Guilford (railway point), British Columbia

Guilford station was 6.3 kilometres (3.9 mi) southeast of Penny on the northeast side of the Fraser River in central British Columbia. No roads, only railway access, the previous small community to its northwest has now completely vanished.

Guilford, British Columbia
Railway point
Location of Guilford in British Columbia
Coordinates: 53°49′00″N 121°12′00″W
CountryCanada
ProvinceBritish Columbia
Land districtCariboo
Regional DistrictFraser-Fort George
Geographic regionRobson Valley
Elevation
650 m (2,131 ft)
Area code(s)250, 778, 236, & 672

History

Railway

Guilford, like Lindup to its northwest, and Bend to its southeast, was an original train station (1914) on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway[1][2] (the Canadian National Railway after nationalization) (CNR). Guilford station existed at Mile 65.6, Fraser Subdivision[3] (about Mile 155 during the line's construction). The chosen name, a surname of pre 7th century origins, derives either from the city of Guildford, or from residence at a ford where golden flowers grew.[4] It was selected from the list prepared by Josiah Wedgwood (submitted at the request of William P. Hinton, the railway's general manager). Commonly claimed as an English place name,[5] no such location with the different spelling appears to have existed in the United Kingdom. However an earldom was created,[6][7] and the station name, like some US Guilford localities, may have come from a member of that nobility branch.

To benefit from both river and railway access, the mill and settlement were about 3.2 kilometres (2 mi) northwest of the station,[8] but the latter's isolation gravitated passengers to the Penny station.[9] In September 1913, the Sykes family, later at Penny, travelled by construction train to the planned Guilford station on track laid early that month.[10] The family settled due south, across the river, and Ada Sykes' diary provides one of the earliest surviving references to Guilford's existence.[11] In 1914, a landslide around Mile 66.5 (previously Mile 156), delayed passenger services by a day.[12] Apart from a recluse, only the section (track maintenance) crew lived at the station locality.[8]

In 1960, a speeder collided with a work train in the vicinity, killing Shirley Howard Scott (1905–60),[13] one of the two CNR riders.[14][15] Two years later, a bull moose, which charged an eastbound 59-car freight train near Guilford, derailed the caboose. The incident delayed the westbound passenger train by four hours.[16]

Built in 1914, the standard-design Plan 100‐152 (Bohi's Type E)[17][18] station building was replaced with a converted freight shed in 1950. Although Bohi notes the demolition of the former in 1950 and the latter in 1968,[19] it appears more likely that the CNR burned down the former in the early 1960s.[8][20]

BC Spruce/Fortin (Mile 61.4)
Servicec.1963–c.1971
[21][22][23][24][25][26]
PassengerFlag stop
Way freightFlag stop
Guilford stop (Mile 65.6)
Service1914–c.1916c.1917–c.1921c.1921–19311932–c.1939c.1940–c.1948c.1949–19681968–c.1975
[1][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]
[21][22][40][23][24]		[25][26][41][42]
PassengerRegular stopFlag stopFlag stopFlag stopFlag stop
Way freightFlag stop probablyFlag stop probablyRegular stopFlag stopRegular stopFlag stopFlag stop
Siding Mile No. 1922 1933 1943 1960 1965–72 1977 1985–92
(Capacity Length) Cars [29] Cars [31] Cars [32] Cars [37] Cars [40][25][41] Feet [3] Feet [43][44][45]
Guilford 65.6 67 65 34 52 53 2,490 6,230
Other Tracks Mile No. 1933 1943 1960 1965
(Capacity Length) Cars [31] Cars [32] Cars [37] Cars [40]
BC Spruce Sales 61.4 5 7
Vick Bros 67.5 4
Guilford Lumber 67.5 3

Pioneer Farming & Forestry

Ole (1882–1956)[46] & Halvor (1891–1973)[47] Mellos, brothers, arrived by scow[48] in 1913, while the railway was still under construction.[49][50] Emma (c.1897–1942) and Ole married in 1914.[51] The pioneer farmers,[52][53][54] who were joined by their sister, Ingeborg L. Mellos (1884–1952),[55] all relocated to neighbouring Penny in 1927.[56]

In 1920, fire totally destroyed the shingle and lath mill,[57] which had operated at least since 1918.[11] Gordon Bain (likely c.1884–?)[58][59] had recently purchased the mill from A. H. Booth (likely c.1884–1947).[60] Trading as the Red Cedar Mill, its infrequent[61] advertisements for cedar products became weekly[62] during the fire sale. The district forester subsequently seized the fire-damaged equipment to settle unpaid timber royalties.[63]

