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Monday June 22 to Sunday June 28, 1964 CNR 6167 At Railway Week
During the Week of Monday June 22 to Sunday June 28,
1964, CNR 6167 was a key fixture at Railway Week in Belleville, Ontario. The
locomotive arrived in Belleville on Saturday June 20, after pulling an excursion
from Toronto. During that week, 6167, pulled some 9,288 passengers, and this is
when and where the famous photo of 6167 posing with CN FP9 6543, 6400, 5700
(5703), 40 and 247.
Railway week was put on to mark the removal of a section of track that ran along Pinnacle Street for 86 years. The line started out as Grand Junction Railway Company and was intended to connect Belleville to Peterborough, and also provided a connection to the CPR. Completed in 1880, it was taken over by the Midland Railway of Canada in 1882, which in turn was taken over by the GTR in 1893, which in turn became part of the CNR in 1923.
Rather then just pulling up the tracks during the early hours of the morning, CN's Public Relations Officials thought differently and as a result, the CNR hosted Railway Week to celebrate the end of the area. The event was heavily promoted and in June 1964, all passengers passing through Belleville were handed flyers for the event, and the same flyer was sent out to many stores, motels and hotels and through the mail, not to mention through a number of radio commercials. According to a railway spokesman, over 9,000 tickets were sold for the "special train", pulled by 6167. A Ceremony was held on June 25, where CN St. Lawerence Region VP J.A. McDonald,
Rideau Area Manager Keith Hunt, Belleville Mayor Maclean Haig, and CNR 40 and others lifted a ceremonial section of track, at the intersection of Pinnacle Street and Paterson Street.
References
Anonymous. (1964) "Payoff On Pinnacle Street." Canadian Transportation, September 1964 Pg 17-20.
Lowe, J. Norman. (1981). "Canadian National In The East Volume One." British Railway
Modelers of North America Pg 27.
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