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I had to find the West Devon Train Station myself - I didn't realize it still existed. Here's a few photos I took that day a month ago. The station was moved a short distance to private property and sits on the corner of Route 138 and Jack-A-Point Road (a short dead end road which doesn't seem to go to a point - ?) near the Confederation Trail.
Amazing to see there's hardly a difference between this photo and the present-day condition of the station - some 43 years later!
The following except comes from...
A
Photo History of the Prince Edward Island Railway by Allan
Graham, Page 27
The
Forest Fires of 1889
Daily
Examiner, Sept. 20, 1889
“For some time past, forest fires, many of
them started for the purpose of clearing land, - have been more or less
prevalent in that portion of Western Prince County lying between Port Hill and
Alberton…At O’Leary…it was only by greatest exertions that the railway station
house and coal she were saved, clay having to be shovelled upon the fire to
prevent its spreading in that direction…
Between O’Leary and West Devon the fires
were burning so close to the railway track that the express train, in charge of
Conductor Kelly, had to be stopped several times to examine the track before
proceeding.
At West Devon, Arthur’s mills were burnt
down, and all his lumber was destroyed.
The heat from the burning mills and lumber, as well as from the fires in
the woods, burnt the sleepers and warped the rails for nearly half a mile,
necessitating the stopping of the train at that place. Here Conductor Kelly took advantage of the
only clear space available, and here for a time he and his men had to work hard
to keep the train from being burnt up…”
Here's the house (owned by Nova Scotia resident, appearing abandoned) near the station - it's at the intersection of Route 138 and the Confederation Trail.
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