The Rural Voice, 2001-01, Page 42Book Review
Ron Brown takes another look at ghost railways
By Janice Becker
Ron Brown's latest trip into the
past will interest more than just train
enthusiasts.
Ghost Railways of Ontario •
Volume Two, will intrigue historians,
preservationists, nature lovers and
hikers as well as anyone who
rememberS that long lonesome
whistle of the train as it rumbled
through the countryside of their
youth.
Not having read his earlier
edition, I might have expected a
simple historical account of what
once was, but Brown includes far
more than that.
He tells how the various rail lines
came to be and why. He relates
humourous stories which are part of
their history as well as battles which
took place over the construction,
operation and eventual demise of the
lines.
The 26 chapters covers long -
abandoned lines from across the
province, but one of the more
enlightening sections is the first, as
he remembers the electric railway
lines which once ran within cities and
between them in the early part of the
20th century.
A very popular alternative to the
steam engines along the Lake Erie
shoreline, the electric radial trains
which used to transport farm produce
to plants in centres such as Windsor,
Leamington and Chatham.
One railway was known as "The
Booze Line", Hiram Walker's supply
line for the raw materials needed for
his distillery.
With the booming rural economy
of the early 20th century, the electric
lines were also used to ship cattle and
lumber.
A favourite story refers to the
installation of equipment for the
electric train which ran into Chatham
from Wallaceburg. Chatham
councillors of the time where not
terribly supportive of the electric
system and spent considerable time
debating whether to grant permission
for the line to pass over a bridge to
enter the community.
Continued delays saw the
38 THE RURAL VOICE
construction crew ready to lay the
tracks across the bridge before
permission had been granted. The
work crew decided to proceed and
the council ordered the firefighters to
the site to hose
down the men
and stop the
work.
Permission
was eventually
granted. but
councillors
took advantage
of the first sign
of failing
profitability of
the line and the
increased popularity of car and truck
transportation to begin paving over
the track in town.
Throughout the book, Brown
recounts the importance of rail to the
development, progress and even the
slow death of communities as the
railways arrived and were later
abandoned.
Not only did the railways offer an
easier way for farmers to ship their
products out, but also brought
industry to many communities.
Even the course which the lines
took counted to some degree on the
support provided by local
municipalities as the tracks wove
their way across the countryside.
For the hiker or car driver, he
gives great detail about how to
follow the once well -traveled rights-
of-way, retracing the journey across
farmland, along rivers and through
communities, many of which
boomed because of the train's arrival.
Not only is there turn -by -turn
directions on how to follow the
routes, Brown points out the few
remaining structures or landscape
features which harken back to the era
of the trains. Where stations have
been relocated, the new home site is
included.
A historian might be tempted to
skip the rail line courses, but don't.
Brown includes several wonderful
tidbits within the directions.
He also provides tips on other
interesting activities while passing
Ghost Railways
of Ontario
Mon lorguntr
W11.1 a,N%:r
RON BROWN
through the numerous communities,
telling of hidden "historic treasure
troves", pieces of the past still in
operation and current day activities to
enthrall.
Brown's recounting of Ontario's
history with trains is definitely not
just a trip down memory lane. There
is more than just a touch of
recrimination aimed at those who
allowed historic rail stations and
buildings to fall into disrepair and the
rail lines to vanish from the
landscape, barely visible in most
locations.
His displeasure with the move
from rail transport to tractor -trailers
for the movement of goods is not
hidden. His feelings are strongly
expressed when he says companies
changed to the "more polluting and
highway -clogging form of
transportation."
In one section, Brown denounces
the destruction of some of the last
Carolinian forests, which grew on
rights-of-way, for the creation of golf
courses or parking lots.
His eloquent descriptions of
landscapes and environments through
which the trains ran brings graphic
pictures to mind.
Ghost Railways of Ontario
Volume Two would be a great
addition to many bookcases.0
Ghost Railways of Ontario (Volume
2), by Ron Brown, Polar Bear Press.
224 pages. Soft cover. $25.95
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