Timmins history now, and what you could expect if you travelled in by train for a visit in 1915.
Timmins museum director-curator Karen Bachmann says there were two trains a day back and forth to Toronto. On board were people from the northern U.S., New York, Buffalo, Chicago and Montreal. They were coming to get in on the mining action or checking up on their investments in it.
“You come in on the train that can provide you with a Pullman service, which means you could have had a sleeper car on it,” Bachmann states. “You arrive somewhat refreshed. You did get a full breakfast on the train as well when you came in. So as you step off the train, you need to find yourself a hotel.”
If you disembarked in South Porcupine, it was the Connaught Hotel. It was behind the station and one of the best in the area.
“There was a tennis court out in the front. There was a huge dining room. The rooms were quite palatial. At the time you could still see from the top floors over to the lake,” Bachmann recounts. “There were even some bathrooms in that hotel, which was quite spectacular, because at the time, not every hotel had your own personal bathroom.”
Next week: Where you would stay right in Timmins, and some of the amenities the hotels offered.
