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 Intrinsic
      
Location: Collingwood
Gender: Male
 |  | Rail past can lead to bright future
< on 8/7/2009 11:46 PM >
|  | | | Rail past can lead to bright future
To Ron Brown, "tearing down a train station is like tearing up a picture of your grandmother."
If that's the case, then there are many communities which need to learn how to show their elders a lot more love and respect.
Brown is the author of several books that document Ontario's past and let us know what has been lost through indifference and neglect. Many of the books focus on the old train stations that used to be the focal point of both urban and rural communities, providing a source of transportation and commerce.
As part of Kinmount's Heritage Week celebrations, Brown presented a sometimes mournful slideshow on Saturday that he called "The Train Doesn't Stop Here Any More."
All too often, he'd show a photo of a station during its heyday and succinctly remark, "Gone."
"Gone, condos."
"Gone, replaced by a Giant Tiger."
The slideshow highlighted the wisdom of the people of Kinmount who raised money to restore its train station and turn it into the focal point of a heritage park that also includes the Austin sawmill, which is in the midst of its own renovation project.
Although Lindsay's two train stations have been lost to time -as well as the physical reminder that at one point, seven rail lines made Lindsay their destination -the train stations along the corridor to Haliburton are among the best preserved in Ontario. There's the Kinmount station, the Haliburton station, which is now the Rails End Gallery, the Fenelon Falls station, which is an information centre, and the Coboconk station, which is being restored by the community. There are also smaller abandoned stations along the way which might not be open but at least are still standing, including one in Howland Junction.
These stations were once the pride and joy of their communities. Railway companies were well aware of the important role they played in Canada's economy and built stations that reflected this grand vision.
The wooden structures in small towns often were often detailed architectural gems and those in cities were modeled as the gateway to urban Canada, complete with arches and pillars to create a grand entrance. Railway travel was marketed as entertainment and the stations helped attract business. You can document the various eras of Canada's history from Victorian to Art Deco to modern to revivalist.
What killed the train was the car. Not only could many people now drive themselves to their destination but governments spent more money on creating new roadways.
Trains, and the tracks which linked them from community to community, were seen as obsolete by politicians and, sadly, many of the train companies themselves. Stations were abandoned, especially those along what are called resource lines -lines like the one that helped transport logs from Haliburton to Lindsay and beyond.
Unless a community banded together, the stations were either torn down or allowed to become so decrepit that they were beyond saving.
"It's a shame what we've done to our heritage," Brown said.
He did give a lot of credit, however, to former federal transportation minister David Collenette. The Liberal MPP spearheaded an initiative to preserve Canada's railway past and invest in its railway future.
"David Collenette loved trains and he put them back on track," Brown said.
There are other signs of hope, he said, highlighting stations that are still operating as hubs of transportation as well as those that have been renovated and restored for other purposes.
Thanks to these efforts, he said, "we can still find our railway heritage in stations across the country."
Brown's books are available through local bookstores. They include Ontario's Ghost Town Heritage, Top 100 Unusual Things to See In Ontario, The Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore and Downtown Ontario. Visit www.ronbrown.ca for details.
Minden Times
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