2012 Nine: Quebec
We took a long weekend trip to southern Quebec -- it's about a four-hour trip from home in suburban Boston to Magog at the top of Lake Memphremagog. Lake Mempremagog allegedly has its own sea monster -- AKA the Loch Ness-type Monster -- and is about 25 miles long, three-quarters of which is in Canada. I first read about the lake in a school-boy history of Rogers Rangers and the French and Indian War. Rogers and his band struck out for the lake after their attack on St. Francis on the St. Lawrence. Things didn't go so well.
Today, though, the area is a touristy type town that is full of small shops and open-air restaurants. We arrived as a local charity was concluding a walk against cancer and took part in some of the festivities, which included music and walking. We bought a lantern made out of a paperbag and a candle for the charity. They had at least 1,000 of them arrayed throughout the park at the edge of the lake. Later in the evening it was quite impressive to see them all lit. (I wonder who got that job.)
We ate at Pasta & Amore in Magog. My Little Helper enjoyed the pasta and I had lasagne. I don't remember what the wife had to eat -- some kind of pasta thing. (It didn't have red sauce on it and if it doesn't have red sauce I tend not to pay too close attention because it is something I will never eat.) I had no problem with the meal, but I noticed that a lot of other people online didn't seem to like the place. Ah, well... As we were eating, My Little Helper and I heard a train come through. I thought it was a short train but after more than a few minutes I could still hear cars squealing through town.
I didn't know much about the area, so when we got back to the hotel room I did a search online to see what the local railroad was and found out it was the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic. I will confess that I thought the MM&A had gone under a few years back. (I should pay more attention.) The next day we went to a small beach in Magog, which my Little Helper enjoyed quite a bit, before setting out to explore other parts of Quebec.
We ended up in Sherbrooke, about 16 miles away, where the MMA has a small yard. There is also a tourist train based there, but it was a bit too pricey for my tastes. I get to ride a train to and from work every day for a lot less and the train I take goes a lot faster. The yard was pretty quiet, but I did manage to get a shot of an MMA GE unit sporting its Santa Fe heritage for all the world to see.
We hung around the station in Sherbrooke where they have a small market. The wife picked up a pair of earrings and my Little Helper and I sampled the various types of frozen deserts they had there. After that we went to a playground behind the city's amory, where my Little Helper enjoyed herself climbing on the jungle gym and playing on the swings. Beaches and playgrounds are all that are really needed to keep the Little Helper happy.
On our last day in Quebec, we went home via Farnham, which is about 50 miles west of Magog. The MMA has a good-sized yard there, but I didn't see anything moving. Just west of town I did come across a freight waiting for a crew. It, like the locomotive in Sherbrooke, wasn't it MMA colors. Instead the lead unit was in LMX colors with an MMA stenciled on the side and the next two units were in former Bulington Northern green and black also with the MMA stencil. After I got photos of these, we packed everything up and headed back to the U.S. via Vermont, which will be the subject of another post soon.
Today, though, the area is a touristy type town that is full of small shops and open-air restaurants. We arrived as a local charity was concluding a walk against cancer and took part in some of the festivities, which included music and walking. We bought a lantern made out of a paperbag and a candle for the charity. They had at least 1,000 of them arrayed throughout the park at the edge of the lake. Later in the evening it was quite impressive to see them all lit. (I wonder who got that job.)
We ate at Pasta & Amore in Magog. My Little Helper enjoyed the pasta and I had lasagne. I don't remember what the wife had to eat -- some kind of pasta thing. (It didn't have red sauce on it and if it doesn't have red sauce I tend not to pay too close attention because it is something I will never eat.) I had no problem with the meal, but I noticed that a lot of other people online didn't seem to like the place. Ah, well... As we were eating, My Little Helper and I heard a train come through. I thought it was a short train but after more than a few minutes I could still hear cars squealing through town.
I didn't know much about the area, so when we got back to the hotel room I did a search online to see what the local railroad was and found out it was the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic. I will confess that I thought the MM&A had gone under a few years back. (I should pay more attention.) The next day we went to a small beach in Magog, which my Little Helper enjoyed quite a bit, before setting out to explore other parts of Quebec.
We ended up in Sherbrooke, about 16 miles away, where the MMA has a small yard. There is also a tourist train based there, but it was a bit too pricey for my tastes. I get to ride a train to and from work every day for a lot less and the train I take goes a lot faster. The yard was pretty quiet, but I did manage to get a shot of an MMA GE unit sporting its Santa Fe heritage for all the world to see.
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| Sherbrooke, Quebec |
We hung around the station in Sherbrooke where they have a small market. The wife picked up a pair of earrings and my Little Helper and I sampled the various types of frozen deserts they had there. After that we went to a playground behind the city's amory, where my Little Helper enjoyed herself climbing on the jungle gym and playing on the swings. Beaches and playgrounds are all that are really needed to keep the Little Helper happy.
On our last day in Quebec, we went home via Farnham, which is about 50 miles west of Magog. The MMA has a good-sized yard there, but I didn't see anything moving. Just west of town I did come across a freight waiting for a crew. It, like the locomotive in Sherbrooke, wasn't it MMA colors. Instead the lead unit was in LMX colors with an MMA stenciled on the side and the next two units were in former Bulington Northern green and black also with the MMA stencil. After I got photos of these, we packed everything up and headed back to the U.S. via Vermont, which will be the subject of another post soon.
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| Farnham, Quebec |
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