53
Digging out the Raw cut1923
Souris, Prince Edward Island
54
Ada MacDonaldFor some people the fascination with the train never wore off, even when they lived along side of the railroad tracks for most of their lives. This is true for Ada MacDonald, who grew up on the east end of the Souris Line Road where the railway enters the town of Souris. From the time she was a little girl and on into her adulthood, Miss MacDonald made a point of always seeing or hearing the train pass whenever she could. As a result, she has many memories regarding the train.
Because she lived so close to the tracks, about 60 feet or so from them, she and her siblings became familiar with the railway men. The men, such as engineer St. Clair Paquet, baggage master Wilfred Wright, and conductor Cliff Cox, would wave to them from the train. One of the sectionmen, Artie Johnny V. MacDonald, seemed to be especially good to the children, giving them rides up the track on the trolley car.
Another one of the good guys was Cliff Cox. He heard two young men talking about joining the service during the time of the Second World War. The only thing stopping them was neither one of them had two cents to rub together to make the train trip to Charlottetown to enlist. Moved by the boys dedication to the war effort, Mr. Cox said, "If you fellas are willing to serve your country, I'll see that you get to town." And so he did.
Living so close to the tracks the siding was just opposite her house and she would often watch the brakemen man the switches. These switches were under lock and key and seemed to be the responsibility of the brakemen to unlock the switch and make sure it was locked before they boarded the train.
Like many other people, Miss MacDonald remembers going to get the mail at the station house in Souris. On her trips to the station, she would see Frank Grimes who, to the young girl was, "the old man with the white horse who took
the mail from the train to the station house." She recalls mail service as being more reliable then, with a letter getting to Charlottetown or points in between the same day it was mailed.
Living where she did, Miss MacDonald also witnessed the train getting stuck as the Raw Cut was practically in her back yard. Different whistles would signal that different plows were coming (i.e. wing plows, regular plows, etc).
These plows had 2 and even 3 engines to provide power to drive full force through snow covered tracks. During one of these forceful run-throughs, a heavy chunk of snow was flung over the plow and tore the cab of the plow. Luckily the driver, Andrew Leslie, was not hurt.
Another near miss occurred while the train was being shovelled out of the Raw Cut near the MacDonald home. A young Ada MacDonald was going home from school for lunch. The shovellers, who were a piece away, saw her coming and shouted to her to stay back as the plow was going to make a "run for it."
For some reason or another, she didn't hear the men or see the train coming up the steep hill. She was just about to step on the track when she felt herself being thrown across the track and up on top of the snowbank on the other side. In almost the same instant, a man landed against the snowbank below her and was handed an end of a shovel by which he was pulled the rest of the way up the bank. Just as he was pulled clear, the train rushed by them.
One of the shovellers had thrown her up n the bank and jumped just in time to save Ada and himself from the oncoming train. A very shaken little girl was taken home safe and sound by the men. To this day, she does not know who the man was that saved her.
Other than these events and some other close calls in Souris with the people crossing the tracks with horse and sleigh, few serious accidents were reported in this area.
There was something magical and mystical about the train, especially the steam engines which were said to almost possess a soul. It was these qualities that Miss MacDonald said caused her to have such a fascination with the train.
55
SnowMarch, 1932
Prince Edward Island
56
Leo GallantIn the early days of the railroad, Bear River was somewhat of a "booming town" among the rural communities, boasting a couple of stores, warehouses and a hotel in addition to the station buildings around which many people bustled and waited for the train.
The hotel, owned by Dennis Costello, was a large building. There were four large bedrooms upstairs, each with washstands including bowls and pitchers for the visitors as there was no indoor plumbing in these early years.
A large parlour downstairs allowed the travellers to relax and visit with their fellow travellers. A kitchen off the large formal dining room, complete with cooks and servants, provided meals for those staying at the hotel.
