A Faded Glory – Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo No. 103 – Montreal Locomotive Works (1913-1954)

One of the jewels in the collection of Westfield Heritage Village is plenty of memorabilia and buildings related to the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway. They probably have the second largest collection next to the museum on the second floor of the Hamilton GO Centre. But they do have one thing that the GO Centre does not have, an original locomotive that once served on the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo line, Locomotive 103.

Probably my favourite item at Westfield to photograph and this isn't the first time I've seen the locomotive through my ground glass.
Graflex Crown Graphic - Fuji Fujinon-W 1:5.6/125 - Ilford HP5+ @ ASA-200 - Pyrocat-HD (1+1+100) 9:00 @ 20C

The first example of a 2-8-0 saw construction in 1865, an improvement of the 0-8-0 design and completed by John P. Laird for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Originally known as the Bedford, Consolidation quickly became the common class name for future 2-8-0 locomotives. The new Consolidation locomotives were a marked improvement over the older 2-6-0 Mougles and could pull heavier trains and achieve higher speeds. The Consolidation design proved popular, and many locomotive makers began adding these to their product lines, including the American Locomotive Company and Montreal Locomotive Works, who classified them as G-1 locomotives. In 1910, Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo ordered G-1 locomotives to update their rolling stock. These new engines would be constructed between 1910 through 1913. In total, the operator ordered eleven G-1 locomotives.

A close up of the locomotive cab.
Nikon D750 - AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm 1:2.8DThe original MLW plaque, showing the manufacture date of 1910, though it wasn't accepted into TH&B service until 1913.
Nikon D750 - AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm 1:2.8D

In 1910, the locomotive with the serial number 48837 rolled out of the Montreal Locomotive Works. It was accepted into the service of the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway and received engine number 52. It was assigned to haul heavy freight between Hamilton and Welland and points beyond. It was then renumbered to 72 in 1918 and a year later received the number 103. As a locomotive, 103 served well on the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo lines maintained and operated safely. It never once had an accident or failure during its service life. While it did spend most of its time in the Hamilton area, it would travel to points beyond including Toronto and New York but on Canadian Pacific and New York Central tracks. Having proved itself, 103 served until the final days of steam for Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo. The operator had started switching motive power from steam to diesel-electric on their main lines in 1946 and by 1954 had taken the last steam locomotives out of service. The first operator in Ontario to complete the switch, a good decade before Canadian Pacific and Canadian National. Most of the former Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo locomotives were sold off to industrial customers, mainly in Hamilton, such as National Steel Car, International Harvester, Steel Company of Canada, and Coke By-Products. Others continued in railway service but for American operators. And many of these ended up getting scrapped. However, 103 giving its excellent record, met a different fate.

Locomotive 103's tender.
Nikon D750 - AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm 1:2.8DAn old caboose makes up the trainset, sadly this isn't painted in TH&B colours appropriate to the era.
Nikon D750 - AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm 1:2.8D

Giving the close ties between Hamilton and the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway, instead of selling 103, they decided to donate it to the city in 1954. The city council gladly accepted the gift but took two years to find a new home for 103. Eventually, it was settled to have the locomotive located in Gage Park near the Roselawn Lawn Bowling Club. The location was well known to rail enthusiasts who watched the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo trains that drove past the park. The locomotive got a refresh at the nearby shops, and a set of tracks were laid to allow the engine to be moved from the shops to the prepared concrete pad and tracks. In October 1956, the engine was carefully moved into the park. In a grand ceremony, Hamilton Mayor Lloyd D. Jackson and Fire Chief Reg Swanborough formally accepted the locomotive from Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo General Manager Percy Hankson. The presence of Chief Swanborough was notable as he had previously worked as a fireman aboard 103. The old steel horse became a local and beloved landmark and was cared for, at least at first. But as the years went on and the city suffered an economic downturn, the financial support for maintaining 103 dried up. It aged under the weather and became a target for vandalism. By the 1970s, the engine seemed doomed to the scrap yard like many before. But before that could happen, the Westfield Pioneer Village expressed an interest in saving the locomotive; they did have at that point the largest collection of Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo artefacts at their museum and 103 would be an excellent addition next to the Jerseyville Station. The city gladly sold the locomotive for a dollar. The locomotive was moved in two parts, the main engine and the tender; in January 1977, the trip up the Claremont Access taking two hours alone. The locomotive underwent restoration throughout the winter and early spring and was revealed to the public in May. Present at the ceremony was a former engineer of 103, Herb March. After Westfield closed in 1987, the city planned to have 103 moved to the Museum of Steam and Technology. Ironically, that was the same year Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo ceased to exist. Thankfully, the movie did not have to happen as the museum reopened intact with 103 in place by 1990. In 1997 under the careful direction of Charles Douborough, 103 underwent 1500 hours of restoration work, all completed by Volunteers and reopened refreshed in 2005. Today the engine is again in serious need of help; if you are willing to donate either time or money, you can visit the Westfield fundraising site. Saving 103 is important as it is one of the few surviving Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo locomotives. Number 42, 0-6-0 B-2 is located in Lindsay, Ontario, and the third, a 4-6-4, is at Steam Town in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

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A Faded Glory – Jerseyville – Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway (1895-1954)

If you're a fan of the show Murdoch Mysteries and are a sharp-eyed viewer, then the station featured today will be recognizable, having appeared in the episode The Annoying Red Planet, where the titular character visits the community of Jerseyville. Jerseyville is no work of fiction but is a rural community between Brantford and Hamilton and was only ever served by the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway.

