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History

Branchline Articles

Nov. 2001

Branchline - November 2001, Volume 40, Number 10

A NYC FAMILY

At the age of 4 years old, my grandparents took me to Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg, Ontario, and we visited the Grand trunk Railway steam locomotive (2-6-0 1008) that stood in front of the preserved museum station and my love for trains officially began. Living on various Canadian Forces Bases helped to fuel the interest as Army Trains would either run through or stop, but it wasn’t until I was 10 years old that my passion began for one particular rail line, one that had been long gone before I was born, but had strong ties to myself and my existence. It was then that our family moved back to Cornwall, Ontario, and I was living with my grandparents. In the backyard, I would constantly run out when a Canadian national Railways switcher was moving cars past the house into Domtar or Nutrite. It was on a regular monthly visit to the United States with my grandparents that I became aware of the rail line that once ran past our house, a line that my grandmother missed dearly, the Ottawa Division of the New York Central.

The idea to write this came to me as I sat on what was once the former right-of-way, which ran right on the east line of my grandparents’ property and I was watching my 4 year old son running excitedly down the field to follow the still running CN switcher, thinking to myself if I had looked just like him when I did the same thing years ago. Then I realized how the field was once filled with NYC cars, tracks and buildings and for a moment almost having a feeling of what my grandmother must of had when they were all still in place. If it wasn’t for her influence, I would never have taken on the chore of researching this lost railway with such zeal and determination. Thankfully, I have encountered and partnered with like individuals to produce a written history which is still in the works. But there is a side to the NYC that will not be a part of that publication, a side that was the reason why I became so passionate and intrigued into its history, my family.

My grandmother always told me about her father, my great-grandfather and whom my second name comes from, that worked that particular rail line. I remembered all she told me, as I had written down what was said in an old school book prior to my entering high school and I included the items that were from his time. She passed away and then years later I started my own family and began to research my past. It was then that I found out not only was he employed by NYC, but so were my great-great-uncle and great-great-grandfather. After talking to the elder members of my family who remembered these men, I started to research the Ottawa Division. And now, I’d like to show you how a railway can create a close knit family.

It isn’t rare for a number of family members to be employed by a railway, so this is not unique. It was how they all became one and what became of it that is interesting. It is best to start off with my great-grandfather, Robert (Bob) McCleary, who was born near Crysler, Ontario, in 1883 to an immigrated Irish family. They had moved to Berwick soon afterwards and it was then that talk of a rail line from Cornwall to Ottawa was brought up.

Skipping years, we come to 1900. The Ottawa & New York Railway was in operation between Ottawa and Cornwall, preparing to link up finally to its American line to Tupper Lake, New York. Bob had watched it being built and even used it to travel to Ottawa. He was soon looking for a job and found it in Newington, serving as a telegrapher at the station there. It was not long afterwards that he found himself in the station at Cornwall, serving as a station agent. It was here that everything truly began for my family. While carrying out his daily duties, he had befriended a fellow employee, Harold Bouck, who was working at the next stop north of the station, which was Cornwall Junction.

Harold was born on Crysler’s Farm, east of Morrisburg, in 1884. He and his two brothers grew up to be skilled rail workers in their time. In fact, one worked for the Grand Trunk in Cornwall while the other was stationed in Arizona, working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Harold started out as a telegrapher for the GTR in Aultsville beginning in 1900, but after a year he accepted a position as night operator for the O&NYR at the Cornwall Junction tower, then began the agent there a few years later. He and Bob formed a friendship that seemed unsinkable and in the case of employment, it was needed. O&NYR was not in the greatest of financial situations. It was owned by its American partner, the New York & Ottawa Railroad, who was at the time in receivership, mostly over the cost of building and the tragic accident of the St. Lawrence River bridge crossing. The two friends were banking on the fact that this line had linked the US with Canada’s capital and was just fairly new out of the blocks. Apparently, there was a consolidation of mostly all the employees due to the uncertain future they faced. They were lucky as the company was purchased in 1904 by New York Central bondholders and two months into the new year, the line was leased to the NYC.

