40
Margaret TobinMargaret's husband Bun began his employment life working as a farm hand. In 1940 he bought his own farm, still worked as a farm hand and was now working as an extra with the railway.
As years passed and he continued to get more work with the railway, he quit being a farm hand and farmed his own land for 10 years. Although Bun was considered an extra he continued to get full time work and could no longer farm his own land, he did get some young boys to do the work for him but this did not work out.
He eventually sold the farm and he, his wife and children moved to a house in Morell East where they lived for one year. The house Margaret now resides in, is where they spent most of their family life.
"We were lucky we didn't have to move around much." Bun would have to sometimes work out of town for a while but he would board with someone in the area he was working in. At times he would be gone for the week, come home on weekends and be off again on Monday. A lot time was spent raising the children alone, Margaret recalls.
As the children got old enough and started school, Margaret went to work at the fish plant. She recalls fish (lobster) being shipped in from Shediac but they did so by truck, it was more convenient than train at the time.
Bun was also working full time in Mt. Stewart, St. Peters, Farmington, Souris, Harmony and Elmira. He worked with many crews and in later years he was home almost every day. Margaret recalls how hectic it used to be getting up at 5:00am to pack lunches so Bun could be off to work at 7:00-4:00pm. She would then get the children off to school and have herself at work for 8:00am. This was quite the routine every day.
There were times when Bun would certainly get his exercise. "I can recall mornings he would walk from here to St. Peters." Sometimes Bun would have to leave St. Peters and walk back to Farmington. He would then catch the train back, getting a little rest.
Margaret says they never made much use of the free passes that were given to them from the railway, "although I have travelled on the train to Charlottetown to do business and shop." She would leave in the early morning and be back by the evening.
Margaret travelled to Toronto once aboard the train with a friend, Donna Kelly, about 25 years ago. The children were old enough to care for each other and Bun would be home in the evenings so she decided to go and enjoy the trip, and they did, she chuckles. It took two days to get there, they stayed for two weeks and made the two day trip back.
When she would go to Charlottetown she would board the train in St. Peters, when they lived there and in Morell when they moved. You could get your ticket before you went on the train.
Edgar MacKinnon was station master in Morell at the time. As you boarded you would find a seat and wait for the conductor to come and punch your ticket. "I enjoyed the very relaxing ride. It is a shame that they ever took it off, " Margaret says.
"I remember once in his later years with the rail when Bun was injured pulling out spikes. One broke and he toppled back landing in the hospital for a week with a double hernia."
Margaret does not recall Bun getting paid while he was out of work with his injuries. She does remember the railway workers getting straight pay during holidays, Christmas, New Years, Easter, they would only get one day at a time.
Bun missed the crew he worked with when he left the railway. After retirement he spent a lot of time around the home. He never really wished to go to far from the home when he was working or when he was retired. "You see, he had asthma and he had it so bad that he never wanted to journey to far."
When he worked he took medication with him and as it got worse he had to go on a machine when he got home. "That is what claimed Bun in the end, the asthma was just so bad." He was usually O.K. while he worked, when he got home is when he had trouble.
"They were good ol' days and it kept them out of mischief," Margaret laughs.
"They had to work hard, that's for sure," as she talked about how hard the rail crew worked.
"I believe they did the wrong thing, they never should have taken up the tracks or taken the train off." A lot of people were employed by the railway even the shovellers that were only called in the winter. "Money was money."
Bernard James (Bun) Tobin was born on April 27, 1913. He worked as an extra then a sectionman for the railway. Bun married Margaret Jane (MacKinnon) Tobin in October of 1942 and they had three children. Bun died on November 3, 1989.
While Bun worked as an extra for the railway, these are the men he worked for.
Tom Ledwell, Souris
Brent Gillis
Charlie Leslie, Souris
Stanley Brown, Morell
Bill Power, Tracadie
Emmett MacDonald, Morell
41
Old lamp on display at the Elimra Railway Museum.31 August 2003
Elmira, Prince Edward Island
42
Kenny MacPheeLong before anyone owned a car and plows cleared the roads for them to travel, the only way to go places was by train. For some it meant walking only a short distance to meet the westbound train at Selkirk Station around 8:10am.
