CN WELLAND TUBE SPUR

TRACKSIDE GUIDE & PHOTOS

EX-MC FORT ERIE BRANCH | EX-NYC MAIN LINE
EX-PC MAIN LINE |  CP RUNNING RIGHTS

Present timetable listing for this line:

CN ~ WELLAND TUBE SPUR
1973 - PRESENT

MILE
Jct. with Southern Yard, CN Stamford Subdivision0.0
Hwy 1400.37
Rusholme Road0.85
Jct. with PC/CR/CP Welland Tube Lead1.1
End Of Steel1.2

Traffic movement on this line:

     Rule 105 Territory - Not to exceed 10 mph on entire trackage.


Points of interest along this line:

     Mile 0.0 (Jct. with Stamford Subdivision) : Ridge Road & Netherby Road, Welland : At mile 0.0, the CN Welland Tube Spur leads off of the ladder track of CN Southern Yard at CN Netherby Diamond, just inside the 'locked' switch at mile 16.79. Trains will lock themselves in the yard so the RTC in Toronto knows that they can't pull out of the yard.

     Mile 0.37 : Hwy 140, Welland : This is Hwy 140. The CN Tube line is parallel with the CP's line which crosses the CN Stamford Subdivision to the east. This is now the old trackage of the old NYC/MC/PC mainline which went to Fort Erie, back in the mid 1900's.

     Mile 0.85 :Rusholme Road, Welland : Rusholme Road is the crossing where Shaw Pipe and Welland Pipe were once located. Welland Pipe is located on the west side of the road, but hasn't been in business since 2002 ir early 2003. Shaw Pipe Protection was on the east side of the road a 'ways' in from the road located in the yellow factory. Shaw Pipe Protection's entrance was located on Ridge Road. Shaw Pipe Protected close when Welland Pipe closed.

     Mile 1.2 : End Of Steel : This is the end of the CN line which is located a few hundred meters east of the St. Lawrence service road along the Welland Canal bypass.


Operations on this line:

     With the demise of Welland Tubes years ago, I don't know what this line is being called since 2003ish, so I will keep calling it this. I have no access to information pertaining to this line anymore.
     The CN Welland Tube Spur is part of the old Michigan Central, New York Central and Penn Central mainline on the east side of the Welland Canal Bypass.
     Not to be confused with this being a double track xing, the CN line is the north track across Hwy 140 and the south track that since has been torn out used to be CP's Welland Tube Lead, though the CP track is technically abandoned east of Hwy 140, because it was torn out during the summer of 2002.
Once west of Hwy 140 CN & CP used each others line to get around pockets of railcars left between switches.
     With this trackage being part of the former Michigan Central, NYC, Penn Central Fort Erie Branch, this mainline was obvious cut off from anymore main line traffic going through to or from downtown Welland. After the Welland Canal bypass was opened, this former westbound track had the eastbound track tied into it east of the end of track bumper at Welland Canal. The end of track can be seen from the Canal Road, looking east.
     I was told years ago that Welland Pipe was built in 1959. I am uncertain of the date of origin of Shaw Pipe Protection. Welland Pipe closed in I believe 2003 and their building became a recycling place for waste food product. The place was under controversy for letting out a bad smell all the time. It then closed and a company called Martech open and worked on finishing up the 600 series Go train locomotives before being put into service.
     Both the CN and CP trackage passed by the two industries of Shaw Pipe Protection and Welland Pipe, following the same trackage prior to 1971, but since the early 1970's the CP line was joined into the CN line ending at the Welland Canal bypass, obviously on the east side of the canal.
     The CN Welland Tube Spur curves off of the CN Southern yard lead on the CN Stamford Subdivision at Netherby (Diamond - formerly), mile 16.6. Remember that these two tracks (CN/CP) were the former Main line and the CN Stamford Subdivision here didn't exist back then in the pre 1970 cicra time period. The north track was joined into Southern yard, once the CN Stamford Subdivision was built along Hwy 140.
     Service to Shaw Pipe and Welland Pipe used to be once a week around 5-8pm, but Welland Pipe in early April 2003 closed. Shaw Pipe Protection also closed as I was told it was relying on Welland Pipe as Shaw Pipe Protection coated pipe out of Welland Pipe. Things lay quiet east of the Welland Canal at the former two pipe plants until ITS Rail relocated from St. Catharines on the TR Lakeshore Spur in 2006. As mentioned above, I stated Martech. Martech came after ITS RAIL, or it was just renamed. I never knew.
     On May 23, 2002, the diamond across the CN Stamford Subdivision was removed resulting in access to Welland Pipe and Shaw Pipe being cut for CP. This resulted in CP having running rights via CN's Welland Tube Spur out of CN Southern yard. They had already gained running rights to CN Southern Yard on the CN Stamford Subdivision in late 2001 after CP trackage in Niagara Falls was abandoned.
     Back to ITS Rail, during the fall of 2006, ITS Rail took over the old Shaw Pipe plant, starting up operations to finish new locomotives that were built at the old GMDD (EMCC) plant in London. Once ITS Rail initially started up operations in Welland, it briefly operated at the old Welland Pipe plant also on the west side of Rusholme Road, but they soon moved to their present location east of Rusholme Road in the big yellow colored factory off of Ridge Road. Before moving into Welland, the plant was at the old Ferranti Packard plant on the TR Lakeshore Spur in St. Catharines for a few months. Shortly after, the Ferranti Packard plant was torn down.
     Regarding a few photos on the line at mile 0.85 showing some trackage that doesn't look line main line double trackage, this is some of the trackage within the Welland Pipe plant.
     There are a few photos below marked Shaw Pipe. One of them has a single track splitting into several others - that is the former outbound track which was the first plant lead west of Hwy 140. Just west of there, there was another switch into the plant. It is the one that has the yellow piece of machinery off to the right, which does span the track. That was the inbound track.
     Though there hasn't been any activity at ITS Rail since February 2008, on August 29, 2008, there was an article in the Welland Tribune stating that ITS is closing.
     In late 2008 I started to notice some activity on the line and learned that the old Welland Pipe plant had been taken over by Universal Resource Recovery Inc. They began taking in some of the new GO locomotives for painting.
     These days there is a blue center cab locomotive switching cars from the Martech plant (the old Welland Pipe plant) to CN Southern Yard on the CN Stamford Subdivision. The blue locomotive is former Stelco unit 615.


