Guilford (railway point), British Columbia#Fortin Sawmill

Guilford, like Lindup to its northwest, and Bend to its southeast, was an original train station (1914) on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway1914 Timetable scanned{{cite web| url=http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/digital/G_R_3572_C4P3_1911.jpg| title=c.1919 GTP map (© 1911 prior version)| website=www.utoronto.ca}} (the Canadian National Railway after nationalization) (CNR). Guilford station existed at Mile 65.6, Fraser Subdivision{{cite web |url=http://www.cwrailway.ca/cnrha.ca/Timetables/Mountain%20Region/BC%20North%20Division/Fraser.pdf |title=1977 Timetable |website=www.cwrailway.ca}} (about Mile 155 during the line's construction). The chosen name, a surname of pre 7th century origins, derives either from the city of Guildford, or from residence at a ford where golden flowers grew.{{cite web| url=http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Guilford | title=Last name: Guilford | website=www.surnamedb.com}} It was selected from the list prepared by Josiah Wedgwood (submitted at the request of William P. Hinton, the railway's general manager). Commonly claimed as an English place name,Prince George Citizen, 27 May 1957 no such location with the different spelling appears to have existed in the United Kingdom. However an earldom was created,{{Cite web | url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/guilford1752.htm |title = Guilford, Earl of (GB, 1752) | website=www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk}}{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Guilford, Barons and Earls of |volume= 12 |last = |first= |page= |short= x}} and the station name, like some US Guilford localities, may have come from a member of that nobility branch.

To benefit from both river and railway access, the mill and settlement were about {{convert|2|mi|km|order=flip}} northwest of the station,{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=5}} but the latter's isolation gravitated passengers to the Penny station.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=21}} In September 1913, the Sykes family, later at Penny, travelled by construction train to the planned Guilford station on track laid early that month.Fort George Tribune, 13 Sep 1913 The family settled due south, across the river, and Ada Sykes' diary provides one of the earliest surviving references to Guilford's existence.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=9}} In 1914, a landslide around Mile 66.5 (previously Mile 156), delayed passenger services by a day.Fort George Herald, 14 Mar 1914 Apart from a recluse, only the section (track maintenance) crew lived at the station locality.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=5}}

In 1960, a speeder collided with a work train in the vicinity, killing Shirley Howard Scott (1905–60),{{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/2ba10055-6d9c-4baf-a00a-e90ff7f5072b |title =Death Certificate (Shirley Howard SCOTT)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} one of the two CNR riders.Prince George Citizen, 30 Aug 1960{{cite web| url=http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&rec_nbr=1696351&lang=eng&rec_nbr_list=1697063,1696338,1696960,1696285,1697006,1696375,1696979,1696351,1697071,1697094 | title=Accident, 26 Aug 1960 | website=www.collectionscanada.gc.ca}} Two years later, a bull moose, which charged an eastbound 59-car freight train near Guilford, derailed the caboose. The incident delayed the westbound passenger train by four hours.Prince George Citizen, 17 Jan 1962

Built in 1914, the standard-design Plan 100‐152 (Bohi's Type E){{Cite web | url=http://www.oil-electric.com/2008/09/type-e-mythology.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090101162602/http://www.oil-electric.com/2008/09/type-e-mythology.html | url-status=usurped | archive-date=January 1, 2009 | title=Type "E" Mythology|website=www.oil-electric.com}}{{Cite web | url=https://www.michaelkluckner.com/bciw10gtp.html |title = Vanishing BC GTP Railway stations|website=www.michaelkluckner.com}} station building was replaced with a converted freight shed in 1950. Although Bohi notes the demolition of the former in 1950 and the latter in 1968,{{cite book |last1=Bohi |first1=Charles W. |last2=Kozma |first2=Leslie S. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/canadiannational0000bohi/page/121 121, 136 & 140] |title=Canadian National's Western Stations |year=2002 |publisher=Fitzhenry & Whiteside |isbn=1550416324 |url=https://archive.org/details/canadiannational0000bohi/page/121 }} it appears more likely that the CNR burned down the former in the early 1960s.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=5}}{{cite web| url=http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&rec_nbr=1689037&lang=eng&rec_nbr_list=4132414,3017679,4132415,3142883,1689037,3748148,4134771,620045,1294196,186062 | title=Guilford station: establish, close & remove | website=www.collectionscanada.gc.ca}}

