Beryl and Noam Chernick

Train Crossing at 485 Horton Street East

 

Beryl: My name is Beryl Chernick.

Noam: And my name is Noam Chernick.

Beryl: The L&PS [London and Port Stanley] track went diagonally, and we could see the trains go by from our window on the corner of Horton and Maitland.

Noam: One of my loves is waiting for either the London and Port Stanley or some other train to come so that I could watch the trains, much like a person watches a ship come into the harbour.

Beryl: Coal was no longer used so much, so eventually the use of the railway died out, and the tracks were not used. Then a group of railway fanatics, like Noam, in St. Thomas started a club and they reconditioned some of the stock and the line, and now it goes from Port Stanley at least to St. Thomas. And they run it in the summer for excursions – they have all kinds of stuff – but you could also use it as a party train, which we did. People came down to Port Stanley, and then at a certain time we all boarded the train and the train started out. And then, when we got to the first crossing, we had to stop because we were being held up by bandits! Which was our children and grandchildren wearing, you know, like bandit stuff. But instead of taking stuff from people they gave out treats so people wouldn’t get too hungry on the way to where we were gonna eat supper! [laughs] There’s a place on the route where you stop and there’s a meadow, and in the meadow we had, you know, like party sandwiches, and dips and things like that, and a roast, and all kinds of things. You know, it was really fun.

Noam: The sad part of that kind of thing is that there aren’t a lot of things left. For instance, the whole idea of trains is kind of backwards.