The Rural Voice, 2003-12, Page 37and full crew for this special (but low
priority) last run. They would put the
train together next morning, starting
about 8:00 a.m. for the last CP Rail
run out of Goderich. Before the crew
shut off the engine lights, I got a
couple more flash' shots of the
engine, caboose, and string of flatcars
loaded with road graders. The
headlight from the engine lighted up
the yellow graders down the track
and tiny prisms of snow sparkled in
the camera flashes. Just after
midnight, I drove back to my
parents, to try to get some sleep
before the action later in the morning.
That night I did not sleep well.
Memories of the railway
through our home farm
flooded into my mind: the passenger
train threading its way to Goderich
through pine hedges and farm fields;
the ride with my great aunt from
Toronto to McGaw; the last mixed
train on a hot August day; the
removal of the Shapit switch; the
heavy grain trains of winter; the
cattle cars at McGaw; and the quiet
evening walks along the track. All
these scenes rushed past me. I hurt
inside to think that something once
so important to our community and
my own way of life would end in a
matter of hours.
On December 16, 1988, I was up
at 6:00 a.m., dressed, had breakfast,
and loaded my cameras into the car
for the drive down the harbour hill.
At the station, everything was still
quiet. The sky was. grey with clouds,
but the snow had stopped. I set up
my tripod and camera on the snow-
covered platform for a couple of time
exposures of the yard and train. Two
red tail lights marked the end of the
dark caboose, while yellow light
poured out of the windows of the
station's circular waiting room and
reflected off the shining red engine.
A yard light peeked over the cone
roof of the station and a small pilot
light illuminated the front truck of
the engine. Each of these lights
registered in colour on my time
exposures.
Soon people and their vehicles
started arriving at the station. Gerald
Lamb was one of the first, then the
section men, local railway veterans
and a group of railfans from
Kitchener. The section foreman
telephoned London to advise the
maintenance co-ordinator that the
dtGrG'le
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A4
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From all of us to you and yours,
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Wishing you a successful New Year.
(AoCO
MULLIN'S FARM
1`h
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ALLIS SERVICE
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Chepstow, Ont. Balar><ts
(519) 366-2325 1-800-561-1801
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DECEMBER 2003 33