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President’s Message
Welcome to the May edition of the Georgina Historical Society Newsletter.
There was a good turnout for our April General Meeting to hear Hessel Pape speak on the Sibbald diaries. Andrew Sibbald was on hand to add some interesting facts to the discussion. It is always interesting to learn more about our early families. Thank you Hessel and Andrew!
May 4th and 5th found the Georgina Historical Society at the Ice Palace participating in the Discover Georgina Show. We had lots of visitors to our booth and gained two new members. It was a great way to create awareness of the Georgina Historical Society and our mandate of protecting, preserving and illustrating our rich history.
Thank you to all who took time to help at the booth. May 11th found us back at the Ice Palace, this time outside participating in the annual garage sale; a great little fund raiser, resulting in $354 for the Georgina Historical Society. Once again thanks to our contributors and our volunteers, some who gave their time two weekends in a row to help the Georgina Historical Society.
Don’t forget our General Meeting on Tuesday, May 21 at 7 PM in the Methodist Church at the Pioneer Village. Jake Charles from Georgina Island will be speaking on native plants and their healing properties. Wear appropriate foot ware as we may be exploring the native plants on the grounds outside. Don’t hesitate to invite friends and neighbours to enjoy the evening. Hope to see you all there.
~ Tom Glover
Our Caboose
Above, the sister to our caboose (TH & B # 67) was restored by the Toronto Historical Railway Historical Society on display at the Roundhouse Railway Museum in downtown Toronto.
As you can see in the news section in the April newsletter, we are considering what will be involved in keeping and restoring the caboose in our Pioneer Village. We have a number of photos of the caboose and as you can see, it needs some tender loving care. It is very similar to the one at the old roundhouse downtown near the CN Tower as in the photo above.
The information we’ve been able to learn states it was built in 1918 by American Car and Foundry and it would have originally been painted caboose red (a brownish red colour), though some information hints the original colour might have been green. In the 1950s it was given a yellow coat of paint with black trim to celebrate the Tiger Cats football club of Hamilton and remained in those colours until the TH&B was sold in 1977.
At that time the Canadian Pacific acquired majority ownership from the New York Central, and by 1987 had fully integrated the TH & B into their system. Since then some of this railway’s trackage has been abandoned on non-profitable lines, some was absorbed and integrated into the CNR, but most of it is now part of the CPR. Information researched on the caboose by Bruce Whittaker, a past member of the GHS board, found that it was sold to Canada Cut and Crushed Stone in 1973. Sometime later it was acquired by Mr. Verdoold and displayed at his IGA store in Sutton, though we are unsure of the date. Somewhere along the way, it acquired the faded CNR logo, typical to the 1970’s. We acquired it in the village in 2005.
Cabooses were phased out in the 70’s & 80’s and replaced by a marker called a FRED (flashing rear end device) attached to the last car on a freight train. The caboose was sold to private interests (IGA store owners) and displayed in Sutton until donated to the Georgian Pioneer Village. Sometime prior to coming to Sutton, it had been repainted. It also looks as if it had a major refit in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s as the trucks (wheel sets) on which it sits are stamped AAR 1947 – the American Association of Railroads 1947, a truck designed to AAR standards in that year. It most likely acquired the metal sheathing on its sides at that time applied over original vertical siding which can be seen on the ends.
The interesting thing is that the complete restoration of the caboose in Toronto was done entirely by volunteer labour. We are trying to see what work we can do with volunteers within the framework of the Town of Georgina rules and regulations. Since the caboose will never be operational again, a coat of paint to railings and running gear may be all that is necessary there. The exterior sides need mainly cosmetic work and repairs to the windows and frames. The interior could be done by volunteers possessing the necessary tools and skills. We would most likely need some professional help with the roof and some of the work on the siding.
