The Train Stops Here

This seems to be my year for trains. I still have several new books yet unopened, and a rigorous road trip regimen forming up. And then today...there's more!




 The best yet. Today's 'new stuff'' notification from the Marmora Historical Foundation website introduces a tour of the Central Ontario Railway, from Maynooth to Picton.

I encourage you to visit ...it's a simply outstanding post, with then-and-now photos, maps, book recommendations, and loads of information. An even more entertaining and informative entry than usual on what I consider to be one of the best history sites around.




I have been following the MHF website since last spring.  I learned about it during one of several visits in Marmora with Cathie Jones, Heritage Centre curator, while I was researching a story on old summer cottages, for Country Roads magazine.

The website researchers and writers are a dynamic history-minded couple named Anne and Andre Philpot. This link provides introductions to the whole MHF crew.

Their flagship, the storefront museum and archives in downtown Marmora,  is a treasure trove of artifacts, photos and documents from the area's history. Any browse through archival materials at the big wooden table is guaranteed to bring a visit from the museum cat who will gladly sit on any document you might be reviewing, in the interests of making you feel welcome. The cat - Archives is his name - was new to the space when I first visited, back in 2014, on a Hastings County Historical Society bus tour....photos are from that visit.

When I last visited the town was facing the closure of the TD bank; a blow to folks needing personal banking services in their village, an even greater concern to Cathie, as the museum with its huge collection of local history was housed in the bank building, and a possible move was facing the crew and their stuff.

We'll leave the last word to Archives the cat.