The Battle for the Railroad

But this prosperity would soon disappear, as the railroad came to Scugog. Prince Albert had wanted the railway as a means to transport and distribute their grain to markets. Peter Perry boasted that one day goats would eat grass off of Prince Albert's main street. A bitter rivalry ensued as the railway was being planned, and the location considered.

One of the first people to seriously propose a railway in the area was Peter Perry. Perry wished to expand his Whitby business and realized that a link from Lake Scugog to Whitby would enable him to do so on a large scale.

Though Perry died years before the railway came, the fight was carried on by his son John Ham and a committee of dedicated businessmen. In April 1853, a government charter was granted to incorporate the "Port Whitby and Lake Huron Railroad Company."

With the granting of the charter came another challenge: the railroad would cost 3000 pounds sterling per mile to build. With a proposed route of some 52 miles, the cost seemed insurmountable without raising capital through the sale of stocks.

The End of an Era

As Port Perry boomed with each new mile of track, Prince Albert nearly turned into a ghost town, having only a general store, a post office and a blacksmith.

The train went from Port Perry to Whitby, and brought a lot of business with it.

The train was called the "Nip N' Tuck" because it could barely make it over the ridges just outside of Port Perry. At one point people could actually get out and walk along side of the train.

Lindsay was later added to the route, and had it's name changed to the Midland Railway. These tracks would later become a branch of the Grand Trunk, which is now known as the Canadian National Railway.

Unfortunately the train had constant money troubles and profits were small. With the introduction of automobiles and economic issues, the railway shut down.

The last trip was in May 1939 when students travelled to Toronto to see the King and Queen of England. The tracks were then disassembled in 1941.

The Nestleton Station came into operation when the Canadian Pacific Railway suggested building a line that went from Burketon to Bobcaygeon via Blackstock, Nestleton, Janetville, and Lindsay.

The first train ran in the spring of 1904, and brought a lot of business to Nestleton, and the surrounding area.

There were six trains travelling the 40 miles of track. These included a mixed train and two passenger trains each way. Unfortunately, this line met the same demise as the line going to Port Perry and the track was disassembled in 1933.