For others coming from places such as Little Pond, travelling by train meant staying overnight at a Selkirk home, where the wife was a native of Little Pond, and catching the train from there the next morning. In 1937 and 1938 the train fare for a round trip from Selkirk to Charlottetown was $2.50. A trip from Selkirk to St. Peters cost 25 cents.
Many people also travelled to Souris on the freight train, leaving Selkirk between 11:00am and 12:00pm, shopping or doing other business until the train left Souris around 2:00pm. A trip from Selkirk to Souris in the late 1930's was 50 cents. Although these prices seem low to people in the 1990's, a quarter back then was worth a great deal more than it is now.
For the comfort and convenience of the travellers on the passenger train, a "smoker" was available. The smoker was a compartment, separated from the rest of the car, where people could smoke. It was also the spot to go and have a drink, although it wasn't meant for such.
For a short time in 1937 there was another form of transportation in Souris - the autorailer. This was a small "train" that could be run on both rails and the road. It held up to 30 people and often made trips from Souris into Charlottetown.
It was thought these cars would be useful for running people around Souris, almost like a taxi, but they weren't used that much and as a result were taken off the rails.
Travelling by train was, indeed, an important mode of transportation. However, Mother nature often decided when the train travelled. This was the case in the winter of 1961, an especially bad year for snowstorms. The train was stuck in snow drifts every time you turned around.
That year the train was shovelled out near Mt. Stewart, St. Peters, Five Houses, Harmony Junction and other areas when major storms blocked the tracks, often for days at a time.
Many people, including women with newborn babies, endured the long wait while men shovelled feverishly to clear the track. A derailment also occurred that same winter just west of the railroad bridge near Selkirk Station. One man travelling on the train that day got such a scare that he never set foot on a train again.
In the days before the railroad, farmers grew enough food for their families and the farm's livestock. With the railroad came the opportunity to ship their produce, bringing them extra money. They could also easily obtain fertilizer, such as mussel mud, for their land which helped them produce higher yields and better livestock.
As a result, cattle, pigs, sheep, etc. were herded to the nearest railroad station to be shipped to town to the meat packers. For some, the journey to the nearest station started very early in the morning. For example, people from the Little Pond area would leave there with their livestock at 3:00am in order to arrive in time for the noon train in St. Charles or Selkirk. Men would stamp the livestock and then load them in the boxcars.
It was also stated that wood was shipped by train. Wood was cut in a small area called Kirkwood, located between Ashton and Aberdeen, and was loaded on the train at the road crossing in Aberdeen. It was unsure what the wood was sold for i.e. firewood, lumber.
Eggs were another commodity shipped by train. Because they were very fragile, the eggs were placed in the baggage car where they could be better cared for. They would end up at Brookfield Ice Cream in Charlottetown where they were graded and distributed for sale or used in making ice cream.
One farmer in Selkirk, who was also a store owner, shipped his eggs this way and instead of being paid cash he took groceries for the store in trade. John MacPhee, like many other farmers, shipped his eggs in crates that held 30 dozen eggs. His shipments were especially large, with 15-20 crates being shipped from his farm at any given time.
Mr. MacPhee, a member of the Co-op store in Selkirk, acquired the contents of the Co-op in 1942 when it closed down. Another member, Art Cahill from Gros Haut, was also co-owner of this new store which was set up in a spare room in Mr. MacPhee's home.
Many items for the store came by train, so many in fact that the engineers used to blow the whistle as they passed by to let them know the train was in with their wares.
Some of these engineers and other trainmen were remembered by Mr. MacPhee's son Kenny (Johnny Roddie). They are Jack McCormack, engineer, Bill Doyle, conductor, Corneilus McCormack, baggagemaster and mail clerk, Jack's brother, Merlin Murphy, one of the best engineers on the train, and a Mr. Trainor, engineer (first name unknown).
