Kinmount Station

By Guy Scott

The Station was, and still is, the centre of the village of Kinmount. Centre means economic, cultural, and geographical centre. Even today, 50 years after the last train in town, it still is the heart of the village. It has a history so vast and fascinating, it transcends the story of an ordinary building. The Station was built in 1876. The official opening on November 30, 1876 was duly recorded in detail by the Lindsay Post newspaper. A special train was sent from Lindsay, full of dignitaries, to officiate at the ceremony. The local school was closed so the children could be part of this historical event. The arrival of the Victoria Railway was to change the history of the whole community, and everybody could sense it!

The village boomed from 50 residents to 500 in the next few years. The struggling little hamlet of Kinmount drew business from all the surrounding communities and cemented Kinmount as the hub of the area. Let the good times roll! The station itself was built by a Kirkfield contractor named William MacKenzie. He also built the Fenelon Falls station (still standing today as well). Mackenzie had a reputation for quality work. His buildings have stood the test of time. This contract was his first foray into the world of railway work.

Mackenzie seemed to enjoy the railway business, because over the next five decades he built an empire that garnered him the nick name: The Railway King of Canada. From his first humble business (the Shoefly Store), he founded the transcontinental Canadian Northern Railway (forerunner of the CNR) and became the richest man in Canada. He was knighted by King Edward VII. Sir William, as he was called locally, helped build the CPR, started the Toronto Transit Commission and lived in mansions, both at Kirkfield and in Toronto.

Despite his fame and fortune, Sir William had a soft spot for his home area. Many a local man found a railway job with the “Eldon Reserve”, his private railway crew who worked all over the country. Sir William was so famous and respected, he was “offered” the position of Prime Minister of Canada after the death of Sir John A. Macdonald! He refused the honour.

Local legend has it the Kinmount Station is haunted by the ghost of Sir William. On at least 5 occasions the village of Kinmount was destroyed by fire. The station, right in the heart of town, never suffered a scorched shingle! In the Great Fire of 1942, buildings on all sides of the station were totally destroyed, but the station was left untouched amid a sea of desolation. Well done Sir William!

Kinmount had not one railway line, but two lines! So successful was the Victoria Railway, a second line, the Irondale, Bancroft & Ottawa Railway aka the Great IB&O, was built from Howland Junction (just north of the village) to Bancroft. This quirky line was nicknamed the Great IOU and was bankrupt after a few decades. Sir William of the CNR kindly bought the line and ran it at a loss, just because he had a soft spot for the area. Little remains of the Great IB&O today, except for the small waiting room at Howland Junction. In 2012, the residents of the community decided to move the badly dilapidated Howland Junction Station from its home down the line to Kinmount to nestle besides its larger cousin, the Kinmount Station. Upon further review, it was found the old IB&O station was too far decayed to be moved. So, a new “imitation station” was built at the Kinmount site to honour the history of the two railway lines.

When the Victoria Railway was started in 1874, a labour shortage plagued the builders. So, a group of 360 Icelandic immigrants, newly arrived, were recruited as labourers. They were shipped to Kinmount to work on the northern section. Their 10 month sojourn in the village was not a successful story, and they left en masse for Gimili, Manitoba in 1875. Their ancestors dwell there today. All that remains of their first adventure in Canada is a plaque and sculpture nuzzled against the Station at Kinmount.

The Victoria Railway was a financially success venture, linking the communities of Haliburton and Northern Victoria County to the outside world. Freight volume grew so much, an extension to the baggage room was added after a few years. Numerous sidings branched off the rail yards to serve local saw mills, businesses and the general public. Four trains a day stopped at the station during its heyday. All passenger traffic to the outside world was funnelled through the station. The waiting room was constantly filled and there were always box cars in the yard. Stops at Kinmount took a long time to organize with lots of coupling and shunting.

The Kinmount Station and the Victoria Railway went through a number of ownership changes. The Victoria Railway was snapped up by the Midland Railway Company who in turn merged with Grand Trunk. That company was bought out by Canadian National Railways which held ownership until the end.

Being on the banks of the Burnt River, the Station was threatened by flooding on several occasions. In 1928 the Great Flood inundated the main street and the station yard. The water covered the station floor and came up to the level of the fire box in the waiting room stove. But the trains kept coming! Passengers were shuttled from the platform by canoe to higher ground. And Sir William’s handiwork passed the test and no damage was recorded!

In the latter half of the twentieth century, railways began a steady decline. The Great IB&O was closed in 1960. Passenger traffic was discontinued and the old station building began to look abandoned. The waiting room was turned into storage and grass grew up in the rail bed. In the 1970s, CN closed the branch line altogether. The assets, including all the stations, were offered to the two counties: Victoria and Haliburton for a small cost. Fortunately, both counties leapt at the chance to acquire these valuable assets and the railway line and the stations were saved for posterity. The rails were torn up and sold, but the bridges and trestles preserved so traffic of a different sort could still use the corridors for recreation.

The Kinmount Station was refurbished and entered a new career as a Senior Citizens Centre. Eventually, the seniors left and the station began a new life as a tourist information centre. The old building was brought back to its original state. The Station was given a new foundation. When it was returned to the foundation, every door and window still opened and closed like new. Sir William built to last! Washrooms and a small kitchen were added, and later wheel chair access. The information centre occupied the waiting room, and the ticket office became an office once more. The baggage area was converted into a model railway, faithfully depicting the old railway line from Kinmount to Haliburton with over 60 feet of historical settings and moving model trains! (The trains are “turned around” in the kitchen! Its not often lunch cooks share their kitchen with a train!) The Kinmount Model Railway Club constructed the train display and open it to the public in the summer months. Kinmount is likely one of the few villages where the railway line is “inside” the station!

Today the City of Kawartha Lakes keeps the station and the railway yards in tip-top shape. The site is heavily used, both in summer and winter. There is parking for those who use the recreational railway corridor for hiking, cycling, horse riding, ATVing and of course, snowmobiling. The neighbouring Austin Sawmill is also an historical site and its mill yards are a delicious part of the park. On Saturdays in the summer, a Farmer’s Market is held in the yards as well as many community events. A public washroom complex is attached to the Station for the general public to use. The local Historical Society operates a research centre in one end of the Station. And of course, the whole area is littered with historical plaques, displays and information. The whole complex is intensively used for all seasons. If there is one point to be made about the old Station and its surrounding complex besides all the features above, it is its visibility. Anyone passing through Kinmount from any direction, cannot miss the Station. It sits in the centre of the village in all its dignity, proudly visible to all. Thus, it was in the 1880s, and so it is today. Its not only a symbol of times gone by, but also of the present. It perfectly melds the past and present. Carry on old gal; you still have a job to do!