Ottawa Valley Railway

[Watchman]

Sunday 09:00 a.m. August 07, 2011 becomes a very sad day, as the first load of rails from the Ottawa Valley Railway rolled eastward from the Renfrew area.

[Dado]

I saw the rail recovery train roll south through Almonte on Sunday, interrupting a puppet festival.

The break of line took place just south of where CN's Beachburg Subdivision crosses over the CPR Chalk River Subdivision southeast of Pembroke, with the rails being lifted from that point southwards for 25 miles. While that is hardly good news for Renfrew County, the fact that the break took place south of Pembroke means that there is still a continuous line of rail from Ottawa to western Canada without going through Toronto and that an opportunity, however remote, still exists to preserve that link.

With the outside chance of saving a short bit of track in Arnprior, possibly as far as Renfrew, and connecting that to the remnants of the Renfrew Subdivision in Arnprior, the rest of the line to the south is now doomed. It's too bad that CP didn't start the lifting south of Arnprior rather than just south of Pembroke, but they did.

[SFT1ST]

Originally Posted by GoTrans

Here we go again. If CN and CP had been forced to merge their operations in the Ottawa Valley in the 1980's we would not have trains from Montreal to Western Canada being diverted to Toronto. We would have saved a good portion of the 400$ million that the government is spending on triple tracking CN mainline from Montreal to Toronto because there would be enough capacity to run more frequent and faster passenger trains. More importantly there would have been enough density on the Ottawa Valley route to maintain service and save the route as a future passenger route. Daily service between Sudbury/North Bay or Noranda/North Bay and Ottawa/Montreal could be implemented running at a reasonable speed. Without sufficient density the line can never pay for itself no matter who owns it, including Ontario Northland or another government agency.

Its official, the tracks are being removed by a company from Kansas. 25 miles are being removed in the Cobden/Pembroke Area work started on Tuesday last week. CP claims the equipment removed will go into the rest of the network and the remaining track between Smiths Falls and Mattawa will over the next few years be removed.

[Watchman]

March 12,2012 Saw a return of Rail construction equipment to the Ottawa Valley line. The Rail Train is expected within the next week, and removal of the line from Renfrew to Smiths Falls will begin.

[Dado]

Well at least the removals for now are going to be on the south side of the break of line and not the north side.

Too bad that the towns of Renfrew and Arnprior didn't get together to at least purchase the track between Arnprior and Renfrew. Even though that track is nominally stranded, it's less than half a kilometre across an open field to the spur line (confusingly the Renfrew Subdivision) from Ottawa serving the Nylene plant in Arnprior.

[Watchman]

The last train has left Renfrew on the CP line heading towards Smiths Falls, taking all rail with it. By next week they will be at the Castleford crossing where the last siding is located west of the Madawaska River in Arnprior.

[Watchman]

Well the removal from Renfrew to Arnprior is almost complete, with only minor cleanup to be done. The CWR train is sitting in Arnprior ready to begin lifting rail toward Pakenham/Almonte. Should happen in the next few days, another "spike in the coffin" if you will pardon the pun.

[Dado]

I guess Renfrew won't be getting commuter rail to Ottawa any time soon now.

Meanwhile, the local pols want Hwy 17 twinned through Renfrew County, partly due to the number of transports using the highway:

http://www.cbc.ca/video/watch/News/C.../ID=2240857968

[Kitchissippi]

Anyone know what's going to happen to the ROW between Carleton Place and Smiths Falls?
Sad as I am to see the railway go, I would really like to see this section turned into a trail. It's the only missing piece to link the Ottawa Trailway with the Cataraqui Trail/K&P, forming a continuous off-road cycleable trail From Ottawa to Kingston.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Anyone know what's going to happen to the ROW between Carleton Place and Smiths Falls?

Lanark County has expressed interest in acquiring the whole portion through Lanark County for a trail, as has Renfrew County for the portion through Renfrew County. That leaves of course a tiny segment in Ottawa and which Ottawa would have no particular reason to acquire, so hopefully the counties will do it.

Interestingly, Ottawa owns the former Carleton Place Sub all the way to the Carleton Place town line, which means it owns part of the alignment through Lanark County (Beckwith Township) between Ashton Rd and Carleton Place as none of the county, township or Carleton Place had the resources at the time to acquire it. Carleton Place owns the portion within Carleton Place itself, part of which is now a road.

Sad as I am to see the railway go, I would really like to see this section turned into a trail. It's the only missing piece to link the Ottawa Trailway with the Cataraqui Trail/K&P, forming a continuous off-road cycleable trail From Ottawa to Kingston.

True in the strictest sense, but we're actually missing a piece in Ottawa too: from Bells Corners near Moodie Drive to the north side of the Queensway at Moodie - basically we're missing a segment along Moodie.

Of course the Kingston end leaves much to be desired as well - it just sort of ends in an industrial park off Sir John A near the 401.

You'd also have to figure out how to tie the two together in Smiths Falls (which isn't going to be easy, since you have to get across the CP mainline AND CP is keeping the first half mile or so in Smiths Falls for a wye AND you have to get across the Rideau somehow), and technically you'd be missing a short bit in Carleton Place as well as it was turned into a road.

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by Dado

True in the strictest sense, but we're actually missing a piece in Ottawa too: from Bells Corners near Moodie Drive to the north side of the Queensway at Moodie - basically we're missing a segment along Moodie.

Of course the Kingston end leaves much to be desired as well - it just sort of ends in an industrial park off Sir John A near the 401.

You'd also have to figure out how to tie the two together in Smiths Falls (which isn't going to be easy, since you have to get across the CP mainline AND CP is keeping the first half mile or so in Smiths Falls for a wye AND you have to get across the Rideau somehow), and technically you'd be missing a short bit in Carleton Place as well as it was turned into a road.

The NCC's Greenbelt Pathway connects with the trail after it crosses over Robertson Road, so while slightly circuitous, it's connected all the way to Parliament Hill.

I rode the trail out to Carleton Place in the spring and the town has built a bike path beside Coleman Street all the way to the old station where it stops. From there, it's a matter of building a pathway for 3 blocks to the old railway line. They've also built a pathway connection that runs along McNeely to Hwy 7.

In Smiths Falls, they could use some local streets and maybe reuse the old bridge that used to lead directly into the Cataraqui.

It would not be difficult for Kingston to carve out bike lanes/paths from the K&P Trail to its downtown waterfront if there is public demand and political will.

I've been on rail trails in the US that have been so successful, they're pumping millions into the local communities along the way. The Great Allegheny Passage is a good example, it runs from Pittsburgh PA to Cumberland, MD with a connection all the way to Washington DC. That particular trail contributes about $40 million annually to the economies of the small towns on its route.