{{Aligned table |cols=9|class=wikitable|col1align=left |col2align=center |col3align=center|col4align=center|col5align=center|col6align=center|col7align=center|col8align=center|col9align=center|row1header=y

| Siding | Mile No. | 1922 | 1933 | 1943 | 1960 | 1965–72 | 1977 | 1985–92 |

(Capacity Length) | | Cars | Cars | Cars | Cars | Cars | Feet | Feet Prince George Citizen: 28 Feb 1985 to 2 Mar 19851990 Timetable: Northern BC Archives1992 Timetable: Northern BC Archives |

Guilford | 65.6 | 67 | 65 | 34 | 52 | 53 | 2,490 | 6,230 }}

{{Aligned table |cols=6|class=wikitable|col1align=left |col2align=center |col3align=center|col4align=center|col5align=center|col6align=center|row1header=y

| Other Tracks | Mile No. | 1933 | 1943 | 1960 | 1965 |

(Capacity Length) | | Cars | Cars | Cars | Cars |

BC Spruce Sales | 61.4 | | | 5 | 7 |

Vick Bros | 67.5 | 4 | | | |

Guilford Lumber | 67.5 | | 3 | | }}

{{anchor|MellosFam}}

Ole (1882–1956){{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/5f342b3c-c042-48fc-8bd5-dc07eaf5d4f1 |title =Death Certificate (Ole MELLOS)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} & Halvor (1891–1973){{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/ec196a37-6d6c-4a39-b44e-e44c2867ed23 |title =Death Certificate (Halvor MELLOS)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} Mellos, brothers, arrived by scow{{Cite web | url=http://fhnas.ca/scow-boats-heavy-haulers-athabasca-river-alberta-canada |title =Image: Athabasca scow boats|website=www.fhnas.ca|date =30 June 2017}} in 1913, while the railway was still under construction.Prince George Citizen: 18 Aug 1955 & 9 Feb 1956{{sfn|PRC|1995|pp=1–2}} Emma (c.1897–1942) and Ole married in 1914.Prince George Citizen, 12 Nov 1942 The pioneer farmers,{{Cite web | url=http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1921&op=img&id=e002868787 |title =1921 Census|website=www.bac-lac.gc.ca}}Prince George Citizen, 29 Mar 1923{{Cite web | url=https://bccd.vpl.ca/index.php/browse/title/1920/Wrigley%27s_British_Columbia_Directory |title = 1920 BC Directory|website=www.bccd.vpl.ca}} who were joined by their sister, Ingeborg L. Mellos (1884–1952),{{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/1d084d52-102d-4083-af6b-d22d0efc0bb2 |title =Death Certificate (Ingeborg K. MELLOS)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} all relocated to neighbouring Penny in 1927.{{sfn|PRC|1995|p=132}}

In 1920, fire totally destroyed the shingle and lath mill,Prince George Citizen, 16 Jul 1920 which had operated at least since 1918.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=9}} Gordon Bain (likely c.1884–?){{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/4701c354-d969-454e-96af-fbf8f66a002c |title =Marriage Certificate (BAIN/HAYWARD)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}}{{Cite web | url=https://bccd.vpl.ca/index.php/browse/title/1919/Wrigley%27s_British_Columbia_Directory |title = 1919 BC Directory|website=www.bccd.vpl.ca}} had recently purchased the mill from A. H. Booth (likely c.1884–1947).{{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/e4f4c4e1-6993-4559-ab5e-723ae73dae90 |title =Death Certificate (Arthur Hodgson BOOTH)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} Trading as the Red Cedar Mill, its infrequentPrince George Citizen: 30 Jun 1920 & 27 Aug 1920 advertisements for cedar products became weeklyPrince George Citizen: 30 Sep 1920 to 23 Nov 1920 during the fire sale. The district forester subsequently seized the fire-damaged equipment to settle unpaid timber royalties.Prince George Citizen, 30 Dec 1921