The narrow strip of accessible spruce forest bordering the railway that stretched some 160 kilometres (100 mi) east of Prince George was known as the East Line.[64] A 1927 forest fire spreading between Longworth and Guilford inflicted limited timber losses.[65] Months later, in the vicinity of Guilford, a falling tree fractured the skull of logger John Johnson (c.1889–1927),[66] who succumbed to his injuries while aboard a freight train en route to hospital.[67] A year later, Asbjorn Fremstad (Framstad alternate spelling) (c.1908–1928)[68] suffered similar fatal injuries when decking logs at the Melrose Camp near Guilford.[69][70] The Vick Brothers Lumber Co., known to have operated a 20,000-foot per shift capacity mill 1926–29,[71][72] was a victim of the Great Depression. During 1927–29, Archie McLarty had a 20-man crew producing 100 cedar poles per day in the vicinity.[73] Fire destroyed 7,000 of these poles, worth $30,000, stacked near the station.[74]

Guilford Lumber Co.

The acquired assets of Vick Brothers were relaunched as Guilford Lumber Co. in 1939. Herb O. Vick (c.1883–?)[75] owned, and Douglas (Doug) L. Abernethy (1909–83)[76] managed, the sawmill.[77][78] The following year, they were charged with the theft of logs, owned by Red Mountain Lumber of Penny, that had been passing their log boom on the Fraser River. Remanded to a higher court, the defendants were found not guilty.[79] In 1941, Abernethy and Frank Belanger, his logging camp foreman, bought new logging equipment in Vancouver.[80] Months later, Belanger changed employers and moved his family to Bend,[81] the same month as the Abernethy family moved into their new six-roomed house.[82] The following spring, Abernethy was fined for a violation of the Wage Act,[83] and mill worker John Babich lost two fingers when his mitt caught in the rollers.[84] That year, two carloads of surplus machinery were shipped from Hutton.[85]

In 1943, Charles Howarth (1885–1994)[86] of Calgary, who managed the Hutton mill during the 1920s, purchased the Guilford one,[78][87] with Doug Abernethy remaining as manager.[88] The next year, logger Gustave Peterson (c.1886–1944)[89] died in a work-related accident around Mile 61.[90] The Guilford logging camp at Mile 61.4 comprised several windowless bunkhouses, a cookhouse, and horse barn. Another camp existed at Mile 62.5,[91] where the then unmarried Frank Wagner worked 1943-44,[92] and during a subsequent winter.[93]

Clarence Riggs (1933–45) of Penny,[94] employed as a flunky in the mill cookhouse, slipped while walking on the log boom. The Fraser River was unsuccessfully dragged, but the body was found by Joseph Kobra of Penny 12 days later in the millpond at Penny.[95] The deceased was transported by rail to Prince George for the funeral. In recognition of Clarence belonging to the recently formed Penny Scout troop, the pallbearers were Prince George Boy Scouts in full uniform, as were other attendees.[96]

Guilford Sawmills was subsequently fined for violating the control of employment of children provisions.[97] Months later, in an unrelated incident, the company was fined for contravening the National Selective Service regulations.[98]

In 1947, the mill resumed operations[99] after a new boiler plant was installed.[100] The replacement mill engineer was joined by his family,[101] and a new bookkeeper commenced in the office.[102] The Howarths, the owners, were residents from 1948[103] until the mill closed permanently the following year. Initially, the horses were sold,[104] then the equipment from the 25,000-foot capacity mill was advertised.[105] The boilers and planers remained unsold, but H. Liere acquired the sawmill, which he shipped to Babine Lake.[106]

Charles Howarth died at 108 in Calgary. His wife Jessie lived to 101, making them the only husband-and-wife centenarians on the centenarians' list for West Kootenay-Boundary.[107] He contacted typhoid in 1918, quit smoking in the late 1940s, and retained a sharp mind into his later years.[108]

Community

A store and mail collection point opened prior to 1920,[109] however the latter was short lived and recipients thereafter collected their mail from Penny.[110] In 1945, the Guilford population comprised 47 family units,[111] likely its peak. Owing to the limited social opportunities, residents attended the dances at Penny,[112] and the wives, such as Irene Abernethy (1907–86),[113] Mary Parranto, and Marie Wagner, participated in the women's functions at that location.[114] Occasionally, the Penny women would visit Guilford.[115]

