HomeMy WebLinkAbout579"Article taken from _Meet Me At the Station_ by Elizabeth A. Wilmot, 1976.
Claremont CPR
At mileboard 166.2 on the Canadian Pacific's Havelock subdivision, your train will stop if
flagged at the Claremont station. Your first impression might be,
""just another dreary railway-red station."" However, it was regarded with pride by the village,
and for the family of the station agent it offered lively entertainment.
Mr. Kenneth Dopking who lived in the station for almost twenty years while his father was
Claremont's station agent, was the envy of many of his young friends. When freight trains sat
on the siding waiting for clearance to proceed, Kenneth could usually persuade the train crew
to let him climb up into the cab of the steam engine, where he marvelled at all the valves and
huge firebox. His supreme moment came one day when the engineer allowed him to pull the
throttle, and actually drive the locomotive down the track to the first switch!
Life in the station was governed by train schedules. Breakfast would be finished before the
arrival of #381 which was due at Claremont at 7:04 a.m. Sharp on the stroke of 12 o'clock
noon, dinner had to be ready so that it wouldn't interfere with #383 which came in at
12:42 P.M. The entire day was punctuated by the arrivals and departures of passenger trains,
and the thunder of a passing freight train acted as a conversation stopper for anyone visiting
the Dopkings. Windows rattled, dishes and silver vibrated a metallic tune and pictures
hanging on the walls took on a new angle.
Competition was keen among station agents who strived for outstanding lawns
and flower gardens. Claremont won the railway award on many occasions for the
perfection of its shapely cedar hedge and colourful flowers bordering the lawns and the
willow tree which cast lacey shadows against the frame station.
During the winter months, snow-ploughs are in constant use keeping open the line passing
through Claremont. However, a paralyzing storm in 1959 brought rail traffic to a standstill.
Passengers slept in the station that night. Wood stoves were used for heating and cooking
after a power failure when the hydro wires came down. Telephone service was cut off too,
and Claremont appeared to be totally isolated. However, the unexpected appearance of a
beer truck, churning through snowdrifts which had defeated county snowploughs cheered
the passengers up.
Mr. Herbert Stitt, retired CP engineer has a very special recollection of Claremont.
His train had stopped in Pontypool to pick up train orders which he found hard to believe.
The message read, ""Be on lookout for elephant on tracks at Claremont.""
Stray cattle and deer were not unusual on the tracks, but who would expect to find an
elephant? Apparently one had escaped while being unloaded from a circus train at Whitby,
and when last seen was lumbering up the CPR tracks in a westerly direction.
An air of mystery veiled the identity of an itinerant worker many years ago in Claremont
whose highway was the railroad. He was known simply as ""John the Fan Cutter.""
After doing odd jobs at a farm, restlessness would soon urge him to
move on. If he had been treated well at the farm, he would whittle an exquisite wooden fan,
and present it on his departure before disappearing down the tracks, carrying his worldly
belongings in a knotted bandana.
During the depression years, people like
""John the Fan Cutter"" were not uncommon in rural villages.
At another station on Havelock subdivision, a homeless man made his winter home in the
basement. A cultured man, he was an authority on every known religion, and was called
""Bible Bill.""
The company which built the railway line running through Claremont was another example
of the small railway companies whose life time was so short in the late 1800s. In 1884,
the Ontario and Quebec Railway Company constructed the line, and in the same year,
it was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway company who have operated it since
that time.
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