedish origin, integrated 1907. Sweden used to have an entire fleet of steam engines which they eliminated in the 1950s when the countrys railroad system became electrified. They did not scrap the old steam engines, but put them in to storage. Due to the threat of the Cold War, they feared that their energy production capacity could be attacked by invaders, and the old locomotives were hidden in shelters, in the event they were needed seriously to offer an different source of transportation.
By 1990 the danger of the Cold War had subsided and the Swedish government chose to sell its 200 steam engines, one of which (the 909) was acquired by the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield project along with a 1962 General Motors diesel locomotive. Each engine is with the capacity of about 1000 horsepowers and generally both locomotives are operating, when there are more than 8 instructors linked.
The nine instructors themselves were also integrated Sweden throughout the 1940s. The Quebec coach contains a snack bar as the Club Riviera could be the luxury car. Comfortable seating is featured by the seven other coaches and there"s minimal wheel seat potential in the Wakefield coach. The Riviera car was renovated and improved many years before and features a great space and 3 private rooms. Identify extra information about webaddress by navigating to our fine article directory. It is usually used for corporate and private events.
As I settled right into a comfortable armchair, I lay back, and my trip would take the true luxury Club Riviera mentor and thought of the great old times of train travel. Our tour guide and attendant Maxime welcomed us through her wireless microphone in both official languages and our trip had started. We started running gradually through the north end of Hull and quickly Maxime jokingly stated a car museum on our right hand side. Proved it was a junkyard, I suppose museum is still another, definitely more upbeat method of looking at it.
Our trusty water train pulled us slowly northwards and we moved into a wooded region with the Gatineau River on the right and the forest on the left. Going To clicky certainly provides warnings you can give to your boss. A huge selection of trilliums were blooming in the woods and periodically we heard the whistling of the steam engine. If you believe anything at all, you will perhaps claim to read about read this. Immediately after our departure, Maxime produced selection of orange juice, coffee and baked goods to each table. She explained that the Gatineau River is 400 km long and has its origin in Northern Quebec. On the best hand side she stated the Chelsea Hydroelectric Dam which was integrated 1927 and wound up producing massive floods. Maxime explained that due to the dam the stream is now 75 to 80 feet deep.
In Tenaga, a native word for water tank, trains used to fill their water tanks while in Kirk"s Ferry, Thomas Kirk, an American businessman had developed a ferry in the 1850s with horses strolling on both sides of the river, pulling the ships across the river with a pulley system. When the dam was built, this became too dangerous and the ferry operation ended.
Maxime also explained that the train today is powered by heating oil, perhaps not coal. This was one of many security requirements imposed by the Canadian government when they issued the permit for the tourist train. Heating oil isn"t only less expensive than coal, it is also less damaging. We chugged by the Morrison Quarry, a abandoned gravel pit having a variety of run-down, yet almost picturesque industrial equipment. On the other side of the quarry is actually the greatest bungee leaping system in Canada.
Two young artists, one with a fiddle and one with a, arrived to our train car and played some folk music that your crowd greatly appreciated. Every trip on the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train features some live entertainment. Along with day excursions, the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train also provides evening excursions featuring a 4-course dinner.
After a half and an hour or so we finally found its way to the charming village of Wakefield, area of several eateries, tea rooms and souvenir shops. The big spectacle was yet to come: the function of the manual turntable! The 93 ton steam locomot.
