I haven't been writing much lately, partly because I haven't been riding much and because I have been lazy. A case in point would be the following set of photos.
As my readers can likely tell, I have a certain fascination with trains. Among other aspects, the historic, "small-scale" connections appeal to me. One small scale bit is how trains interfaced with factories back in the day. Back in my youth, we would sometimes drive into Magog to pick up people at the bus station, then downtown near the big textile factory near the river. My brothers and I would strain to see the "little green [shunting] engine" that was usually at the ready near the loading area of the factory.
Anyway, back in July, I was biking beside the Lachine Canal when my way was blocked a short train of grain cars leaving the Ardent Mills. Ardent Mills must be among the last true industrial businesses still going at the eastern end of the Canal. It also seemingly the only one I know of that still gets its' raw materials by such an old school method of delivery. The track going to the mill also has an odd shift in level of importance. It is obviously just a little line, less than a kilometer long, but it connects with the CN mainline between Montreal and Toronto at the far end!
Now that I think of it, one fond memory I have is of watching a train stop in North Hatley. The crew detached the first few cars from the rest of the train, then put them into the siding next to the Club. They then reattached the locomotives to the rest of the train and headed off.
In other bits of biking news, a few weeks ago I was riding along de Maisonneuve with a couple of boxes of books in my bike trailer, when a guy in a truck rolled down his window to ask where had I bought the trailer. It turned out he went bike touring and thought it might be a good way of hauling his gear around. Nice to be appreciated.
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