The old mill in Simcoe, Ontario

I enjoy poking around old steam era buildings, even if they have been reduced to foundations. In writing a series of books about Canadian National Railways operations in Ontario during the 1950s, I have found reason to explore just about every CNR line in the province. In some ways I envy railway modellers who are able to focus on one territory to the exclusion of all others. They end up actually building something. The rest of us, myself included, like to devote our time to exploring old railway lines in a broader sense. A little of this, a little of that. That approach has characterized my series of books. I do not linger long in any one area, but move on, in order to cover everything in one writing career.

I look back fondly on my research trips. These are still ongoing, of course (right now I am exploring parts of the Canadian Pacific's Mactier Subdivision for my next book which is entitled The King's Puzzle). One place I explored a few years ago was Simcoe, Ontario. This was in support of my effort entitled Steam Echoes of Hamilton. You can read all about the workings of the daily way freight on the Wabash line which served the community in that book.

The north part of Simcoe, circa 1954, was known as Wellington Heights, or North Simcoe. The old "Air Line", otherwise known as the Wabash, or the Cayuga Subdivision of the CNR, passed through. When I explored the area by the former location of the tracks back in 2008, I was intrigued by the foundations of an old mill there. It stood near Sutton's Pond. Sutton was the original owner of the mill. The pond is now dried up (the dam was closed a few years ago).

In 1953, the venerable old mill suffered a fire, but remained standing. At the time, it was owned by two local gentlemen named Riddle and McIntosh. In addition to grain, they also handled coal. Their mill complex stood at the end of a spur which curved southeasterly off the mainline. Their offices were located at 550 Norfolk Street North, directly across the main road from the mill. Connected to the mill were a number of concrete coal bins, situated west of the spur. When I visited the site, the foundations of the mill and the coal bins were still there.

It would be nice to learn of anyone who is contemplating a model of the old mill and coal yard. Any such project would include one of those neat steam era coal trucks with a scissors, or jack-knife, hoist for unloading coal into the bins. Otherwise, railway hopper cars dumped coal into the concrete bins as well.