The hotel was a stopover for many dignitaries, especially religious dignitaries such as bishops who made visits to the local parishes. So impressed was one bishop with the hotel and the hospitality he received that on a return visit, he presented Mr. Costello with a picture he obtained while on a trip to Rome. The picture is divided into four sections each depicting a different scene. As is typical of Roman art, the picture included humans in the nude.
When the hotel was bought by a local man, Robert Gallant, as a residence for he and his family in the 1930's, this picture was included in the sale. However, both he and his wife Emma thought this picture was a bit explicit for their children. Whenever it was expected the children would be in that room, the picture would be turned over to face the wall so as they wouldn't see the nude figures!
The picture still exists and is now owned by Leo Gallant, one of the children of Robert and Emma Gallant, from which it was hidden.
The railroad brought many people together. Going to meet the train was more than picking up the mail or picking someone up who was travelling by train, it was an excuse to get out of the house and see some people. Excursion trains were often put on when tea parties and picnics were held to give other people from neighbouring communities a chance to have some fun.
For example, annual picnics were held in a large open field just north of the tracks (across from the present home of Leo Gallant). This field is now woodland but those who remember the picnics can feel the excitement yet.
The children in the area, who were always fascinated by the train, were dually blessed as a long sheet of ice that ran right alongside of the track would form over the peat bog each winter. They would skate contentedly for hours, watching the trains come and go. A few of the railway men used to challenge the children to a race with the train, while it was picking up speed upon leaving the station, much to the delight of the children.
The peat bog in this area was remembered for another reason. In the 1940's, the peat moss which covered an extensive area around the vicinity of the tracks caught fire. What was so unusual about this was the fact that this fire burned underground, using the peat moss as fuel with enough oxygen seeping in to keep it smoldering. This underground fire lasted for a couple of years, even during the winter, kids skating had to be careful to avoid sections of the ice where small bushes poked through as the heat from underground used to come up around the bushes and soften the ice.
Few railway accidents occurred on this section of track although two mishaps were recalled. During the time of the steam engine, the snowplow derailed near the Bear River Station by the home of Roach McGaugh. Using a large tree in his yard for leverage, the railway men attempted to right the train. The weight of the train proved too much for the old tree and the tree broke off, much to the dismay of Mr. McGaugh's children who played in it often. A crane was then called for, coming from Charlottetown, to right the train.
The second accident occurred during a morning run with the diesel snowplow. The plow caught a rail, causing two or three more rails to be sent flying towards the home of Lazarus McGaugh. Luckily a row of trees in his yard took the brunt of the impact, sparing any damage to his house. As one could imagine, the sound of railway ties crashing into the trees and clanging to the ground made a terrible racket. No one was more scared than a Cheverie man, a guest at the time, who was shaving in a room close to the accident scene and took the brunt of the noise, scaring him half to death.
It took roughly ten minutes to travel between New Zealand and Bear River, Bear River and St. Charles and St. Charles to Selkirk.
A Brothers man from Cardigan ran the telegraph machine at Bear River Station for a short time.
Leonard Peters and Lazarus McGaugh were the last station masters in Bear River.
57
Plow Train coming from Summerside1940
Bloomfield, Prince Edward Island
58
Cyril MacDonaldAs the railroad wound it's way through the Island, it also wound it's way into the lives of those who lived around it. Cyril MacDonald is no exception. Living just north of the tracks on the land that has been in his family for over 100
years, Mr. MacDonald certainly has knowledge of the railroad.
His father, George Johnny MacDonald, a farmer by occupation, did his duty for the railroad. He looked after the water tanks for many years for which he was paid $10 per month. He also drove those heading towards the Northside or "Up East" (Elmira section was not yet built) to their destination by horse and wagon or horse and sleigh.
One of his most frequent customers was a priest by the name of Father Gillis who often said if he had the stone he'd say any mass in Harmony on his way through. In addition to this, George and his wife also opened their home to those who, for some reason or another, needed a place to stay while they were travelling by train.
