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@ -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Thursday, Oct 15, 1970 Era When Railway Fever Reached EDITOR'S NOTE: The foltowing article was sub- mitted to the Port Perry Star by A. Cecil Heayn who would like to share has interest in the old rail way with the readers. Mr Heayn, who's father work ed for years on the railway, compiled information for the article with his long-) ume friend Charlie Heals of Lindsay. Information was obtained ffom old newspaper clippings and family notebooks By A. Cecil Heayn in 1868 Manchester Prince the hamlets of Port Perry and Albert, clustered a round the southern end of Lake Scugog, caught the rail- way infection. They enlisted the aid of dames Holden, a prosperous citizen of Whitby, with the result that on March 4, 1868, the Whitby and Port Perry Railway was incorporated with authority to build from 'a point on Lake Scugog to a point on Lake Ontario." The shade of Peter Perry must have presided over this charter for that pioneer had founded both Port Perry and Whitby, which im its early days was called Perry Corners Whitby Town provided a bonus of $50,000. Whitby Its Peak Here duce much traffic and was in| financial difficulty. This situ- pation did not diminish the atdor of its supporters Holden found an open- handed associate in Joseph Bigelow and they began to dream dreams They came up with a pian a (ranscontinenta! railway and on March 24, 1874, it be- jeame the Whitby and Port Perry Extension Railway to build almost anywhere in North America. Operating jresults in 1876 were such that the plans were amended to add an extension from 'ort Perry to Lindsay THIRD NAME On March 2, 1878, the company got its third name, the Whitby, Port Perry and | Lindsay Railway Company. |A vote of $85,000 from a goup of municipalities in- | cluding Lindsay was arranged jalong with a grant of $2,000 |per mile from the Govern-| | ment Work began in the summer of 1876. The surveyor was Mr. Manning of Uxbridge. The | | consulting engineer was Frank | Shaly of Toronto and the contractors were Messrs. Gob- | son and Dixon At noon on June 15, 1877] but it had become a comm- unity pride and citizens o Whitby closed ranks whenever it stood in danger. On one occasion, Joseph Bigelow re- signed as president in order to be able to lend the com- pany $40,000. At another time Sheriff) Reynolds once stood beside a barricade of cedar ties he had erected across the track in order to stop the train and serve a writ of seizure. Engineer Ben Sweet twig- ged the situation, gave the engine full steam ahead and charged the barricade, so that the sheriff and his deputy fled under a shower of ties. Ben Sweet closed out his days on the railway as a crossing watchman at Kent Street in Lindsay The station at Lindsay was built on Victoria Ave., just north of Melbourne St. Several sidings were installed and on the west side of these a freight shed was construct- ed. A two-engine shed was built at Victoria Ave. and Durham St VICTORIA RAILWAY The Victoria Railway was built from Lindsay to Haliburton between 1874 and 1878 connected with the Mid- land Railway of Canada at what was known as Midland det., later Victoria Jct., at the north end of William St. Passenger and freight traffic moved via the Midland Rail- way to Port Hope With the coming of the Whitby, Port Perry and Lind- say Railway the possibility of a shorter route to Toronto was foreseen and it petitioned the town of Lindsay for per- mission to construct a railway from Midland Jct., down Vic- toria Ave., and connect with The Whitby, Port Perry and Lindsay Railway near Russell St.on May 7, 1877, a by-law Township $20,000 and Reach | the track laying gang reached | passed signed by Thomas W Township $30,000 of $300,000 capital stock auth orized $110,000 was paid in The contract for 19.47 miles of track was placed with a Cobourg contractor who im a short time threw * up Eventually the railway was completed by company engin eers and was opened for traf fic im July 1871 | Albert Street in Lindsay. In/ lhonor of the event Veitch's? | Hotel presented them with a/ whole barrel of whiskey, | | which inspired them to hold a "navy parade" around the | streets of town |. The inaugural trip over the| | mew line was made on July | | 31, 1877 The railway was unable| | to carry its financial burden,| Poole, mayor and James A Knowlson, clerk The exact date of con struction is not known but it was not built for two or three years. The station on Victoria Ave. -became known as the Union Station The Whitby, Port Perry and Lindsay Railway was still very ambitious. The following notice appeared in the Can dian Post, Lindsay on January 14, 1881 "Application will be made to the Legislature of Ontario at the next session by the Whitby, Port Perry and Lind- say Railway for an act to ext- end the line to Uxbridge, to construct a branch line to Beaverton and the continu- ation of that line to Graven- hurst, Parry Sound and the French River, also for power to extend the line from French River to Sault Ste. Marie." GREATER THINGS A lengthy editorial ap- feared in the paper on April 29, 1881, outlining the great | benefits that would come to |Lindsay by the construct- ion of this railway to Sault | Ste Marie. The dreams of the 'promoters failed to develop. The Port Hope, Lindsay|Trunk Railway System and and Beaverton Railway, built jlost its identity. Eventually to Lindsay in 1857 and to |the Grand Trunk Railway was Beaverton in 1870 (opened/taken over by the Canadian for service January 1st, 1871)|National Railways in 1923. came under new management with dreams of greater things and the name of the railway was changed to the Midland Railway of Canada. In 1881 it proceeded to absorb a num- ber of short lines in the area east of Toronto to Belleville north of Lake Ontario Among these was the Whit- by, Port Perry and Lindsay Railway, the Victoria Rail- way, The Toronto and Nipi- sing Railway, The Lake Sim- coe Junction Railway and the Grand Junction Railway In 1883 connecting lines were built between Peterbo rough and Omemee Vet. and from Manilla Jet. to Black water Jct. to provide a direct route from Peterborough to Toronto The Midland Railway be came a very profitable in stitution and on January Ist, 1884 it was leased by the Grand Trunk Railway but con tinved to operateas the Mid land Railway. By an act of That portion of the Whitby Branch between Cresswell and Port Perry was lifted between dune 7 and 15, 1937, and the portion from Port Perry to Whitby was abandoned in 1931, the last train being operated on April 13, 1941 The following news items appeared in the Canadian Post, Lindsay April 27, 1883. Coal burn ing engines are now in use on the Whitby and Port Perry Div- ision of the Midland Rail way. They are fine engines and are able to draw much heavier loads than the old wood burners August 17, 1883. Engine No. 41, J. Dean, Driver and Conductor McGaw, took out from Lindsay to Whitby on the 14th one of the heaviest trains that has passed south this summer, 22 cars of lum ber and 3 passenger cars. It was helped out of Lindsay for Parliament in 1893 it was fully] mile or two but made the absorbed into the Grand| rest of the trip unassisted x .