History of Nova Scotia
with special attention given to
Communications and Transportation

This item (as condensed for reprinting in February 2000) makes no mention of where this serious train wreck occurred. In 1950, along the D.A.R. main line track there were three places where the D.A.R. track was connected to C.N.R. tracks — and thus where locomotives from the two different railways might have been involved in conflicting movements — in Yarmouth, in Middleton, and at Windsor Junction.

Of these three possibilities, my guess is that this collision occurred in Middleton, where the Bridgewater - New Germany - Middleton - Bridgetown main line of the old Nova Scotia Central Railway (later the Halifax and South Western and, in 1950, Canadian National) crossed the Halifax - Yarmouth main line of the D.A.R. At Middleton, for a short distance — about 100 metres — C.N.R. trains ran along the D.A.R. track, in making the move from the south (Bridgewater) side to the north (Bridgetown) side of the D.A.R. (This guess, that the collision occurred at Middleton, is supported by the fact that this item appeared in the Bridgetown Monitor. A CNR train at Middleton would have been travelling to or from Bridgetown, from or to Bridgewater. It is doubtful that the Bridgetown newspaper would have been interested in such an event in Yarmouth or Windsor Junction.)

There was a fourth connection between the D.A.R. and the C.N.R. at Truro, but a Halifax - Yarmouth train would not be there.

This song, like all recorded music in 1950 — all that was made
to be sold to the public — was pressed and distributed on
78 rpm (revolutions per minute) shellac records, which had a
limited playing time. There were two sizes of 78 records,
ten-inch 25cm diameter and twelve-inch 30cm. All popular songs
were sold on ten-inch records, which had a maximum playing time
of about three minutes per side. This meant that only one song
could be recorded on each side. The term "single" meant that this
could be bought as an individual record, as distinct from an
"album" which was a pair of stiff covers enclosing several
heavy paper envelopes each containing a 78 record.

In the 1950s, all music was recorded in analog format. Digital recordings
were far in the future, and not even imagined as a possibility by anyone
(maybe excepting a very few visionaries).

For comparison, in January 2006, a five-year renewal
of a driver's license cost $63.60 ($12.72 per year).

The Forties is the district west of New Ross, in Lunenburg County.
In 1950, the road from Chester Basin through New Ross to Kentville
was known as Highway 12 (as it is in 2006), but the road west
from New Ross through Lower Forties and Forties Settlement to
Dalhousie East had not been given a highway number. This road,
through the Forties, was originally a part of the Old Annapolis Road,
from Halifax to Annapolis Royal, opened in the 1780s as an important
part of the British Government's plans to defend Nova Scotia in case
of an attack by the United States.

The significance of this item is the three-digit telephone number,
newly-assigned to one of the top two or three busiest telephones in
Kings County. In the 1950s, Eaton's was the dominant retailer in
Canada, and had been for decades. The Eaton's order office was
one of the busiest telephone numbers in any town which had one.

(In the 1960s, Eaton's went into a long slow decline, which ended
with the chain's bankruptcy in 1999.)

ICS comment, written 5 May 2000, revised 1 August 2002:
I remember the Hennigar Bus Line. One fine day, likely 1949 or 1950,
when I was living in Chester, I rode the Hennigar bus to Kentville.
The company's operating base was in Chester Basin, but the bus started
and ended its trips at the Chester Pharmacy in downtown Chester.
As I recall, the bus line was started up by a returned veteran of World War 2.
The company had only one bus, and the owner was also the driver.

The day I rode the bus, I was the only passenger from Chester to New Ross.
There were two or three additional passengers picked up along the way
between New Ross and Kentville. I remember thinking at the time that the
bus line's long-term prospect looked bleak if that was a representative day
for ticket sales. I doubt the receipts from that trip were enough to pay for
gasoline and wear and tear on the vehicle's tires and springs, let alone to
provide money to pay the driver and cover equipment depreciation.

The road between Chester Basin and New Ross then was gravel, not paved,
and the bus was subjected to the continual bumping, shaking, and vibration
typical of any vehicle travelling at speed on that kind of surface. The bus
travelled at a moderate speed, probably about forty miles per hour
about sixty km/h. The driver was Mr. Hennigar, the owner of the company.
(I think I recall his given name, but am not sure enough to include it here.)
I remember a brief stop at a small restaurant — more like a lunch counter —
in Chester Basin, located on the east side of Highway 3 at the intersection of
Highway 12. As I recall, the restaurant was owned and operated by the same
man who owned and operated the bus line. Last time I looked, in the
mid-1990s, that building was still there, long since converted to a private
dwelling but easily recognizable because the external appearance had
changed little since the 1940s.

In 2000 (and at least since 1980) the changes to and from Daylight
Saving Time (DT) are always scheduled for early Sunday morning,
never in the middle of the week, so that the first day after the time
change is not a working day for most people. In Windsor in 1950,
the change to DT was done at 11:59pm Tuesday, May 23rd, and
back to Standard Time was at 12:01am Monday, September 4th.
These non-weekend changes seem strange to us, until we remember
that in 1950, May 24th was a legal holiday (Queen Victoria's official
birthday) — thus the first day after the time change was a holiday.
And the change back to Standard Time (ST), set for 12:01am Monday,
September 4th, meant that the first day after the time change was a
holiday (Labour Day). Both time changes were followed by a holiday,
same as now.

In 1950, and continuing at least until 1970, the decisions about civil
time (Standard or Daylight Saving) in Nova Scotia were legally
assigned to each individual municipality. That is, each incorporated
town and each rural municipality (there were 66 of them, in all, in
Nova Scotia then, including the two cities) made its own decision
about Daylight Saving Time — meaning each one decided, on its
own, each year, whether or not to make a change to DT, and if the
change was made, on what specific dates the spring change
(one hour forward) and the fall change (one hour back) would be
done. Each council made its own decision, without much attention
being given to staying in step with the others. Each councillor was
much more interested in the opinions of the voters in his/her local
district, especially on a controversial matter such as changing the
citizens' clocks around, than on staying in step with surrounding
towns and rural municipalities. Feelings ran deep in many places,
with intense and disruptive debates between those in favour and
those opposed. (Even now, in the 21st century, these strongly-felt
arguments rise to the surface each year, in letters to the editor and
even, from time to time, in newspaper editorials and sermons.)

Now, in 2000, the decisions about civil time are made by the
province, and all areas in the province stay in step. This change
— to a uniform system throughout Nova Scotia — was forced
mainly by the spread of network television. The regular weekly
publication of television program schedules by newspapers with
wide circulation, such as the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, and by
specialized magazines such as TV Guide, became a source of
much confusion among the population when residents of each
town had to figure out (a) when the published schedules made
the seasonal time changes, and (b) if, and when, the local area
made the time changes.

By the way, it's "Daylight Saving Time", not "Savings."

Note: A "satellite transmitter" has nothing to do with satellites orbiting around the Earth.
In this context, a "satellite transmitter" is simply a rebroadcasting transmitter located
some distance away from the main transmitter and carrying the same signal as the
main transmitter, for the purpose of extending the signal to areas not reached by the
main transmitter. The satellite or rebroadcasting transmitter receives its incoming
signal by terrestrial means, such as microwave or coaxial cable in the 1950s and 1960s
(or optical fibre in the distant future).