Welcome to Wayback Wednesday sponsored by Cavalcade Color Lab! Every week, we’ll be sharing a vintage photo and asking our readers to chime in with anything you can recall about the photo, other related memories, or even a funny caption. Have some vintage photos of your own? Send them to [email protected] and we may share them with our readers!
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In this week’s photo, the Portage Flyer back when it was still in service between Peninsula Lake and Lake of Bays. Can you guess the date? Do you have any memories of the Portage Flyer to share? (Photo courtesy of Muskoka Digital Archives.)
Don’t forget, the Portage Flyer makes its annual trek to see Santa this Saturday, December 17! Details here.
Wayback Wednesday is sponsored by Cavalcade Color Lab
Last week we shared this photo with you:
Brian Tapley said: “It looks like the saw mill at what is now the lock between Mary Lake and Fairy Lake. Not sure the date or name to go on it and it does not look like the lock has been built yet, just a dam.”
Traci McIlroy ventured: “Think it is Weldwood sawmill on Hunters Bay.”
Liz Hennessy Duffy thought “the Tannery?”
Beth Hernen guessed “The locks mill, 1871. Located at the current Brunel Road locks.”
The photo is indeed of the Muskoka River, above the locks. This image c.1895 is one of the earliest known images of the dam and sawmill on the Fairy Lake side of the locks. For more images and information about the history of the area, make a trip to the information board at the Brunel Locks.
I think it stopped running about 1959 so I’m going to guess early to mid 50’s say 1954.
If I remember correctly it used to run front first from South Portage to a sort of Y at North portage where it reversed and backed out onto the dock. It then ran in reverse over the portage for the return trip so it was backed out onto the dock again. This way the heavy locomotives were never on the dock, just the cars
The only way to get to my great grandparents and my great aunts and great uncles and cousins at Fox Point Lake of Bays from 1928 to 1956.
I would guess 1951 or 52.
Was on that train with my grandparents circa 1949
The two smaller steam engines. It took two of them to make it up the steep grades. I’ll go with 1930.