Howland Junction

By Guy Scott

Howland Junction started off as a flag stop on the Victoria Railway in 1877. The original name was Kendrick’s flag stop, Kendrick being a local settler. In 1876, William Myles entered the race to develop the iron ore mines at Furnace falls. His plan was to build a tram line (or railway?) from Furnace Falls to the closest part of the new Victoria Railway at Kendrick’s. The name of the junction was changed to Myles Junction. It was only two miles from Kinmount Station, which didn’t justify a flag station, so it was apparent at the time that big plans were afoot to build a branch railway east to France Falls. Myles borrowed $60,000 and began to build a tramway from the junction to Furnace Falls; a distance of 6.7 miles. The line had to bridge the Burnt River, but it was still the easiest way to access the Victoria Railway.

The new line was named the Myles Branch Tramway. It was never registered as a railway, so presumably it was a tramway. A tramway was not a true railway; and often consisted of trams or carts being hauled by horse power or steam tractor along a line. Myles had problems with several farmers over right of way through their fields. After crossing the Burnt River, the line followed the south bank of the river. It was said the Myles tramway did not use steel rails, but ran on hardwood rails. After 2 years, Myles ran out of money. The records are very obscure: Myles’ tramway may have been built illegally. It is doubtful if he shipped any iron ore out via the tramway. He then sold his operations to the famous iron magnate, Charles J. Pusey. He renamed the site Howland Junction after his partner and son-in-law J.B. Howland. The new railway was originally named the Toronto & Nipissing Eastern Extension Railway. After a lot of inactivity, the tramway was upgraded and renamed the Irondale, Bancroft and Ottawa Railway, affectionately nicknamed the IB&O. Myles Junction was renamed Kinmount Junction and then Howland Junction. The charter called for the line to run from Howland Junction to Irondale, and then northeast to Bancroft and hence on to Ottawa, likely meaning a spot on the Ottawa River. It was a vey, very optimistic plan. The Howland to Furnace Falls section was quickly realized to bring out the iron ore being smelted at Furnace Falls. Pusey then completed the section to Irondale by 1883 and switched his mining operations north to the renamed village. Over the next two decades, the IB&O was gradually extended to Bancroft by 1911, actually it reached York Station north of Bancroft where it linked with the Central Ontario Railway (COR).

Howland Junction became the southern terminus of the great IB&O. Three times a week a mixed train from Bancroft came down the line to meet a special train from Lindsay. The IB&O train met the special train from Lindsay and then ascended the line back north. A typical schedule for 1923 had the IB&O train leaving Bancroft at 11:00 am. It was 54 miles from Bancroft to Howland Junction with an estimated time of arrival at 1:45 (Good luck with that!) Along the way, the train stopped at Baptiste, Highland Grove, Wilberforce, Tory Hill, Gooderham and Irondale. It could also stop at any number of flag stations along the route if there were customers there. At the other end of the route, the Grand Trunk Railway dispatched a special train to Howland Junction from Lindsay at 11:35. This train was expected back in Lindsay by 6:15 pm. From Lindsay, there were still 7 trains leaving after 6:30 pm for various parts of the province, including Toronto and Peterborough that travellers could make connections; thus Pusey’s boast of leaving Bancroft at 11:00 am and being in Toronto by 9:30 pm. The Victoria Rail Line was also used by regular GTR trains, which left Haliburton early in the morning to arrive in Lindsay by 9:40 and leaving Lindsay for Haliburton at 2:40. The two trains obviously passed along the way sometime in the afternoon. This meant Kinmount had 4 trains per day!

The typical Lindsay-Howland special train drew 13 cars. There was much time coupling and loading along the line. Some railway cars were whole loads (such as wood products). Others like baggage cars needed parcels shunted off or on. The passenger cars all unloaded themselves. To do all the loading and unloading, a crew of 3-5 was usual. In the engine, were an engineer to run the engine and a fireman to keep the fuel coming. The back staff needed a conductor and as many as 2 brakemen who did the physical loading. The conductor handled the accounts and received the fares from passengers. At the above stations, there were permanent station agents who sold tickets and collected baggage fees. But at the flag stops the conductor handled this job.

At Howland Junction, a turntable was built to turn around the engine. The cars were left on a siding and the operation proceeded. The turntable was so well constructed that the crew could turn the engine around by hand in just a few minutes! After the IB&O engine was turned around, it was the GTR engine’s turn. A large two storey station house was built to service the customers. One half of the bottom floor was a ticket office and waiting room. The station master lived in the rest of the building. About 1910 the structure was destroyed by fire. The replacement was much more modest: a simple shed-like structure that acted as a waiting room: not a good sign for it meant the IB&O was downsizing. It is still standing today, although it is dilapidated. The station master built a large farmhouse (still standing) between the two lines. This house is also still standing.

