The little Railway society that could

Jeff Green | Nov 19, 2009

 Lester Whan & Gary Cooke spent a lot of time working ont eh railroad, this summer.

The Central Frontenac Railway Museum Organization is no more, but they are closer than ever to their goal.

The seven year old group, which was renamed last week as the Central Frontenac Railway Heritage Society, has as its primary goal the construction of a replica of the Sharbot Lake train station on or around the spot where it was torn down some forty years ago, but the building's use will be left up to the township and the community as a whole to work out.

“There has been resistance at the township over the past few years, over the idea that the township will be left with the responsibility, and cost, of maintaining a railroad museum,” said executive member Gary Giller, who has spearheaded the most recent attempt to convince a sometimes reluctant Central Frontenac Council to work on the project. “Our goal is to build a replica of the station. What that building is used for is something else entirely.”

Councilor Frances Smith has made building a replica of the historic station, which was originally located across the road from the township office next to the Trans Canada trail, a priority for the final year of the current Council.

Late this summer she convinced Council to pass several motions committing them to moving forward on the project and establishing a public committee to work on determining the best mix of uses for such a multi-purpose building. (places on the committee are advertised on page 6 of this edition).

One of the issues that has put a halt to planning for the building for years has been the ownership of the triangle of land, where the station was originally located, but there are renewed hopes that this matter will be settled within the next year or so.

At their Annual General Meeting on November 5, the railway society went over their activities over the past year. Through participation in public events, such as the Frontenac Heritage Festival, maintaining a photography display at the site of the proposed building, and other means, the society has been keeping the railway heritage alive.

While Gary Giller has been working with the Council on the proposed building project, Gary Cooke has been working with a crew of his own, turning the land across from the township office into a bit of railway park.

It was Gary Cookes collection of railway memorabilia that initiated talk of a museum in the first place, and after waiting patiently for years, Cooke, along with committee members and others, began to display the pieces. It started with a display at the causeway near the Medical Centre a couple of years ago, and this summer fill and crushed rock was brought into the parkland across from the township office, and a length of track was constructed with lighting standards and other artifacts. In the past few weeks, a shed, donated by Anne Walsh, was put up at the far end of the tracks, and it is being renovated for use as a storage facility of artifacts.

Hundreds of hours of work have gone into the developement of the space.

At the Society meeting, Board Chair Sally Angle provided an update on attempts to locate and secure a caboose to go on the tracks, which is the next major goal of the Railway Heritage Society.

While re-building the railway station remains the elusive goal of the society, they have already taken steps to ensure that the rail heritage of Central Frontenac has a permanent place in the hamlet of Sharbot Lake.

The enthusiasm that these activities have generated among board members led them all to renew their commitment by remaining on the board for another year.

As Sally Angle put it, “I said last year “I would stay on for one more year, but it has been easy and fun to work with everyone over the year and I'm happy to stay on as chair, for one more year.”