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Guest Blogger: VIA RAIL Plan For Tweed Can Be Done!

Somewhere near Tweed ON,
photo by Greg Gormick

by Lesley Bernard - As a Tweedite, I have been following this plan closely. Like with many of the other communities on the proposed route, representatives from VIA have been here too to meet with our mayor and council.

The Chamber of Commerce asked council to support the plan. The mayor and council's official position is "wait and see if anything actually happens".

The Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance had been under the mistaken belief that they owned the ROW but CP has always retained ownership. A fibre-optic trunk line was buried under the ROW about 15 years ago. Locals and tourists could be opposed but ownership having been retained by CP, the tracks can go back down whenever they want.

In town, the ROW is intact but with some encroachment by some of the adjacent neighbours with fences and plantings. The ROW runs right thru the local lumber yard but they are in the process of getting permits to build a new facility on the south edge of town. I think likely all in-town road crossings would removed with the roads dead ending at the track. A few locals might be inconvenienced but nobody would get trapped.

The exception is Victoria (Hwy 37), have to be a crossing there. The steel bridge across the Moira R is intact and in good shape.

One bridge that was removed is over the Crowe R south of Marmora. It was replaced with a pedestrian/ATV grade bridge.

Stations are proposed for Perth, Tweed and Peterbrough with 5 of 15 trains/day each way making local stops. Tweed would become the hub for the Quinte/Hastings area.

Comments

  1. Hi our family was from Tweed. We know all there is to know. Well not really but I was on the last passenger train East to Montreal when CPR stropped the service. But we know it all well from the bridge over to the river to the "coal shute" on the east side. The steam era trains stopped at the station, took on passengers and water, went across the river, un-coupled, and the back up to the coal shute. Then when filled up, backed in to pick up the passenger cars and headed East to Sulphide and all other points East to Montreal. True nostalgia for sure.....Jim Leal. My father was Walter Leal

    Trivia: Who owned the bakery on front street in Tweed....only and old timer will get this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi our family was from Tweed. We know all there is to know. Well not really but I was on the last passenger train East to Montreal when CPR stropped the service. But we know it all well from the bridge over to the river to the "coal shute" on the east side. The steam era trains stopped at the station, took on passengers and water, went across the river, un-coupled, and the back up to the coal shute. Then when filled up, backed in to pick up the passenger cars and headed East to Sulphide and all other points East to Montreal. True nostalgia for sure.....Jim Leal. My father was Walter Leal

    Trivia: Who owned the bakery on front street in Tweed....only and old timer will get this.

    ReplyDelete

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