The station is a difficult location to photograph at Westfield, but I had no time to do a proper walk around as a filming crew was inbound.
Graflex Crown Graphic - Nikon Nikkor-W 1:5.6/180 - Ilford HP5+ @ ASA-200 - Pyrocat-HD (1+1+100) 9:00 @ 20C

The Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway saw its original charter in 1884 to construct a second line between the three cities mentioned in the name as an alternative to Grand Trunk, which by 1884 had full control over Buffalo & Lake Huron and Great Western Railway. But the charter put some serious restrictions on the construction of the line. Under the terms of the charter, they would be unable to enter into a traffic sharing agreement with any other railway operator or purchase an incomplete line to integrate into their network. These two reasons were enough to keep the charter on paper only, and it eventually lapsed. In 1892 new investors revised the charter and removed the restrictive sections of the charter to allow the line to be completed. One of the first things the new railway operator did to kick start the construction was absorb the incomplete Brantford, Waterloo & Lake Erie Railway. By 1892 this line had been completed between Waterford and Brantford. Rather than continue that line out to Waterloo, the route was realigned to take the railway to Hamilton, passing through Jerseyville and south towards Fort Erie and the International Railway Bridge. From Hamilton, the line would continue onto Toronto. Hamilton would be reached in 1894 and a year later would hit Welland. Stations would start construction in 1895, communities like Brantford and Hamilton received large ornate stations, especially the one in Hamilton. But for rural communities, simpler stations were completed. And for even more remote stops, little more than a shelter shed saw construction. But by this point, Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo's line saw no further construction. A joint effort between New York Central and Canadian Pacific Railway purchased the entire network jointly. Not an even split but enough that instead of a dedicated Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Line, points to Toronto and Buffalo were completed on either CP or CASO tracks.

The beautiful black & yellow painted station sign board.
Nikon D750 - AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm 1:2.8DA bit of a closer and wider look at the station.
Nikon D750 - AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm 1:2.8D

The Jerseyville Station is an excellent example of a rural station for Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo. Constructed to the Queen Anne Revival style but far more subdued with little ornamentation or architectural features. Wooden construction using board and batten. The station looks similar to the earliest stations constructed on Ontario railways for Ontario, Simcoe & Huron. Inside, the station features a small general passenger waiting room with large baggage and freight room. A station master's office with a ticket window and telegraph bay separated the two larger areas. The telegrapher bay jutted out onto the platform to keep track of trains coming and going. The station opened to traffic in 1895, sitting on the north side of Jerseyville road, west of the centre of the village. Like many rural villages, Jerseyville remained isolated until the railroad arrived. Trains would allow residents to go into the city, and goods could come in and out by freight trains. And the station remained untouched during the first part of the 20th Century and never saw a replacement. Steam locomotives served the station initially, but Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo were the first to start running diesel-electric locomotives. In the final years of service, diesel-powered trains visited Jerseyville. By 1954, with improved highways and readily available personal automobiles, passenger service through Jerseyville had ceased.

Close up detail of the Telegraph operator bay, inside is plenty of equipment original to the era. Sadly I don't have an interior shot.
Nikon D750 - AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm 1:2.8DLocomotive 103 is a far more visible part of the Jerseyville Station display.
Nikon D750 - AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm 1:2.8D

The station stayed in place and maintained some railway operations regarding freight services. Still, by the 1960s, Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo were looking to divest themselves of underused stations, Jerseyville among them. A local farmer expressed interest in purchasing the old station for use on his farm. But another group, the Westfield Pioneer Association, purchased historically significant buildings to build a living history museum. Thankfully the Westfield group won the bidding war and moved the station near Rockton as one of the original buildings that formed the Westfield Pioneer village, which opened to the public in 1963. While I'm unsure if Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo ever painted their stations a railroad red, the Jerseyville Station underwent some restoration work to its original appearance at Westfield. The station began home to a large collection of Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo memorabilia. Westfield also acquired a maintenance shed and shelter type station both from Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo. Westfield was the first to take a serious interest in preserving the history of Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo. That station came under threat in the 1980s when financial difficulties forced Westfield to close; thankfully, the interest in film and television production gave the village a second life. In 1985 the station appeared in the CBC Anne of Green Gables TV movie and was also included in Road to Avonlea. Today, the station is one of only a few preserved examples of Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo stations, Hamilton's GO Centre and Smithville. The Brantford Station is still standing but is long abandoned, having been a restaurant in various forms. Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo would come under full Canadian Pacific Control in 1985, and the reporting mark dropped in 1987. The original line from Brantford to Hamilton was torn up in the 1990s, and today is a walking trail and still crosses through Jerseyville. At Westfield, Jerseyville remains a fine example of the early passenger stations for the rail operator and a popular spot for TV and film production. In fact, the day I was photographing the station, I got in before a crew arrived to film a scene.

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