Holiday Card The Ski Train - 1947

Name/Title

Holiday Card "The Ski Train - 1947"

Entry/Object ID

2008-017-002

Scope and Content

Card decorated with a print of the painting "Ski Train - 1947" by Wentworth D. Folkins. The artwork displays a black train stopped at the Craigleith Train Station in winter. The station is a red building with a turret in one corner and the name "Craigleith", in black on a white sign. Skiers and a horse-drawn sleigh are visible. The signature, "WD Folkins, 91", is printed in black at the bottom. Printed in green on the inside of the card reads, "There's never a better time to remember friends and to express our appreciation for your past business than during this festive season. Wishing you joy during the Holidays and prosperity in the New Year. The Nicolsons. Georgian Frame Gallery." Printed in black on the back reads "Deep, Fresh, drifting snow muffles the arrival of another weekend special ski train from Toronto. Waiting impatiently on the snow-covered platform at the Craigleith Depot are friends of arriving passengers aboard the special. As they step from the train and prepare to move on to the Blue Mountain ski slopes, preferring instead to trek up with their gear over their shoulders. Though a booming lumber center when the Depot was built in 1872, Craigleith soon became a mecca for summer tourists and, soon after, winter sports following the introduction of rail transportation. Popular from the start, ski trains brought thousands to this snow belt area until terminated in 1942 due to the war, after 1947 and then continued to run until the 1960's when transportation to the area became more practical by automobile. To this day the Depot stands in it's original location, surrounded in spring by wild lilacs and buried to it's eves in winter with snow. Steam has vanished and so has the old Northern Railway line along the Bay from Collingwood to Meaford. A recreation trail on the old embankment at least reminds us of National Pacific-type passenger locomotives like #5033 and her sisters through Craigleith. Many Canadian National Pacific-type passenger locomotives like #5033, built in the years around 1912, were frequently used on similar operations in Quebec and Ontario. Now, just once more, let your mind and senses savour another journey aboard the Blue Mountain Ski Train as you arrive at the Depot. The Ski Train - 1947. Artist: Wentworth D. Folkins. Published by Heritage Railroad Editions. Mt. Brydge. Ontario. Canada. Printed in Canada.".

Dimensions

Width

26 cm

Length

31.1 cm

Dimension Notes

Length & width are measured from the frame. Frame Size: 31.1 cm by 26 cm Image Size: 4" x 6"