Washago had its beginning in 1852, when Quetton St. George & Company built a sawmill and latter a Gristmill near the outlet of Lake Couchiching into the Severn River.
Shown here water-powered Grist mill at Washago, constructed 1873, demolished 1970. (source: www.washago.ca)
The Grand Trunk Railway extended to Washago in 1873 and created somewhat of an economic boom to the 250 or so settlers who had lived here at the time. A via rail still operates from the train station today.
There still is standing an interesting relic from the earlier days. Just a short distance from the rail station on the north side of the track is this very large grain tower.
From this angle we can clearly see the remnants of the chute which disgorged the tower's contents into awaiting grain cars. Today, I observed only pigeons shooting out.
The ladder ascending to the top of the structure was enclosed by steel cladding. Only one word could really describe this particular view . . . rustalicious (!).
Adrenaline coursed through my veins when I saw no apparent lock on the door's clasp. I was looking forward to a long dangerous climb up a rickety ladder.To my deep disappointed, vigilant CN Rail staff had welded the doors closed.
To add insult to this, this structure taunted me with a view through a grated window to see what I was missing. Apparently some of the stairs were removed or simply fell down.The blur you may see in the bottom right of this image is pigeon poop falling from above . . . nasty.
I am kind of glad the door was welded.
1 comment:
This looks more like a coaling tower (for refueling steam locomotives) than something for grain storage. Quite a rare find, the only similar structure in Ontario that I can think of is at the John St. Roundhouse in Ontario.
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