Besides his father, Cyril's brother Mitchell also worked on the railway. Mitchell, an engineer, died suddenly on a run to Borden at the age of 52. When he stopped the train for a water fill-up, he suffered an anurysm. The sad fact was discovered by the fireman, George MacIntyre, whose calls for Mitchell to pull the train ahead (so the water spout could fit in the tank) went unanswered.
To make matters worse, a storm blocked the tracks which hindered efforts to bring Mr. MacDonald's remains home. The snowplow operator sent to clear the tracks was a neighbor, Andy Leslie.
Cyril MacDonald worked on the railroad himself as a young man. He too drove people to their destination by horse and wagon\sleigh from the train station in addition to shovelling snow and coal ashes. He remembers two especially large banks in his area, one being the "Raw Cut" located just west of St. Catherines Souris Line Road intersection, and the other called the "MacDonald Cuttin'."
The Cuttin' was nearly a mile long and was named such due to its location near the MacDonald property. He remembers snow so bad in places that there were 50 men working on the one snobank at one time. Another snowstorm 40 years ago caused a train to be stuck for quite some time near Morell. The train ran out of water and resorted to using melted snow.
"Snowplows," consisting of an engine or two with a plow, were used to clear the track when the snow was not too deep. These plows often had a plow on both the front and the back of the engine so it would not have to turn around. In
the early years of the railroad, the engines were small and didn't have enough power to either get through the snow themselves or push it away as was the plow's job. As a result, larger, more powerful engines than number 15, 16, 17, 18, or 20 engines replaced these.
Cyril also worked for a time shovelling coal ashes and other jobs around the tracks. He was working at this around the time the Praught man was killed but was not scheduled to work until later and did not witness the accident. It seems that the two men, Billy McInnis and Willie Praught went to jump off one of the cars. Billy jumped and landed on level ground but Praught landed on a pile of coal ashes that were a common occurrence along the tracks, fell, and rolled beneath the train. This occurred many years ago.
Over the years many many railway men worked in and around Harmony. A man by the name of Plug Donovan, Cyril remembers well. Cyril had a farm like countless others in the area. His ducks liked to roost on the railroad tracks after the commotion of the day had come to an end.
One frosty morning as Mr. Donovan was slowing up to make his regular stop at Harmony, he noticed the ducks flapping and flailing but couldn't get off the track. The engineer stopped the train, noticing the duck's feet were frozen to the tracks. He jumped out, pulled the ducks off the track and continued on his way.
The area around the mill pond and streams in Harmony was full of wildlife. Many people fished there and were by no means disappointed in their catches. It is claimed by local fishermen to still hold some fish, although probably not in the
numbers seen in earlier years. Others used to trap mink and foxes which inhabited the areas surrounding the pond for pelts.
In addition to the wildlife flourishing in the area, there was another wonder of nature in the form of an Artesian Well. Located on the west side of Rte. 305 along the railroad track, this well bubbles and spurts water like a broken pipe,
especially in the spring when the water table is high.
Like many other rural communities through which the railroad passed, Harmony had its share of buildings and businesses associated with the railroad. The stationhouse was located on the west side of Rte. 305 near the head of the pond. Included in this building was a ticket office but no tickets were sold from this station. Next to this building was the water tank used to supply the train with water. The stone foundation for this tank can be found on the south side of the railway bed underneath some forest growth.
This was seen by Cyril in July 1993 while on a stream enhancement survey.
A water powered mill was in operation during the time of the railroad. The mill, operated by Rod MacLean and Dave McLaren, was a saw mill and often sent the logs it cut by train to be sold. The mill had previous owners, as it appears that it was in operation at the time of the publication of Meecham's 1880 Atlas.
A lumber yard owned by Acorn's was also running near the station. Lumber from this mill was also shipped by train. A store was also present in this community to satisfy the needs of its inhabitants and those travelling by train. The
store was owned by Tommy MacMillan but there are few details about this store.
59
Extra freight leaving1940
Bloomfield, Prince Edward Island
60
Aileen DwanFor the kids living close to the tracks in Bear River, the railroad was a major element in their young lives. The train and other things associated with it was something they just couldn't ignore or leave unexplored. Some of the biggest pastimes they had involved the railroad in some way.