Commuters often rode bicycles adapted for railway line travel,[116] which were prone to jump the track on bends.[91] Authorized employees regularly used the sawmill's motorized speeder for shopping, collecting the mail or social visits to Penny. Usually braking in time, on three known occasions, it collided with oncoming trains. Frances Wilson, Penny school teacher 1943–45,[117] ruptured her appendix on leaping from the speeder during one close encounter.[118]

Philip (1904–90)[119] & Mary (1908–65)[120][121] Parranto were residents. Their children were Gordon (1927–74),[122] Theodore (Ted) (1928–92),[123][124] Anna Mae (1933–83),[125][126] Fern Marie, and Jim (fostered). Steam engineer Philip relocated for work to Prince George in 1945,[127] but the family remained. The younger ones attended school in Penny.[128] Gordon and Ted worked for the mill,[129] but Ted came and went with work.[130][131] Borrowed without permission, and hurriedly abandoned on the main line near Penny, the speeder was ejected from the rails on colliding with a train. Gordon, the offender, was sentenced to three months imprisonment or a $100 fine.[132] The daughters relocated on marriage,[133][134] but Fern's first one was short lived.[135] The family had left the area before the mid-1950s.

Millwright Frank Wagner (1906–90),[136] wife Marie (1912–2000),[137] and her daughter Kaye, became the sole residents and caretakers.[138][139] Except when a cougar was on the prowl, Kaye walked alone to school in Penny.[140] After graduating high school in Prince George, she left in 1953.[141] When the Wagners relocated in 1956, they created a ghost town.[142]

Fortin Sawmill

In 1959, Frank Fortin (1927–2019) from Ferndale[143] bought the Mile 61.4[144] camp from the government. He burned the dilapidated buildings, and constructed a sawmill, garage, cookhouse, bunkhouse, and finally the family houses. Beginning production in December 1959, the output soon increased to 30,000-35,000 feet daily. After burning down in a March 1960 fire, the mill was rebuilt.[145]

The mill's generating plant supplied electricity for the whole community until 10:00 p.m. each evening.[146] Having electricity and running cold water in the two-bedroomed family houses was an uncommon luxury compared with many East Line communities.[147] The camp comprised four families with children and about a dozen men.[148] An ice skating rink in winter, and a large above ground pool, bikes and swings in summer, provided entertainment for the children,[149] while correspondence courses satisfied their schooling requirements.[150]

With passenger trains arriving in the middle of the night, a lantern placed upon the track alerted the locomotive engineer to passengers huddled in the simple shelter at the flag stop.[151] After the weekend, several employees returned to work from Prince George, or intermediate stops, aboard the early morning way freight, [152] and groceries ordered from the city arrived by the same means. [153] Families kept their ice cream in the cookhouse freezer.[11]

The Fortin Sawmill received a merit award for safety in 1965.[154] Purchased in 1968 by Alan MacDonald, the mill ran for only two months, before its resale to Wilf Leboe (1919–2010).[155] Never reopening, the property was sold as a hunting lodge, and the mill equipment shipped to Crescent Spur.[156]

