Note from Phil on the Springfield

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Phillip Spencer is researching the history of the Davidson Lumber Co. because of his family ties to the company through his grandfather who worked there. I have contacted him and have had a few conversations via email. His latest email follows, make some interesting observations about the running rights of the H&SW to Middleton and asks some interesting questions:

OK Steve , Lets run with your plan. This is another way for me to collect info and pictures about the Davison Co.
I have a deep personal interest, considerable info left behind by my grandfather, a great deal more I have collected in the last 2 years and I intend to eventually publish something. There are photos of DLC at Cambridge U in England, but that's another long story.
I have a few shots of the Springfield Railway station and a history for it too.
While Davison Lumber had running rights on the line from Bridgewater to Middleton, they would typically have taken a main passenger train for travel purposes. But, it is mentioned that staff could hitch a ride on lumber trains and there may have been an occasion where a lumber train took someone to Middleton for a connection. But I think this would have been rare since the H&SW had daily trains stopping at Springfield.
The most northern typical stop for the lumber train was Alpena - Nictaux, there was a water-powered mill in Alpena, left over from the E.D Davison &Sons Lumber Co days.
Don mentions that DLC bought rights in 1914 to Middleton on the NS Central, but the NSC was purchased in 1902 by H&SW. Also there was a tragic accident in 1908 at Waterloo Lake (far north of Springfield) involving a DLC conductor and this leads me to believe they had secured rights earlier than 1914.
I too would like to connect with Colin Churcher, (just didn't get around to it) since his page is the only source I have seen for the build # of the Dinky. I am curious about where that came from.
I have yet to find a railway map of Nova Scotia that shows the Springfield line, at 60 to 80 miles long (including spurs), it was a considerable "short line".
Other people of interest I would like to locate the photos of DAR and
Springfield:
-Earle R Lutz, (Middleton?)collector of train stuff died less than a year ago, his family did not know of it. His name is attached to photos that appeared in the newspaper.
-Norman K Morrison, Railway telegrapher, Middleton ...died in the 60s or 70s and had photos. They were also in the newspaper in 1960. No leads on him yet.

[Dan Conlin]

Phill may have seen this already but the book ''Sawpower'' by Barbara Robertson (Nova Scotia Museum & Nimbus Publishing, 1986) has an outline map of the Springfield Railway, taken from the 1924 Map of the Province of Nova Scotia by the Nova Scotia Highways Board. It shows the Springfield "mainline" and some but not all of its timber spurs. Comparing it to the current map book of Nova Scotia, I can see that a network of woods road aroudn Lake Aylesford follow the old roadbed.

Dan Conlin