The high wooden snowfence, constructed by the railroad to prevent snow drifts from forming on the tracks, was one of the best playgrounds. They would jump off the fence and into the snow banks below for hours on end. Hours and hours could also be spent in a large culvert under the tracks during the summer months, catching frogs, playing hide and seek and other such games.
The ramp and platform used to load and unload cargo from the box cars was also a favorite spot to climb on and jump to the track when the train was about 1/4 of a mile away, they could hear the train as the rail vibrated with the weight of the oncoming locomotive. For an even bigger kick, they waited for the train to rattle by them and then rush to the track to feel the really big vibrations the rails produced when the train was extremely close.
The trolley car used by the sectionmen was another fascination for the curious observers who saw it go up and down the track every day. That little pump trolley in Bear River made more trips than anyone ever imagined. The kids would sneak it out of the trolley house and take it for a ride up the track when ever they could get away with it.
Most of the children who lived closest to the railway station were the sons and daughters of postmasters, store owners, and the like. As such, they made frequent trips to the station and the post office and remember much about these places. The station, for example, had a bay window from which the station agent conducted business.
The waiting room was a long room having benches along three of its walls with a pot-belly stove in the middle. During the winter, the station would be full of people waiting for the evening train whether it was to board the train, pick someone up, get the mail or just watch people come and go. It was said that if you weren't there by 4 o'clock, you could pick yourself a spot along the wall to lean because thee wouldn't be a seat left as people waited for the 5 o'clock train.
In terms of the mail and the post office, numerous things were noticed. In the mornings, the post master would take the outgoing mail from the post office to the baggage car where it was sorted en route to Charlottetown. This baggage car also had a slot on it so individual letters could be dropped directly into the car. In the evenings, the mail would be taken off the train to the post office.
During the Second World War, letters edged in black could be seen in the post office. These were not welcome letters, as they notified families of the loss of a loved one fighting overseas.
Older children in Bear River, and neighboring communities, travelled by train to high school in St. Peters, giving them yet more experience with the railroad. The courthouse in St. Peters doubled as a school and is still standing, though now it is the Quigley Memorial Hall. The train would arrive in Bear River at 8:20am.
The conductor would punch the students pass cards and ask if they were all there. This showed great leniency on the part of the conductor who was supposed to keep to the strict train schedule. In fact, if someone was missing, the trainmen would wait for that student, who would invariably come huffing and puffing along.
St. Peters Station saw activities similar to those at other rural railway stations. Boxcars could be seen being loaded and unloaded with potatoes, wood, coal and other items. Freight trains were pulled over onto the passing track to allow the passenger train to continue on its way.
In the winter, men shovelled snow between the eastern outskirts of St. Peters and the Sparrow Road. The postmaster, Glen MacKinnon could be seen taking mail from the train to the post office or if parcels were from outside the country, the customs office.
The children were no different than others, with their curiosity taking them to explore the railway yard and the tracks themselves. A favorite haunt was the Black Bridge, located just east of St. Peters Station. It was a great fishing hole, a place to pick berries or have a small picnic with friends. The date 1925 is still visible on the concrete foundation of this bridge.
Also like many other stations, the increasing usage of cars and trucks caused transportation by rail to become obsolete. Station agents were no longer needed to monitor the flurry of activity that was once seen in the railway yards. The last station agent in St. Peters was George MacIsaac, thus ending an era of the railway in this community.
61
CNR freight train1932
Bloomfield, Prince Edward Island
62
Elliot CahillElliot's first experience with the train came at the age of 16 when he went with his sister-in-law to Souris. He said he remembered the freight train backing into Souris from Harmony which was a treat in itself. In the summer of 1948 he became a little more familiar with the railroad as he got a job spreading ballast (gravel) on the tracks. Part of his duty was to be fireman for the engine that hauled the hopper of gravel.
