The 29th Huron Pioneer Thresher Reunion, 1990-09-05, Page 9THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1990. PAGE A-9.
Steam also wrote history of Blyth
Threshermen's Reunion
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Welcome to everyone
who is in Blyth
this weekend
for the 29th
Threshermen’s
Reunion.
We are glad to have you here
......., >
A clown show takes place each day in the
arena auditorium. The clowns can also
be seen at other times throughout the
arounds.
The only steam Blyth is famous for today
is that produced in the boilers of the steam
engines at the Thresher Reunion, but
steam once provided a major power in the
village with two railways going through.
With the pulling up of the CP Rail line
last year Blyth no longer has any rail
service left but there are still remnants of
that golden age when the railway station
was a focal point of every town fortunate
enough to have one. Blyth had two and
both are still intact though the old CPR
station is now located south of town at the
Old Mill. The London, Huron and Bruce
station that later became the CNR is still
standing on its original site on the south
side of Dinsley St. near the east end of the
village. Once frame, it has been bricked
but still keeps its original charm and serves
as a bed and breakfast home.
It was this railway that first brought
steam trains to Blyth in the 1870’s and a
colourful Blyth legend played a huge part
in it. Patrick Kelly, later to be Reeve of
Blyth and its major industrialist with his
mill and other enterprises, pushed the
Great Western Railway of Hamilton to
bring a line north from London to serve
Huron county. Mr. Kelly was tired of
trying to compete when he had to haul his
produce to Clinton to get on the railway.
He worked tirelessly, visiting all the
municipalities along the way to get them to
give a grant to build the railway. When
Lucan, thinking it would get the rail line
without a grant since it seemed natural to
go through the village, refused a grant,
Mr. Kelly and the railway by-passed the
village, creating the village of Clandeboye.
When the railway construction did reach
Blyth in 1875, Susan Street.in ‘‘Blyth, A
Village Portrait” quotes news reports,
people complained about the trouble
caused by drunken railway workers on
payday.
The ceremonial first train ride to London
took place in Dec. 1875 with Patrick’s
17-year-old son John allowed to pull the
whistle cord at roadways and throw
firewood into the fire box.
In the beginning the train made one trip
each way each day. The arrival of the
railway spurred growth and in 1877 Blyth
was incorporated as a village with a
population of 850 (pretty much the same as
today). The railway became something of a
legend as the “Butter and Eggs Special” a
train that carried farmers and their
produce to market in London at its own
leisurely pace not worrying too much about
schedules.
Blyth’s second railway came in 1907
when the Canadian Pacific built a line from
Guelph through Monkton, Walton, Blyth
and Auburn to Goderich. Since the new
line had to pass under the north-bound
London, Huron and Bruce line, Blyth
gained a landmark. An arch to allow the
CPR through a huge earth embankment
was built in 1906 at a cost of $30,000. The
arch became a part of Blyth’s geography
until last fall when CP had it knocked
down.
For many years time in the village could
be told by the arrival of trains at either of
the stations. Train time was a social time
when villagers gathered at the station to
watch the comings and goings of people
and freight. Mail travelled by train in those
days too.
But improvements in roads and cars
brought changes in the way people did
things. On Saturday, April 26, 1941 the last
train left Blyth on the old Butter and Eggs
Special and the track was torn up to help
the war effort. Rail passenger service
continued on the CP line until the last full
passenger train on April 25, 1955. For a
few more years a passenger coach was
tacked on to the end of a freight train but
this too was discontinued.
The rail line continued to be busy into
the late 1980’s but its service just wasn't
efficient enough for large industries like
Howson Mills which turned to trucks to get
its product to the major market in Toronto
sooner. CP Rail said it was losing money on
the line and received permission to
abandon it. Today the railway is as much a
part of the past of the village as the big
steam engines are part of the past of
agriculture.
on your 29th
Clinton
Veterinary
Services
Brian Nunn, D.V.M.
Robin G. Wiley, D.V.M.
Peter W. Wiley, D.V.M.
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Blyth 523-9706
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