Metropolitan Musings
While browsing the internet for information on the Metropolitan radial line, your editor found a schedule, a table of distances, and a copy of the map of the line from 1914 that provides some interesting information. The map clearly shows that the line was very involved with freight services. Industrial sidings and spurs served Fleury’s Foundry in Aurora; the Waterworks, Cane’s Woodenware, Davis Leather, all in Newmarket; and Mackie’s Elevator and Farm Supply in Queensville. In both Newmarket and Sutton, switches and tracks are shown leading to the Grand Trunk Railway; trackage that could only be utilized to interchange equipment between the two lines. While many of the waiting rooms on the map would be similar to the two in our Pioneer Village, the one at Orchard Beach was a street car body. There was also a spur at the power sub-station at Keswick, presumably for the coal fired generator there; a spur to a gravel pit at Roche’s Point, most likely a source of gravel for right of way maintenance; and a spur at Boyer’s leading to the lake. Would there have been a ferry service there at one time? …a hotel??? There was certainly a ferry to Belle Ewart from Roche’s Point in the nineteenth century. Finally, there was a switch to a spur for the canal north of Newmarket which was under construction at that time.
The schedule below provides an interesting insight into the times and distances between stops on the line as well as the frequency of trains.
News and Events
Your board are concerned that the caboose in front of the station at the Pioneer village is being placed on a list of things to be sold by the Town. The rationale is that it needs restoration and did not come from a railway that served the area. We are drafting a letter stating our disappointment with their decision and feel it would be a mistake to give it up. It was built in 1918 and is a prime example of cabooses of that era. Cabooses were ubiquitous parts of every freight train until the latter decades of the 20th century and are a major feature in museum villages with railway connections. A railway station without rolling stock seems purposeless. Other Pioneer Villages have railway cars that are used as one of the focal points for their village. We should do the same in ours. The caboose should be refurbished and its interior utilized to supplement the station’s railway displays. We met with the Town of Georgina on May 13th to discuss this matter and some major concerns with the village itself.
We are also concerned with the minimal maintenance of the structures in the village. Had appropriate budgeting and spending been properly carried out by the Town over the last ten years, our schoolhouse would not require major reconstruction to the tune of $200,000 to put it right again. Other structures in the village are also deteriorating and urgently require appropriate attention and measures to ensure they will be around for other generations to enjoy and learn about our past. Your President called it “demolition by neglect.” With the Town we are planning and preparing appropriate actions to ensure this “treasure” of ours will be there for future generations.
Kudos to all the volunteers manning our booth at the Discover Georgina event and the subsequent garage sale at the Ice Palace in Keswick; well done!
Jackie Diasio has proposed a visit to the Halton County Railway Museum. This is a museum dedicated to electric railways and has rolling stock and equipment, including some similar to those that ran on our Metropolitan line from Toronto to Sutton. Jackie is willing to arrange a bus and group tour and will try to get us a price for this excursion. If you are interested, contact Jackie at (905) 476-1329 diasiojackie@gmail.com so that she may begin arrangements if enough people want to go.
Dee Lawrence has advised that the presentation by Holocaust survivor and author Max Eisen at the Stephen Leacock Centre has been rescheduled to Wednesday, May 22nd beginning at 7:00 p.m. since the presenter was unfortunately delayed returning to Canada from Israel, as the result of being asked by director Steven Spielberg to participate in the filming of a documentary on the Holocaust.
Melissa Matt sent an e-mail introducing (by name only at this point) the Summer Students who will be working at the Pioneer Village:
Katarina Steiger will be the Summer Experience Guide
Angela Park will be a Summer Programming Assistant
Charlie Iro-Young will be a Summer Programming Assistant
Martin Whittaker will be the Collections Assistant
Katarina and Angela are hired through Young Canada Works and Charlie and Martin through Canada Summer Jobs. On June 3rd (our next board meeting) Melissa would like introduce us to Angela and Charlie, as their schedule is Monday-Friday. Katarina and Martin will work Wednesday to Sunday.
If you’d like to come in after May 22nd (start date) to meet Katarina and Martin, you are more than welcome!
Dates to Remember
Next Board Meeting: Monday, June 3rd, Noble House @ 1:30PM
May General Meeting: May 21st, Jake Charles from Georgina Island to talk on native plants and their healing properties. Methodist Church, Georgina Pioneer Village at 7:00 PM, coffee at 6:30
June General Meeting: June 3rd, St. George’s Church, Park Road and Hedge Road. 7:00 PM Andrew Sibbald will lead a tour and discussion.
Canada Day: July 1st
Harvest Fest: September 14th
Old Fashioned Christmas: November 28th.
Please note, publication of the newsletter will take a break for the summer after the June issue. In September we will resume publication once again.