8G6 Canada (
www.cvrco.com). Softcov- er, 120 8³₄″× 8″ pages; $35.00 Cdn. A couple of years ago, I reviewed a book in these pages by John Mills called Ontario’s Grand River Valley Electric Railways. As I mentioned at the time, the interurban lines connect- ing the Ontario communities of Kitch- ener-Waterloo and Cambridge to Brantford, Simcoe and Port Dover are an ideal–and unusual–subject for modeling. So I’m pleased to see that a new book covering these lines (which I’m reviewing here) adds to the body of knowledge, rather than duplicating it. The author grew up along these
lines, in Preston, Ontario (now part of Cambridge), and after completing high school he spent three summers on the four-person spare board for the rail- way. His employment coincided with the end of electric operation–but it
was not the end of the story for the “Steel Wheels along the Grand,” be- cause parent company Canadian Pacif- ic continued to operate parts of this system using diesel switchers. In fact, portions of the line are still in use to- day, serving companies such as the Toyota automobile assembly plant in Cambridge.
This book showcases 235 color and
black and white images spanning more than 100 years of operation on these lines. Images are organized by route and the majority of the photos are en- joying their first time in print. While fans of the interurban era may dis- agree, I’m pleased to see so many pho- tos that show how these lines have sur- vived into the present. This is one reason why I feel this book does a good job of complementing the volume by John Mills. I’m also pleased that the
author, a graphic designer by profes- sion, has included 19 full-color maps showing basic track arrangements, railway customer locations and so on. As modelers we often look to books for inspiration for layouts, and such maps are a great start for anybody looking for a unique prototype to model. Hav- ing read through this book I can easily envision layouts of various sizes: from modest shelf-switchers to basement- spanning systems. A list of sources at the back provides the serious re- searcher with a solid starting point for further investigation. This is a delightful tour of an unusual and very modelgenic railway system, written by someone who experienced it first-hand. As such, it’s a great addition to the library of anybody interested in interurbans or railroading in southern Ontario.–TREVOR MARSHALL
32
OCTOBER 2013
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