The Last Passenger Train on the Victoria Railway
February 7, 2022
The Locomotive S.C. Wood on the trestle at Crego's Creek
When it was first built in the 1870s, the railway was the fastest method of transportation, and for many people practically the only way to move goods a long distance. But the automobile was faster and much more convenient, allowing motorists to drive almost anywhere. By the mid twentieth century, practically no one took the train. All across the continent, railways started to announce dates when the last passenger train would leave the station—the train was still relevant for shipping cargo.
When he heard that the last passenger train was leaving Lindsay in 1959, William Dahl a former station master from Sweden, decided he should make a video of the occasion—starring his wife Peggy and children Peter and Nana.
For ten-year-old Peter it was a new and exciting experience, the first and only time they took the train to their farm in Haliburton, though it was disappointing that they let his dad, who was shooting the video, ride with the engineer, while he had to stay in the coach. Since there were no other passengers, he remembers “having the whole car to ourselves; I could sit anywhere!”
Check out the video and experience what it was like being a passenger on the Victoria Railway. Many thanks to Peter Dahl for sharing the video.
For a then & now tour of the Victoria Railway, see:
