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Rule 105 Territory - Not to exceed 15 mph on entire trackage.
Mile 0.0 (Jct. with TR Canal Spur) : Ontario Road, Welland : The CP UCAR Lead runs off of the TR Canal Spur of the ladder track in the yard south of Ontario Road in Welland. This lead has only been in place since 1972 or so. The line was realigned years ago. This line is CP trackage as prior to this lead, the line used to run south off of the CP Welland Industrial Lead at Ontario Road.
There is a small area next to the trackage behind the houses that looks like park land. This is where I believe the line once headed south. The line also went onto service John Deere. Townline Road, at the south end of Welland didn't exist prior to the early 1970's.
Mile 0.6 : Dain Ave., Welland : This is the entrance into the former UCAR plant. Beyond a fence, the line continues west.
First, UCAR stands for Union Carbide. But later the name became UCAR, in the late 1980's or early 1990's. This plant was located at south end of Welland and on the south end of Page Hersey on it's own grounds. The CP Ucar Lead leads off directly from the ladder track of WR yard, south of Ontario Road, in Welland.
The present day CP UCAR Lead is not that old. It was build during the Welland Canal Relocation Project.
When I started to railfan in 1991, I took learned that the Dain City Intermodal yard yard job was used came to Welland to service this industry, along with Page Hersey, Page Hersey, being the industry immediately to the south. They used a GP9 variant.
Over the years I photographed the switcher back down to the gates to UCAR at the south end of Commercial Street.
In April 1999, UCAR ended the use of rail service and closed its plant in Welland, relocating somewhere in the U.S., resulting in most of the property being torn down.
After the plant closed, the line lay amongst the weeds with the odd run of cars being stored on the line by Trillium. Trillium once used it for a while to store their 117 loco, but it is now stored at TR Feeder West.
As I mentioned Trillium used to store their equipment inside the gates on this line but I later learned the reason for moving their equipment out. They had to go through the former plant's security every time they went on the property. Trillium just use the trackage outside of the plant to store such cars as cover hoppers like SOO 117XXX's or similar.
On February 2, 2008, the 'tower' was leveled on the property. This 'tower' was where CN used to back under. It was located at the end of the track going into the plant.
After the plant was torn down, Trillium Rwy used to park their spare S-13 # 117 on the ground inside the fence. But vandals broke windows. 117 was used for spare parts but wasn't there to be used as a power unit to work.
I believe after 2010, Trillium pulled 117 off the UCAR property and moved it elsewhere here.
After pulling property off UCAR's property, Trillium still uses the CP UCAR Lead as a dead end storage track. I guess you can say the track is to keep specific cars out of the way for easier access to other railcars there at WR yard. I see railcars parked here on the CP UCAR Lead on a regular basis.
The CP UCAR Lead still has it's track leading into and on the UCAR property as if it was waiting for another owner to set up shop and use the line.
It is year 2020 and the property I'm told still sits dormant. I was told by the city of Welland that this land is considered a hazardous chemical dump. Meant to mean that the ground is contaminated beyond the level of 'brown land'. I've been told rumors for years that there are buried PCB's in barrels on the property. But really no one really will say.
Coming back to the original location of the ROW of this line, prior to 1972 with the Welland Canal bypass, I believe this rail line originally came south off of one of the Michigan Central, NYC, Penn Central yard tracks and crossed the present CP Welland Industrial Lead via a diamond at about mile 3.65 and headed south across Ontario Road and down through what the City of Welland refers to an abandoned park area called Raillands Park, and connected into the present CP UCAR Lead, just outside the gate into the property at mile 0.6.
I believe that after the Penn Central tore out their yard between King Street and Plymouth Road, they also tore out the former CP UCAR plant lead down the the area outside of the fence at the bottom of Commercial Street. That's probably when they had CN run a replacement lead down off of the WR yard ladder track and reconnect it to the plant track, so that UCAR could be reinstated with rail service. I think it was also done for obvious reasons. To clean up and simplify trackage interruptions crossing Ontario Road.
I've always questioned why it was running off of the ladder track of the present day TR Canal Spur's WR yard.
51 photos in gallery
 Mile 0.00 Looking Northeast (2003) |
 Mile 0.00 Looking Southwest (2003) |
 Mile 0.00 Looking Southwest (2011) |
 Mile 0.00 Looking Southwest (2012) |
 Mile 0.00 Looking Southwest (2013) |
 Mile 0.00 Looking Southwest (2013) |
 Mile 0.15 Looking Northeast (2003) |
 Mile 0.15 Looking Southwest (2003) |
 Mile 0.15 Looking Southwest (2006) |
 Mile 0.15 Looking Southwest (2013) |
 Mile 0.20 Looking Northeast (2003) |
 Mile 0.20 Looking Southwest (2003) |
 Mile 0.25 Looking Southwest (2012) |
 Mile 0.30 Looking Northeast (2003) |
 Mile 0.30 Looking Southwest (2003) |
 Mile 0.40 Looking Northeast (2003) |
 Mile 0.40 Looking Northeast (2014) |
 Mile 0.40 Looking Northeast (2015) |
 Mile 0.40 Looking Southwest (2003) |
 Mile 0.45 Looking Northeast (2003) |
 Mile 0.50 Looking Northeast (2003) |
 Mile 0.50 Looking Northeast (2013) |
 Mile 0.50 Looking Southwest (2003) |
 Mile 0.50 Looking Southwest (2013) |
 Mile 0.50 Looking Southwest (2014) |
 Mile 0.50 Looking Southwest (2015) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Northeast (2003) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Northeast (2011) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Northeast (2012) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Northeast (2012) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Northeast (2012) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Northeast (2013) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Northeast (2014) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Northeast (2015) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking East (2011) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking East (2015) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Southwest (2001) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Southwest (2003) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Southwest (2007) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Southwest (2011) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Southwest (2012) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Southwest (2012) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Southwest (2012) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Southwest (2013) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Southwest (2014) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking Southwest (2015) |
 Mile 0.55 Looking West (2011) |
 Mile 0.60 Looking Southeast (2013) |
 Mile 0.60 Looking Southwest (2012) |
 Mile 0.60 Looking Southwest (2013) |
 Mile 0.82 Looking Southwest (2007) |
