Optimism abounds for Railway Heritage Society

Jeff Green | Nov 11, 2010

There have been annual general meetings in the eight-year history of the Central Frontenac Railway Heritage Society that have felt like they might be the last one.

The society, which was born out of an interest in building a railway museum at the site of the former Sharbot Lake K&P railroad station in order to house the collection of artefacts that former rail worker Gary Cooke has accumulated, has run into a number of roadblocks over the years.

Faced with this, the group has shifted its focus over the past couple of years, working to develop a kind of railway heritage park or “living museum” as member Gary Giller calls it. Community volunteers have been busy landscaping, painting and putting down a small piece of track in the vicinity of the historical location of the Sharbot Lake station. These efforts culminated in the purchase and installation of a caboose this past year.

Now, instead of bemoaning their lack of success, the Heritage Railway Society was basking in it a little bit at their most recent AGM on November 2.

A quickly organized fundraising campaign to pay for the caboose and the costs of moving it managed to raise the $18,000 needed in a couple months over the summer, which was a level of success that none of the members could have foreseen.

A new $10,000 campaign to raise funds for completing the transformation of the old caboose into a shining asset with displays and storage space inside has already been launched and a grant from the County of Frontenac is anticipated to give the new campaign a jolt.

Councilor Frances Smith, who has been the railway society's liaison to Central Frontenac Council for a number of years, talked at the AGM about the state of planning for a building at the site.

One the major issues that has been holding the township and the Railway Heritage Society back over the years has been the ownership of the triangle of land where the station once stood. Negotiations between the township and Canadian Pacific, which retains ownership of railway lands, have stalled because of boundary issues, and a satisfactory survey of the property has never been completed.

“It looks as if this will finally be resolved,” said Frances Smith, who has been chairing a council/public committee that has been looking at potential uses for a “multi-purpose building” on the site. “The committee has had a lot of discussion, some of it heated, about potential uses for a building on the site,” said Smith, “and in that light we need to see what potential extras will be included in the new school project before we make any final recommendations.”

“As the Railway Society representative to that committee, I have often made the point that we are open to any potential use for the building, but we think it would only fit in to the site if it is built as an exact replica of the original station. Otherwise it won't look right and will not be a real asset to the community,” said Gary Giller.

“Yes, Gary has made that point at least once at every meeting, so the committee is well aware of the heritage society's opinion on that,” said Smith. She added that it would be a long-term process to build on the site, as questions about how to fund the construction and ongoing maintenance, and what kinds of uses would best serve the community are still up in the air.

“I'd say we are looking at another two or three years for this process,” she said.