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| CP ~ PAGE HERSEY SPUR 1986 - JUNE 2003 | MILE |
| Jct. with CP Welland Industrial Lead | 0.0 |
| Ontario & Dain Avenue | 0.35 |
No trackage exists on this line.
Mile 0.0 (Jct. with CP Welland Industrial Lead) Plymouth Road, Welland : The CP Page Hersey Spur switch was once located here, west of the old WX tower location of the former NYC/MC/PC Mainline. The switch was located
behind the Polish Community Hall.
Mile 0.35 (Welland Pipe) : Ontario Road at Dain Avenue, Welland : This was the entrance to Welland Pipe, formerly Page Hersey Works. It is located at the intersection of Plymouth Road-Dain Avenue and Ontario Road.
The CP Page Hersey Spur was a short lead off of the CP Welland Industrial Lead, since at least the Welland Canal relocation project. Before that, as i have ween told by a couple of Welland residents is that before the Polish Community hall was put in, the line used to run directly along Ontario Road then cross at the intersection.
Page Hersey is an old name relating to the operations on the Stelpipe plant in downtown Welland. It was once a line operated by the Penn Central, Conrail and then CP, though CP still owns it.
As far back as my knowledge goes, Penn Central serviced this plant via the this Page Hersey Spur. When the buyout of Conrail's operations by CN and CP in 1986 in southern Ontario,
CP exclusively took over operations on the Spur. All interchanges for Page Hersey Spur over the last many years were made through the interchange yard on the present trackage just north of CN Tunnelbridge on the CN Canal Spur.
Before the early 1970's, this line came off of the CN Canal Spur and ran along the north side of Ontario Road, approximately 20 feet from the road and ran along Ontario Road until the intersection with Dain Avenue, where it crossed just prior to being torn out in 2003.
The line was then realigned to run back to the CP Welland Industrial Lead approximately 100 feet or so north of Ontario Road and junction into the CP Welland Industrial Lead.
During the mid 1990's, CP discontinued service to this business and gave the business to CN. CP wanted to give up servicing industries off of the CP Welland Industrial Lead, because it wasn't profitable.
Back during CP services, a yard job out of CP Welland Yard, on of Riverside Drive (CP Welland yard),
traveled the CP Welland Industrial Lead to Welland, across the old Welland Canal bridge to service the industries.
CN was given the switching duties and provided them out of CN Welland Yard (Dain City Intermodal Yard). When Dain City closed, CN 549 service Page Hersey when ever required while in town on Wednesdays.
The one thing to take note is that CP still owns the CP Welland Industrial Lead and the CP Page Hersey Spur. That is why you will not find any of
CN's yellow emergency stickers on the equipment boxes beside the crossings.
There was only one time I saw the CP yard job in downtown Welland. It was a coincidence, because I was just getting into trains in Welland and I wasn't prepared about the going-ons in the city with trains. I got the train at the King Street crossing the on the CP Welland Industrial Lead.
During 1997, the CP Page Hersey Spur was off limits, due to a 7 month strike at the plant. The plant strike began in November 1996 and ended in mid 1997. Shortly after the strike ended, CN went in and got the empty cars left on the plant's property.
I never saw any rail cars shipped out after that as I was told that it was cheaper to ship by truck to Hamilton and load the pipe on rail cars, then it was to load them on rail cars in Welland.
In late May of 2003 Stelpipe placed their 45 ton locomotive out by the intersection of Dain Ave and Ontario Road for Trillium to remove it from site. Rail within the plant was entirely ripped out. I was told that the person/business that bought the rail from the plant also bought the locomotive.
In late 2002 or in early 2003, Stelpipe began to ship by rail via truckloads by M. J. Jones trucking located at the former site of the Dain City Intermodal facility. M. J. Jones takes the pipe on flatbeds which were used to ship it out of the plant
and placed into lumber cars and moved out by Trillium to TR Feeder yard where the CN local would then take them out with the interchange traffic from Trillium.
On June 24, 2003, the Stelpipe unit was moved out of the plant shortly after 8am and placed out to the switch to the CP Welland Industrial Lead and I caught it sitting at the switch about 9:30am. I went home to get my bike and came back and by the time I got back, it had disappeared! Location at the time was unknown. I later found out a few days later it had been driven down to be stored at a plant at Montrose on the CP Montrose Subdivision. This unit later became ownership of Trillium and became their # 45 unit.
The CP Page Hersey Spur was ripped up in August 7, 2003.
While this line existed, I had the opportunity by just pure luck to catch CN and the Page Hersey unit out on the trackage outside of the gate. I had no idea of what was going on.
On a few photos within the plant, you can see a piece of yellow steel beamed apparatus next to the tracks. This was installed to load the railcars, but I was told by a friend of my who is now retired from there, that they bent the device shortly after it was installed. I guess the idea was abandoned.
 Mile 0.0 Looking West (1998) |
 Mile 0.0 Looking West (2003) |
 Mile 0.0 Looking East (2003) |
 Mile 0.0 Looking North (2003) |
 Mile 0.15 Looking North (1994) |
 Mile 0.20 Looking West (2003) |
 Mile 0.20 Looking East (2003) |
 Mile 0.30 Looking West (2003) |
 Mile 0.30 Looking East (2003) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking West (1994) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking South (2003) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking South (1994) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking South (1995) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking South (2003) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking South (1995) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking South (2003) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking South (2003) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking South (2003) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking South (2003) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking South (1995) |
 Mile 0.35 Looking East (2003) |
