The story of South River could not be complete without a trek down the tracks and look at the images of the railroad. Here is a picture of the Grand Trunk Railway Station. This picture was part of a series of postcards made to celebrate the 75th anniversary of South River(1907-1982). The Grand Trunk Railway was incorporated in 1852 with the purpose to establish railroad lines through the provinces of Canada. The Grand Trunk Railway merged with the Canadian National Railroad in January of 1910.
A locomotive and train cars, of the Grand Trunk Railway, heading to the North. From the 1890s through World War One the Grand Trunk Railway developed its lines in a massive expansion project. Behind the train is the South River Train Station and a train can be seen coming into the station.
Another locomotive sitting in the South River Train station getting ready to take its cars up to the North.
Another picture of the South River Train station with a train sitting in front of it. There are people milling around the station. The South River Train Station was a busy place back in the day.
A train waiting at the South River Train Station. The walkway is covered in ice. There is snow here and there near the train wheels.
A fixture at the South River Train yard. This is a coal chute. This was the gas pump of the locomotive. Just drive under, open the chute and the coal will drop into the coal car.
This is the coal chute at the South River Train Yard. In this artist's rendition we see what this structure would have looked like in its heyday. The coal chute could only look this good in a picture. Again this was part of a series of postcards created to help celebrate the 75th anniversary of South River(1907-1982).
This is what the coal chute looks like after years of disuse. The coal chute's chute has disappeared. The train tracks, however, are still there. The silo is beginning to rust. Whether this structure is still standing or not is unknown.
The Grand Trunk Railroad Bridge allowed trains access to the town of South River by crossing the South River. You can see another part of the South River economy floating under the bridge. Those logs are going to be processed somewhere down the river, likely at the Standard Chemical Company.
This is what the Grand Trunk Railroad Bridge looks like circa 1985. Unfortunately only half the bridge can be seen. This iron bridge is still strong and can be used at this time. It looks like the logging industry has gone down hill. There are no logs passing under the bridge.
Another Grand Trunk Railroad Train going to the town of South River. This time the train is passing over, not just a bridge, but a viaduct. What is a viaduct? Well, a viaduct covers an open span which is roughly equal height on either side, and this opening was created by erosion, usually a river, in an otherwise flat area.
There goes another Grand Trunk Railroad train along the viaduct. This one going in the opposite direction.
One of the primary uses of the train in South River was hauling lumber from the expansive forests to one of the number of lumber mills in the area. This picture has a train 'Hauling Birch' from the wilderness to civilization.
When logging was done out in the middle of nowhere men would live in logging camps. Trains would play an important part to these men. The trains would bring in supplies for men of the camp. This train was just used for delivering supplies. They should be bringing up food and bringing back timber to save time and money.
This is what it looks like when a log train has been loaded up and ready to be transported. If you look to the left there are more logs ready to be loaded when the next group of empty cars are ready to be loaded.
To get an idea of size and scale of these trains and their loads. There is a man sitting on the end of the logs in the second car. The diametre of those logs are as big as his chest!
The locomotive is switching the line so that it can pickup a load of train cars. These train cars will be brought back to the Standard Chemical Company and be turned into lumber.
