What is the H&SR doing in this Blog you may well ask? Well, the existence of the H&SR Museum was noted in the tourist guide just outside town so the crew of the VS (one half inexplicably somewhat unwilling) unloaded the bicycles and set off to investigate. It turned out to be unexpectedly wonderful. The H&SR lasted for nearly 100 years until 1991, since when it has completely disappeared, though much of the very extensive route is now a really great cycle track. The Museum was therefore a bit short of exhibits, there being almost nothing left at all, but the owner hit on the idea of recreating it in miniature as a model railway. And here it is, lovingly crafted by hand:

 
This is the station at Bridgewater near Lunenburg recreated exactly as it was in winter. It is not quite finished yet (after 17 years of work) so you can see that there are a few points still missing for instance. This whole area has been built on; there is nothing left at all in real life. Every station and significant structure on the line has been recreated in a series of connected dioramas (the rest are in summer), all built from scratch to an extraordinary standard. To illustrate this, the railway sleepers (ties on this side of the Atlantic) are individually made, and the rails are held in place on the sleepers by spikes exactly as in the full scale original, but in miniature. No shop bought track here! A mind-boggling amount of careful detailed work.

Surrounding this extraordinary labour of love are artefacts from the line - uniforms, noticeboards, crockery, photographs and memorabilia of all sorts. Here for instance are the original railway Union's records, still in their original cabinet and including the voting apparatus, held by the Curator, owner and creator of this unique museum, Duane Porter:  

And here is his lovely wife Sheila, a genuine local - she is of local Mi'kmaq Indian extraction, in the Ticket Office:

Both halves of the VS crew left the scene well impressed. A quite outstanding tribute to the H&SR.

 

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