Footnotes
  1. 1914 Timetable scanned
  2. "c.1919 GTP map (© 1911 prior version)". www.utoronto.ca.
  3. "1977 Timetable" (PDF). www.cwrailway.ca.
  4. "Last name: Guilford". www.surnamedb.com.
  5. Prince George Citizen, 27 May 1957
  6. "Guilford, Earl of (GB, 1752)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk.
  7. "Guilford, Barons and Earls of" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). 1911.
  8. Boudreau 2003, p. 5.
  9. Boudreau 2003, p. 21.
  10. Fort George Tribune, 13 Sep 1913
  11. Boudreau 2003, p. 9.
  12. Fort George Herald, 14 Mar 1914
  13. "Death Certificate (Shirley Howard SCOTT)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  14. Prince George Citizen, 30 Aug 1960
  15. "Accident, 26 Aug 1960". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  16. Prince George Citizen, 17 Jan 1962
  17. "Type "E" Mythology". www.oil-electric.com.
  18. "Vanishing BC GTP Railway stations". www.michaelkluckner.com.
  19. Bohi, Charles W.; Kozma, Leslie S. (2002). Canadian National's Western Stations. Fitzhenry & Whiteside. pp. 121, 136 & 140. ISBN 1550416324.
  20. "Guilford station: establish, close & remove". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  21. "1963 Timetable" (PDF). www.streamlinermemories.info. p. 42.
  22. 1964 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  23. "1966 Timetable". www.traingeek.ca. p. 38.
  24. 1967 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  25. 1968 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  26. "1971 Timetable" (PDF). www.streamlinermemories.info. p. 19.
  27. "1918 BC Directory". www.bccd.vpl.ca.
  28. 1920 Timetable: Bulkley Valley Museum collection
  29. 1922 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  30. Prince George Citizen: 12 & 19 Nov 1931
  31. 1933 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  32. 1943 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  33. "1946 Timetable". www.scribd.com. p. 59.
  34. "1950 Timetable". www.scribd.com. p. 59.
  35. "1956 Timetable" (PDF). www.streamlinermemories.info. p. 53.
  36. "1957 Timetable". www.traingeek.ca. p. 53.
  37. 1960 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  38. "1961 Timetable (main)" (PDF). www.streamlinermemories.info. p. 39.
  39. "1961 Timetable (way freight)" (PDF). www.streamlinermemories.info. p. 48.
  40. 1965 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  41. 1972 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  42. 1973 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  43. Prince George Citizen: 28 Feb 1985 to 2 Mar 1985
  44. 1990 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  45. 1992 Timetable: Northern BC Archives
  46. "Death Certificate (Ole MELLOS)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  47. "Death Certificate (Halvor MELLOS)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  48. "Image: Athabasca scow boats". www.fhnas.ca.
  49. Prince George Citizen: 18 Aug 1955 & 9 Feb 1956
  50. PRC 1995, pp. 1–2.
  51. Prince George Citizen, 12 Nov 1942
  52. "1921 Census". www.bac-lac.gc.ca.
  53. Prince George Citizen, 29 Mar 1923
  54. "1920 BC Directory". www.bccd.vpl.ca.
  55. "Death Certificate (Ingeborg K. MELLOS)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  56. PRC 1995, p. 132.
  57. Prince George Citizen, 16 Jul 1920
  58. "Marriage Certificate (BAIN/HAYWARD)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  59. "1919 BC Directory". www.bccd.vpl.ca.
  60. "Death Certificate (Arthur Hodgson BOOTH)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  61. Prince George Citizen: 30 Jun 1920 & 27 Aug 1920
  62. Prince George Citizen: 30 Sep 1920 to 23 Nov 1920
  63. Prince George Citizen, 30 Dec 1921
  64. Hak, Gordon Hugh (1986). "On the Fringes: Capital and Labour in the Forest Economies of the Port Alberni and Prince George Districts, BC, 1910–1939". www.summit.sfu.ca. p. 14.
  65. Prince George Citizen, 25 Aug 1927
  66. "Death Certificate (John JOHNSON)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  67. Prince George Citizen, 24 Nov 1927
  68. "Death Certificate (Asbjorn M FREMSTAD)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  69. Prince George Citizen, 8 Nov 1928
  70. Boudreau 2003, p. 28.
  71. "1926 BC Directory". www.bccd.vpl.ca.
  72. Prince George Citizen: 23 Aug 1928, 18 Apr 1929, 11 Jul 1929 & 17 Oct 1929
  73. Prince George Citizen: 24 Nov 1927 & 1 Mar 1928
  74. Prince George Citizen, 10 Oct 1929
