KAWARTHA LAKES-A century ago, winters were a noticeably colder and snowier than they are today. It was fairly common for snowdrifts to be higher than fence rows—that was not worthy of comment. When they were deep enough that kids could touch the telephone wires, that was memorable. Families might remember when the door of their house was literally buried in snow. Up to the mid twentieth century, there were times when roads were closed for days on end before the snow could be cleared. There were drifts literally deep enough that they might bury a locomotive.
In winter, locomotives had a plow blade attached so they could cast aside snowdrifts as they made their way up and down the line. Trains did not have a great amount of traction as their smooth wheels turned on steel rails, but they had a lot of weight and momentum. It took a lot to stop a train, yet every once in a while, a locomotive encountered a snow drift that was so deep that not even a train could plow its way through, as in this original photograph from Burnt River.
What do you do when the locomotive gets buried? Get out the shovels! Imagine what a job that would be! It could take hours to dig out a locomotive, but in the age of the iron horse, people were ready to help. One scoop at a time, eventually the train would be on its way again.
Today, the former Victoria Railway is a recreational corridor, a project initiated by the Somerville and District Snowmobile Association. Instead of a locomotive plowing its way through drifts, a groomer maintains the trail, and fortunately it does not have to cope with so much snow. It will probably be a long time before there is literally enough snow on the old railway to stop a train once again. Nowadays, its much more likely that there won’t be enough snow to sled at all.
This story is part of our partnership with Maryboro Lodge, The Fenelon Falls Museum and was written by Glenn Walker.
If you want to make a donation to the museum, you can e-transfer to:Â [email protected] or mail a cheque to :
Maryboro Lodge Museum
Box 179
50 Oak Street
Fenelon Falls, ON
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