On The Wright Track: Memories from C.P.R. School Car #2 | Bonnie Sitter
May 16, 2024 7:00 pm ET – sponsored by the Sault Ste Marie & District of Algoma Branch
On The Wright Track is the story of William (Bill) and Helen Wright and their four children. Letters written by Bill and Helen to their parents that had been saved give a good picture of what their lives were like and their day-to-day experiences.
Bill Wright began his teaching career in a School Car in Sept 1928. His first school route was from Fort William to Kenora. He spent his first 5 years alone in the School Car then married Helen, who was also a teacher, and together they raised 4 children in the converted passenger car that was their home and classroom. In 1938 his route changed and the rest of his career was in the CPR School Car #2 that traveled between the CPR Divisional Points of Chapleau and White River.
The school cars were railway passenger cars converted into a school room and living quarters for the teacher and his family. The cars were conceived early in the 1920s by Dr. J. B. MacDougall of the Ontario Ministry of Education. Their purpose was to deliver education to the children of railway workers, mostly track maintenance men, who lived and worked at isolated locations along the railways of Northern Ontario. The children of trappers, prospectors, and lumber jacks were also welcome. No child was ever turned away.
C.P.R. School Car # 2 travelled from Chapleau to White River serving the remote whistle-stops of Esher, Nicholson, Bolkow, Carry, Grassett and Amyot. The car would be pulled by a freight train from one mile-post to the next where it would be shunted off the main line for approximately 5-7 days. During which time, the children would be given intensive teaching. The teachers prepared homework assignments to be completed before the School Car returned. One cycle from Chapleau to White River would last about a month. The return trip was not simple. They were constantly shunted to a spur to allow freight and passenger trains to pass.
Teaching on the school cars required a very special person who understood what life in the bush was about. Bill was also the janitor and had to understand the heating system and be willing to be without the benefits of life in town with a church, a grocery store etc. If the pipes froze it meant the School Car had to go to the shops in Chapleau to be repaired and the circuit for teaching was upset. His wife had to be willing to be part of the constant moving… their address changed weekly, and be happy without ladies auxiliary meetings, put up with the threat of a train derailment and of course endure the cold winters and black flies in the spring. It was a very remote existence and children raised in the School Car had to be raised without the benefit of interaction with peers their own age. They made their own fun doing puzzles, playing board games, reading, snaring rabbits, fishing and scavenging pop bottles that had been thrown from passing trains.
Bonnie Sitter
Bonnie Sitter resides in Exeter, moving there from Deep River Ontario where she was employed first at the Chalk River Nuclear Labs and then owned and operated her own travel agency. She retired in 2008 after more than 40 years in the travel industry. She is a lover of nature and is known to be a tree hugger because she successfully led a campaign in 2012 that saved the tree known as the Kippen Elm. Her hobbies include writing, reading, photography, hiking, biking and canoeing.
She has co-authored 2 books with Telfer Wegg of Neustadt, The Beauty and Bounty of Huron County and Agriculture Today: A Portrait of Family Farms in Ontario.
Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz Memories of Ontario Farmerettes, co-authored with Shirleyan English, has proven to be a great success. The book has been developed into a play by the same name. It will be on stage this July at 4th Line Theatre at Millbrook, and the Blyth Festival Theatre in August. At the moment Bonnie is looking for supporters and donations to complete a documentary film about the Farmerettes. Once completed the documentary will be entered in film festivals and shown in small theatres, museums, retirement homes, libraries, and schools with the aim of teaching that wars are not won by bombs and bullets alone. Food is essential for victory.
Her book titled “On The Wright Track”, published in 2020 will be an interesting read for anyone who has been involved with education, is a train enthusiast, or enjoys learning social history. The memories of the four Wright Children will paint a picture of living and being taught in a School Car where your mailing address changes weekly and the sound of trains passing interrupt the teacher’s lessons.
