Happy Friday once again! Today’s photos are submitted by regular reader Ken Taylor.
The photos looks to be from WWI, and it looks like the Canadian Bridge Company contributed to the war effort. Looks like this room was given over to manufacturing shells.
This one has a caption on the front. It reads: “Shell Shop C.B.Co Pl #2 1916”.
Here’s another shot looking in the other direction. Maybe there’s a reader familiar with the site who can figure which way we’re looking here…
I love the shack here. The guys in the picture appear well dressed, probably a manager or foreman.
Have a good weekend everyone, see you back here Monday. Big thanks to Ken for sharing these photos!
Great photos!
Look how we retooled factories so fast during war time to suit the war effort. For some reason today we keep building factories out on greenfield sites in industrial parks while millions of square feet of industrial space sits vacant in the city. It’s such a shame we no longer value our priceless agricultural land or our urban neighbourhoods. We have so much space in the city that could go to good use while rejuvenating the urban areas that surrounding them!!
I’m guessing the view is looking north. The long building on the left side ,is that where MacDonald & White Paint was located? The men in suits and coats could be government agents?
Shane I agree. Even worse, we allow industrial buildings to go where the city wanted office parks (still a dumb idea as there are hosts of places that could hold office space inurban areas). I guess it’s to placate the suburban dweller….get off the highway into your job, get on the highway to get home fast!
Thanks Ken for these great photos!
I would guess the 2nd photo is looking North while third is looking south, The plant was on St. Luke and the C & O Rail line ran on the West of the plant.
I say the first is north east,I see a water tower in the background & what looks like Fords power plant & the second photo is north west ??? Just a guess….
When the city was renovating and expanding the old Cleary Auditoriun over twenty years ago I remember seeing exposed steel girders stamped with the words “Canadian Bridge Steel” in huge white letters. Did they come from the same Canadian Bridge on Walker road pictured above? I also remember a huge steel structure standing on the property back in the 80’s that someone told me was used to test steel girders for wind resistance.
well the railroad tracks were the PM/C&O i worked at canadian bridge from 69to72 and remember punching in in one the ST. Luke side of the plant then crossing the train tracks to go into the part of the plant Walker RD side to do my job this might be the pedestrian crossing i used maybe very interesting photos
Does anyone have any pictures of the 2 huge steel structures that used to be there? They’re fixed in my memory seeing them as a kid at the end of Ottawa street. They actually had names as someone(s) had climbed to the top and spray painted their names very big. I just can’t recall the 2 names. Maybe someone has some pics with them in the background.
mike actually the C&O/PM railroad ran between the 2 plants the plant between the tracks and walker was where gilligans the liquor store and macs milk are the other plant or whats left of it is on st luke road
These are some of the best pics, IMO, that have been passed along to you, Andrew!
The second picture is without a doubt looking north east, taken from the west side of the tracks.The two tracks running straight, as mentioned
are the C&O. All the other tracks belong to the Essex Terminal Railway. We can tell the direction we’re
looking thanks to these two railways. If you notice in pic 2, on the right side of the tracks is a semaphore.
This signaling device would be warning the C&O driver of the diamond crossing the Essex Terminal, whos
main line ran just south of CBC. The diamond is only 300 or so feet behind the camera man.
On the left foreground of pic 1 we see part of the huge gantry cranes on the southside of the plant.
These are what Gord was talking about…….and I totally remember them too!
Interesting to note in pic 2, in the background on the right is a passenger car!
Pic 3 is from the other end, taken from the same side of the tracks. We can even see the supports for the gantry
cranes on this end. These cranes and this building amazingly still exist. You can get a good look at them on streetview
if you drop the little guy on St Luke, just south of Ontario st. They remain nearly the exact same. There is even some
old knob an tube wiring hangin off the thing!
Whew…… typing all that on an ipod frickin sucks!
Thanks Andrew!
Sorry it got all broken up like that everyone lol
AAron i thought that was a passenger car off in the distance i’m kind of curious about all those tracks on what seems to be company property especially the one that extends out to where that passenger car is sitting i remember when i worked there there was in fact a siding that came right into our plant for loading that sound about right this siding came into the plant from the south end great old photos Aaron i guess my sometimerfs is setting today after i read what you typed above i still asked what the other trackage was for DUH!there was another old semaphore along the track next to factoria park i got the arm from it about 25yrs ago i’m not sure but the cement pad it sat on might still be there maybe right behind the sally ann retail store
My spelling sucks today ..can you say spell check
Go to Google street view and type 1236 St. Luke Windsor Ontario and there is a gantry crane, don’t know if this is the one mentioned ?
Wow I remember my grandfather used to talk about this place all the time. He used to work at that plant. Hey I know this is a little off topic but I was wondering if anybody knew any history about Lesperance in Tecumseh. I was wondering the history behind the little medical building on Little River and Lesperance as I knew the streetcar used to go right by it. Same with the building that now houses esso and cheesewheelz on riverside just to the east of lesperance. The back of the esso building has some bricked up windows that serve no purpose anymore. Really no articles about that area on this site and I’ve always been itching with curiousity. Thanks to anyone who has any info.
Mike, that’s the crane I was refering to.
Gary, its alright we all get old.
Mitch, I doubt that medical center had anything to do with the streetcar. Seems a little too modern.
The Esso has a “feed store” look tp it though.
thanks Aaron, I go by there almost daily and I’ve always been curious about that whole area.
In response to Gord, I too remember those two big steel structures. And as a kid I would look to them with wonderment. On the way to Grandmas about every month, we would head down to the end of Ottawa Street and pass them. To a seven year old, they were other worldly.
Gord and David: Are these “scatter tower” things the metal structures you’re talking about? http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2010/11/18/canada-bridge-works/
Thanks Kristen!!!! I thought Gord was talking about the cranes.
I remember those things too!!!! Almost the same story a David, except
I was headed to Woolworth with my Mom and brother to get clothes and gi joes. Lol
Gord, I believe the two structures off the end of Ottawa St. were used to load-test hydro transmission towers. A tower would be erected next to these and horizontal loads could be appied in two directions. The member that failed would be replaced with a heavier one. It was a way of avoiding over-designing the towers – even a small amount of unecessary weight was costly when multiplied by the large number of towers to be produced. At the age of 22 I joined Canadian Bridge (my 1st job after graduation) in May,1969 to work on the A. Murray Makay Bridge (called the Narrows Bridge during construction) in Halifax. The main girders were built in Windsor. I worked in the office for a month before working on site in Halifax/Dartmouth and remember our engineering staff invited to witness the tower tests. I saw one go to failure. I only have field photos of the bridge erection which I took with an Kodak Instamatic.
when i worked there in the late 60’s early 70’s i worked in the plant off walker rd we build hydro towe arms they were loaded into railroad cars from a overhead crane inside the plant
hi andrew
somehow the blurb i left ended up on part 1 thanx ed
glad to see the pictures on the website,we still use the outside north crane almost everyday and the north west end of “Valco” almost looks the same now as it did back then!
I am a member of the Hinton Historical Society. In the early 1900’s CBC constructd several bridges on the Grand Trunk Pacific in the Hinon area. I am interested in the bridges particularly a 800 foot long viaduct over Prairie Creek that is 98 ft. high.
I believe the structure is still in use. Many Hinton residents are not aware of it’s existance. Pls. advise any info or photos that are available.
Thank You.
Ernie Lawrence