A Bridge Tale

Early 1950's - the other railway bridge in Scotstown, Quebec.

I can scarcely believe this railway bridge was actually photographed and the image still exists!

The railway bridge shown crossed over the Salmon River in Scotstown, Quebec, but a bit upstream near the south edge of town going toward LaPatrie. 

My father's Aunt Annie lived in Scotstown. Her home fronted on one of the town's main roads (Highway 257) and the property, which was a former farm, backed all the way down to the river. That's probably why Dad was at the river to take this photo.

In summer 1960 Dad took Ted and me fishing there; our very first time going fishing and we actually caught some yellow perch. We saw the concrete piers in the water and asked about them. Dad told us there was once a railway bridge. 

Scotstown, Quebec, date unknown. The CPR mainline is across the river just beyond that tall chimney. The east end of the former station building is barely visible on the far left of this image. (photo borrowed from the internet)

Anyway, when I was surfing the internet the other day, I found this old photo of Scotstown. Sure enough, a third railway crossing once existed in town and is shown in this photo, and this old photo is what has instigated this essay.

The former Canadian Pacific Railway mainline is on the far side of the river from where this photo was taken. The railway spur shown here went into the veneer mill, (where a park and restaurant are located today) and continued along the river to and across that bridge which Dad photographed in the early 1950's. Dad never told me how far that railway spur went beyond the other side of the river or what it was used for; I never thought to ask.

The former veneer mill (on the right) disappeared in the early 1960's, however the former plywood mill building across the river survived until 1969 or 70; demolished soon after Silva Sol discontinued making chlorinated water in the former mill.

A Megantic Subdivision footnote in the October 27, 1968 CPR employee timetable reveals that Silva Sol was a railway customer.

One more undated but earlier image of Scotstown showing the CPR station building and the mill. Only that brick chimney remains today. (photo borrowed from the internet)

A quick check on Google Maps shows that today a road follows along the Salmon River and some type of structure crosses the water (arrow) at or near where the original railway bridge was once located.

This is it for today's very trivial railway trivia history lesson from the Department of Useless Information. 

The Oddblock Station Agent

Addendum February 08, 2018

Corroboration.

Discovered on the internet: Another undated view of that other Scotstown railway bridge.

  

An undated footnote (listed among 1913-1915 footnotes) found in a CPR-related publication posted on line provides more information about the bridge. (C. H. Riff 2012)

An undated image of Scotstown looking westward but likely from the same time period.
1. Guelph Patent Cask Company.
2. CPR's railway station.
3. Water tower