Ted Barris (author, journalist and broadcaster) was the guest speaker at our April 28^th programme. His most recent book is The Great Escape: A Canadian Story. Contrary to the 1963 movie “The Great Escape” many of the main characters involved in planning the escape and the digging of the tunnels for the escape were Canadians. His book and his talk were based on his many interviews, his research, letters, and personal photos. On March 24th , 1944 eighty prisoners escaped from Stalag Luft III near Sagan, Poland into the forest beyond the wire.. It was great to hear the true story and I won’t be able to watch the movie again without thinking about the Canadian involvement.

The Scarborough Historical Society hosts programmes on the 4th Tuesday of each month from January to April and from September to November. All programmes begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Bendale Public Library and are free and open to the public.

Our programme on March 24^th was “The Noronic Fire” of 1949. The guest speaker was Tim Irish, a forensic expert, whose presentation took us through the time leading to the outbreak of the fire, the design of the vessel, the massive response of the Toronto Fire Department, and the aftermath. He included stories of individuals involved in fighting the tragic fire and the search and rescue.  Many in attendance personally remembered the fire.

The Scarborough Historical Society hosts programmes on the 4th Tuesday of each month from January to April and from September to November. All programmes begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Bendale Public Library and are free and open to the public.

The speaker at our February 24^th programme was Sandra Joyce who is an author and the Director-at-large for the British Home Child Group International.  Up to 120,000 British children were sent to Canada from 1869 to 1939 to work as indentured farm workers and domestics. She related stories about their placement across Canada with some of them suffering horrifically and some doing well. Quite a few society members in attendance were descendants of a home child and about 1 in 10 Canadians is a descendant of a home child.

From the first time the lonesome sound of a train whistle was heard in the wilds of Scarborough in 1856 to today’s green and white double decker GO trains,  Scarborough’s railway history is examined in Volume 25 of the Scarborough Historical Society’s “Notes and Comments.”

The Grand Trunk Railway, the first to lay track through the Township, changed the landscape forever, creating communities that survive to this day such as Scarborough Village and Scarborough Junction.  Some however have completely disappeared,  Port Union being a good example.  

The Toronto and Nipissing was possibly the first narrow gauge common carrier to operate in North America,  starting its northern trek on its own 3’6’’ track at Scarborough Junction. The same right of way is used today by the Stouffville GO train.   

The Ontario and Quebec was a railway that owned its own track but no locomotives or rolling stock,  preferring to lease the line to the Canadian Pacific Railway for 999 years. The lease is up in the year 2883 by the way.   

The Canadian Northern came and went with little benefit to Scarborough other than many years later giving the Bloor Danforth subway line a convenient way to get from Victoria Park to Warden station using their old right of way. 

Over the years Scarborough was the home of six attractive and interesting railway stations which were located at Scarborough Junction, Scarborough Village,  Port Union, two in Agincourt and one in Malvern. Sadly none have survived.  Interesting locomotives and complete trains have also graced our borders over the years such as:  the Toronto and Nipissing’s unique double ended Fairley that blew up in Stouffville on January 31, 1874;  the Canadian National’s mammoth 4100 series locomotives that were used to help heavily laden freight trains up the Scarborough grade to Scarborough Junction from the late 1920’s to the mid 50’s and who could forget much ballyhooed state of the art Turbo and LRC trains that carried passengers through Scarborough from the 1970’s to the early 2000’s.  

For a more detailed history of the History of Railways in Scarborough, the Society has published a booklet on the topic: “Railways Through Scarborough” (Notes and Comments, Volume # 25.   (See our “Shop” to place your order)  Copies of the booklet are also available from the Scarborough Archives @ $ 10.00 each (postage include).   Send cheque (payable to Scarborough Archives) along with your  name and address to Scarborough Historical Society, 8282 Kingston Road, Scarborough, ON M1C 1K9.