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@ ® @ railroadâ€"industry giant M mogh Nesb t a gqarciL* Coifozmy« < fi::b/;/}i »fos" i } By Cecilia Nasmith ( ,â€"" Ael ~atid w ~ and Louisbourg coach number eight," Mr. cnasmith@northumberlandtoday.com | ue g"~ s Rafuse pointed out. "The trucks it rides + Q ,\‘,‘#‘; B on, on closer look, say, ‘Crossen Car Beyond two grand homes on George h > hmd Ayy O\ { es‘ .. Company, Cobourg, Ontario.‘ That whole Street, there‘s not much to show that oo P [d ~s ~ CCC es frame was cast in Cobourg. It‘s the only Cobourg was once home to a giant in the ||__ J ' f <f one I know of in Canada, since these other railroad industry. ' | d \ \ cars don‘t ride on their original trucks. At least now, there‘s Ted Rafuse‘s book *|_ f PM \.__ "The car on the cover also still exists, to tell the tale. 4 A A fd but more important, it still operates," he Wood Cars on Steel Lines: A History of | | _ % ++ mekamgeke ce s ow \qf‘“ * MW added. Labelled Prairie Dog Central, it‘s a the Crossen Car Companies, Cobourg, | l N â€" & b «. tourist attraction near Winnipeg. Ontario detafls the company and its work ‘ : N_,M________J & * n e mt "A few years later, they restored it through all its names â€" Crossen Car f KA 8A k. 2 * £ completely â€" it‘s wonderful," Mr. Rafuse Company, _ then _ Crossen _ Car |_ in‘ f | w _ said. "I rode it two years ago." Manufacturing Company and then .e § eÂ¥ J ul The photos show leadedâ€"glass insets Crossen Car Company of Cobourg Limited ; h aA e * above the windows with brass baskets for befo;e they finally ceased operations. ht â€" 7 W wtkkh y hat boxes and small bags that would have Why they did so, Mr. Rafuse surmised, [Â¥ _ [ . \ ~â€"1 m . d come from the Cobourg foundry. . had to do with changes in technology. | ds cape s oxle 1. s 1i â€" U un >‘ The light fixtures of crystal and metal These were wooden cars," he | ! 4o ] o d y hardware would also have been cast here, explained. "Just before World War I, there [ W ‘. uoh. / i ul with the wood of the cars generally were some major technological changes [ | ~@ $ed _ +4 E supplied from within 100 miles of Cobourg taking place in the whole rollingâ€"stock ) iN inmmeniarmereennnnrmasonsasaassaensearan i ievernenen snn antceaa m uin ced â€" white wood, ash, oak or walnut. industry in North America, and one of Ay: Photos of the private car of Canadian thOSAetW}als ol beC o Sm yooue‘* ppmppmienyyepane y Tome To Pacific Railway superintendent William "At that time, Crossen was in his midâ€" U are NFY FH S how etchedâ€"glass transoms 50s and, I suspect, decided for whatever WOOdLn Cdl,'b HL 'S“-'el R‘"l'\z gfig?gfifiif toilet seat?An odd wall reasons not to get involved in raising the byil fixture is actually a strike plate for &Gacelslsg'ry id g? e mt m C# matches, since Mr. Van Horne loved s living a very comfortable life." yar n ts | Two of Cobourg‘s grand homes are Ib ® :fi ies mnininint nlen mt racinleel â€" Cu}g):fig;%firts}.le etched glass in a wooden remnants of the Crossen empire: the ww _ _ Apiiinemnest®. ~___ .;~.; door is the legend, "James Crossen Car James Crossen home on the east side of | drcen onl oonnienimenrroveniiel nalieniemneninrnnming Manufacturer, Cobourg, Ontario," in the ggogfi(fifgeet' l;utllljt mt1871t’ ?ndfihe one _ | sort of goldâ€"leaf material with which cros e street for his son A History of the Crossen Car Companies, Cobyury, € Nariyt j i i ir William as a wedding present in 1880. : | ‘ i Ev?fig;\;lss vayel ut o Why in that part of town?" the author * Along with photographs, Mr. Rafuse is asked rhetorically. "Simple â€" the more Cmm O pleased with the diagrams and floor plans significant the person you were, the “ he was able to get. j closer you lived to the work site." womotims. ... t The company also built street cars, Starting in the late 1870s, Crossen‘s c m P 4 maybe about 66 of them, but Mr. Rafuse complex occupied the lands now known as C miite o1 o | .00 has focused on railway cars. the old tannery. Mr. Rafuse suspects the % / es "I can account for more than 750 big twoâ€"storey building that looks like an k it M passenger cars and I don‘t know how old home was probably the Crossen office ns mss | many thousands of freight cars," he said. building. All the other structures in that Proro ay Teo Aveven _ "The book includes a list of the passenger complex were built for the nowâ€"defunct Ted Rafuse‘s new book chronicles the history of the Crossen Car Companies of Cobourg. cars and as many freight cars as I can tanning operations. determine. It‘s the only history book of a Mr. Rafuse is able to offer some "He built for almost every railway in It was painstaking work just to 80 â€" Canadian rollingâ€"stock manufacturer that biographical notes on the Crossen family.‘ Canada between 1880 and 1910. From 1908 through the 25,000 photographs he 1 know of." . Patriarch James Crossen came with his on, Canadian Northern Railways only â€" managed to comb with a magnifying glass Mr. Rafuse has selected the March 5 family as a teenager from Ireland to New _ used Crossen cars," Mr. Rafuse noted. just to get the occasional inscription, Cobourg Model Railway Show as the place York City. They settled in Batavia, and "Everyone had at least one or two "Built by the Crossen Car Company of to launch his book, and he will be James probably first came to Canada to Crossen passenger cars and probably . Canadd," but the ones in the book make it â€" available to autograph copies at that time. visit an uncle who had settled in â€"scores of their freight cars. It became the . all worthwhile, The book is also available at The Avid Camborne. largest independent manufacturer of "This car is from Nova Scotia, Sydney â€" Reader and Furby House Books. ( t