Kenny MacPhee recalls the first days of the store when all the items were moved by himself, his father, Mr. Cahill and various other people into the small spare room until an addition could be made to house the store. Ration stamps were a common sight in the store until 1945 when the war ended and the rational items - tea, sugar, molasses and butter - were no longer scarce.
Mr. MacPhee lives in the old home in Selkirk where he grew up seeing his parents run the store from what is now the front porch. Selkirk is a quieter place since those days, when people bustled around the store, the post office, the blacksmith shop and the station located in this community. The absence of the train is also strongly felt here, as it was the train which brought all the bustle here in the first place.
Natives by the name of by the surname Sark lived near the railroad bridge in Selkirk.
P.C. MacDonald, the man who tied his horse to the train in Selkirk, was Kenny MacPhee's uncle.
People had a great time on the train, especially around Christmas time when people would get their Christmas liquor and party on the train on their way home.
Kenny knew railway men such as Ronnie McInnis, Jimmy (Johnny Alan) MacKinnon, Tommy Ledwell, Artie (Johnny Vie) MacDonald, Charlie (Hughie Alan) MacDonald.
Daniel McInnis took mail off the train and took it to the post office at Mike MacIntyres. His brother Joe (Danny Alan) McInnis had the post office after the MacIntyres.
Extra trains were put on for tea parties.
Kenny remembers pump trolley cars and motorized ones in Selkirk Station. Mr. MacPhee recalls the men pumping the pump trolleys and coasting down a slight grade into St. Charles Station.
43
Display of oil lamps at the Elmira Railway Museum.31 August 2002
Elmira, Prince Edward Island
44
Art and Laura CoffinArt, as well as his wife Laura, recall how the train influenced many people's lives. Although it did not influence their lives a great deal, they still had a lot to tell.
Art lived by the railway most of his life, however, he only travelled on the train once, from Pisquid to Mt. Stewart. He used the railway when he ran a mill in Mt. Stewart, the feed for the mill was delivered by train. As well, Laura said while she lived in Covehead she only used the train to travel to Charlottetown.
Art was never employed by the railway itself, but he and his brother Roger did work pulling spikes from Cardigan to Mt. Stewart, from there to Morell and on the St. Peters to East Baltic run.
By the time they completed this job, they knew every inch of track and trees along the trail.
Two of Art's uncles were employed with the railway, Doug and Willard Coffin. Willard did not have much luck when he was a driver, for he had many derailments and one January he ran into a plow that was driven by Doggie Cameron. Luckily no one was hurt in the mishap.
The winter was not always an enjoyable season for the trains. They could be stuck for two or three days or even longer, with men clearing the line, away from home for at least a week. Although the men were glad for the work, they used to get their exercise, for they had to walk the whole way and back again. It was said, that the Georgetown train used to get stuck a lot on the turn in Mt. Stewart, before the bridge and would be there for a day.
Many things were shipped by train, including goods such as potatoes. Art recalls that Clark's (Russell Clark's) and Keenan's used the train for shipping potatoes. On one occasion Clark's loaded 600 cars full of potatoes and when the train stopped running in Souris, Keenan's shipped their potatoes to Mt. Stewart where they loaded 21 cars. Pulpwood was also shipped by train and became a big business for the railway. One of the first carloads of pulpwood was loaded in 1949, Art's brother Junior worked loading the car.
Art recalls a few accidents that happened during the time of the train. The Georgetown crossing used to be a dangerous spot and many accidents occurred there. A derailment occurred in later years on the bridge of the Georgetown line.
Roy Leard hit a train at the crossing that carried him 50 yards down the track. When things were all cleaned up and the train was back on it's way Roy said, "That was close!"
Basil Jay also hit a train at this crossing that threw him out of his car and a train hit a snowplow that Sterling Gunn was driving. It was amazing that there were no fatalities.
The tracks were used by people for other means of transportation besides the train.
People would travel on the tracks with horse and sleigh or buggies which would quite often get stuck in the bog and they would panic trying to get them out. Even though most horses didn't mind the tracks, some would go wild around the train and tracks, Art believed it was the hollow sound the tracks had. They once owned a horse that would not walk across the tracks, he would jump them but never walk.
