Hello Spacing Readers, I’m Andrew, an underground explorer/photographer here in Montreal. I recently launched a site called (what else?) Under Montreal, essentially to try and better document the types of places that I’ve been visiting over the past few years. After Alanah came across a few of my posts, she invited me to post the odd thing here.
Just a bit about myself: I’m originally from Toronto and first moved to Montreal about two and a half years ago. Since then I’ve been trying to get a better understanding of the entire island in terms of how it’s evolved and how it functions today. I’ve found that one of the best ways to do that has been to head underground and to get my hands dirty with the guts of the city and the surrounding areas. I know it sounds a little strange, but it works well for me.
A lot of what I’ve learned has been gained indirectly. When searching out these spaces, I tend to pick up a fair amount of knowledge along the way whether I intend to or not. Similar to the psychogeography crowd, I end up in areas of Montreal that I might never have visited otherwise, let alone given any thought to begin with. The more I learn about the underground, the more I learn about everything else above it both in terms of the past and the present. I suppose I even learn a bit about myself along the way as well.
It’s also as much fun as it is rewarding, but while I’m not a big fan of disclaimers, please don’t take my posts as an invitation to try this stuff yourself. There is an element of risk involved, both in the physical and legal sense and the last thing I’d want to see is anyone injure themselves or get in trouble as a result of things shown here. Put another way: do as I say, not as I do.
With that said, I hope you enjoy my posts and look forward to receiving your feedback.
9 comments
Dear Andrew,
Thank you for your interesting post, and site!
Back in the Fifties and Sixties we too wondered about ‘How a City Worked.’
Where does the drinking water come from? How did it get from the Aqueduct and Verdun Purification Plant at the bottom of Atwater near the old Verdun Industrial Complex to the Mc Tavish Reservoir?
Why were there TWO Hydrants in front of Mc Tavish? One Red, as per normal, the other Black?
How did they dig the Wellington Tunnel beneath the Lachine Canal, and, does it leak?
Where did Riviere St Pierre go to at the East end of old CNR Turcot Yards, after coursing all the way from Decarie and Namur by Blue Bonnets Raceway?
Is it true there are still two steam locomotives buried in the muck of the St Pierre R after they capsized in the 1890s?
Di they really use two of the original Victoria Bridge ‘Tubes’ from 1859 to channel the St Pierre beneath Cote St Paul?
How come all the streetlights came on at once?
Where did the sewage and runoff go to?
How did the gas from LaSalle Coke get to the burner on the stove?
What were all the bell codes audible in every fire station as you walked by?
A city is not all houses, churches, theatres and schools.
Where does electricity, the blood of the world, come from, and how is it distributed?
If a person was so inclined he could visit the Abbatoirs and understand the origins of Montreal Smoked Meat.
Amazing what really binds a city together.
Where exactly this photo was taken?
Cdnlococo: That’s the first I’ve heard about tubes from the Victoria Bridge and Riviere St. Pierre. Hopefully some of those questions will get answered with future posts. I think I’ll pass on the abattoirs though. I wouldn’t have the stomach for it.
Lucila: The photo was taken around Pie IX and Mont Royal, roughly 100 feet below street-level.
La borne-fontaine noire sert à l’égalisation de la pression dans la conduite d’alimentation provenant de l’usine de filtration. Elle sert à contrôler la pression lors du remplissage de la conduite suite à une réparation, par exemple.
Elle est noire pour indiquer que ce n’est pas une borne-fontaine et qu’il est absolument contre-indiqué d’y connecter des boyaux d’incendie… :) :) :)
I posted about the two locomotives once.
http://neath.wordpress.com/2006/08/14/mystery-at-otter-lake/
And if anyone has any idea of how to do it I would still like to paint the river at Turcot!
This site is amazing, take care of yourself man. We will live vicariously through you, love your site!
Neath: I’ve always liked your idea of painting the river through Turcot, but I imagine that would require quite a few buckets/spray cans!
Did you ever see the “Human River” parades held in Toronto to raise awareness of the Garrison? http://humanriver.ca/?page_id=12
They’ve also done a nice job of turning the former path of the creek into an interpretive trail.
A LARGE Thank You to Mr. Jean Naimard for explaining the reason for the Black Hydrant at the Mc Tavish Reservoir!
I have wondered about that for over 50 Years.
Merci encore!
Thank u Andrew, i’ve learned alot from ur article in the gazette and form viewing all ur pics. Keep of the good work. And stay safe:)