Welcome to my home page. I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I have been interested in railways for many years and have been fortunate to pursue a career in railways. In 2016, I decided to transfer much of the railway historical items of my personal pages to the C. Robert Craig Memorial Library.  In this way the information will be available after my demise.
Personal

  Several thousand of my pictures, railway and non-railway, now available on Flickr.
  My Blogs
  My Railway and Trip Diaries from the 1960s
  Articles I have written, mainly on railway subjects, since 1960.
 
Railway History
  Ottawa's Railway Heritage - a new listing of railway artifacts in the region now no longer used for railway purposes
  The Thurso and Nation Valley Railway was the last logging railway in eastern Canada. It ran north from Thurso, Québec on the Ottawa River to bring out lumber for the Thurso mill. I saw the line in its last years and these pages will present some of the flavour of this interesting short line railway.
  Walter Shanly's Reports on the survey of the Bytown and Prescott Railway
  The Act incorporating the Bytown and Prescott Railway 10 August 1850
      Railway Maps of the Ottawa Area
      Department of Transport 1941 Maps showing location of railways with their original names
  First Trips, Early Excursions and Other Firsts in the Ottawa Area
  Railways Projected in the Ottawa Area - it is amazing how many lines were projected and even authorized, but were never built.
  A Train Journey Through the Ottawa Valley - an imaginary rail trip using images from the Mattingly Collection of the Canada Science and Technology Museum.
  Tracing the Lines : Eastern Ontario and West Quebec Railway History in Maps by Brian Gilhuly
     https://search.adarchives.org/media/tracing-the-lines/tracing-the-lines.pdf   
  A review of Ottawa area papers from 1847 to date.
     By railway subdivision
     By Year
     Railway themed articles written by Austin Cross in the Ottawa Citizen
  A review of Ottawa area items from the Railway and Shipping World
  A listing of regulatory orders, orders in council etc., relating to the railways of Ottawa
  Colin Churcher's Research Notes from Library and Archives Canada
  Report by Samuel Keefer, Inspector of Railways for the Board of Railway Commissioners for the year 1858  Thanks to the CRCraig Memorial Library
Significant Railway Dates
  Significant Dates in Canadian railway history.
  Significant Dates in Ottawa railway history.
  Significant Dates in Ottawa/Hull Street Railway History.
  Significant Dates in Kingston, ON, railway history. Prepared by David Page.
  Significant Dates in Cornwall railway history
  Brockville Railway History - a set on Flickr
Ottawa Railway History
  Ottawa Railway History Circle
  FINDINGS of the Ottawa Railway History Circle - this contains an enormous amount of information about the history of the railways of Ottawa.
  Articles written by Members of the Circle
  Railway Accidents and Incidents in the Ottawa area
  Railway Structures Destroyed Mainly by Fires
  Royal Trains in Canada - a work in progress
  Last Canadian Pacific Steam Locomotives to Operate out of Ottawa
  Sunken Locomotives in Canada
  Requiem for Government of Canada Grain Hopper Cars
  All Aboard - A History of Rail Transportation in Ottawa 1850-2010 by David Jeanes, David Knowles and Colin Churcher
Ottawa Area Railways

  Ottawa Central Railway - The Spareboard.
  Salient Features of the Ottawa O Train Route.

Mount Royal Tunnel
  The Mount Royal Tunnel Electrification    “From a rolling museum to a Phoenix arisen from its ashes.” This is part of an excellent presentation given by Mark Walton to the Bytown Railway Society on June 6, 2000.
Industrial Locomotives and Locomotive Cranes in Canada

   Industrial Locomotives in Canada (except BC) - an extensive listing.


Links

  Links to sites I have found interesting and useful

My Personal Pages
  My curriculum vitae.
  Growing up in Orpington I was born in Orpington, Kent, England.  My mother Kate Churcher (nee Foster) wrote this account of the Orpington she knew as a girl.
 NFB Film "A Bus for Us". I was involved in the establishment and operation of a community bus service in Beacon Hill Ottawa. This film describes our work in detail
  Guayaquil and Quito Railway, Ecuador.   Picture Gallery of trips in 1988 and 1993.
  A coconut railway visited in Honduras in 1997.
  A narrow gauge train ride between Talca and Constitucion in Chile. February 2001.
  Railway Inspection Trips in Bolivia.  February 2002.
  Visits to le Chemin de fer du Blanc a Argent in France 
  Trip to Ireland September 2006
  Parisian Living, December 2006/ January 2007
  A Journey across northern Spain on El Transcantabrico, a luxury narrow gauge train
  Broad Gauge Railway Relics in the Azores (June 2008)
  Travel to Siena and Firenze in Italy, October 2008.
  Treacle Mining
  My Musical Railway Ride Through Life

Updated 13 December 2023


   
E-mail me as follows:
User name churcher.colin
Provider  gmail.com





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