Remnants of 19th-Century Wheelhouse Uncovered in Canada

News August 24, 2016

(Ryan Moore, Trinity Development Group)
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Canada Railway Wheelhouse
(Ryan Moore, Trinity Development Group)

OTTAWA, ONTARIO—CBC News reports that a 145-year-old wheelhouse, or railway turntable, and three spur lines have been unearthed at a construction site in Canada’s capital city, near the path of a new light-rail line. The turntable’s limestone wall was discolored by a fire in 1883. “The stonework itself was pretty rushed. So it looks like they were in a hurry to get their spur line completed,” said Jeff Earl of Past Recovery Archaeological Services. A wooden pivot line in the center of the wheelhouse has also survived. The wheelhouse was operated by the Ottawa St. Lawrence Railways, whose trains transported logs from sawmills at Chaudière Falls to the St. Lawrence River, where they were placed on ships headed to Europe. For more on archaeology in Canada, go to "Franklin’s Last Voyage." 

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