Art talked about a time when he, Junior Coffin and Everett Jay went driving on the tracks one day. Art recalls it being a Sunday because people going to church had seen them. He said as long as you were going forward you would be ok, but if you tried to back up you would go off the tracks. They use to stop at the crossings and go fishing, but never said if they ever caught anything.
Some of the young fellows would get enjoyment from borrowing the trollies that came into Mt. Stewart. Four men were required to pump these hand trollies, they were not so lucky as to find the powered ones, which would have been a lot easier. Art remembers a saying that his mother often used, "Riding a bike was moving your legs to give your ass a drive!" Art used the same saying when people would ride the trollies, "Riding a trolley was moving your arms to give your ass a drive!"
As they sat and recalled the past, Art and Laura said that 100 years ago they probably never knew the railroad would not be here today. Laura does not here the train whistles anymore and misses them, for she would hear them everyday. My how times change!
There were four junctions on the Island, Emerald, East Royalty, Mt.Stewart, and Harmony.
The train had to back into Montague but they could turn and drive into Georgetown.
In 1929 or 1930 the new line to Lake Verde was put in, it was the last line to be put in.
Billy Coffin was the last railroad man on PEI.
It was Moveall Construction that moved the Mt. Stewart Station to Savage Harbour.
When Art was involved in taking up the tracks, the oldest bridge they noticed was the bridge in
Tracadie, it was dated 1917.
Art also mentioned there was an average of 3000 railway ties per mile along the track.
About four or five years ago when they were taking the tracks up at the Mt. Stewart bridge, it caught fire from the torch they were using to cut the joint plates. The elderly people were told to leave because of the heavy smoke. Art recalls it being July 19, he was at a birthday party and the smoke lasted for three days.
When the boxcar of coal would come to the station, they used to have to unload it right away. During the night people would come to the car and help themselves to the coal.
45
The 2121940
Bloomfield, Prince Edward Island
46
Eileen AffleckEileen began her recollection about a near fatal accident that could have occurred back when the train used to travel right by her house.
One day she went to the store up the street with one of her sons. Walking back she noticed that her young son, only 18-19 months at the time, had got out of the yard somehow and started to walk up the road to meet her. As they lived only a short distance from the tracks, she became very upset when she noticed the train coming.
As she screamed to her son to stop, he kept walking, as he could not hear her over the noise of the oncoming train. It was then that a young lady, coming up the street, heard the frantic mother's screams and ran up the road to stop the child.
Needless to say, Eileen was a very happy mother. After this occurrence Eileen said when you live so close to the tracks and hear the train whistle blowing, do a quick head count to make sure all your children are safe. She now worries about her grandchildren playing around the tracks.
Even though trains do not occupy them anymore, cars travel right on the railbed and go by her house. Eileen's recalls her family using the passenger train quite frequently. Her husband, using horse and wagon, used to haul the freight that came by train for the stores.
William MacDonald, Eileen's father, used to ship potatoes on the trains. She also recalled a couple accidents, one when Basil Jay hit a freight train and one when the snowplow hit the train. No fatalities occurred in these mishaps.
After a day in town for some tests, Eileen and her sister Bertha missed their train ride home. This did not stop them however, for they just started walking home. It took three hours to get from Charlottetown to Blooming Point, which was pretty good, seeing as the train ride takes about the same amount of time.
One Halloween night a group of young boys got together and decided to push the freight car down to the main street. As they went by Eileen's house she thought, how good her two young boys were to be home in bed and not out with this group of boys causing trouble. To her surprise, as she learned a while later, her boys had crawled out their window to be of assistance to their friends. Later on that night, the boys were caught and had to push the car back down to the railway yard.
Eileen said she does miss the horse and buggy days because they were happy times however, everything today is more accessible and convenient.
47
The 212 iced up1935
Bloomfield, Prince Edward Island
48
Joe MacInnisCompared to the railroad in the United States, the one on P.E.I. was considered to be fairly young, beginning operation near 50 years later. When it was decided to build the railway here and the process was started, the province found they could not afford to complete it.
