Yesterday And Today, A Salute to Blyth's 125th Anniversary, 2002-07-31, Page 29-
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THE CITIZEN, YESTERDAN and TODAY, WEDNESDAY, JULY ;II, 2002. PAGE 29.
CPR the last railway to come, and the last to leave
In the glory days
This photo shows the CPR station shortly after it was built, probably about 1910.
wooden water tower much closer to the station than the water tower that still stands.
A chance for nostalgia
The steam era returned to Blyth for a day on July 1, 1977
when a steam excursion train came through the arch. Below
the station house is loaded up and on its way south in 1979.
(Photos courtesy of Mary Walden.)
(Photo courtesy of Jan Vodden.)
For former Blyth residents
returning to their hometown for the
first time since the Centennial
celebrations in 1977, one of the most
obvious changes will be the
disappearance of CPR railway
station and tracks.
The railway, which came to Blyth
with such fanfare in 1907 almoSt
sneaked out of town in 1988.
It would be hard to imagine from
the excitement that greeted the
arrival of the first passenger train on
July 8, 1907 that the whole venture
could disappear just over 80 years
later. "
The excitement had captivated.the
community for much of the previous
year as the new Guelph and
Goderich Railway (which would be
leased to Canadian _Pacific Railway
for 999 years) inched its way from
Guelph to Goderich. There was the
fascination with a new-fangled
steam shovel used to dig a new river
channel so the Blyth Creek could be
diverted to the north to allow more
room for the station, sidings and
various auxiliary services. There was
the curiosity about the Italian
workers in the solidly British
community.
And finally on that Monday night
at 10:30 p.m. the first passenger train
arrived bringing the station agent
and supplies. Despite the late hour
there was a big turnout, though The
Huron Expositor's correspondent
noted sourly that it didn't do them
much good because there was no
light at the station and the historic
moment was lost in the darkness.
"Those on the train would not
have known there was any person
there only for the cheer that went
up."
Still, the correspondent said, those
who walked through the coaches felt
"they were certainly a good deal
better than those used on the Grand
Trunk."
The CPR was a big, success for
many years. At one time, grain trains
up to 100 cars long would go
through Blyth, requiring an extra
engine to get up the grade east of
town. Once up that hill. the engine at
the back of the train would unhitch
and back up to Goderich.
From 1907 to 1930 the CPR ran
four passenger trains a day, two in
cach.direction, through Blyth.
but improving roads and the
increasing number of cars were
already starting to cut into passenger
train service. By April 1955 CPR
passenger service was down to a
bare minimum as The -Blyth
Standard of April 13 reported:
"According to Mr. Elmer Keller,
local CPR station agent, a change is
to take place in the present passenger
service offered for so many years to
passengers wishing to use rail
service on the Goderich-Guelph run
through Blyth.
"Effective April 25, the present
passenger service will be suspended
and replaced with a mixed train that
is expected to run daily, leaving
Guelph at 8:30 a.m. and arriving at
Goderich at 1:45, while the return
train will leave Goderich at 10 a.m.
and arrive at Guelph at 4:30 p.m.
"The train will be principally for
freight and a check on the time table
will reveal that very few people
wishing to make time will use the
train service after April 25."
This depleted passenger service
continued until August 1961.
There was one last thrilling
moment for fans of steam-powered
passenger service the year of Blyth's
centennial in 1977. A special steam-
powered excursion train travelled
from Guelph to Goderich on the July
1 holiday weekend . to mark
Goderich's 150th anniversary. The
train stopped in Blyth to take on
water and hundreds were at the
station to greet the train and its
happy passengers.
It wasn't long before the CP Rail
decided it wanted the station itself
removed from the site. Fortunately
the Snell family bought the building
and moved it to The Old Mill south
of town where you can still visit it in
its new use as a bargain outlet for
leather and woolen goods. In the
1970s the livestock pens were also
removed from the railyards.
Freight continued to be revenue
earner for the railway with Goderich
and Blyth being two of the biggest
users of the service. Howson and
Howson had a private siding and
used the railway for many year's both
to receive the Western Canadian
durum wheat required for their
pasta-flour milling operation and
ship flour to other parts of the
country, particularly to ex port
markets.
But as the years passed, improved
highways and larger trucks made
trucking faster at the same time as
rail service became slower and less
reliable. Unable to get the service it
required from the railway, Howson
and Howson created its own fleet of
bulk tankers, using the railway only
for export markets. Still, in 1987 the
company shipped 60 carloads of
freight on the line.
In 1988 CP Rail applied to
abandon the line claiming losses of
$836,283 in 1984, $1.003,521 in
1985 and $1,104,384 in 1986.
It was aided in its attempt to close
the line by a change in the National
Transportation Act. Under the
previous act the company had to
prove it didn't have a reasonable
expectation of making a profit in the
future. Under the new act, it was up
to users of the line to prove it did
have a reasonable expectation of
making a profit. As Doug Howson of
Howson and Howson said at the
time, his company was being asked
to virtually guarantee what business
it would give to the railway over the
next few years.
CP Rail was also aided by the fact
the application was made in the
transition period between the two
acts. The new act required a 90-day
notice of plans to abandon a railway
line followed by 60 days to receive
submissions about the future
viability of the line. But on this part
of the issue, the railway took
advantage of the old legislation
which required only 15 days notice.
As well, because of this transition
period none of the advertisements of
notice to close the line, had been
placed in any newspapers along the
railways routes.
And so on Dec. 1, 1988
permission to discontinue the
railway line 30 days later was given
by the National Transportation
Agency.
For most people the last train came
and went -with no notice hut train
•n •
MN*
buff John R. Hardy, who grew on an
a Colborne Twp. farm beside the
Goderich-to-Guelph line, was there
to record the last train on Dec. 16,
1988 as it passed through the farm of
Adrian and Toni Vos, his in-laws,
just west of Blyth. A photo of that
train is contained in his book Rusty
Rails: A Photographic Record of
Branchline Railways hi Midwestern
Ontario 1961 -1996.
The next year the rails and railway
tics were torn up and, on a dreary
day in December, 1989, a power-
shovel-mounted jack-hammer was
used to shatter the landmark of "The
Arch", to the anger of local history
buffs.
Today the former railway lands
have been put to good use as the
Blyth Greenway. The Arch hasn't
been restored, but you can walk over
it again thanks to a bridge built by
.the Lions Club. The old water tank
beside the river is the only highly
visible part of the railway sti' I intact.
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