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OSHAWA TRACK HISTORY (Continued from Page 6) act the life of the charter eould not be limited (as in a street railway). "The council agreed to this perpetual right of way as it was the only way Captain Carter could get the government bonus." In early November, Captain Carter told the Town Council, "the company now had _ the necessary authority from Otta- -wa, had arranged for placing the bonds and entered into agreement with the Grand Trunk with respect to freight, and was now prepared to go on with the construction of the road. Mr. Edmondson remind- ed the council Captain Carter "had the franchise for four years and no one else could build in that time if he chose to stop them." BONUS QUESTION Added the Vindicator editori- ally: "The question now is whether the council shall pay the bonus as agreed upon last spring. "Tf the road was desirable then, it is no less desirable now and the argument that. the whole thing should be again submitted to the people is the argument of persons opposed to the road, and therefore opposed to the progress of the town." In the Nov. 14 issue, the Vin- dicator headlined its lead edi- torial, "We Get The Railway." it noted that W. E. Rathbun of Deseronto, described as the principal stockholder in the. pro- posed electric railway com- pany, foresaw "the snending of $100,000 before the road was completed." NEW AGREEMENT The new agreement passed by council the night before set these completion dates: first section -- June 15; second sec- tion -- July 15; third section -- Sept. 30. Some $2000 in bonds was left with Mayor Cowan by Mr. Rathburn. An amendment by Mr. Fowke calling for deferral for three months for a plebiscite was de- feated 8-7. And the agreement was accepted by the narrow majority. So Oshawa came very ciose to not getting either a passen- ger (Simcoe) railway serv:ce or a freight (King street-and a whole network of lines to other factories) rail service--at least at that time. On May 29, a news story on the Vindicator's editorial page had this to say: '"'the track the whole length of Simcoe street was laid and filled in on Fri- day, and all day of Saturday the full force of men were at work on King street between the Baptist church and the west end of the Coulthard - Scott Co. works. "The poles to support the trolley wires are being planted. They are fine poles and are 100 feet apart. The manner in which the work is being done leaves no room for complaint."' STREETS IMPROVED Improving both Simcoe and King streets went hand-in-hand with the new rails. On June 5, 1895, Mr. Coulthard told the town fathers $900 had been spent already and the work was only half done. He said he felt the total cost of putting stone and gravel down would be $1500. And the company found it necessary to reconstruct the bridge on King street. Finally the council kicked in $200 ior the company which promised to put in two iron girders and make the bridge wide enough for traf- fic and foot passengers as well. The June 19th Vindicator re- ports that on June 13, '"'trolley No. 12 started from the Grand Trunk depot and ran up as far as the Mallory Row (when it was derailed by a stone on the track.) The car was soon back on the track and several trips were made up as far as the Simcoe. Street Methodist Church. It was not until later in the day that the car was run up to the Four Corners in the centre of town." Apparently, Athol street east of Simcoe was once scarred by tracks. The July 10, 1895 front page carried this note: 'Mr. Murton, on behalf of the Osh- awa Railway Company, asked permission to lay a track from the Prospect line west along Athol street to Sykes and Son's Lumber Yard, and north from Athol along Solina (Celina?) to Guy and Co.'s. warehouse. Permission was given for the use of Athol to Simcoe street. The mayor objected to the track going west of Simcoe and the question was referred to the Railway Committee. According to the Aug. 2Ist. Vindicator, the "Fourth Estate" members were given a trip over the lake section of the track on the first car to make the run on Friday, Aug. 16 (1895). 30 GOOD YEARS If the Encyclopedia Britan- ica is an accurate barometer of the financial ups and downs of electric railways, and if Canadian conditons were much the same as those in the US, then we may assume the net- work of rail lines here in Osh- awa enjoy . °0 good years. Electric rail lines hit their economic peak in .the middle 1920's says EB; from then on, competition from buses, cars, trucks and trolley coaches was too much. But the King street line here, although it began to be a centre of criticism in the middle 1940's, still served commercial estab- lishments. Among them now: Lander - Stark Oil Co. Ltd., Bathe and McLellan Building Supples Ltd., and McLaughlin Coal and Supples Ltd. In the 1946 Oshawa civic elec- tion, Frank McCallum defeated the late Dr. W. H. Gifford and Harry O. Perry to grab the mayor's chain of office for the first time. (He had served on council in 1943-44-45). One of the planks in his six- point program: street improve- ments, including removal of the rails from King street. Mr. McCallum served as mayor for three straight years (to 1948) then went back 02 council for four more (to 1952), a remarkable run of 10 years. But he never succeeded in get- ting the tracks removed. OTTAWA JOURNEYS He went to Ottawa more than once in the late 1940's with Rus- sell Humphreys, another 10-year man on council. But govern- mental friends and the Board of Transport Commissioners al- ways pointed to Sec. 260 of the Railway Act: "|. . The BTC has no power to order (tracks) removal with- out provision for a diversion or some alternate service." The Board may order tracks removal for the "protection, safety and convenience'"' of per- sons but not for loss of business, even if it could be proved -- and it is very difficult to prove. The issue lay quietly through most of the 1950's until mor? agitation came from _ business groups in the downtown area who complained of the "detri- ment to downtown Oshawa"'. Negotiations continued through Mayor Lyman Gifford's first two-year term, with the firms demanding compensation and continued service and re- location, TWO-DAY HEARING Then the two-day hearing in Oshawa at which listeners h2ard the following: --the taxpayers are subsidiz- ing the three commercial estab- lishments. --90 to 95 per cent of the King street road expenditures occur in this area. (maintenance costs high). --there have been 116 acci- dents involving rail cars in the iasit 15 years. --King street is not wide enough for the volume of traffic | it is required to carry today. --a hotel owner testified he | had had over 1,000 complaints about the trains in the last 10) years. --vibrations caused by trains have weakened foundations and walls all along the tracks route --and may have been respon- sible for the collapse of the Marks Theaire roof some years ago. --the Chamber of Commerce general manager testified he had worked out a route to get to the city's main hotel with guests without having them see the main street tracks. BTC chairman Rod Kerr kept stressing arguments for re- moval have to show a threat to the "protection, safety and con- venience'"' of persons. Board members gathered up their evidence and disappeared at the end of the second day. COMPROMISE City Council, under then Mayor Christine Thomas, got down to more bargaining and finally the compromise: $10,000 "'compensation"' to each of the three firms and facilities else- where. A Private Bill, put through the Ontario Legislatur> eerly last December, was nec2ssary to allow the city of Oshawa to pay the "compensatiyn". Now the CNR is establishing an "alternate unloading area" in the tracks vicinity -- on Athol just west of Mary street. THE OSHAWA TIMES, Thursdey, Moy 9, 1963 7 ANOTHER "GOOD BUY" TRACKS -- SPECIAL FOR MOTHER uchantment poe AND WEDDING RING Wyalind 'GUARANTEED PERFECT, 10% DOWN -- JUST 3.00 WEEKLY BURNS CREDIT JEWELLERS LTD. PHONE 723-7022 DIAMOND SPECIAL DILAMOND RING. ' 32 KING WEST INGURED FRE®@ 1 AGAINST Loss ONDS | have the tracks removed from King CONGRATULATIONS TO DOWNTOWN OSHAWA And all those who worked so hard to finally get through the legislation to Street. SATURDAY will be a dey of great celebration and interest in the history of the city. 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