This is the plaque located at the site of the station in Haliburton. The station in Haliburton has been relocated, immediately north of it's original position. A new foundation was created for the station and it was moved to it's current location in 2004.
Although most of the country the line would pass through was rugged and barren, it was anticipated that iron ore bodies in conjunction with vast timber limits would provide the company with adequate operating revenues. The name of the railway was subsequently changed to the Victoria Railway in March 1873. Construction commenced in August 1874 in Lindsay. Interestingly, portions of the line were built by John Ross and William Mackenzie, notable railway men of the future.
Construction crept along slowly as funds permitted; the line was completed to Kinmount in 1877 and reached the newly constructed station at Haliburton a year later with the line finally being opened for traffic its entire length in November 1878. As the anticipated mineral production never materialized, the railway languished for a number of years until being purchased by the Midland Railway as an expansion to its network in December 1880.
The last run of CNR Train M389, Lindsay to Haliburton, pauses at the Burnt River Station, September 3, 1960.
The passenger car blocks the community's main street as the train waits for the signal to continue its journey north. It was 56 miles long and was known by Canadian National as the Haliburton Subdivision. It was abandoned in 1981. Principle stations were Lindsay, Fenelon Falls, Kinmount and Haliburton. A total of three Victoria Railway stations have survived including Kinmount in original location off Highway No. 503 as a seniors centre, Howland Jct. moved to property nearby on Howland Junction Road as a shed and Haliburton in original location in park off York Street as an art guild and museum. Despite the size of its station, Howland Junction, just north of Kinmount, was an important point in this area's brief railway history. It was here that passengers, freight and train cars could be transferred from the CNR line from Lindsay to Haliburton and the Irondale, Bancroft and Ottawa line from Howland Junction to Bancroft
A shot of the well-appointed interior of the Grand Trunk Railway coach which traveled between Haliburton and Lindsay.
One small community started by the railway was Gelert, where my great Grandmother was raised. My great-great grandfather had one of the sawmills in town. Evidence of the ghost town once known as Little Ireland, and Minden Station can still be seen. A stroll through Gelert's thoughtfully landscaped cemetery, the store and church, or its original public school house, can easily uncover the spirit that filled this once prosperous lumber boom town. Today, area residents offer for sale fresh farm produce, handmade crafts and antiques.
Life in the area could be difficult and harsh as this wilderness was opened up. Main industries included lumber and cattle farming. In Donald, between Gelert and Haliburton, Standard Chemical built a plant to take advatage of the vast forest resources to manufacture charcoal, acetate of lime, wood alcohol and other byproducts in a process called the "Ditalitive Destruction of Wood". Cordwood was hauled into the plant and the finished products out by the railway. Take the sideroad off of Rd. 1 into Donald. Just past where the tracks ran, on the left, is one of the original buildings of this sprawling industry. Further along the road where it turns left, can still be seen the skeletal remains of the plant. It was closed and abandoned in 1946 after the building was stripped of all metal. The furnaces, retorts and other iron work was cut up and sold for scrap. The sidings that served the plant and flagstop station lasted well into the 1950s.
My great grandfather built a cottage south of nearby Minden, and the fourth generation of the family still enjoys the spot on Gull Lake.
