Elmira Railway Museum - End of the Line

Prince Edward Island came into Canada via the railroad. Determined to forge an independent path, the Island chose not to join the new country when it was created in 1867. However by 1871, Islanders decided their road to continued prosperity had to include a railway, and so they began to build one. Unfortunately, the railroad took longer and cost much more than planned. In 1873, running out of money, with the railroad only three-quarters complete, Islanders faced two choices — collapse or Confederation. They chose Confederation. Canada agreed to complete and run the railway, while Prince Edward Island agreed to become Canada’s seventh province.

Elmira wasn’t part of the route laid down in 1871. It was added as part of an expansion in the early 20th century. When the station opened in 1912 Elmira became “the end of the line” — the eastern terminus of a railway that ran from tip to tip of the Island.

Now that the railway is gone, it’s easy to forget the impact the railroad had on Prince Edward Island. The route meandered through the countryside and the slowness of the trains was legendary. “He was only a child when he got on” was the punch line of a joke where a PEI Railway conductor asked a woman why she was trying to give him a child’s ticket for her full-grown son. The trains got through in all but the worst weather, and life in many communities revolved around the railway station and the bustle that surrounded arrival and departure times. The railroad was the largest, single employer of PEI — a steady source of well paying jobs. Communities prospered or faded, depending on how close they were to the main line. Reciting the stations along the line — in order — became a favourite memory exercise for Island schoolteachers.

Since the last engine rumbled off to the mainland one cold February night in 1989, the railroad has just been a memory of the Island. Elmira Railway Museum explores these memories and highlights some of the aspects of the railroad and railroading on Prince Edward Island.