  75. "1921 Census". www.bac-lac.gc.ca.
  76. "Death Certificate (Douglas Lachlan ABERNETHY)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  77. Prince George Citizen, 21 Dec 1939
  78. PRC 1995, p. 22.
  79. Prince George Citizen: 27 Jun 1940 & 3 Oct 1940
  80. Prince George Citizen, 31 Jul 1941
  81. Prince George Citizen: 13 & 20 Nov 1941
  82. Prince George Citizen, 27 Nov 1941
  83. Prince George Citizen, 16 Apr 1942
  84. Prince George Citizen, 2 Apr 1942
  85. Boudreau 2003, p. 26.
  86. "Grave & kin (Charles HOWARTH)". www.myheritage.com.
  87. Prince George Citizen: 24 Jun 1943, 18 May 1944 & 1 Jan 1948
  88. Boudreau 2003, p. 17.
  89. "Death Certificate (Gus PETERSON)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  90. Prince George Citizen, 12 Oct 1944
  91. Boudreau 2003, p. 12.
  92. Boudreau 2003, pp. 19–21.
  93. Boudreau 2003, p. 23.
  94. "Cemetery Project (Clarence George RIGGS)". www.geneofun.on.ca.
  95. Prince George Citizen: 12 & 19 Jul 1945
  96. Prince George Citizen, 26 Jul 1945
  97. Prince George Citizen, 23 Aug 1945
  98. Prince George Citizen, 3 Jan 1946
  99. Prince George Citizen, 31 Jul 1947
  100. Prince George Citizen, 17 Jul 1947
  101. Prince George Citizen, 15 May 1947
  102. Prince George Citizen, 22 May 1947
  103. Boudreau 2003, p. 22.
  104. Prince George Citizen: 10 & 17 Nov 1949; & 6, 10 & 13 Sep 1951
  105. Prince George Citizen: 29 Sep 1952 to 9 Oct 1952
  106. Prince George Citizen, 8 Dec 1955
  107. "Centenarians of West Kootenay/Boundary". www.nelsonstar.com.
  108. "Ottawa Citizen, 6 Jan 1986". www.news.google.com.
  109. PRC 1995, p. 167.
  110. Boudreau 2003, p. 6.
  111. Prince George Citizen, 17 Oct 1946
  112. Prince George Citizen, 26 Aug 1948
  113. "Death Certificate (Irene Evelyn ABERNETHY)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  114. Prince George Citizen: 13 Nov 1941, 3 Jun 1943, 29 Jun 1944 & 12 Aug 1948
  115. Prince George Citizen, 8 Oct 1951
  116. "Bicycle railroad attachment". www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com.
  117. Prince George Citizen: 19 Aug 1943 & 5 Jul 1945
  118. Boudreau 2003, pp. 15–16.
  119. "Death Certificate (Philip Rudolph PARRANTO)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  120. "Death Certificate (Mary PARRANTO)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  121. Prince George Citizen, 24 Dec 1965
  122. "Death Certificate (Gordon Vernie Joseph PARRANTO)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  123. "Death Certificate (Theodore Williams PARRANTO)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  124. Prince George Citizen, 8 Jul 1992
  125. "Death Certificate (Anna Mae TURNER)". www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
  126. Prince George Citizen, 17 Feb 1983
  127. Prince George Citizen, 28 Dec 1990
  128. Boudreau 2003, pp. 14 & 22.
  129. Boudreau 2003, p. 27.
  130. Prince George Citizen: 17 Jul 1947 & 8 Jul 1992
  131. Boudreau 2003, p. 66.
  132. Prince George Citizen, 30 Sep 1948
  133. Prince George Citizen: 19 Apr 1951, 24 Apr 1952, & 14 & 17 Sep 1953
  134. PRC 1995, p. 191.
  135. "Hamilton Daily News, 20 Feb 1956". www.newspaperarchive.com.
  136. "Cemetery Project (Frank J. WAGNER)". www.geneofun.on.ca.
  137. "Cemetery Project (Marie WAGNER)". www.geneofun.on.ca.
  138. Prince George Citizen: 5 May 1955, 27 Oct 1955 & 22 Nov 1956
  139. PRC 1995, p. 23.
  140. May, Jean (2000). "Upper Fraser Historical Geography Project Transcript" (PDF). www.nbca.unbc.ca. pp. 12–13 & epilogue.
  141. Boudreau 2003, p. 25.
  142. Prince George Citizen, 29 Nov 1956
  143. "Obituary (Frank FORTIN)". www.columbiavalleypioneer.com.
  144. Prince George Citizen, 29 Aug 1960
  145. Boudreau 2003, pp. 85, 91 &97.
  146. Boudreau 2003, pp. 86 & 88.
  147. Boudreau 2003, pp. 86–87.
  148. Boudreau 2003, pp. 84 & 87.
  149. Boudreau 2003, pp. 86 & 90.
  150. Boudreau 2003, pp. 87 & 89.
  151. Boudreau 2003, p. 87.
  152. Boudreau 2003, pp. 88, 92 & 95.
  153. Boudreau 2003, p. 88.
  154. Prince George Citizen, 20 May 1965
  155. Prince George Citizen, 2 Nov 2010
  156. Boudreau 2003, p. 101.

References
  • "Prince George archival newspapers". www.pgpl.ca.
  • Boudreau, Clarence & Olga (2003). Into the Mists of Time. Self-published. ISBN 0973076917.
  • PRC (1995). A Penny for Your Thoughts... The Penny Reunion Committee.
  • Olson, Raymond (2014). Ghost Towns on the East Line. Self-published. ISBN 9780986924316.
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