2009

19 September 2009 Trolley's Last Port Dover Run Was in 1955 This photo shows the old Kitchener station of the Grand River Railway on Queen Street South in 1955.     Kitchener Ontario - It was a rainy Saturday in the spring of 1955. But that didn't stop a Kitchener crowd of 400 from turning up at the station for a special occasion. The local Canadian Legion Pipe Band was there to entertain as well.   But it wasn't the CN train station near Weber and Victoria streets in last week's mystery photo.   It's the old Grand River Railway station, which was situated just off Queen Street South, near Mill Street. Back in the day, you could board a GRR trolley there, a train powered by electricity, and ride to Preston, Galt, Paris, Brantford, or all the way to Port Dover on Lake Erie. For a time, before 1938, you could also go north to a Waterloo terminal on Erb Street West.   The old Record photo was snapped on 23 Apr 1955, when a final round trip to Port Dover was offered to mark the end of operations for electricity-powered passenger trains by the Grand River Railway and its sister line, the Lake Erie & Northern. Both were operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway as a division formally known as Canadian Pacific Electric Lines. It had its headquarters in Preston, now part of Cambridge.   Today it's hard to pinpoint the spot where the Kitchener station stood, but there's a sign in the general area (with two old photos of the building) along the Iron Horse Trail, which hundreds of pedestrians and cyclists use daily.   Frances Karges, 84, of Waterloo, grew up in a home on Mill Street in Kitchener and phoned to say she remembers the station well.   As a child, she said, she and her friends would often go to the station just to take in all the activity - to see who was arriving and who was departing. She remembers watching the station manager tap out Morse code messages to other stops on the line.   When she was older, Karges said, she would ride the trolley to Galt or Brantford to go roller skating.   Record reporter W.J. Pitcher accompanied the GRR train on 23 Apr 1955 and his story accompanied the photo in the paper the following Monday. The Port Dover run was one of two "farewell" trips sponsored by U.S. chapters (in Buffalo and Syracuse) of the National Railway Historical Society.   "Many came hundreds of miles to avail themselves of an opportunity which may never come again," Pitcher wrote.   "The LE&N is one of the last interurban electrics to operate on the continent... At least 150 of the passengers were American rail fans. These are people who make a hobby of anything connected with "the road of steel". The rest were district people with a feeling of nostalgia for the old trolley line.   "I count myself among the latter group," Pitcher wrote, "but my chief regret is that a beautiful scenic route is being lost to the public."   Pitcher went on to describe the splendid views the trolley offered in the section from Galt to Paris, beside the Grand River.   "I know of nothing to compare with it in this part of Ontario. The roads in the area seldom touch the beauty spots open to trolley patrons."   When the outing came to an end at 5 p.m. in Preston, 1,000 people were at the station to give the trolley a final farewell, the article said.   The Grand River Railway continued to run freight trains past the Kitchener station for several years. After 1961, those trains were no longer powered by electricity.   The station building - the second of two at the site - was torn down in 1976. Heritage groups weren't interested in saving the brick structure because it was just 33 years old.   You can read more about the Grand River Railway online at www.ironHorseTrailStories.ca and in the 1977 book "Traction on the Grand", by John Mills.   In the book, Mills notes that a few more special trolley trips were arranged following the two official "final" runs in April 1955.   "It was found, however, that the sight of passenger cars on the line resulted in demands for restoration of service, so this procedure was soon terminated."   Jon Fear.   * See also Canadian Pacific Electric Lines by W.E. Miller.

OKthePK Vancouver Island British Columbia Canada - http://www.OKthePK.ca/