I Ride The Harlem Line

Tagged: canada

Around the Country in Railroad Art

Advertisements / History

Around the Country in Railroad Art

As the weather starts to warm up, perhaps you’ve been thinking about vacation. There are plenty of cool spots that one can visit, all by train. As we’ve certainly covered on the blog before, America’s railroads had in their employ both painters and illustrators to create works to entice travelers. Leslie Ragan is certainly one of my favorites – he worked for the New York Central as well as the Budd Company – and about this time last year we were posting some of his spring-like imagery. This time I thought it would be fun to take a tour of...

Niagara Falls and the Falls Incline Railway

Photos

Niagara Falls and the Falls Incline Railway

At some point during my whole Africa trip, I’ll be visiting Victoria Falls. I’ve been warned that the area is utterly commercialized. After having visited Niagara Falls last year, I’m hardly surprised. The whole thing I think was a shock for me, after having visited Iguaçu Falls in Brasil. Brasilians like to claim that Eleanor Roosevelt said that Iguaçu made Niagara look like a “leaky faucet,” but I’ve seen no evidence as to whether she actually said that, or it was a mere story. Either way, Iguaçu is pretty big, and it is also pretty wild. I remember lots of...

Museums / Photos / Train Stories

Photos from the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre

A few weeks (months!) ago I began going through all of my yet-unposted photographs, and presented some shots from the old roundhouse in Toronto. That roundhouse is currently occupied by three different organizations, the brewery which I previously featured, a furniture store, and the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre. The TRHC is a relatively young organization, and the first part of their museum proper, in Roundhouse Park, opened in May of last year. I got a chance to visit the place at the start of their opening season, and took a ride on their mini railway. I also took lots of...

A visit to the Gare du Palais, Quebec

History / Photos / Train Stories

A visit to the Gare du Palais, Quebec

If you’ve ever seen a driver from Quebec, you may be familiar with the motto of the province: Je me souviens – which appears on the license plate. The motto translates to “I Remember” – the underlying meaning of which is open to interpretation. Most likely it refers to the rememberance of Quebec’s unique history as a colony of New France, and its current status as the sole French-speaking Canadian province. Considering this motto, the design of Quebec city’s Gare du Palais train station (saying train station is a bit redundant, as the gare portion of the name is French...

A visit to the Hôtel de Glace, Quebec

Photos

A visit to the Hôtel de Glace, Quebec

I’m pretty sick of this winter weather and snow, and I can imagine most people out there are feeling the same… especially if you’re a New Haven Line rider. Knowing that, even I have no clue why exactly I thought it would be intriguing to head up to Canada for a night in an ice hotel, and to partake in the festivities of Quebec’s Winter Carnival. I can assure you that my strange desire to sleep outside in the winter, in essentially an igloo, has been satisfied. For the rest of my life I will probably cling to my most...

Photos

The Brewery in the Roundhouse: Steam Whistle Brewing

Beer-loving railfans, rejoice! I’ve found the perfect place for you to visit… It has been quite a few months since I’ve come back from Canada (I went in June), and I have such a backlog of photos that I had intended on posting, but never got around to. Some of my Toronto photos managed to get up here a bit ago, but so far I’ve left out one of the nicer places I visited there, including the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre. The Toronto Railway Heritage Centre is a relatively young organization, and the first part of their museum proper, in...