Another man, Johnny Mitchell also did this job from time to time. The fireman's job was to keep the fire going in the engine by shovelling coal into it, often as fast as they could lift the shovel.
Although there was just a few cars on the engine and, for the most part, the travelling was smooth, there were times when the train used a lot of energy. Sometimes the opening of the hopper would become clogged with gravel. The train would then begin shunting - stopping and starting quickly - to shake up the load and clear the blockage. This shunting required a lot of fire to keep the train in motion.
As basic as shovelling coal might seem, there was an art to it. There were two small doors on the oval shaped fire door opening. These doors were to be kept shut as much as possible to prevent valuable heat from escaping. For this to be practical, a small foot operated lever allowed the men to open the door, shovel the coal in and shut it without losing much time, effort and heat.
A person had to have good timing to open the door as the shovel-full of coal was flung towards the fire as they could get quite a fetch up when the shovel hit the door!
When the train had to back up in the early days of the railroad, the engineers would have to stop the train and move the pistons so they would go backward and then resume their journey. Later on, new technology referred to as the Stevenson Link Motion enabled the engineers to perform this procedure by way of a lever in the cab of the engine.
When the railroad was being built on the Island, many local men could be found pounding ties and rails onto the track bed. One of these men was Patrick Cahill from Groshaut (now the southwestern end of St. Charles, close to Selkirk).
He was in charge of clearing the land for the railroad and laying the rails and ties. It was said that the section he worked on, from Five Houses to the station at St. Peters Bay, was the straightest on the Island. He used no measuring devise to do this, he just had "an eye" for these kinds of things as evidenced in his building capabilities of his own farm and tools he made, some of which still exist in his great grandchildren's homes.
Before the train came into being, shipping was very important and continued to be for some years after the railroad came in. One day word had come that a ship was floundering just off East Point. Learning that it had no life rafts, the train in Charlottetown was summoned to come up with life saving equipment. However, the train was held up as it needed clearance from Moncton to go on such a run. By the time it got there, the ship had smashed amongst the rocks and the crew drowned. The year this happened was unknown to Elliott.
63
Fast Express1940
Bloomfield, Prince Edward Island
64
Gladys LewisGladys Lewis has been residing in St. Peters for 61 years. Her homestead is directly across the waterway, called "Lewis' Pond," from the old station where a station house, storage shed and small stockyard once existed.
The station, like that of other stations, was once a place full of activity. People would be busy doing their business of shipping and receiving goods such as coal. Since a coal shed was not available on site, people would have to go to the coal car, unload and tote their own coal back to their homes. Gladys says it was great when the river was frozen for you would not have to take the long way around to the station or back home.
Travelling in the winter of 1940 or so, Gladys recalls taking the train to Charlottetown to visit her sick husband in the hospital. It was storming so bad that day that she could not return home until a couple of days later. Jim Lewis later died in September 1949 in the Sunny Brooke Hospital in Toronto. His remains were brought back to P.E.I. which took 5 days of travel.
During the years of the depression, 1935-1945, men would be eager for the snow to fall because they were always gaurenteed some work. Shovelling snow was a great way to earn a little bit of money to help one get by. Mrs. Lewis recalls her sons getting a bit of work shovelling snow for the railway.
Mrs. Lewis mentioned a few people that she remembers working for the railroad. Jim Burge was the station agent back in the late 1920's - early 30's. Mrs. Dower from Sparrow Road (just up from the St. Peters rink), would travel from St. Peters to Bedford by train to scrub the station in Bedford. Family names were also mentioned by Mrs. Lewis. A cousin, Harold Harper, was a conductor and engineer around the 1930's west of Charlottetown. Unlce Art Harper, was conductor and engineer in the Murray Harbour area. Father Charles (Charlie) Harper, sometime before 1920, worked on the upholstery of the trains.
In the early days the train was well used by people. It was a great way to travel especially for those who did not drive.
