Typical DAR scene, circa 1930: a small country station with five large apple warehouses sharing a siding, in this case at Sheffield Mills.

Apple Warehouses

An early apple warehouse at Lawrencetown in full operation, c. 1890

Apple warehouses were the most common trackside structures along the Dominion Atlantic. Over 150 of them were located along the line serving the Apple Trains that were one of the mainstays of DAR operations. Warehouses began to be built in the 1880s and continued as important rail traffic sources until the 1950s. Like grain elevators in Western Canada, they were all built in a similar way but also had numerous variations in size and style depending on where and when they were built. A significant influence was the construction company J. H. Hicks & Sons from Bridgetown which became the largest builder of the province's apple warehouses. Although the DAR is now gone and Nova Scotia's apple industry is a shadow of its past size, a surprising number of apple warehouses have found alternative use for storage, retail, workshop, chicken and vegetable use.

Typical Structure

Plans of a typical 40' x 100' warehouse, drawn by Dan Conlin, 2004

The first apple warehouses were 40' x 80', in the era of 36' long boxcars but soon 40' x 100' feet became the most common size as this length could load three 40' boxcars at once. As apple companies and co-ops grew and merged, they resulted in a few apple warehouses that stretched up to 300' along the track. A small, heated room attached to the end of the main building provided the office for the warehouse manager. Inside, a packing room was usually located along the south wall, identifiable by a row of windows to provide light and, sometimes, a stove chimney to provide heat for the packers. Roadside insulated doors received apples from wagons and trucks coming from the orchard. Trackside doors loaded packed barrels onto boxcars. "Frostproof" insulated walls kept apples from overheating or freezing. Distinctive roof-vents and small, hinged side-vents prevented moisture and mold build-up. Most warehouses were built of wood but a few in the 20th century were built from hollow bricks called "tile".

Operation

Work inside the Sandford apple warehouse in Hantsport, circa 1900.

See main article: Apple Trains The warehouses were usually located close to a station and several warehouses often shared the same spur or siding. Horse and oxen, and later trucks brought loosely filled barrels to be graded, packed and store from three insulated loading doors on the road-side. In the packing room, facing south, a team of workers dumped the barrels from the orchard and sorted the apples by size and quality. Most were packed in shipping barrels. Some companies selected choice apples to be wrapped in boxes for premium sales. Lower quality or damaged fruit were set aside in barrels to ship to vinegar, juice or apple evaporator plants. A large basement, accessed through large hatches, allowed full barrels to be stored for the winter at an even temperature, free from freezing in winter, allowing year round packing and shipping. A second story attic was used to store packing supplies, mainly empty barrels. Finished barrels were loaded onto boxcars from the track-side loading doors where they were stacked on their sides. Loaded boxcars were picked up by DAR Apple Trains to be taken to steamships for export, usually in Halifax.

Kingsport Subdivision Warehouses

The largest number of apple warehouses were along the DAR’s Centreville to Kingsport line (formerly Cornwallis Valley Railway) and Centreville to Weston line (formerly North Mountain Railway). These were mostly constructed with a similar design and dimensions such that they are easily recognizable to this day, even with extensive modifications. Most were of one-and-a-half story timber construction with a cedar shingle exterior, metal roofing, a main floor at loading level which was free of support columns, a second floor under the roof and a frost-free cellar, with thick walls, underneath. The foundation walls were of brick and mortared stone, or poured concrete.

External Links

• Mike's CVR Fruit Warehouses Google Map]