It was about this time that the seeds of my present had begun. There was a family that frequently used the railway who lived in the small community of Smithville (present day west portion of Domtar Fine Papers). The Cornwall station technically was in Cornwall Township and Smithville was the nearest community. This family of five, the Benders, was made up of three daughetrs with their parents. George Bender was an employee of the Toronto Paper Mill, and spend many days in the freight office arranging goods for the mill. It wasn’t long before Bob and Harold became the love interests for two of the Bender girls. They had spent their own free time visiting the station and talking as much as they could to the O&NY agents. Soon, they began to date and then married, first Bob and Amy followed by Harold and Grace six years later. Now the friends had become family of which they had deserved more respect for each other. They continued to work for the rail line, enjoying their trips on the trains to remote areas as a family and also knowing that if a helping hand was needed either in the stations or in the yards, they could call on one another without question.

One instant that stands out was the second bridge disaster of 1908. When the lockmaster of Lock 18 for the Cornwall Canal called the Cornwall station, it was Bob who went down to the river to see how bad the break was in the canal and the threat it posed to the bridge. While investigating, the swing span suddenly came down and one of the steel wires snapped back and knocked him and the Lockmaster over. Bob suffered his only injury while working, which was a broken arm, and it was Harold who came to his aid and alerted the Cornwall and Nyando (Rooseveltown) station agents to hold all trains. Being that the bridge was opened at the time, there were no engines heading for the crossing. Harold put in the extra time for his brother-in-law and friend until he was able to return to duty, which was not very long.

As the years went on, the company’s way of operating changed many times, mostly due to ownership. In the 18 years Bob worked for them, the company had been put into receivership, purchased by NYC interests, became NYC property and was leased over and over again, being treated as a less than secondary line in most cases. Also, he noticed that the company was purposely pitting the brothers-in-law against each other in the last couple of years of his employment, because they both had nearly equal seniority rights. Thinking of his family, Bob decided it was time to move on, but he did stay in the railway business in another form. In 1918, he took the position of Transport Manager with the Howard Smith Paper mill (formerly Toronto Paper Mill) and had managed to keep the peace within his in-laws. Harold continued to work at the Cornwall station and, when a small position in the freight part was opened, it was filled by the head of the family, George Bender.

George began to work for the company in 1918, but what I could not confirm was if he started before or after Bob had left. The book ‘In My Mother’s Footsteps" by Dorothy Donihee explains how George treated the area residences with kindness and respect and even allowed the children into the freight part of the station to warm up after skating on the pond that was beside the switchyard. There was not really much more about how George was at work, other than he had taken that position because the family had a need for extra cash after he had retired frm the paper mill. I do know that he stayed with the NYC for 11 years and had an outstanding work record and reputation.

And so that was how my family came about thanks to the New York Central line running through Cornwall. I thought it best to end this by explaining what had happened to the trio.

George retired from the NYC in 1929 and still used the line to go back and forth from points of interest. He passed away in 1939, being the last of his family line.

Harold on the other hand had a more disheartening departure from his career. He had witnessed the NYC bridges being modified to accommodate both automobiles and trains in 1934 and the abandonment of 48% of the line between Tupper Lake Junction and Helena in the States. On a sunny day in 1938, Harold finished his duties at the station, picked up his niece, who was visiting from Arizona, and went to a baseball game. It was here, before the game started that he suddenly had a heart attack and passed away, leaving the Cornwall agent position empty. He was remembered well for his duties at his funeral by the city.

As for Bob, he became well known in the paper mill and held his position up until his official retirement. Even though he had left the NYC some time ago, he always maintained a friendly communication with the employees at the station and with the train crews. Upon retirement, he would either spend his days relaxing at home, visiting his grown family or sat at the station, sometimes lending a hand at jobs he use to do daily as a young man. It was likely in this duration that he came into possession of a company shovel, which was passed to my grandparents, who used it annually in the winter. After the Ice Storm of 1998, I was given this relic and it remains unused as a family railway antique. Bob lived on, outliving all members of the family who were involved in the line. He even saw the total abandonment of the Canadian side of the line in 1957, brought about by the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the removal of the former railway bridges.

In a sense, my great-grandfather was there for the railway from beginning to end and passed away in 1965, just as they were preparing to bring the north span bridge down. Today, the three former railwaymen rest in the same cemetery within a short distance of each other, about three kilometres from a portion of the NYC that is still in use by CN as the Wesco Spur. After I found all this out, it became quite clear to me as to why my grandmother loved the NYC so much.