Pictorial view of this line:

74 photos in gallery


Mile 0.00
Looking North
(2003)

Mile 0.00
Looking North
(2008)

Mile 0.00
Looking North
(2013)

Mile 0.00
Looking South
(2003)

Mile 0.00
Looking South
(2003)

Mile 0.10
Looking Southwest
(2013)

Mile 0.15
Looking Southwest
(1997)

Mile 0.20
Looking East
(2003)

Mile 0.20
Looking East
(2013)

Mile 0.37
Looking Northwest
(2013)

Mile 0.37
Looking North
(2003)

Mile 0.37
Looking North
(2012)

Mile 0.37
Looking East
(2000)

Mile 0.37
Looking East
(2003)

Mile 0.37
Looking East
(2009)

Mile 0.37
Looking East
(2012)

Mile 0.37
Looking East
(2013)

Mile 0.37
Looking East
(2019)

Mile 0.37
Looking South
(2003)

Mile 0.37
Looking South
(2003)

Mile 0.37
Looking South
(2013)

Mile 0.37
Looking Southwest
(2013)

Mile 0.37
Looking West
(2000)

Mile 0.37
Looking West
(2003)

Mile 0.37
Looking West
(2009)

Mile 0.37
Looking West
(2012)

Mile 0.37
Looking West
(2013)

Mile 0.37
Looking West
(2013)

Mile 0.37
Looking West
(2019)

Mile 0.40
Looking East
(2003)

Mile 0.45
Looking East
(1992)

Mile 0.45
Looking West
(2012)

Mile 0.50
Looking West
(1997)

Mile 0.85
Looking North
(2003)

Mile 0.85
Looking North
(2014)

Mile 0.85
Looking East
(2002)

Mile 0.85
Looking East
(2010)

Mile 0.85
Looking East
(2012)

Mile 0.85
Looking East
(2013)

Mile 0.85
Looking South
(1996)

Mile 0.85
Looking South
(2006)

Mile 0.85
Looking South
(2012)

Mile 0.85
Looking South
(2013)

Mile 0.85
Looking South
(2014)

Mile 0.85
Looking West
(2010)

Mile 0.85
Looking West
(2012)

Mile 0.85
Looking West
(2013)

Mile 0.95
Looking East
(1996)

Mile 0.95
Looking West
(2010)

Mile 1.15
Looking East
(2003)

Mile 1.15
Looking East
(2012)

Mile 1.15
Looking West
(2012)

Mile 1.20
Looking East
(2003)

Mile 1.20
Looking East
(2003)

Mile 1.20
Looking East
(2012)

Mile 1.20
Looking East
(2012)

Mile 1.20
Looking West
(2003)

Mile 1.20
Looking West
(2012)

Mile 1.21
Looking East
(1996)

Mile 1.21
Looking East
(1996)

Mile 1.21
Looking East
(1996)

Mile 1.21
Looking East
(2012)

Mile 1.21
Looking East
(2012)

Mile 1.22
Looking East
(2012)

Mile 1.23
Looking East
(1999)

Mile 1.25
Looking East
(1996)

Mile 1.25
Looking East
(2012)

Mile 1.30
Looking Northwest
(2012)

Mile 1.30
Looking East
(1996)

Mile 1.30
Looking East
(1996)

Mile 1.30
Looking East
(2012)

Mile 1.30
Looking West
(2000)

Mile 1.30
Looking West
(2003)

Mile 1.30
Looking West
(2012)


     These photos are of the old Welland Pipe plant trackage off of the CN Welland Tube Spur, on the north side of the old main line.

22 photos in gallery


Looking Northwest
(2003)

Looking Northwest
(2003)

Looking Northwest
(2010)

Looking Northwest
(2013)

Looking East
(2003)

Looking Southeast
(2003)

Looking Southeast
(2003)

Looking Southeast
(2003)

Looking Southeast
(2010)

Looking Southeast
(2013)

Looking West
(2000)

Looking West
(2004)

Looking Northwest
(2010)

Looking West
(2004)

Looking West
(2012)

Looking West
(2013)

Looking Southeast
(2010)

Looking Southeast
(2013)

Looking Southeast
(2013)

Looking West
(2003)

Looking West
(2003)

Looking West
(2003)


     This photo is of the old Welland Pipe plant back entrance trackage off of the CN Welland Tube Spur, off of the old main line, near the stub track by the Welland Canal.

1 photos in gallery


Looking West
(2003)


     These photos are of the old Shaw Pipe Inbound trackage off of CN Welland Tube Spur, west of Highway 140.

2 photos in gallery


Looking North
(2003)

Looking North
(2003)


     These photos are of the old Shaw Pipe Outbound trackage off of CN Welland Tube Spur, west of Highway 140.

5 photos in gallery


Looking Northwest
(2012)

Looking North
(1997)

Looking North
(2003)

Looking North
(2007)

Looking North
(2007)