At this time P.E.I. was being pressured to join Confederation as having the Island was important in maintaining shipping access with Great Britain. Joining Confederation would mean the railway on the Island could be completed. The Island agreed to join and in 1875 the railroad began it's operation.
Joe McInnis related that the St. Peters Station was situated at the south end of the causeway across from the site of the present Irving gas station. The station and toolshed, which housed the trolley car, were located about 200 feet east of the road, directly below St. Peters rink.
When the rail lines were no longer providing passenger travel, the station was left unused. About 16 years ago it was moved closer to the road and became the St. Peters Circle Club, a seniors activity center. In a way, things did not change much for the station so it was always a hub of activity, with fiddlers playing for dances there and people meeting the train.
The station yard, as the area was often called, had an extra section of track called the passing track. If two trains came into the yard at the same time, one could be pulled off onto the passing track to allow the other one to pass through.
This track could also be used for loading freight cars, allowing the car to be loaded without holding up the freight train or hindering the passage of the passenger train.
At the east end of the station yard, there was a cattle pen, used to hold cattle and other livestock before they were loaded onto the freight cars. Behind this point, the land was quite marshy as it was very close to the edge of St. Peters estuary.
When the steam engines were running, they required regular fill ups at water tanks located at various spots along the railroad. One of these water tanks was located on the north side of the highway near Pinebrook, a stream located east of the United Church in St. Peters. This stream was damned as a starch factory was in operation on the south side of the road and provided enough water for the water tank.
In addition to the railway buildings, the water tanks and the station yard, the people who worked for the railroad were also permanent fixtures, seen on the train or in the station.
Three station agents were recalled by Joe were Peter Power, Will Cox and Vince Murphy as well as a variety of relieving agents which occupied the station from time to time.
One of the conductors recalled was Mr. Hughes. He was a big, burly man who prided himself in having things go straight forward and on time. On one trip he was on, the train got stuck in Elmira for 3 weeks. A couple of fellow workers, knowing he would be upset at the extended delay, sent Mr. Hughes word to bring some May flowers back with him when the snow melts enough for the train to leave Elmira!
Another conductor was fondly remembered, Ronnie MacDonald, Joe's uncle. When his nephew and his son heard the train coming, they would run to the tracks and catch candy that he would throw at them. The men that worked on the railroad were all remembered as very hard working, dedicated men who worked as though the railroad was their own.
The same dedication was shown by the men who shovelled out the train when the snow proved to much for it. There were some winters where so much snow was dumped that the train could be stuck for weeks with men shovelling for $2.00/day from daylight to dark. Shovelling alongside the train to clear the wheels was especially hard because the steam from the train would soak the men's clothes, making for a cold miserable day.
Two snowbanks gave the shovellers from this area work every year. "Betsy's Cuttin'" was located on a hill on the west side of the Midgell bridge. It was named after the landowner, Betsy Battersby who's land this snowbank formed on each year.
Another bank, "Porter's Cuttin'" was named for the landowner, Porter's, who owned land between the eastern outskirts of the St. Peters community and the dirt road leading to Forest Hill called Sparrow Road.
Bad storms battered the section of the track that runs along the south shore of St. Peters Bay. In the early years, the bridge foundation was wooden timber breastwork. High tides combined with fierce winds during a storming 1939 washed all this breastwork from under the railroad track.
Tons of fill was brought in along with crushed rocks and boulders from the mainland to build up the railway bed after this storm. This proved to be a solid foundation although the railway spikes were replaced often as they were found to be rusted near all the way through by the salt spray.
In the days when there was no TV and few radios, people made their own fun by visiting others and often telling ghost stories. It seems like every little hollow tree the train passed through had a spook of some kind haunting it. Although there were many stories repeated in his time, Joe could not recall any for the simple fact that he knew they were just stories.
There were a couple of real "spooks" haunting the starch factory in Pinebrook, next to the tracks. The night watchmen for the factory, from the Cardigan area, seemed especially fearful of ghosts and other spooks. His job was to check all the pipes in the building to ensure everything was in working order. These pipes made the building very hot and, because he was alone and know one would see him, he took his clothes off and proceeded with his check.
