This proposal is a bit different to the other ones I've done, as the line as a whole was fairly unique. The year is 1918, on the shores of Lake Erie in southern Ontario. History Built in 1856, the L&PS was designed to provide a direct connection from the broad gauge Great Western Railway in London to Lake Erie to allow for trade with the United States. Taking 3 years to construct 24 miles of track, both the L&PS and GWR were built to 5-foot gauge, but were later converted to standard gauge. It operated as a steam railway until 1913, when the City of London, under the mayorship of Sir Adam Beck, took control of the line. Having significant stake in the Niagara Falls hydroelectric plant, the line was electrified in 1914. The substations were configured for 25 Hz operation, as that was what was produced at Niagara - this will become important later. Steam power was entirely abolished, and interurban cars were built by the Jewett Car Company with freight boxcabs provided by General Electric. The line enjoyed healthy traffic, as they had a car ferry to Conneaut in Ohio, as well as interchanges with the Pere Marquette, Michigan Central, Wabash, and Canadian National. In summer months, Lake Erie was a popular destination, and the L&PS owned an amusement park and a special station to service the beach. After World War II, ridership began to decline with an all-time peak of 1 million passengers in 1943. Technology had also moved on, and the old standard of 25 Hz power had been replaced by 60 Hz. This left London disconnected from the national grid, and in 1957 a massive door-to-door operation was carried out to replace all of the appliances in the city with new, 60 Hz compatible ones. Seeing this as an opportunity to drop passenger service, electric operations were abandoned in 1957 and two G12 locomotives were built at General Motors Diesel Division in London. In 1966, Canadian National purchased the line outright, and the section south of St. Thomas left mostly abandoned until 1988 when a heritage operation purchased it. The Route The line is just 24 miles long, with 3 major towns and a number of minor ones along the way. London As far as I can tell, no pictures of the L&PS terminal here exist online. It sat directly across from the 1856 GWR/Grand Trunk station. This was replaced by Canadian National station built in 1932 in the Art Deco style. The tracks ran down Bathurst Street to the railway's own right of way and shop complex. This arrangement can still be seen on Google Maps - the CN line does an interesting curve towards Bathurst St. and then away from it -https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9821449,-81.2339112,650a,35y,339.21h,1.84t/data=!3m1!1e3 St. Thomas St. Thomas had 5 separate railway stations, earning it the moniker of Canada's Railway Capitol. The Canada Southern Railway station (later Michigan Central, top photo) served as their headquarters, and was connected to the L&PS line via a 1/4 mile branch. Most L&PS trains instead served the Talbot Street station built as part of the electrification work. North of the station was a diamond junction with the Wabash, and south of it was the Michigan Central and Pere Marquette diamonds. Port Stanley Port Stanley had two stations, both owned by the L&PS, a small yard, and a ferry slip for traffic to Conneaut, Ohio. This route was operated by a number of ships, including the SS Marquette & Bessemer No. 2 which, along with its crew, was lost in Lake Erie on 8 December 1909. The ship was quickly replaced with the SS Marquette and Bessemer No. 2 (II), which operated rail ferry service until 1932, when it was abolished. Due to the weight of the locomotive, two idler flat cars were used to keep the locomotive off of the ferry slip and the ferry itself. Port Stanley Incline Railway Like with the Blackpool Lines proposal, I decided to throw in a little something extra. Built in the 1870s, the Incline Railway was owned by the L&PS from 1916 until closure. It worked on a fairly simple principle - one car is connected to the other via rope, and the balanced force allows for a low powered motor to pull one car up and one car down. In the 1960s, it was classed as an elevator instead of a railway, and failing to meet regulations, shut down. Both cars are preserved at the Elgin County Railway Museum. Rolling Stock The L&PS owned 9 motor cars built by the Jewett Car Company and the Kuhlman Car Company, along with 12 trailers built by Kuhlman, the St. Louis Car Company, and the Preston Car Company. St. Louis built a single express motor, numbered E1, as well. The