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Caption: Nice old station. Not sure who gets the credit for this place.........the Port Dover & Lake Huron Railway was in its dying gasp, going broke, by the time it pushed this far back in 1877. Perhaps the Stratford & Huron Rwy takes the credit. Anyway, they eventually became the Grand Trunk. So the building was constructed, on land owned once by Listowel's first settler, around 1878-1880 and until 1970 served its purpose. When 'railiner' service ended; the building was repurposed as a recreation centre.
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Great photo Arnold! After rail service ended, this was used by the local Kinsmen group…which, it then aptly became known as ‘Kin Station’. Trains still plied the rails up until the 90s, after which fellow rp.ca user Jason Noe well documented the rail train pulling uprooting history. Not sure of the stations use today, although it was somewhat lightly restored at some point in time. Painted in ugly brown colour upon my last visit oh some nearly 20 years ago.
Knew you would like this, Todd. Line abandoned 1991 and tracks pulled 1993. Nice that the ‘end’ was documented. Thanks for the note. Keep well !!
I shot almost the same angle last year. It is still there and in good condition. The Wellington, Grey and Bruce built from Palmerston to Listowel and on to Kincardine in 1871 with service starting to Listowel in December 1872 on this, their “Kincardine Branch”. The station appears to be their construction. The Stratford & Huron (Port Dover & Lake Huron) did indeed come into Listowel in 1877 from Stratford, joining the WG&B just south of here.
It is impressive how many small lines were created to compete with each other, plus the ones that existed as nothing more than expired charters.
Jacob……..please bother the Head Man for a Time Machine entry then. It would be nice to see what the station looks like now, as opposed to 45 years ago.
Already done
Great photo Arnold. The open auto rack behind the station were common to be set-off there during that time (1970′s) as local manufacturer Starcraft Recreational Products Limited loaded new camping trailers there for shipment to Winnipeg.
The line was abandoned in 1995 and tracks were lifted in spring 1996.
Interesting comment, Jason. Dates I mentioned in the second comment in this thread came from the book “Rusty Rails”. I did not realize the line was active this late. But then, what would be the odds of catching anything anyway.
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Arnold, those dates in your comment above are correct, but for the Kincardine Sub. Listowel was mile 0.
Ah I see now. Sorry Arnold I never took the Kincardine Subdivision into consideration for the dates. My bad. I was thinking just about the Newton Subdivision to Palmerston. Rusty Rails is a great book.
Still there although does not look like a station. Still Kin Station. In-Laws live in Listowel.
Two years after my first comment, and this photo still mesmerizes me! Excellent photo. Big reminder of how much has changed.