Rites of Passage: A Canadian Railway Retrospective

Gordon C. Shaw is professor emeritus in the Faculty of Administrative
Studies at York University.

Rites of Passage is an excellent collection of photographs, taken from
the author’s collection, that depicts railroading of the 1970s and
1980s. What makes the book so charming is McDonnell’s knack for
unusual or unique shots. These include the forlorn sight of the last
Canadian Pacific train from Goderich; a forgotten boxcar whose rusted
wheel seems fused to a rusted rail; a CN snowplow train pushing its way
through cab-height drifts near London, Ontario; the first robin on the
old Michigan Central track at St. Thomas and a cat walking the rail at
Mendham, Saskatchewan.

Many of the pictures are framed in unusual ways, such as a passing
freight train seen through the ruins of an abandoned shed. While many of
the pictures reflect scenes in western Ontario, Chapters 4 and 8 display
relatively recent scenes in the Western Canada. The author is to be
commended for portraying the human side of railroading with his
references to staying in the CP bunkhouse at Orangeville.

While there is some text amplifying the pictures, Rites of Passage is a
photo essay, not a railway history. Highly recommended.