Ontario Federation of Agriculture Criticism of High Speed Rail Flawed

Ontario Federation of Agriculture Criticism of High Speed Rail Flawed

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture is objecting to the proposed High Speed Rail line for Ontario.


 President Keith Currie stated to CBC that. “You're looking at a line that cannot be crossed at a level of crossing ... That essentially is going to be dividing the province in half."

 It is disheartening to read his comments because it clearly shows the anti-high speed rail opinion is based on rhetoric and not fact.

 The reality is the study is not even been done stating exactly where the route will go or how it will be built. True high speed rail is grade separated from roads.

If people would wait for the study to be completed they could see that many of the problems brought forward by the OFA can be remediated in the design stage.

 Mr. Currie’s comments about the high speed rail being urban-centric are narrow minded.

 When rural Ontario gets new recreation centres/arenas it is not the rural centres tax base that pays for that. Yet nobody in larger cities complain when small town Ontario gets these facilities and only they benefit from them. It is rural-centric but that is not the way we think as society. We do what is best for society as a whole.

 There will still be slow trains still running on the existing line when high speed rail is built.

Therefore smaller communities on the existing rail line would still get service.

If Mr. Currie and the OFA were truly concerned about passenger rail in Ontario why have they not been lobbying VIA Rail to improve the absolutely abysmal service they have provided to St. Mary’s and communities along the line for decades.

 When I fought for VIA Rail service improvements for 20 years along the existing North Main Line between London and Kitchener I never once saw the OFA at a meeting.

 It is unfortunate that the OFA comes out against high speed rail without seeing the completed study and using outdated rural vs urban arguments.

The Bridges of Black Bridge Road

The Bridges of Black Bridge Road

The Bridges of Black Bridge Road 

(originally written in September 30th, 2004) - Blackbridge Road is thee oldest road in Hespeler, formerly called the Block Line. It will be wiped out and replaced with a large road to service the subdivision.

The Road until recently had two historic bridges on it . One,  the Black Bridge Railway Overpass Bridge, has been demolished in the last few weeks. The other bridge is the Black Bridge Road Bridge, a designated heritage structure, and the only steel bridge in Cambrige may also one day be removed. The reason is that this one way bridge cannot handle proposed future traffic volumes.

The City of Cambridge made the decision to remove this bridge and replace it with a level crossing. This has proven to be a financial fiasco for the taxpayers of the City of Cambridge.

1. The Developer of the Subdivision, Mattamy Homes should have payed for the bridge removal and level crossing installation.

2.A replacement bridge would have been far cheaper but would not fit the needs of the proposed subdivision.

3. The removal of the bridge has went way over budget as the company removing the bridge hit bedrock. Estimates to replace the bridge were $250,000. The final cost to put in the level crossing is already over $500,000.

4. Removal of the bridge has caused groundwater to surface causing  continous flooding in the area and contamination of the ground water.

GONE - Black Bridge Railway Overpass Bridge

The Night CP Rail Destroyed the Galt Preston & Hespeler Railway Station in Hespeler

The Night  CP Rail Destroyed the Galt Preston & Hespeler Railway Station in Hespeler

Nearing the End - The Hespeler Station located directly behind Ernies Hotel

The Galt, Preston & Hespeler Railway built a station in Hespeler in 1896. The interurban electric line carried passengers and freight til the service was ended in 1956.

To read an excellent history on the line you should purchase or go to your library and get Traction on the Grand by John Mills.

Here is a good photo below of the station in 1946.

GP&H Railway Station - 1946 Hespeler

The Historic Sites and Moments Board did a heritage assessment of the station in late 1989. Here is the LINK so everyone can read it. Unfortunately at that time and when I moved to the community in 1994, nobody in Hespeler or at the City of Cambridge had shown any interest in their railway history. In fact locals had set fire to the station.

In 1988, the CP Railway who owned the station applied to remove it. A CP rail crew came from out of town and leveled the building. If anyone walks behind Ernies parkinglot you will see where the station was. The roadbed of the of the former line stopped just over the tracks at the former American Standard plant. You can walk west towards Lens Mills on what was that railline.

Unexplained - The Alien on the Mill Pond Hespeler 2007

Unexplained - The Alien on the Mill Pond Hespeler 2007

What people saw on the side of the Mill Pond in Hespeler 2007 has never been explained. Two videos exist in this alien sighting.. The video above has never been shown to the public before and it is the clearest. The people who witnessed the event have moved out of the community. Watch the video and make your own decision.

Video of Float Plane, Fights in the Water and Other Action on Hespeler Mill Pond

Action on the Mill Pond Hespeler

Video of Float Plane, Fights in the Water and Other Action on Hespeler Mill Pond 

Before the hit series Bitten was filmed in Hespeler, there was an episode of the series Covert Affairs filmed here. The scene in Hespeler is great!!

Looking out our backyard we saw some long distance camera work being done shooting across the pond to the brand new dock that was built in two days for the scene. 

Ironically at the time on the other side of the pond we had a deliverance style dock to launch our canoes from. Interestingly I did a blog post on the dichotomy of the two docks and the next year there was a new floating dock put in for anyone to launch their canoes.

Back to the TV series shoot - The Covert Affairs scene had a float plane landing on the temporary dock, a fight in the Mill Pond and lots of action! Bonus part is you can see in one small segment the American Standard Plant before 75% of it was demolished.

Enjoy the video below.

Vera Causa Opera Returns to Cambridge and Waterloo Ontario with The Italian Girl in Algiers

Vera Causa Opera Returns to Cambridge and Waterloo Ontario with The Italian Girl in Algiers

Dylan Langan brings back his Vera Causa Opera Company to Cambridge, and Waterloo Ontario Canada.

On April 6th 2018 it will be The Italian Girl in Algiers will be presented at the Cambridge Centre for the Arts, 60 Dickson St, Cambridge, ON. On April 7th, 2018 it will be performed at Knox Presbyterian Church, 50 Erb St W, Waterloo, ON.

The Italian Girl in Algiers is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli. The music is characteristic of Rossini's style, remarkable for its fusion of sustained, manic energy with elegant, pristine melodies!

The plot is introduced with an ominous opening in a lively overture. The Italian girl, Isabella, is searching for her lost lover, Lindoro, who has been enslaved by the Bey of Algiers. The ship she's on is shipwrecked in Algiers, and the Bey falls in love with her but is eventually outwitted as Lindoro and Isabella sail away together. Come see our show to find out more! The dialogue will be in english.

Tickets are only $15.00 in advance and are available at http://vcopera.ca