The Gentlemen who "Started Their Engines".....

With September here, it usually meant "Stock Car Championships" at the fairgrounds and later of course at Riverview Raceways.   I can't help but add a few more items from the old CLE racing days. 

 

The first ad here stated that you could buy a season ticket(a 24 race schedule) and be guaranteed 20 races for a measly sum of $20.  What a bargain even in the 1950's here in Fort William and Port Arthur.  Click on ALL the following photos to enlarge them!!!

 

 Here are The Gentlemen who "Started Their Engines" in 1953

In this last page, Merv Dove and Nick Zavaglia's photos are interchanged with their names!

...Then they took the key and opened the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition Race Track gates.....



.....And let in all these people from Fort William, Port Arthur and surrounding areas......

....To watch all these great guys tool around a 1/2 mile dirt track to the glee of thousands...

 SUCH AS...

Glen Kettering, Fred Danis and Tony Massaro

Ross "Pappy" Fowler

Barry Kettering of course going by the CLE Coliseum Building.



Tony Massaro and Louis Tocheri....

left - Lorne Morin and Don Deacon
right - Malcolm Galbraith and unknown.

Don Deacon into the fence right in front of the track gate and the Coliseum Bldg.

Marvin McInnis

Louis Tocheri in the fence...

...and Louis collecting a Checkered Flag

Merv Dove's Maple Leaf Service #31

Pensive Merv.....

Merv Dove's pit crew including my old friend and Merv's brother Reg Dove on the left, with Pete Knights and Al Brimell.

Jimmy Manduca upside down.

Pete Steirlin's famous dust bowl photo.

"The Flyin' Finn", Martin Autio upside down.

The coupe's and sedan's were starting to get cut down here in the late 1950's and seem to look more like HOT RODS.  Hey, that's Sears intercity in the far background including more of the fairgrounds where the fans park their cars, as well as Memorial Avenue on the left...this view faces north/north-west!

 Oh Yes!!....and there were trophies at the end of each racing season.....now do you think that $20. was too much for a season ticket.....I think NOT!!

Left to right are Tony Massaro, Barry Kettering, Merv Dove and Albert Massaro.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES....BOYS!!!

WE AT HR&J ADMIT TO OUR MISTAKES.....Linda Ryma Elevator Photos from our last post!

 Thanks to my friend and part time "proof-reader" Allan Yahn; he noticed an unfortunate error that occurred in the last post regarding these five wonderful photos donated for use by local photographer Linda Ryma.  These photos were previously believed to be the CPR Elevators A&B at the far eastern end of Victoria Avenue.

 Yes, they are elevators A&B, however they are Saskatchewan Pool 4 A&B elevators, located near the most northern end of the Elevators near the Port Arthur Shipyards.

As you will see in the following photos these are definitely one and the same Elevator that suffered an incredible explosion in September of 1952.  The photo below is a coloured photo of how the elevator looked before the explosion took place.  You can actually see the Letters "A" and "B" have been painted out in this photo.  Look at the very first photo above to vividly see the letters as they looked in 1950.



 Click on each of these three black and white photos and any of the other photos that you see on this post to see them enlarged and to compare them to the ones above.  You will see that they are one and the same elevator.

 The google earth photo on the right shows the Sask pool elevators in a repaired state and how they look today.  The red square shows the location of Sask Pool 4 Elevators A&B and where the explosion took place.  The yellow square is the Port Arthur Shipyards.  The Elevator to the right of the square is presently the "Viterra" Elevator.

This is a little closer look at the last google earch photo showing its present day location.

This is also a present day photo showing the abandoned Sask Pool 4 Elevators taken
from "Shipyard" road.

The same photo above showing the Viterra Elevator as well.

We are sorry for the error and again thank you to Allan Yahn for noticing the difference.
Also thanks once again to Linda Ryma for the photos and note that we believe her grandfather Alexander Walsh did work at the Saskatchewan Pool 4 A&B Elevators(the ones that did explode back in 1952) as chief electrician.
With this corrected, and with a little more time now that September is here, Hotrods and Jalopies will be able to continue with some more great stories. Thanks to everyone who watches and keeps in touch.  Feel free to comment on any posts.
Thanks, Dave.