The narrow strip of accessible spruce forest bordering the railway that stretched some {{convert|100|mi|km|order=flip}} east of Prince George was known as the East Line.{{Cite web | url=http://summit.sfu.ca/item/6364 |last=Hak |first=Gordon Hugh |page=14 |title=On the Fringes: Capital and Labour in the Forest Economies of the Port Alberni and Prince George Districts, BC, 1910–1939 |year=1986 |website=www.summit.sfu.ca}} A 1927 forest fire spreading between Longworth and Guilford inflicted limited timber losses.Prince George Citizen, 25 Aug 1927 Months later, in the vicinity of Guilford, a falling tree fractured the skull of logger John Johnson (c.1889–1927),{{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Genealogy/Results?search=Search&as.type_death=true&as.registration_num=1927-09-394274 |title =Death Certificate (John JOHNSON)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} who succumbed to his injuries while aboard a freight train en route to hospital.Prince George Citizen, 24 Nov 1927 A year later, Asbjorn Fremstad (Framstad alternate spelling) (c.1908–1928){{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Genealogy/Results?search=Search&as.type_death=true&as.registration_num=1928-09-411971 |title =Death Certificate (Asbjorn M FREMSTAD)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} suffered similar fatal injuries when decking logs at the Melrose Camp near Guilford.Prince George Citizen, 8 Nov 1928{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=28}} The Vick Brothers Lumber Co., known to have operated a 20,000-foot per shift capacity mill 1926–29,{{Cite web | url=https://bccd.vpl.ca/index.php/browse/title/1926/Wrigley%27s_British_Columbia_Directory |title = 1926 BC Directory|website=www.bccd.vpl.ca}}Prince George Citizen: 23 Aug 1928, 18 Apr 1929, 11 Jul 1929 & 17 Oct 1929 was a victim of the Great Depression. During 1927–29, Archie McLarty had a 20-man crew producing 100 cedar poles per day in the vicinity.Prince George Citizen: 24 Nov 1927 & 1 Mar 1928 Fire destroyed 7,000 of these poles, worth $30,000, stacked near the station.Prince George Citizen, 10 Oct 1929

The acquired assets of Vick Brothers were relaunched as Guilford Lumber Co. in 1939. Herb O. Vick (c.1883–?){{Cite web | url=http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1921&op=img&id=e002868790 |title =1921 Census|website=www.bac-lac.gc.ca}} owned, and Douglas (Doug) L. Abernethy (1909–83){{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/2de7aacd-9224-41f8-b733-7a71ef039179 |title =Death Certificate (Douglas Lachlan ABERNETHY)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} managed, the sawmill.Prince George Citizen, 21 Dec 1939{{sfn|PRC|1995|p=22}} The following year, they were charged with the theft of logs, owned by Red Mountain Lumber of Penny, that had been passing their log boom on the Fraser River. Remanded to a higher court, the defendants were found not guilty.Prince George Citizen: 27 Jun 1940 & 3 Oct 1940 In 1941, Abernethy and Frank Belanger, his logging camp foreman, bought new logging equipment in Vancouver.Prince George Citizen, 31 Jul 1941 Months later, Belanger changed employers and moved his family to Bend,Prince George Citizen: 13 & 20 Nov 1941 the same month as the Abernethy family moved into their new six-roomed house.Prince George Citizen, 27 Nov 1941 The following spring, Abernethy was fined for a violation of the Wage Act,Prince George Citizen, 16 Apr 1942 and mill worker John Babich lost two fingers when his mitt caught in the rollers.Prince George Citizen, 2 Apr 1942 That year, two carloads of surplus machinery were shipped from Hutton.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=26}} {{anchor|CHowarth}}

