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Somerset
Somerset, Nova Scotia
Mile 12.1 Subdivison Weston
Spur for Welsford Fruit Company warehouse, Spicer Road, Mile 11.19
Station, travelling agent, Mile 12.1 The Somerset station was the only North Mountain Line Station which did not also serve as a dwelling for the section foreman. After the line closed the Somerset and Weston stations were purchased by Charles Adams of Berwick. He demolished the Weston station but moved the Somerset Station to Berwick where it was converted to a house which still stands on South Street.[1] The 18' x 60' station foundations still remain, partially used as a garage foundations.
Siding, north side of mainline, 1026 feet long for 19 cars and engine
Spur, west facing switch by station, 566 feet long /11 cars, for two fruit warehouses.
The two fruit warehouses were built in 1916.[2]
- Somerset Fruit Company apple warehouse
- Herbert Oyler apple warehouse
A third apple warehouse was located a mile to the east: the Welsford Fruit Company warehouse.
Somerset was the location of two major derailments. In January 1923, Locomotive No. 39 derailed with snow plow with D.A. 4 and one of the loco crew was badly scalded. Locomotive No. 556 and one of the Kentville 0-6-0 switchers responded with work crews who took a week to clear the line. On Feb. 14, 1951 a freight derailed near Somerset school when old ties gave way. Students who came to see the wreck were promptly hired by the DAR to unload three boxcars with feed destined for the Sawlor's store in Somerset.[3]
Gallery
Track plan for Somerset, 1915
Snow plow wreck of Locomotive No. 39, Somerset, January 19, 1923.
Exterior, Welsford Fruit Company warehouse, Somerset, Aug. 17, 1996
Roadbed heading west from Spicer Road to Somerset, 2007
References and Footnotes
- ↑ The Weston Branch and Margaretville in Nova Scotia by Elizabeth M. Clarke, page 13
- ↑ "Some Facts Relating To The Early History of Somerset", Berwick Register, Wednesday Evening, March 20, 1940, p. 2
- ↑ The Weston Branch and Margaretville in Nova Scotia by Elizabeth M. Clarke, page 16B
- Dominion Atlantic Railway Employee Time Table 1931, p. 7
- Dominion Atlantic Railway Employee Time Table September 25, 1949, Library and Archives Canada, PMP - HE.2804 DC
- 1915 North Mountain Line Track Profile, Library and Archives Canada, RG 12M 77803/17 Item 782
