A train track setup in Melfort and District Museum. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

By Aaron Schulze

Archives Week: Trains in Melfort

‘I can remember the magic’: northeast residents reflect on trains in the Melfort area

Feb 5, 2020 | 6:13 PM

Melfort and District Museum celebrated Saskatchewan’s Archives Week in the most wholesome way it could: Brew some coffee and share stories.

The latest Coffee and Conversations hosted by the museum focused on the history of trains in Melfort and area.

A powerpoint presentation on Melfort’s timeline with trains got the ball rolling before the 50 plus residents carried the conversation.

“One of the good things, aside from enjoying the afternoon with people and getting some archival materials for our history, is it always generates more enthusiasm,” Museum Curator Gailmarie Anderson said. “We’re looking for people interested helping with [the caboose we got from the WDM] and it sounded like some of the guys who were here today are maybe interested. There’s always follow up; you always get something from it.”

While Anderson photocopied pictures and stories from residents regarding their personal experiences with trains or their families, the rest of the attendees told their tales.

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Stories ranged from Melfort Exhibition attendees bringing their livestock via train, a man taking a train to Melfort to soothe a toothache after no highways were open, another man helping dig a caboose out of the snow, and another man getting a ride with his friend to catch a departed Dayliner he needed to board for work.

Some stories were fun and bizarre, although there were some nostalgic memories that painted a picture of what it was like growing up in Northeast Saskatchewan in the 1950s.

“When I was a little boy, we would catch the train in the morning and ride into Saskatoon with my sister and mother,” Bob Kirkland, a lifelong Star City resident told northeastNOW. “I can remember the magic of it. We always went early in the morning and it would be dark. We’d be standing on the little platform in Star City and the train would come around the curve. You could see the light coming and the conductor would get you on and it was always a thrill for me and my sister.

“There was a crock in there for drinking water and there were little white paper cups that you could pull out of a sleeve. A little boy would have two swallows where anybody else would get to have one. It was just a mouthful of water, but I can remember that it was a fun and magical time for two hillbilly kids back in the early ‘50s to ride into Saskatoon, which was my mother’s home country. It was great to see all the family down there, but we always enjoyed the train trip.”

Bob Kirkland (right) shares one of his stories taking a train in the northeast. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

Kirkland said being involved with Star City’s museum keeps him interested in history, and he thinks the Coffee and Conversations the Melfort Museum hosts does a good job of preserving it. He said trains are an important part of the country and hopes the northeast can keep its railways to export grain for a long time.

Anderson said the museum will host more Coffee and Conversations in the future. In the meantime, she said the museum welcomes any donated artifacts – maps, pictures, and stories – regarding trains in the Melfort area.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow