Caption: Havelock's prosperity as a town is owed to the railway. The town was built in a simple grid pattern north of it's expansive rail yards. The line was built by the Ontario & Quebec Railway, which later was gobbled up by the Canadian Pacific. But it always remained a busy divisional point for trains traveling between Ottawa and Toronto. Eventually passenger service was turned over to VIA Rail, and the trains still called at Havelock until the infamous Mulroney cuts in 1990. After that, CP traffic dwindled, and so too did the physical state of the town's beautiful station. However, all was not lost. The Kawartha Lakes Railway was formed and like so many shortline operations in Ontario, leases the line from CP as well as it's motive power.

On a recent trip to Perth, and while passing through I was lucky enough to see some action on the once busy mainline. Here on Industrial Rd. CP 2276 and two others back into the still active yard while continuing to build their train. Just behind me and quite overgrown, the rest of the former O&Q mainline used to continue on through smaller communities like Kaladar, Bathurst and Glen Tay.