by the Canadian Railway Historical Association – Niagara Division
A crowd begins to assemble on the morning of Monday, July 13, 2015 in front of the Community Credit Union in downtown Thorold, Ontario for the dedication and unveiling of the first in a series of NS&T historical plaques in the Niagara Region.
The first of almost fifty Members and Guests begin to arrive at the plaque unveiling ceremony.
CRHA Niagara Division President Tammy Frakking addresses the assembly.
City of Thorold Mayor Ted Luciani (left below), Niagara Division President Tammy Frakking, Past Niagara Division President and Plaque Coordinator Paul Chapman, Regional Municipality of Niagara Councilor Henry D’Angela, Thorold City Councilor Tim Whelan, also the President of the Thorold Community Credit Union, owner of the property the plaque is situated on, and Federal Member of Parliament (Niagara Centre) Malcolm Allen (also representing Member of Provincial Parliament Cindy Forster who could not be present) prepare for the unveiling of the first plaque in a series of five.
Official scrolls marking the event!
City of Thorold Mayor Luciani, Paul Chapman, Councilor Henry D’Angela, Councilor Tim Whelan, and Welland MP Malcolm Allen discuss the history of the local railway than ran here. The Canadian Northern (later CNR/NS&T) was situated between the plaque and the Credit Union building in the background.
CRHA Board Member and Niagara Division Past President and Calendar Coordinator Andy Panko discusses the history of the NS&T and the old station site. A souvenir handout was provided to all guests. So far more than $10,000 has been raised for the plaque program by sales of the Division calendars and railway history book auctions, whereby books are donated to the auctions by Members of the Division or their Estates. Another $10,000 is required to complete the plaque project.
Tim Horton’s coffee and homemade cookies (thanks to President Tammy) were the order of the morning.
The plaque itself … to view what is on the plaque, click here.
CRHA Niagara Division Members Jim Gardner, David Bingham and Frank Delogu inspect the new plaque. David is a Past President of the Division and newly appointed Vice President, Frank is the Division’s secretary. Interesting note – Frank Delogu was on the last run of the NS&T’s interurban service in 1959, over 56 years ago on this very spot.
Some of the CRHA Niagara Division Members present pose with the plaque after its unveiling. Past President Paul Chapman, the coordinator of the plaque project is at lower left and Niagara Division President Tammy Frakking is at lower right.
The original line of the NS&T street railway operations came up the middle of Front Street in Thorold as shown in the inset, and terminated at the station (behind the photographer). The NS&T’s interurban operations, at the end of service in 1959 with Montreal and Southern Counties cars (see previous slide of the plaque showing M&SC 623), ran on an elevated line behind the buildings in the left of the photograph.
The following images and text are displayed on our CRHA Niagara NS&T plaque in Thorold.
“This was the site of the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway (NS&T) Thorold Station. The NS&T was an electric freight and passenger railway serving communities primarily along the Welland Canal corridor plus Niagara Falls. It was an integrated transportation company that provided both local transit services within Niagara’s two largest urban centres and service between communities. It also had a navigation company that provided day boat service to Toronto.
The NS&T was formed in 1899. The station shown in the photographs on the plaque opened in 1913. From the station there were passenger connections to the St. Catharines and Niagara Falls (ceased operation in 1947); a street railway linking St. Catharines to Thorold which was one of the first overhead trolley system in Canada (ceased operation in 1931); and a line to Fonthill, Weiland and Port Colborne. The last scheduled passenger service on the NS&T and the last interurban passenger service in Canada were on March 28,1959 from Thorold to Port Colborne and return.
Improvements to the road system and increasing car ownership lead to the decline in ridership on the NS&T. This plaque commemorates the years of service by the NS&T to the people of Thorold and the historic last run from the Thorold Station.
Erected by the Niagara Division of the Canadian Railroad Historical Association with assistance from A. W. Panko and Thorold Community Credit Union.
Car 52
Car 52 is a semi-open interurban car, ready to depart for St. Catharines. The car came to the NS&T in 1923 from the London and Lake Erie and was built circa 1903. It and other similar cars only lasted in service until the early 1930s when they were scrapped. Note the station name sign on the north end of the station indicating the ownership by Canadian Northern. Canadian Northern had bought the NS&T in 1908. The Canadian Northern failed financially in 1917 and the NS&T became part of the new Canadian National Railway (CNR).
Cars 131 and 134
Cars 131 and 134 which were built in 1914 are southbound at the Thorold Station. These cars lasted in service until 1950. The boxcars in the background are on the NS&T. The freight business was financially more important to the NS&T than the passenger service but the interurban passenger service became famous because it lasted until 1959.
Car 623
This view from south of the station shows Car 623, an ex Montreal and Southern Counties car, that came to the NS&T in 1956. It lasted in regular service until 1959 when the Thorold-Port Colborne interurban run was abandoned. There is a Canadian National Transportation bus to the west of the station which provided service to Niagara Falls and St. Catharines. Note that when looking down Front Street, one of the NS&T high line bridges can be seen in the background.