One night a bunch of local boys snuck in and picked his clothes up one by one with a fishing pole. They even hooked onto the lantern he was carrying and made off with that! Needless to say, the man was terrified and ran outside. The next day he was telling someone of the experience saying the devil was there last night and took off with his clothes!
On another occasion, the boys picked up a long pipe and put it through a broken window. They made an eerie sound into the pipe, which made it sound twice as horrible and startled the man so bad he fell into one of the tanks. But these were good guys and they went in, fished him out of the tank and brought him some dry clothes.
A ghostly experience did happen near Sutherland's lobster factory near St. Peters. In 1914 during the first World War, a large steam ship was seen near the harbour during a foggy night, but no one came ashore. The ship was gone by morning.
To try and solve this mystery, Bill Cox, the station agent, knew the ship had a wireless telegraph and tried to contact it. The agent could not decipher the message that came back, leaving the identity of the ship a mystery.
Excursion trains took hockey players and fans to local rinks. It was said that this was near as big as the NHL.
A return ticket to Charlottetown on Saturdays cost 90 cents.
Telegraph wires had to be raised because they were getting buried in the snow.
Rails up west were replaced with heavier rails, fewer heavy rails occupy the eastern section. The reason for this is unknown.
Any minor derailments that occurred were handled with a portable set of tracks. Once the train was righted, if it did flip over, with the use of cables, the wheels were guided onto the portable track and back on to the main rails.
49
Old CNR Steam Engine.1940
Prince Edward Island
50
Ella (MacDonald) WilsonElla worked at the Bayview Hotel in St. Peters as a young woman in the mid 1920's. Being a native of Selkirk, she took the train to St. Peters where she remained for 3-4 weeks at a time to work. She remembers that the majority of the people staying at the Bayview Hotel were train travellers, bringing business to the community. When she had time off in the evenings, Ella and some of the other workers at the hotel or stores in the area, would go for a leisurely stroll down the tracks.
One of these strolls was taken to see the men and the "fighting train" do their work on the blocked track, caused by a fierce late December storm. They walked to Pinebrook, just west of St. Peters, to watch this train back up and drive full tilt into the snowbank until it got stuck and couldn't push the snow any further.
The men would then dig the train out and the train would try to "fight" the snow again. The snow "fought back," keeping the railroad blocked for a week or more.
One of Ella's strolls was not for leisure, however. The clock in her home stopped during the night, causing her to miss the train. As that day at work was to be a busy one, she walked the distance of 8 miles from Selkirk to St. Peters. The walk took her two hours to complete.
Ella was working in St. Peters when the wide gauge track was being laid. "Every man with two hands" was working from the time the last train passed on Saturday evening, through the night, until Sunday evening when it was completed.
When she married and settled in Selkirk, Ella used to go to St. Peters by train to do her shopping. She recalls managing to always go on the days when there was a teacher's convention, trying to jostle her way through the noisy crowd to get a seat with all her parcels!
To further her knowledge of the railway, Ella's father-in-law, Johnny Wilson was a railway man, but she is unsure of what his job used to be. His pay for the work done on the railroad was $25 per month. Her husband Jim Wilson was a shoveller.
When she heard that the passenger service was to be discontinued in the mid 1960's, she made it a point to take one last ride on the train to St. Peters, a trip she is now glad she made.
She has noticed a lot of changes in St. Peters since the train left. The Station was moved closer to the road and is now being used as a seniors club. All of the stores and the hotel that flourished during the early years of the railroad, are now gone.
She also misses being able to go places by train, as it was very convenient for everyone.
51
Narrow Guage; Double Header1923
Near Souris, Prince Edwrd Island
52
Herbie CheverieIn 1917 Canadian National began buying up the railways obtaining the Canadian Northern. A board of Directors that extended over the Canadian Government Railways was appointed chaired by D.B. Hanna. With fifteen lines in
all, the main lines were InterColonial, National Transcontinental, Hudson Bay Railway and the P.E.I. Railway.
