Page 14
The Voice of Pelham, March 1, 2017
www.thevoiceofpelham.ca
It took awhile, but the trains eventually came to Pelham BY CAROLYN BOTARI
Special to the VOICE
C
ONSIDERING THAT in Britain, George Stephenson’s ‘Rocket’ took to the rails in 1829, the railway was late in reaching Pelham. By the 1850s the United States had 9,000 miles of track, but there were less than 70 in Canada. In the second half of the century rail bridges spanned the Niagara River, and Welland became a rail centre, but the first track to cross Pelham was not built until 1885-86. By this time the need for improved transportation in the area was acute. The pioneer days of struggling to grow enough food for your family had passed and Pelham’s rich soil was yielding bountiful harvests for which there was an increasing demand in surrounding cities. But to reach these markets the farmer had to travel for hours along dusty or muddy roads by horse and wagon. The Fonthill Nurseries were expanding and needing ways to get their young plants and seedlings to a wider market. Fred Kinsman of Fonthill summed up local feeling in a letter supporting a proposed electric railway: “Gentlemen, if there is any one thing that we require in this diction more than another, it is an electric railway… both for incoming
The train, known as the "Toonerville Trolley," made it possible to live in Fonthill and work in Welland and outgoing freight and direct communication with larger centres of trade.” However, this railway, which would have linked Fenwick, Pelham Centre, Ridgeville and Fonthill, was never built. The first railway in Pelham was steam, and it ran across the township via Fenwick and bypassed Fonthill altogether. A company was incorporated in 1884 to build a railway to link Toronto and Hamilton to the bridge to the States at Niagara Falls. That plan changed to a route via Smithville, Fenwick and Welland to Buffalo. Despite some opposition from farmers in the Smithville area who believed it would kill their cattle, and who planned to prevent the construction with pitchforks and axes, the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo (T.H. &B.) line was completed, and by the end of the century you could get from Fenwick to Welland in
Scale model of Fenwick station, currently on display at the Maple Acre branch of Pelham Library. BOB LOBLAW PHOTO
20 minutes, and travel to Hamilton in an hour and a half. A few years later, Fonthill got its railway, the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway (N.S. &T.), which linked Fonthill to St. Catharines and Welland and ran along track powered by electricity from overhead wires. The railway through Fonthill enabled the nurseries to send their products all over North America. A spur line was built from Station Street to Pelham Street, where the very successful Fonthill Cannery opened in 1912, and across a trestle to gravel pits on the then-Railton farm at the corner of Regional Road 20 and Haist Street.
Welcome Dr. Juliana Tatzel!
T
H E V E T E R I NA R IA N S and staff of the Niagara Falls Animal Medical Centre would like to welcome Dr. Juliana Tatzel to our Veterinary Care Team! From a young age, Dr. Juliana Tatzel knew that she wanted to work with animals. Growing up in Fonthill, she attended Notre Dame High School and then went on to pursue her passion for science at Brock University, earning her Bachelor of Science. Deciding to couple her love of travel with her veterinary degree, Dr. Juliana headed to Australia in 2013 to attend the University of Melbourne Veterinary College. In 2016, Dr. Juliana earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, having spent her entire fourth and final year of veterinary school on the Dean’s Honour List. Dr. Juliana has a special interest in animal behaviour, internal medicine and anaesthesia. While on vet school external assignments, Dr. Juliana had the opportunity to spend time working at Niagara Falls Animal Medical Centre and was thrilled to have been offered a job here. Dr. Juliana is excited to be back in the Niagara Region and is looking forward to meeting many wonderful clients. The Niagara Falls Animal Medical Centre has been providing professional and compassionate care to pets and their owners for over 42 years. We are excited to have Dr. Juliana become a part of our caring and talented team.
The train, known as the “Toonerville Trolley,” made it possible to live in Fonthill and work in Welland or St. Catharines. The old N.S.&T. rightof-way now forms part of the Steve Bauer trail. The N.S.&T. station house once located on the northeast corner of Station Street and Regional Road 20 was moved to Marlene Stewart Streit Park in 1960 and now serves as a maintenance building for the Town. The railways brought many changes to Pelham. The builders of the T.H. &B. needed ballast for the track bed and found a convenient local source in the Fonthill Kame. A spur line was built running north from a spot not far from Chantler Station, crossing Canboro Road and Regional Road 20 to a pit east of Effingham Street. Long after the railroad was finished, this spur
PELHAM
Pieces From Our Past tors each year to the Fenwick Fair. The station was eventually closed and sold for parts in 1966. A model of the Fenwick Station, pictured above, built by the late Lyle Angle of Fenwick, is presently on loan to Maple Acre Library as part of a historical display. Please drop by the library to see this and other artefacts from the golden days of rail travel in Pelham. Special thanks to Mary Lamb, author of Pelham, The Making of a Community, from which this information was taken.
line remained in operation bringing in coal, and manure from the Toronto stock yards to be used by local nurseries and shipping out gravel, nursery stock from Brown Brothers’ Nurseries at the top of the hill and canned fruit from the Crowe Cannery on Canboro Road. The T.H.&B. Fenwick Station located on west side of Church Street just north of Foss Road once served as an important point for shipping and freight as well as passenger travel and brought hundreds of visi-
IN THE NEWS continued from Page 2 Clydena Paterson for her role in establishing the library in 1919. Pelham Library CEO Kirk Weaver provided Council with a letter on behalf of the Board supporting Lamb’s recommendation, pointing out that her proposal was in line with the Town’s Naming of Corporate Assets Policy. Councillors John Durley and Gary Accursi requested that the decision be deferred until
Searching for Better Hearing Receive a FREE pack of batteries when you bring this advertisement in with you to any appointment during the month of March
Call us today to book your FREE Hearing Assessment
289-897-8666
a list of other potential candidates for the honour has been created. “I am sure that Mrs. Paterson is worthy but there may be some others that can be some consideration there as well,” said Durley. Deciding to seek input from the community before moving forward with a decision, Council recommended that the library CEO and the Pelham Public Library Board consider all potential options before settling on a name.
N K T E M G F U M O
Q P N X R X Q U L G
Q B E C A L S V Z Y
S I D E G M I G I V Y
I P N P C Z O B Z P
G R E T H G U A L N
W S P I I J H H Y E
X W E O P A F P L N
L S D N H W I D W B
G E N A R G Z C C O
I U I L P E X U H A
EXCEPTIONAL | CONSULTATION | INDEPENDENT LAUGHTER | MUSIC
Alaina Hillier Doctor of Audiology, Audiologist
See clinic for details.
www.southniagarahearing.com