Of Bridges and Engines

Many railway buffs will be familiar with Engine 86, an old locomotive currently on display at the Western Fair Grounds. Manufactured by the Canadian Locomotive Company in 1910, Engine 86 was used by the Grand Trunk and CNR before being donated to the City of London in 1958. 

 Unfortunately, donating an antique to the City of London is a mistake. That is, if you actually want it to be looked after. Despite being restored, mainly by GM Diesel in 1996-99, the Engine is rusting and animals are building a nest inside. The water tank was left uncovered for years so that rain and snow entered and rusted away the bottom of the tender. Although it was painted just a few years ago, rust is once again showing through. 

Now maybe it's just me but I can't really see the point in spending money to restore an antique locomotive and leaving it outside to rust in a Canadian winter. A humble opinion: the Engine should not have been moved to its current site without providing it with a shelter. The result has been wasted time, misspent money and a lack of respect for our railway heritage. 

But hold on - the folks at LACH (London Advisory Committee on Heritage) have proposed a solution. One that also concerns the Sarnia Road Bridge. And wait til you hear it: all we have to do is tear down that silly old 1909 steel-truss bridge, store its bits and pieces for a while, and someday in the future use the pieces to make some kind of cover for Engine 86. This is a fabulous idea, except that: a) no one's really clear how you adapt bridge bits to make a shelter for a locomotive, and b) the bridge will no longer exist as a bridge. 

Better solutions for both these artifacts? a) build a real shelter around Engine 86, complete with interpretive plaques so passers-by will understand this is a cool old locomotive, and b) move the Sarnia Road Bridge over a bit and continue to use it for pedestrian and bicycle use. Unfortunately, neither of these things will happen because: a) the current Mayor and Council would never agree to spending the money, and b) come to think of it, that's the only reason. 

So here's what will really happen to these two artifacts in the future: a) The Sarnia Road Bridge will be demolished. b) The City will store its parts. c) The parts will disappear into the basement of Museum London and never be seen again. d) Engine 86 will continue to rust. 

Note: Many thanks to local historian and railway buff Stephen Harding for his commentary on the current state of Engine 86. The opinions expressed here, of course, are strictly mine.

Magnificent Meadowlily

On August 28, residents of London's east end celebrate Meadowlily Bridge's 100th birthday. The metal truss bridge has stretched over the south branch of the Thames since 1910, when it provided a route for area farmers to deliver milk or visit London's market. Now for pedestrian use only, the bridge is located inside Meadowlily Woods Environmentally Significant Area. When I visited, I had the pleasant sensation of travelling back in time, as I strolled down a tree-lined country road in the former London Township.

Meadowlily was constructed by Isaac Crouse, the same man who built Blackfriars Bridge. Though not as architecturally significant as Blackfriars (London's oldest iron bridge dating back to 1875) Meadowlily is still of importance to Eastenders. We have a few other oldies as well, like the King Street Bridge, dating to 1897, or the Thames Street Railroad Overpass of 1889 (my personal favourite - it looks so ancient).

Info on Meadowlily and other bridges may be found on http://www.historicbridges.org/, a Michigan-based website that records historic bridges in surrounding states and Ontario. But prepare yourselves. The webmaster doesn't have high praise for Canada's bridge-recording track record: "In Canada, there does not appear to be such a requirement in place that mandates the evaluation of all bridges in the country...it seems that agencies like the Ministry of Culture do not even know about the bridges in the first place. If the local counties, townships, or municipalities want to consider their bridge historic and preserve them, or consider them non-historic and demolish them, that is their own decision." What Canada needs, it seems, is an historic bridge inventory, a list of all bridges over 50 years old, so that structures on the list may then be evaluated for significance.

Ouch. Canada, we should get on to that right away. I haven't been able to find much out there other than this list on Wikipedia, which I'm not sure is a comprehensive inventory. How come it's up to an American website to highlight our heritage for us anyway? Couldn't someone out there get busy and make a nice bridge website? I'd do it myself but I'm too busy writing these rants...

Note: A developer plans to build condos on Meadowlily Road near the Park Farm, a property featuring an 1840s brick cottage. Details (well, a few) may be found on the city website. Naturally there's been pushback from area residents who'd like to see a smaller development so close to an ESA. 

Another Note: Why was it necessary to put metal fencing down the centre of Meadowlily Bridge?

I know, it's for safety; the City of London doesn't want anyone falling off and suing them. But couldn't something more attractive than this band aid solution be found? No wonder local residents call it "the cage."