route ideally would come packaged with the following rolling stock: L&PS Nos. 6, 8 & 10 The railway owned 3 of these all-steel coaches built in 1915 for the soon-to-be-completed electrification. Number 8 survived into preservation, and is operational at the Halton County Radial Railway. They were built as combine cars, with accommodation for both passengers and baggage/express freight. L&PS Nos. 12 & 14 Built by the Jewett Car Company in 1917, these were only coaches and had no freight compartment. Car 14 is preserved in non-operational condition at the Elgin County Railway Museum. Trailers 7, 9 & 11 The St. Louis, Monte Santo and Southern in Missouri ordered 8 of these trailer cars from the St. Louis Car Company in 1908. The SLMS&S went bankrupt shortly after, and the cars stayed in storage until 1916 due to wartime shortages of cars 3 were purchased by the L&PS, with the other 5 going to an interurban in Washington, D.C. All were scrapped. Trailers 13, 15, 17 & 19 Four of these trailers were rebuilt from steam-hauled coaches with through MU equipment and no driving cab. All were scrapped. GE Boxcabs L1, L2, & L3 3 of these were built for freight traffic in 1915. They were replaced by two G12 locomotives in 1956/57 when electrification ended. Two locos, L1 and L2, are preserved at the Elgin County Railway Museum and Halton County Radial Railway Cabooses C1 & C2 The L&PS only ever owned handful of cabooses at a time, and all were either numbered C1 or C2. Pictured is what is thought to be the original C1, which was replaced in the 1940s by another C1. The second C2 was probably originally a Pere Marquette caboose. The original C2 was destroyed in a collision with Motor Car 10 in 1918. Boxcar The boxcar was, and still is, the primary way of moving freight in the Americas. This is a wooden boxcar, as was common in the early 1900s. Possible liveries could include New York Central, Pennsylvania Railroad, Canadian National, and Wabash. Alternatives would be unbranded boxcars in different colors. Tank Car Standard rail car for carrying liquid goods such as oil and fuel. Possible liveries could include DTGX and OTLX in plain black. Gondola Again, a fairly standard rail car. Used for transporting all manner of freight, including steel, wood, and gravel. Liveries could be the same as the boxcar. Hopper Car Used for transporting coal and other aggregate, the hopper is a staple of American railroading. Liveries could be the same as the boxcar, plus plain black and red. DLC Items Of course, this isn't everything the L&PS saw in terms of traffic. A potential DLC could include the following: L&PS E1 A single express freight car was built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1915 from wood. L&PS SP1 Canadian winters can be harsh, especially on the Great Lakes. Owing to a lack of turning facilities, a dual-ended snowplow car was built to replace individual snowplows on the boxcabs which were only fitted at one end, requiring the locomotive to be turned at the end of the line. L&PS AF1 A single flanger was built to accompany the snowplow. This cleared the 'four foot' between the rails of snow to prevent buildup of ice, which could cause a derailment. L&PS Line Car Rebuilt from a caboose, this was used to inspect the overhead lines, in what could make for an interesting scenario. This was the only item of rolling stock the L&PS never assigned a number to. Final Thoughts 3 locomotives and 7 items of rolling stock (plus the incline cars) might be a bit optimistic in terms of rolling stock, but I think it really is all necessary, especially the freight stock. The London & Port Stanley, while not exactly having the greatest reputation while in operation with nicknames such as the Late & Poor Service, Lost & Presumed Sunk, and Lean, Push, & Shove, is an iconic part of interurban history and would introduce a number of new things to TSW, such as ferry loading (hopefully with the ferry leaving and returning throughout the day), flag stops, and street running. This has been by far the hardest proposal to write, with this being the second draft. What are your thoughts? Further Reading and Information Photographs and service history are sourced from Don's Depot Trainweb has fantastic sources of information The London & Port Stanley for MSTS introduced me to the line, and is well worth a look into if you have Open Rails, a free successor to MSTS. Port Stanley Terminal Rail, which operates a heritage service over the old L&PS, has a great history section Canada-Rail.com, which has lots of pictures of historic stations all over Canada
