A Barrow's at Corunna and the CASO at Courtright

 A wintery blast arrived yesterday with a bit of snow and strong winds.  I decided to stay home, as the country roads would have been iffy at times.  It was quite gusty, even in town!

Nothing new at the backyard feeder yesterday.  The star of the show has been quite regular.

Today was sunny and a bit calmer, so I ventured out to the St. Clair River.  I wanted some ice, and now there is no shortage of it!  In fact, there was practically no open water until I got to Courtright.  But, very little until north of Corunna.

Guthrie Park was the only place to watch waterfowl, and there was not a huge number.  Gulls are practically absent this winter.  Apparently they are all down in Ohio, looking at recent photos!

I sat at the north end for some time.  There was a mix of ducks, some not too visible because of the steam coming from the warm water of Talfourd Creek.  It was quite cold today, so some of the waterfowl had a frosted appearance.

After the better part of an hour, I turned south, but noticed a few ducks close to shore at the south end of Guthrie Park.  Had to take a look.  Good thing I did, as I immediately spotted a male Barrow's Goldeneye!

Barrow's with common counterparts

Made my day, as I cannot seem to find anything else...even notable birds that are around.

We probably get a Barrow's Goldeneye on the river every winter.  It is just a matter of finding it.  Quite likely a returning bird, like the one up at Owen Sound that appears every winter.  I went to see that one in 2020.

As I passed through Courtright, I stopped to read an interpretive sign about the railway that once terminated there.  

As railroads and trains is another interest of mine, just last night I wrote an article about the Canada Southern Railway.  One went through southern Chatham-Kent as a short cut for the Detroit to Buffalo route, but another line went from St. Thomas to Courtright.

Here is the article as written (newspaper clippings from the Windsor Star, that my father had saved at the time):

 

There was once a busy railroad from St. Thomas to Courtright, with spurs to Oil Springs and Petrolia.  (The Oil springs spur actually extended to Edys Mills).  In 1871, the original land grant signed by Queen Victoria was given to Canada Southern Railway and financier Cornelius Vanderbilt of New York Central Railroad.  CASO was essentially the Canadian division of New York Central.

 

 

The original hope was that a ferry at Courtright would be established to connect to the St. Clair and Western Railway in Michigan.  That ferry operation never materialized.

The railroad paralleled highway 80 and went right to the river where the waterfront park now stands.

Early on (1874) the Canada Southern failed and was taken over by the Vanderbilts (owners of New York Central and other railways), and the right-of-way was leased to Michigan Central. By 1930, Michigan Central was taken over by its parent company New York Central Railroad.  The CASO name was retained throughout.

 

Oil Springs station

 

The establishment of the Canada Southern Railroad from St. Thomas led to the formation of several new villages including Courtright, which was named after Milton Courtright, president of the Canada Southern.

Some of the new places included Watford, Wyoming, Wanstead, Inwood, Mandaumin, Alvinston, Oil City and Brigden.

The railroad did well in its early years with passenger and freight, but the advent of the motor car, building of highways and the development of trucking led to a demise in business.  Passenger service was eliminated sometime in the 1930’s.

By the late 1950’s, the writing was on the wall.  The last trail pulled out of Courtright on April 30, 1960.

There are remnants of the old railway still visible such as concrete abutments and scars on the landscape as seen by satellite maps.

 

 

An interpretive sign can be found on the Courtright waterfront where the rail lines ended.