InsulatorHunter
05-08-2007, 11:09 PM
I was wondering if anybody knew the date when the [rail] line was abandoned and/or removed and if at any point there were telegraph poles that followed it.
Also, having looked at some excellent old photos in the galleries of this site, notice that the large hydro towers/pylons that line the beach seem to have been upgraded or replaced somewhat recently when compared to those pictured in photographs pre-1960.
The old hydro towers were likely replaced with the ones currently in place in either late 1969 to early 1970. Now I'm 44, I may appear to be of questionable authority on this question. However, consider this.
The old towers show up in a popular postcard of the skyway which is from 1968. And the new towers (particularly the directional tower just after the lift bridge on the Hamilton side) is visible in a nighttime image of the skyway from 1971, taken from about Aldershot. It appears in the publication "Pardon My Lunchbucket".
Additionally, there is a picture taken along Van Wagners facing the Beach Strip taken in 1973 (that appears on this forum). One of the old towers sits abandoned alongside the current set that exist now.
Now the railway tracks. The first interruption to the line actually came along in mid 1976 when the demolition of the QEW traffic circle began (at Hwy 20). There were two rail bridges that carried the tracks over the circle. The tracks were dead ended on the south side where the Waxman/General Concrete parking lot was (today's WalMart). And they were also dead ended on the north side, which nowadays is right where the southbound Red Hill Valley overpass now begins.
The final dig up of the tracks occurred in 1983 (June, I think), when the construction a new bypass alignment (now known as Eastport Drive) necessitated the expansion of the lift bridge to four lanes.
One other thing. There used to be a hydro line that ran parallel to the skyway. It was an extension of the line that passes Dofasco (visible north of Centre Mall). Those were removed in October of 1982 to facilitate the skyway twinning.
Cheers,
Jody Thornton