In closing, Mrs. Lewis recalls a story of a dog in Midgell being buried alive by the spray of snow from a wing plow. The dog was retrieved only to find him alive and kicking, much to the shock of many people. A dogfood company in Charlottetown donated the family of the dog "oodles" of dogfood.
65
Prince Edward Island Railway Station map at the Elmira Railway Museum.31 August 2002
Elmira, Prince Edward Island
66
Kenny MacKinnonThe railroad was the backbone of many rural communities, providing transportation and work. To ensure that the train arrived at it's destination safely and on time, several people were hired to perform routine checks and repairs if needed.
Foreman were required to walk a given 10 mile section before the morning train to see that nothing was wrong with the tracks that would obstruct the trains passage. They had to be especially careful to note frost bumps and water rising over the tracks at the bridges, in the spring, as both conditions would cause the train to jump the tracks.
Many trains were often late in the spring due to the forces of nature. Foreman were also responsible for keeping the alders cut back so they would not grow across the tracks. Hand cars, and in later years, motorized trolley cars were used by foreman for inspections or repairs.
Another interesting use for these rail driven carts was for bringing doctors to emergency medical calls, especially when muddy roads were impassible.
Several foreman worked out of Selkirk or St. Charles stations, the earliest recollection was, James (Jimmy Johnny Allan) MacKinnon, who started working at St. Charles Station in 1928. Other foreman working at the time were Harry Leslie from Harmony, Ronnie MacInnis from Aberdeen, and Charlie MacDonald.
These foreman and their families were given free passage on the train because they were employed with the railway. People knowing this often asked these people to pick up parcels for them on their journey's to Charlottetown or Souris to save themselves the money they would have spent on the fares.
Besides the foreman, other men were hired temporarily to work the railroad. Shoveller's were often hired to help the train get through the huge snow drifts reported years ago.
The train could usually get through most drifts as it was a powerful double-header with two four foot plows on either side, but some drifts were near as high as the engine itself and could not be budged. As a result, 25 men from the surrounding communities were hired to shovel snow.
On the Selkirk to St. Charles run, especially large drifts would form about halfway between these stations every year, guaranteeing work for shoveller's in that particular section of track.
Men were also hired for maintenance work in the spring. When the frost came out of the ground, soft spots would often occur under the railroad ties, due possibly to their close proximity to springs.
As the trains passed over these spots, the railway ties would sink into the ground and as a result would bend the rails. To prevent derailments because of this unstable foundation, shims were placed under the railway ties to give much needed support to the track.
The section of track between the Selkirk Road and the railway bridge to the south had several of these spots as did a stretch close to St. Charles and to Bear River. Although the forces of nature often slowed down the train there were no major derailments between Ashton and St. Charles.
An accident did occur between Selkirk and St. Charles when the train broke a rail and went off the track but did not cause much damage, this incident happened not long before the railroad was shut down.
As was the norm in the rest of Kings County, there were two trains running every day through these rural communities. The regular train, as the passenger train was referred to, travelled west in the morning often staying overnight in Souris, stopping in Selkirk at approximately 8:00 a.m. and coming back through in the evening at around 5:00 p.m.
A freight train with a passenger car or two attached to it came through Selkirk on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Cream was usually shipped on Tuesdays, while livestock was shipped on bothTuesday and Thursday on the morning train.
Roddie and Chester Pratt, owners of a feed mill in St. Peters, usually loaded and stamped the livestock being shipped. Loading livestock proved to be a complicated task as at least a few animals decided they were not fussy about taking a ride on the rails and would hold up the train. Farmers often ordered lime for their fields which was shipped to them by train.
In addition to produce, livestock and farm goods, the mail also came by train. It was dropped off at the post office, which was located in Mike MacIntyre's store and distributed by railroad men from there. At this time another store was in operation which was run by Johnny Roddie MacPhee.
A further note of interest, native people used to live alongside of the tracks just west of the railroad bridge in Selkirk. James Sark and his wife Janet lived in a house in this location along with another neighbour John Paul who was a well known runner.
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