The real world is weirder than anything you can model

[twforeman]

- or -

There really is a prototype for anything.

This was posted on reddit today. It's a photo from 1980 of a CN switcher running through someone's front yard.



The location is the corner of Ritson and Bruce in the city of Oshawa, ON.

Here's another viewpoint.


And a shot down Bruce Ave.



No signs of the railroad anymore on Google Maps. https://goo.gl/maps/vMH3hTbxLNf4jeQ89

 

[Burlington Bob]

Talk about a room with a view! I saw the top picture on Facebook a couple of days ago, but no info to go with it. Thanks for adding that!

 

[Rico]

Naw, it’s just the family car.
Sheesh, talk about taking your work home with you!
very interesting thanx!

 

[daves68]

thanks for the additional pictures and story

 

[skyliner]

The line depicted served one of the facilities at the General Motors plant in Oshawa. The plant closed in 2019 after 111 years of operation, although the rail line serving it was removed long before that.

The middle picture is on railpictures.net, although it appears the attribution has been removed or cut off.

 

[tootnkumin]

This is like the chicken and the egg question. Which came first.

 

[Goldnut]

Playing in that yard as a kid was dangerous!!

 

[Burlington Bob]

A train like that beat the heck out of any Lionel train!

 

[Iron Horseman]

No signs of the railroad anymore on Google Maps. https://goo.gl/maps/vMH3hTbxLNf4jeQ89

That would be so interesting to model. And maybe no signes at that exact spot, but follow the road (Bruce St) to the west. In street mode you can see where they filled the a turn in the cement/asphalt to the south that looks like it went into an alley. Then pop back into satellite view and you can find something called Michael Starr Trail. That is the old right of way. You can follow it south to a yard by the main line where there is an abandon yard (I found this before I found the intersection). In addition it continues across the highway into another industrial area with switchbacks.
What was harder was to figure out is where it was going to the north. In the overhead view I followed Riston until I found the lumber yard (just past the Costco which I assume used to be all industrial also), but there it was the Michael Starr Trail picks up again and goes through to where there is a sleep factory now and a Rona store across the stree. That looks like it was all industrial at one time as well.

Would be so cool to model.

 

[djstrains]

Yard Job, lol!!

 

[Patrick]

Interesting....How loud are the trains? They come so often you'll never notice!!!!

 

[J.Albert]

That's a house with "close clearance"...