Herbie worked as a snow shoveller. When the train became stuck in the snow the driver signalled for snow shovellers by three blasts of the engine's steam whistle. A crew of about thirty men would walk through the deep snow to wherever they were needed.
In 1926 the snow was so deep at St. Clair Crossing (near Chapel St.), men worked on six levels to clear the rails. The same year a tunnel was made from the Co-op corner to the school. Snow had to be cleared from the pit under the turn table and there were times when for every shovelful removed, two more blew in.
Three of the cleaners for Souris over the years were: Warren Cheverie, Leonard Walsh and Reggie (Jerome) Cheverie, they were responsible for taking care of the engines on the nights the train did not go to Elmira.
The engine and tender were cleaned and coal was put on for the return trip. Warren also spent a short time working for the railway in Boston.
With the arrival of Diesel Engines, drivers were sent to Boston where they were taught how to operate the new and powerful engines. Herb Cheverie (Warren's brother) taught some of the courses.
In 1939 Herb's teacher Gert MacLellan, took her class to Charlottetown by train to see the King and Queen. Excitement ran high as the group set out, and for some the train ride was the best part. Unfortunately, some of the children had motion sickness which put a damper on some of their fun. For Herb, he had such a good time he doesn't remember seeing the King and Queen. He does remember the crowds lining the streets and the excitement he felt just being there.
Joe Burke was responsible for looking after the coal shed in Souris. He unloaded coal from the cars and made sure the sheds were always full before he went home at night. During the winter he often found much of the coal missing come morning.
Folks would arrive at the shed during the night with bags, hand sleighs and anything they could put coal in. The "borrowed coal" was put to good use, by morning black smoke poured from many flues.
The Police would come to look for the "borrowed coal" by following footprints and knocking on doors. One man with unusual footprints would tie a tree branch to his sleigh to hide the evidence. Another man warned his mother not to say anything if the Police came calling. She was to speak French and pretend she did not understand English.
When the Police came inquiring about the coal, she opened the coal bin and said, "there it is!"
Railway men were not without a sense of humour. Lester Cheverie was one of them. One Sunday morning while working at Borden, he and several men were preparing for church. Looking out the window he saw a dead crow on the track.
Saying nothing about the crow, he told the others to go without him and he would have dinner ready when they returned. Retrieving the crow, he placed it in a pot feathers and all. Returning from church, his friends remarked about the wonderful smell of the cooking bird. It was then that the wing popped out of the pot feathers and all!
Souris Station Agents:
Jack (Jack the Lake) Macdonald;
Carroll Delaney;
Ray Campbell;
Vernon MacPhee.
Souris Sectionmen:
Dan MacDonald;
Michael Fitzpatrick and son Bill Fitzpatrick.
Section Foremen:
Harry Leslie;
Bill Hanlon;
(Jerky) Joe Campbell;
Charlie (Hughie Allan)
MacDonald;
Artie (Artie Johnny V.) MacDonald.
Frank Grimes picked up and delivered mail to the train every day. Everyone knew when the mail was on the move for he drove a white horse with a bell.
A special train was used by the Hockey teams and fans. Herbie remembers trips to Montague with the Police on board and no spirits were allowed. That did not stop a bottle or two from being passed around. On one trip home someone pulled the emergency cord bringing the train to a screeching halt.
St. Charles was also called "Groshaut" by some. Why was unclear to Herbie, it was not a name used by people who lived there.
Two girls, returning from Boston after a years stay, asked the Conductor in a thick Boston accent to let them know when the train was arriving at St. Charles. Knowing who they were but saying nothing, he went about his duties. When they were near St. Charles he entered the girl's car and yelled "Groshaut" next stop.
A small child was killed on the tracks at Souris River. The child not yet walking was carried to the yard while the mother hung clothes on the line to dry. Unnoticed, the child crawled onto the rail track, the driver of the train realized to late that what he thought was a paper or something was in fact the child. The mother found the baby and carried it to the house in her apron-in two pieces.
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Digging out the Raw cut1923
Souris, Prince Edward Island
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