About Walking Turcot Yards

I am a Montreal based photographer/artist.

Walking Turcot Yards is a living changing document that really started when in the early 1990’s I began looking for a new project by just riding a bicycle along the Lachine Canal and seeing where that took me.

At that time I began to pay attention to grafitti and its appearance around the city, particularily in abandoned factories.

So that journey led me to the Turcot Yards, a vast incredible “abandoned” space in the south west of Montreal.

What happens now? I am not sure, but it is getting exciting for me. Somehow, a lot of things are beginning to make sense and I look forward to each day of this process with just a little more wonder about everything.

Neath

If you have any questions, ideas, or information about the history of Turcot Yards, please contact me at neathatturcot@yahoo.ca

57 responses to “About Walking Turcot Yards”

  7. I discovered your site looking for info on Duisburg Nord. I am a landscape architecture student in Louisiana and am going to pass on your blog to my classmates. I think you are about to make 14 new readers.

  9. I googled on Dead Dog Tunnel and Yes, congratulations you are number one in the google.com search, at least one person other than you Googled on that!

    I like your pictures, rather intense some of them. No people in it but you can still sense that they were there. I learned about Turcot Yard, exciting adventures to you!

  11. hello neath,
    Stopping by after you stopped by my place to comment on movie musicals … wow, it’s so cool to find places like yours through all of these little internet connections. I’m originally from Canada (now living in Spain) and many of the photos here strike a chord. Anyhow, nice to meet you.

  13. Hello there and greetings from Germany.
    It would be interesting to read something about the history of this place. Will you write about that ?

    all the best
    Martin

  14. Thanks for the comment. I’ve lived a bit all over so I’ve got some shots you’d really like in London, Middle East, and even Africa…Stay in touch.

  16. love your work. urban exploration and industrial archeaology
    are hobbies of mine as well. i’m curious about gunpowder park
    in london before the reclamation project; do you or anyone you know have any photos of the park before June of 2004?

  18. Pingback: Convergence « Singular Images·

  20. This photgraph looks like a shot of an urban sculpture. You give the viewer a unique look at what can be done with found objects. In this case, a found pile.

    I found your website through Red Ravine. Great stuff!

  24. Pingback: Turcot Yards « Urban Lookout·

  25. I found your blog as I had a comment email from wordpress but your comment didn’t come through.
    That’s ok. The really great part is I found this blog and the photographs are rich.
    I’ll really look at them after work.
    Thanks!

  26. Pingback: Leslie’s Blog » Meet Neath·

  29. I too accidentally “discovered” the turcot yards a number of years ago while living near the tracks in st-henri. I was captivated by the unusual beauty of the wildflowers and overgrown grass against a seemingly forgotten industrial backdrop. A long walk led me to the “hidden forest”, the large patch of woods off to the side of the yards, which has a wonderfully overgrown trail running through it (I’m sure you’re more than familiar with it). Along this trail you can find many old, weathered wooden fence poles lodged into the ground – it makes me wonder if it just may have been a small road at one point.

  32. hi neath,
    karen here (aka dream listener) and i am looking for information on the train bridge that goes over glen street (between courcelle and landsdowne) i really like the construction of it and how it seems to be its own little space when you walk under it… a kind of passage from westmount into st-henri (or vice-versa)
    if u have any leads?
    i thought you’ld be the guy to ask.
    thanks,
    k

  34. thanks, i have found out the glen road was once a river that flowed into the st-laurence…and that the bridge was built in 1892 to replace an older wooden bridge.

  39. There is a rumour out there of a locomotive buried in the Falaise Saint Jacques, someplace, rotting. Just to the West of the Turcot Interchange. Ever seen any evidence of it? Any photographs?

    Great site.
    For a hot Montreal debate about the future of this structure, see: http://www.turcot.ca.

    Jas

    • My father worked at CN for 35 years including the Turcot yards for a few years. Yes it’s true. Not far from where the roundhouse was, the ground got soft and the loco sunk. A the time, it was cheaper to leave it there. Would be interesting to find any photos.

      Cheers, Tony

      • hi tony,

        this is amazing to hear confirmed.
        do you know more about this?
        i would love to talk.
        i do research at mcgill on this area and I would love to know as much as you can tell me.
        is your dad still alive?

        jason

        jason (dot) prince (a t) mcgill (d ot) ca

  41. I just had a casual breakfast with Ross Blackhurst of the Lasalle borough and we briefly discussed development of the Turcot Yards.

    He advocates expanding the tax base by cleaning up the toxic soils and then build . . build . . build.

    My hobby-horse is to let nature clean it up with careful nurture of the natural wetlands.

    Blackhurst worked for decades in the RR Yards that were Turcot back when. He believes mucho in the work ethic and rags-to-riches through hard work. Now he is on the side of the developers (go figure).

    Despite all this, people like Blackhurst are worth the effort to win over to an eco and sustainable alternative.

    PS Hope that KM will note my email address and stay in touch.

  42. You guys ought to talk to Patrick Asch of Heritage Laurentienne. He’s an expert on wetlands, particularly in the Lasalle area.

    Building and building for the sake of keeping the economic wheels in motion is what has got us into most of the trouble we see today, urban sprawl, oil dependency, climate change, etc. Human beings are extraordinarily adept at avoiding long term consequences for short term pleasures, even if those short terms projects create huge disparities between the haves and have nots. As long as we can pretend the system is on our side, we can tolerate short term injustice, provided it does not annihilate our dreams.

  44. Love your posts! And your shots are beautiful! I came across your blog as I was looking for info about anglo’s living in montreal. Im still not sure why I found your blog; perhaps I just didnt find what I was meant to here – and then got distracted and found a bunch of much more exciting things! But if you do have any input – on that issue – Id be much obliged.
    Cheers!

  46. Came across your blog. Very interesting and great photos. I lived in Lachine for about a year. It was a fun experience. Montreal is such a beautiful city. Hopefully, someday I’ll get the opportunity to see it again…

  47. Great site Neath….I just came across it minutes ago. I was born in Lachine but raised in Lasalle and while most of my late childhood centered around the St. Lawrence River waterfront, I did venture around the Turcott area, especially the Lachine Canal where I paddled / trained when with the Grand Trunk Boating Club and later the Lachine Racing Canoe Club. I live in Fredericton, N.B. now but my daughter Allison – who is a photographer – lives in the Little Burgundy area between Notre Dame and St. Jacques. I love the history of the entire area and your photos are outstanding. Prior to retirement and moving down east, I followed the Doney Spur debate with great interest along with talk of the Airport light rail project (which seems to have derailed yet again!). I also recall running a lot on old abandoned rail lines that passed by Labatt Brewery and Seagram’s. Do you have any photos/info on that stretch of track? As I recall, it travelled past Angrignon Park and went westward toward the St. Laurent Bridge.

  48. Hi Ian,
    thanks for commenting. I love hearing from people who recall all these places.
    You will enjoy a series of posts from a few years ago on the Lasalle Loop.

    The Lasalle Loop, Part One


    I think there are 6 parts and a conclusion. You can find then using the search box at the top of the blog. Looking forward to you comments.

  53. I take photos of the garbage I clean up in my area of Montreal (Island). http://montrealpollution.blogspot.ca/
    I am currently concerned about the toxic snow the city dumps on public greenspaces. In the summer, when back to grass, can children (or your pet) accidentally injest the toxins deposited there? We worry about lead paint affecting childrens brain development , I think this should also be studied. The cost to test the concentrated black stuff in spring is one hurdle.

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