A few years ago there was a discussion about the location of the wye in Digby. The track charts show one location but if you looked on Google Earth it wouldn't be where they showed it, the terrain just wasn't right, and if I remember correctly, a couple of the street names in the track chart were switched. I've been looking at my next MSTS route and have been looking more and more into the Yarmouth Sub, I already have the tracks laid from Annapolis Royal to a few miles south of Digby.
One thing I did notice was that in the aerial photo of Digby in the wiki there appears to be what looks like the wye near the wharf. I've drawn the lines of the track I think once was the wye... I think.
that looks possible but there have always been buildings in that area that pre date the railway wye and ive never seen photos of the pier with a right side turnout for a wye connection. ive been told it was only there in the early years and was in an area they call the racquette. it looks to steep to me for the back connecting leg of the wye but there is still evidence of an embankment, said to be a rail line to the pines, across the racquette back in the day. (early 1900's). there are good 40's and 50,s aerial shots that have no wye in the area. having said that there was a turntable in digby from the early 1900's on so why a wye anyway ?
Hmm, never heard of a turntable in Digby, the mystery continues! The 1931 ETT that;s in the wiki shows they were able to turn in Digby but whatever was there was gone by 1951. The 1977 aerial shot shows scares on the land where I have to wye drawn. In the old track charts they show a wye drawn south of the yard and a couple of years ago a few of us tried to find it using Google Earth and there just wasn't anywhere that made sense, either way too steep, or too close to the water. My drawing is just a guess as well, I'll have to have a look on Google and see about the tale train going up a grade, didn't check that.
Does anyone know what this line was for? I think it has something to do with the original arrival of the Western Counties Railway in Digby but don't know the details.
I see my wye is too big, but I did go to Google Earth street view, went out on the dock and looking back there is still a ledge at the same level as the parking lot and dock that extends behind the new apartment building.... still thinking this was the wye. The tail track would be long enough to turn a average passenger train.
the entire embankment to the left of the wharf was used often for drying fish. called digby chicks for some reason. this was a communal sort of area where they even set up the travelling fairs. there was also a hall of some sort.(knights of columbus or something). my father in law worked his 45 year career at the old and new wharves. started mid fifties and doesnt remember a wye but guesses it was near the area known as the racquette. if you go through the photos of the john collier collection at ns archives you can see from the hill above the racquette where the digby pines golf course clubhouse is now that there were a number of sidings along the hill above the racquette oil,engines overnight and coal track. the big bulk tanks were there for years with a drive through sort of shed for customers. Ive lived in digby 25 years and have never seen the wye in a picture or on a map.
the admiral digby museum staff tell me they have 1000's of dar digby pics on file for public perusal ive just never been able to organise a trip down to sit and scroll through for hours. ive just purchased their 2017 train calendar and again there are photos ive never dug up in 25 years.
Wow that Collier collection is impressive from the online portion at the Western Counties Library. I think he must have taken a photo of every house in Digby!
I just wished he like trains as much as he liked ships because there are few railway photos, although some great shots of wharf activity around Princess Helene. Lovely rare shot of a train hooping orders at the Bear River Station: http://www.novastory.ca/cdm/singleitem/ ... 515/rec/34
I was just on the Nova Scotia archives site looking through shots of Digby. One does show that there were two sidings on the wharf, one shot shows 14 cars in two cuts of seven cars sitting beside the warehouse and you can see when the switch was. Another shot looking west from the wharf near where the wharf and land meet shows another siding going off to the right that makes you think it must have gone onto the part of the wharf that shoots off to the right on an angle.
There are a few aerial shots showing the wharf and land around it but NONE show my wye!
Didn't see any sign of the wye and the location we thought it was years ago appears to be a ramp for what must have been a ferry, there's another one on the land opposite to it.
So, the Digby wye location remains a mystery for now!
For down on the wharf, there was at least two sidings one for the ware house and I think the other might have been used for passenger services.
From a couple of photos I've seen there's never been any indication that there was a wye in Digby, though one would think there would of had to been something for Western Counties for turning engines around unless they had a turntable. I just had a quick look on Google Maps with Earth view and there doesn't seem to be any location that could have been one. maybe there was and it got built over top of after the missing link to Annapolis Royal was completed, and trains. Here's a WCR times table which has service to Annapolis Royal but it doesn't say you change to ship or anything.
Here is the shot showing the siding on the wharf shooting off the the right. You can't see exactly where it's going but there are cars parked on it so it can't be used much:
me too. my father inlaw always pointed out the racquette as the spot but i thought the elevation dropped too quickly to the beach but if you look closely at the 1951 john collier photos at nsarm you can see a fairly large field with a substantial drop to sea level. much more room than it looks from other photos.
