Canadian Pacific Electric Lines operated in SW Ontario under the entities of ‘Grand River Railroad’ and also ‘Lake Erie & Northern’. These served and connected smaller cities and towns and a large rural farming area, mostly tobacco. My secondary home town was along the LE&N in Simcoe. I have vivid memories, especially in summer and holidays. In addition to the CP Electric Lines the town was served by the CNR (2 Lines) CPR regular steam, Wabash, Pere Marquette and just a wee bit on the outskirts the NYC/CASO. It is hard to believe but absolutely nothing remains of all of this, including the beautiful station in Simcoe. All of it ripped up. Everyone’s gone.
The LE&N stands out especially for me. It came through frequently, almost every hour on the hour, loading and unloading fresh farm produce , distinctly remember fresh eggs daily, newspapers, big milk containers, various dry goods and parcels, mail and of course people. It was our ‘UPS’ but more frequent, more interesting and something to behold. Lasted until '58 with passenger, a couple more years with freight. Once this generation of ours is gone no one will remember it. Books and Internet but that’s not the real deal. It should not have been all lost in the first place.
