A heritage railway caboose in Haliburton has a new lease on life as a community bike hub thanks to the efforts of a local organization and its partners and a $30,000 seed grant from the provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF).
Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock MPP Laurie Scott visited the Municipality of Dysart et al on Thursday (April 24) to officially launch the Caboose Community Bike Hub, a six-month pilot project initiated by the non-profit organization Friends of the Rail Trail (FoRT) with the support of the municipality.
“This innovative pilot project is a great example of how local partnerships and provincial support can help build healthier, more connected communities,” Scott said in a media release.
The caboose, which dates from 1922, was obtained from the Canadian National Railway by the Rotary Club of Haliburton in the late 1970s and was originally set up at the foot of Head Lake on its own tracks. It was moved to Head Lake Park in 1979 where the municipality maintained it with the assistance of the Rotary Club.
The municipality later used the caboose as a tourist information centre until the new Haliburton Welcome Centre on York Street opened in July 2021, whose construction was funded by $75,000 from the Rotary Club and $375,000 from the government.
In March 2024, FoRT partnered with the municipality on a seed grant application to OTF for a pilot project to use the caboose as a community bike hub, with the vision of encouraging residents to adopt cycling through free public programming, guided rides, bike mentorship, educational workshops, and events.
“FoRT is thrilled to partner with Dysart on this innovative experiment to develop an effective hub of public bike programming especially geared to small rural communities like Haliburton Village,” said FoRT chair and project coordinator Pamela Marsales. “This fills a gap in the municipality’s recreational programming and will benefit young and old.”
OTF awarded the grant last fall, and the funds have been used for a program manager, advertising, and program equipment including a portable bike repair stand, pylons, and children’s bike helmets.
FoRT will coordinate activities of the bike hub, with the support of other community partners including the Rotary Club.
The use of the railway caboose as a community bike hub also aligns with the work of FoRT, which was founded in 2007 as part of the Haliburton County Community Co-operative to bring a sense of community to an abandoned railway line converted to a recreational trail.
The railway line was part of the Victoria Railway, which began at Lindsay in 1874 under the direction of railway entrepreneur George Laidlaw. The line was completed to Kinmount in 1877 and, a year later, reached the newly constructed station at Haliburton.
While the railway line never extended north of Haliburton, it became an important regional timber and mineral carrier with a link to other systems at Lindsay. In 1881, it was acquired by the Midland Railway of Canada and then later the Canadian National Railway system. By the early 1980s, the railway fell into disuse and sections were salvaged, with the line completely abandoned by the early 1990s.
