HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-06-02, Page 10Page 10 Times -Advocate, June 2,1993
Restara#iora
project
C aqd T Structural Movers haul the Exeter Railway Station through Stephen Township.
Children at
Stephen
Central
School
watch as
the station
moves down
County
Road 4,
while below
hydro
crews and
police
prepare
the route.
, xeter to Grand Bend
Station has a new home
Story and photos
by Fred Groves
T -A staff
GRAND BEND - A part of Exet-
er's history was rolled away on
Thursday. -end less than six hours
later beeline pan of the future of
Gra*Wentl.
LJ1til la 14ichful eye of 1)r.
AnneWilscsn and`her husband Al-
lan Heard who videographed the
-vhtire move, the Exeter Railway
'Station was hauled through` Stephen
and Hay Townships where it has
found a new home in Grand Bend.
The local optometrist is planning
to restore the the station, built in
.1911 to its original form and use it
as an oftjce which will be located
on Highway 81, just opposite the
Patio Motel.
Tharittay's journey began at
a 411:30 a.m. whejp,and Z'
-t ctural Movers'fitfttl':P1. Elgin
made the' final:adiusunents to the
load which rtteasured 40`bpet:wide,
70 feet long and. with tl'teriiof low-
ered three feet,eet fth.
It's quite obvious V0190n4ould
have builta new office f***
erably leas"itian<what the rntove'lnd
*ovations to the station will be.
really: doesn't make sense un-
otrtre a feeling for history
r , * auon,' said Wilson
a chutg >Qntario Hydro
4uove:wires.
}
;lye one,:as
much as $50,000 which involved
not only several hydro crews, but
Hay Telephone, Ontario Provincial
Police and Cable TV,
"A lot of people really don't un-
derstand it, it's really not economi-
cal," said Wilson.
It was a long, long day involving
dozens ofpeople which had only a
couple of.> ninor obstacles in the
way of sniping along the route.
Traffic had to be let by, which was
no problem, button Concession 8-9,
near Huron :Cagltlty Road 4, trees
along the sitile'he road had to be
dimmed.
Children <watch big move: In
ht of.Thit trit.ire student body and
teachers am Stephen Central Pub-
lic `Sdhool estation made it's way
up CountyRaill.4 through Shipka
where several'hydro lines were lift-
ed and :the >station eventually
moved on t , hway 81.
About rs short of the
rotridatnd the
Xi iii .thie to
40fother7;84une forntalf an
hour as hydro:crews°tad'4o1Ift all
3tte wires.alongthe'highwayso traf-
& wool t be held up 49y -longer
possible
zz
Wilson aldTheA >
received pnt°`ihrand Ben d.conecil
was�gold
A4p-
I
nevef would fit i ',AOIo
this. Council was behind this 100
percent which has made all the dif-
ference. If they had decided to be
difficult we never wollave been
able to do it. We don't/Wife all the
paperwork."
At the site in Grand Bend, doz-
ens of people had thele iitik) came-
ras rolling so they could capture the
historic moment.
The station was rolled into a
grassy area where a foundation will
be dug immediately.
One of the spectators to the event
was Bill Riehl of Clinton who
worked at the Exeter Railway Sta-
tion from 1945 to 1949 where he
was an assistant agent under Fred
Forester and Ernie Cerson.
1 like seeing it restored They're
going to do it properly; `<ituid'kiehl.
He said the station was always a
y:place but there was usually no
. xhan two or three people
wc*khlgihere at a time.
'There was a lot of freight:r.*;
vice there. It was back iyt theJ8tC
50's or early 60's when zt -
ger service stopped. It was at fnsy
statwn►r we had two a*tlfger
trans aid :freight trains"" Ite' .re-
called.
While trains on!t stop at the
new Iocaugn, ;are no rail-
way tr liug into Grand
Bend, no ibt there will still be
many people coming to see a bitof
history.
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•
y-.
At top; Dr. Anne Wilson waits for her new office as it t
tion comes to a rest in Grand Bend.
els along Highway 83. Below; the ste-