The Victoria Line went north over a huge trestle that crossed Kendrick’s Creek. The IB&O used a proper bridge that crossed the Burnt River east of the turntable. The Big Trestle is still in use. The IB&O bridge was removed in 1960 and only the stone abutments remain.

Just a mile or so upstream from the Junction was the Three Brothers Falls on the Burnt River. Just above the Three Brothers was the point where the three branches of the Burnt River joined together. The south or east branch was now called the Irondale River. The middle branch was called the Burnt River or central branch and the north branch was called the Drag River. The last two branches had actually merged before the falls. This major waterfall contained three smaller falls. The first falls was the major one, falling at least 10 feet over a major ridge of granite. The other two falls were smaller; roughly 5-8 feet high and much wider and dispersed than the big falls.

The Three Brothers was obviously named for the three falls. But it also features a local native legend about lost love. The story concerns a maiden whose father denied her permission to marry the love of her life. Disenchanted with her father’s decision, the maiden paddled her canoe over the falls and disappeared into the swirling waters below the falls, never to be seen again. Anyone familiar with the Falls knows there is a huge plunge of water and a dangerous undertow. Logs going over the Falls are often sucked out of sight only to emerge seconds later and far away. Behind the falls, the swirling water has gouged out a large cavern under the falls. This cavern is large enough to hold entire logs and has an air space. Could our fair maiden have hidden in the cavern until rescued by her beau? Or does her ghost still haunt its swirling eddy? Who can say?

The Three Brothers Falls did present a hazard to the river drivers of past years. Since it is the union of the three branches of the river, it must have passed a lot of saw logs in the spring freshet. It was also a perfect set up for log jams. These jams were removed or “cracked” by river drivers often at great risk. Each water fall along the route has its own lost cemetery where the unfortunate were laid to rest. In the 1880s, there was no opportunity to send drowning victims home for burial. They were buried as they fell. One of the author’s ancestors was a river driver for Mossom Boyd and often drove the Burnt System. The Three Brothers cemetery contained three lonely graves (This was not a large number: the Hawk River Chutes had 13 graves!) No headstones marked the graves of the fallen, only wooden crosses that soon rotted away.

One day a few years ago the rumour spread through Kinmount that the spring floods had unearthed a skeleton in a bank along the river near the Three Brothers. The police were called, but it was determined that the body was at least 100 years old and was buried there with no foul play involved. The river driver’s cemetery, Three Brothers edition had been found. The property owners declined to search for the other two bodies. They are still there.

The Three Brothers Falls has attracted many artists over the years. The river has cut its path through the granite and the ledge has been eroded over the years. The north face, in particular, slopes gently away from the river and offers some spectacular scenery. The IB&O Railway hugs the south bank of the Falls so closely that there is no room for trees between the rail line and the falls! The rail line is gone and the old rail bed is a private road, but the Burnt River is a canoe route and the portage around the falls has public access. The Three Brothers Falls was a prime mill site to the early surveyors. In fact, the 1858 survey of Snowdon Township reserved lots 1, 2 and 3 in the second concession as a mill reserve. This property switched hands several times prior to 1900. Was there ever a water powered sawmill on the site? The evidence is inconclusive. Early owners included George Laidlaw, a famous railway magnate, and James Mansfield, a Kinmount businessman in the lumber business. But no evidence exists to provide that a sawmill was built at the Falls. The arrival of both railways meant access was readily available, but there were easier sites in the area. Just above the Irondale River was a series of gentle rapids or steps nicknamed Jacob’s Ladder. There was some good farmland along the Irondale River, but this land was accessed from the Monck Road towards Furnace Falls and not from Howland Junction. On the north side of the river, only lots 1 and 2 in the 3^rd concession were claimed by the Watson family and some land clearing was done. But most of the lots north of the river were too rough for farming and there were never any homes or farms in the land between the forks of the Burnt River. In 1949, this area was burnt over in the big forest fire, and it was recorded no building were harmed. That says it all. The land at Howland Junction was fairly flat but very sandy. Eventually the farm land played out and was replaced with plantation pines.

The IB&O rails were torn up in 1960 and the rail bed sold off to neighbouring land owners. The right of way was thus closed. In 1980 the Victoria Railway suffered the same fate, but this time the municipalities were prepared to acquire the line and keep it open as a public recreation path. The big trestle over Kendrick’s Creek was saved and the line kept open for hikers, snowmobilers, ATVs and other public uses. There were no more train whistles splitting the air of Howland Junction, but the line is still used by the public. After all, it wouldn’t be a junction unless people travelled by.