Keeping the story on track

Given the time period in which Frankie was working at the munitions factory, and the fact that her family lived in Irondale (Haliburton County), train travel was a way of life. In her book about the history of our family, she mentions train travel on many occasions. Some of these details made their way into my book as well. 

To ensure my novel was as true to the period as possible, I needed to know more about Canada’s railroads circa WWI and also the streetcars that operated in Toronto at the time.

Day trip to the Toronto Railway Museum

Welcome to the Toronto Railway Museum - Toronto Railway Museum

My friend Lori Gregory was happy to go along with me in the summer of 2022 to the Toronto Railway Museum where we could see firsthand what some of the early locomotives looked like. Examples of rural rail stations, as well as the history of Union Station, were all helpful. It was one of the passionate volunteers who really brought history to life with his detailed descriptions of the baggage car and seat arrangements.

Next Stop: Halton County Radial Railway Museum

Home - Halton County Radial Railway Museum  

With a good sense of the type of railcar Aunt Frankie would have travelled in to get to Toronto, it was also important to understand the streetcars of the period. Fortunately, there’s a fantastic electric railway museum in Milton which operates a small railway and houses well preserved examples from the past. In WWI, and before the formation of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the Toronto Civic Railways were operating streetcars in the area of Toronto where Frankie lived. A well-preserved example of these cars is available for visitors of the museum to see. Once again, a helpful volunteer pointed me in the right direction!

Having the opportunity to literally step into history to see what the transportation looked like in the period was a great way to ensure my story would ring true – I could picture Frankie and Mattie sitting on that streetcar in Toronto in 1915.