Preserving the Thorndale Train Station’s legacy

The Thorndale Train Station was recently moved from a property northeast of Thamesford back to Thorndale.

By Nancy Abra

A Thorndale mainstay is once again returning to the community.

The Thorndale Train Station has been absent from this community since it was moved to a private property in 1968. Originally built around 1912, it sat at the rail tracks opposite the mill. With the increase of trucks and cars for transporting people and farm goods to larger centres, the CNR decommissioned it in 1965.

Joe Byway Sr., who worked for CNR as a police officer, purchased the Thorndale Train Station from CNR and had it moved by a large flatbed truck and trailer from Thorndale to his property northeast of Thamesford. According to his daughter-in-law, Kathy Byway, Byway Sr. “loved to collect things of all sizes, but more importantly, seeing he worked for CNR, he wanted to preserve the train station from demolition.”

Since 1968, the Thorndale Train Station has been on the Byway property and was held in high regard. It took a couple of years for the Byway father and son team to painstakingly remove the layers of industrial green paint inside the train station, taking it down to the natural wood. They then varnished the building to preserve the wooden interior.

After Byway Sr. passed away, it became his son’s, Joe Byway Jr. He staged the station’s interior with a desk, old typewriter and tray of papers. After Joe Byway Jr. passed away in 2022, his wife, Kathy Byway, wanted to downsize some of collection. A neighbour, Sheldon Morris, expressed an interest in the Thorndale Train Station, and they agreed that it would be moved to his property.

“Later that year, a Thorndale Lions member inquired about the train station” Kathy Byway said, “and if it could come back to Thorndale. I felt bad, but I am a woman of my word and told him, I had already promised it to someone else.

“That train station was part of our family and I was sad to see it go from our property, but I know it has gone to a good home.”

On Thursday, Sept. 18, the historic move from one caretaker to another, a distance of approximately 2.8 kilometres, took over six hours, navigating hydro lines, tree branches, corners and a small hill. Once on the property of Morris Insurance, the train station was placed on a proper cement foundation.

“The Thorndale Train Station is like a time capsule,” said Morris. “It has an atmosphere of the past, represents a hardworking community, a bygone era of rail transportation, and I am honoured to be its next caretaker for years to come, preserving its legacy for the next generation.”