(no subject)
About a 5 minute drive from where I live there is an old railway bridge... It was the first railway bridge to cross the Ottawa River and was built by the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Line in 1879/1880. It connected the CPR line towards the west. It was initially owed by Quebec... but for whatever reason they kept managing to lose money on one of the most popular lines... So, in 1882 the CPR bought it and connected it to the CCR. It wasn't used for as long as it should have been, I can't remember exactly when it stoped being used - but I assume it was shortly before the train station in Ottawa moved from downtown to it's current location in Vanier.
Over the years the fucking thing has caused controversy like you wouldn't believe. Initially, the original rail lines were still in place and pretty much just ignored by the city. Then, the City of Ottawa introduced our lightrail system -- the fucking "O-Train"... it's a piece of garbage. It's currently 1 line running back and forth, with somewhere around 8 - 10 stops on it. Virtually useless to anyone but the people attending Carleton University.
When they built the O-Train lines, they made some modifications to the old lines that were already there. It started just South of the Prince of Wales railway bridge. South enough that the bridge still remained untouched... and still fairly handsome. (Although I've voiced my objections to the O-Train, I will admit that they did a fairly good job of keeping it as unobtrusive as possible).
A few years later, the city decided to move our War Museum from it's original home on Sussex St (in what used to be Lowertown) - which was a beautiful old stone building - to a new location on Lebreton Flats. For those of you who aren't from Ottawa and I've completely confused now.... Lowertown was the first area of Ottawa to be established and built by the 'founder' Colonel By... well, besides Bytowne... The old war museum was a couple blocks from the Parliament Buildings... A logical spot.
Anyways, I'll try to get to the point. Once the planning for the museum started, the city had to adjust some of its underground piping... sewage systems, etc. To get to where they needed to go, they tore up the remaining section of the rail lines. So, from south of the Prince of Wales bridge to the beginning of the O-Train line, they tore up.
Now, a year or so since this happened, the National Capital Commision (which is in charge of keeping Canada's capital safe, beautiful, etc etc etc) has decided that they want to do a number of things to the bridge. The ideas floating around are:
1) Extending the O-Train line across the river to Quebec, hoping to ease the morning commute for those who travel cross province for work. --- this would require insane modifications, as there is only room for one line. Possibilities include making it twinned or adding a crossing loop...
2) Converting the bridge into a pedestrian overpass. The NCC proposed tearing up the track and making it easier for cyclist to travel on.
Needless to say - the fate of this bridge has been talked about for decades...
So, today I walked over to the bridge... I've been there in the past, but not since they've disconnected the line. So, I get there today and it's actually not as bad as I had thought. It took me about an hour to walk there, so once I got there I sat for awhile before continuing to walk across. There is NO way that should be used as a pedestrian pathway in it's current state. The Ottawa River is INSANELY dangerous this time of year. For someone who doesn't like water --- me --- I was petrified the entire time I crossed it. (this isn't a short bridge, folks...) It's a truss bridge, so there are sections that are completely open. It's not like there is a siding there to hold you in if there is a strong wind... or four! After getting to the Quebec side of the bridge, I started talking to a guy that was working there... Apparently the Quebec side is still used as a spur... albeit very rarely. After getting all the information I needed, the walk home was less than appealing :S
All said and done, the trip took about 2.5 hours.
I plan on going back again very soon - with a functional camera... and a faster mode of transportation than my feet! I might tell the story again then, with pictures ;) Until then... here:
Wow... sorry for the length of that. I'll be impressed is anyone actually read it all *L*
I believe this is as 'abstract' as my mind will allow.
My camera isn't working properly these days, so I had to scan this piece. I needed to do it in two parts - which should explain the horrid 'seem' in the middle (if you wouldn't mind ignoring that, that would be awesome), and the white specks, which I believe is paint on the glass of my scanner (if you wouldn't mind ignoring that too...)
"Untitled", Apr 2006
Acrylic on canvas, 14" x 11"
Approximate length of timne: an hour or so...
