Jack's Switch Engine and preserving vintage tin in our home towns of Fort William and Port Arthur, Ontario.

I've always wanted to tell this story....most of it is fact but keep in mind that some is somewhat hearsay.  I've been told this through the years and believe it to be the truth.  The story will develop into wondering why us gearheads preserve vintage tin.
The story begins in 1927 when a young man named Jack Merlin came to Fort William with his father at the young age of 3.  Jack and his family lived in Montreal, as his father was working for Canada Car and Foundry there.  His father was promoted to Superintendent of the Fort William plant in 1927 so off they went to make their home here at The Lakehead.  Jack himself began working at Can Car in 1941 at the age of 17 and retired in 1989.  During this time two important things happened.....
Firstly he had an affinity for old cars of which he purchased his first at age 12.
Secondly, during his tenure at Canada Car and Foundry he had purchased a General Electric Diesel/Electric 44 ton switch engine from the then Great Lakes Paper Company, which he had stored at Can Car for years.  Near the end of his years there and when it became Bombardier, the switcher was still stored there.  He felt that he had kept it all those years so why not take in home...which he did....no easy feat.
...Now when you travel west up Oliver Road and not too far before Murillo....look to your left and you will see Jack's train on a short piece of track set back on his property....you may also notice a few old vehicles along Oliver Road near the train, however what you can only see from aerial photos thanks to google earth are literally 100's of vintage cars there mostly from the late 1940's to the late 1960's.  I had the privilege about 12 years ago to visit Jack's collection with my old friend Clarence Merko, and was blown away by the massive amount of fully intact cars in there, and apparently none for sale...mainly because of their accessibility....I hope that someday, Jack's family might let people in to see this collection much of which may or may not be restorable......so now some photos.

The original Great Lakes Paper  Mill and Woodlands Logo.

This is one of the many Great Lakes Paper's Original switchers but not Jack's.  This one is #128 and the GLP logo is shown on the side.

Here's GLP #129 - not Jack's either.

This is what you will see as you head out west towards Murillo on the south side of Oliver Road.

To the left is a close-up of Jack's train on the property and the photo on the right is the same engine - a GE44 Ton (again...built by General Electric between 1940 and 1957).  This engine was also used in Europe during the war years.  The paint scheme had changed somewhat but it was the Great Lakes Paper engine.  The window configuration is exactly the same.

The next photo shows approximately where it is located on the Merlin property and also shows the massive amount of cars from a Google Earth photo.  Oliver Road runs east and west along side the property on the left.  The top of the photo would be east and the right would be south.
 This next photo is a similar photo turned showing Oliver Road along the top....left is west and right is east.
 Jack Merlin was a great guy, and the visit that Clarence and I had those many years ago was very memorable.  I remember seeing Jack at auto auctions around our city and was always likely to win with his bid.  I must also mention that Jack ran "Merlin Motors" in 1960 as well as working at Can Car.  There is no phone listing in the 1960 phone book, so if any of you remember where Merlin Motors was, I can add that to the post.

This is a photo of the guys wife who wouldn't let us kids purchase the cool potential hot rods.

 This final group of photos are a few of my own field finds and what they became over the years

'32 Ford Coupe before from Mankato Mn.

My '32 Ford as it appeared in American Rodder magazine in 1995.

This Old Stock Car Chassis

....and this old stock car wreck from about 1954

 The Chassis and Body parts on the left were restored to the modified race car here.  This was another check mark off the bucket list.



Thank you to Jack for preserving that diesel engine and all those great cars...thank you to George Rogers for the impressive local story and thank you to all those who held back from scrapping all that tin and saved a few pieces for guys like myself to resurrect them into something new again.  It's been a blast....my fuel tank's almost on empty...no more projects for me.....LOL.