in its day. The universal regret of the villagers at the time was that it had not been constructed of brick or stone.

At the time of construction it was believed that narrow-gague tracks were more economical than those required for a full- -size railroad. .By 1917, referring to the cost of transferring goods from cars of one gague to the other at Port Borden, the Board of Trade reported that, next to the war, the most important matter affecting the trade of this Province was the lack of standardized railroads. The work of standard— izing the eastern sections of the system was not undertaken until the summer of 1926. Mount Stewart was the focal point for the project, and, with one crew working toward Charlottetown, one toward Souris, and one toward Georgetown, rapid progress was made. The first broad-gague trains, enroute to Souris and Georgetown, passed through Mount Stewart on August 22, 1926. Mr. Kimble Douglas of Head of Hillsborough, on a week-end visit to Georgetown, travelled to his destination on narrow—gague and returned on broad—gague track, all in the course of the weekend. In September of the following year, work was begun on an hydraulic filling station, water for the project being backed in the former A. J. Grant milldam. At the same time a new platform was laid around the station and, in 1928, the need for facilities for shipping potatoes through George— town prompted the management to increase the yardroom at Mount Ste- wart. Railroading on the Island was then at the highest peak of its development.

On May 12, 1947, Transport Minister Chevrier told the House of Commons that Prince Edward Island was to be the first Canadian Province whose trains would be completely powered with the new Diesel engines. Pre- viously, engines that had grown old in service in other parts of the country had been sent to the Island to end their careers; indeed, at that time, one engine in daily use was more than 30 years old! The chief motive behind the change-over was to relieve the carferry from the task of carrying coal for use in the steam locomotives. The first Diesel-electric locomotive ever to operate in this Province left Charlottetown for Murray Harbour on June 5, 1947. By the end of the year, their use had become general throughout the Island.

An event of great interest occurred on June 8, 1950 when a group of citizens gathered at the station house to honour Mr. H. W. (Harry) MacKay upon his retirement after 40 years service with the Canadian Nationayl Railways. Most of that time had been spent as Mount Stewart agent. An address was read by Rev. W. T. Mercer and a presentation was made by Mr. R. A. MacDonald on behalf of the merchants and other friends from the village. “Forty years,’ ’said Rev. Mercer,‘ ‘is a long time making dots and dashes, reporting trains thumbing waybills, determining freight and express rates, etc, but, when it is past, it is nothing more than a pleasant dream.” Mr. MacKay died at Mount Stewart in 1956.

An era in railway history came to an end in April, 1967 with the deletion of passenger coach service from the CN freight schedule between Charlottetown and Souris and between Charlottetown and Georgetown. The service had become an economic millstone around the railroad’s neck, as through the winter of 1965- 66, between December 21st and the end of April, there were not enough passengers carried on these lines, including the line to Murray Harbour, to fill the seats of half of one passenger car. The fares totalled $27 25, while the cost to the railroad was $5,170!

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