In 1943, Charles Howarth (1885–1994){{Cite web | url=https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10147-75509563/charles-howarth-in-billiongraves |title = Grave & kin (Charles HOWARTH)|website=www.myheritage.com}} of Calgary, who managed the Hutton mill during the 1920s, purchased the Guilford one,{{sfn|PRC|1995|p=22}}Prince George Citizen: 24 Jun 1943, 18 May 1944 & 1 Jan 1948 with Doug Abernethy remaining as manager.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=17}} The next year, logger Gustave Peterson (c.1886–1944){{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Genealogy/Results?search=Search&as.type_death=true&as.registration_num=1944-09-650216 |title =Death Certificate (Gus PETERSON)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} died in a work-related accident around Mile 61.Prince George Citizen, 12 Oct 1944 The Guilford logging camp at Mile 61.4 comprised several windowless bunkhouses, a cookhouse, and horse barn. Another camp existed at Mile 62.5,{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=12}} where the then unmarried Frank Wagner worked 1943-44,{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|pp=19–21}} and during a subsequent winter.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=23}}

Clarence Riggs (1933–45) of Penny,{{Cite web | url=http://geneofun.on.ca/names/photo/2529246 |title=Cemetery Project (Clarence George RIGGS)|website=www.geneofun.on.ca}} employed as a flunky in the mill cookhouse, slipped while walking on the log boom. The Fraser River was unsuccessfully dragged, but the body was found by Joseph Kobra of Penny 12 days later in the millpond at Penny.Prince George Citizen: 12 & 19 Jul 1945 The deceased was transported by rail to Prince George for the funeral. In recognition of Clarence belonging to the recently formed Penny Scout troop, the pallbearers were Prince George Boy Scouts in full uniform, as were other attendees.Prince George Citizen, 26 Jul 1945

Guilford Sawmills was subsequently fined for violating the control of employment of children provisions.Prince George Citizen, 23 Aug 1945 Months later, in an unrelated incident, the company was fined for contravening the National Selective Service regulations.Prince George Citizen, 3 Jan 1946

In 1947, the mill resumed operationsPrince George Citizen, 31 Jul 1947 after a new boiler plant was installed.Prince George Citizen, 17 Jul 1947 The replacement mill engineer was joined by his family,Prince George Citizen, 15 May 1947 and a new bookkeeper commenced in the office.Prince George Citizen, 22 May 1947 The Howarths, the owners, were residents from 1948{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=22}} until the mill closed permanently the following year. Initially, the horses were sold,Prince George Citizen: 10 & 17 Nov 1949; & 6, 10 & 13 Sep 1951 then the equipment from the 25,000-foot capacity mill was advertised.Prince George Citizen: 29 Sep 1952 to 9 Oct 1952 The boilers and planers remained unsold, but H. Liere acquired the sawmill, which he shipped to Babine Lake.Prince George Citizen, 8 Dec 1955

Charles Howarth died at 108 in Calgary. His wife Jessie lived to 101, making them the only husband-and-wife centenarians on the centenarians' list for West Kootenay-Boundary.{{Cite web | url=https://www.nelsonstar.com/news/centenarians-of-west-kootenayboundary |title = Centenarians of West Kootenay/Boundary|website=www.nelsonstar.com}} He contacted typhoid in 1918, quit smoking in the late 1940s, and retained a sharp mind into his later years.{{Cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19860106&id=aL8yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nO8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5971,2123191&hl=en |title = Ottawa Citizen, 6 Jan 1986 |website=www.news.google.com}}

A store and mail collection point opened prior to 1920,{{sfn|PRC|1995|p=167}} however the latter was short lived and recipients thereafter collected their mail from Penny.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=6}} In 1945, the Guilford population comprised 47 family units,Prince George Citizen, 17 Oct 1946 likely its peak. Owing to the limited social opportunities, residents attended the dances at Penny,Prince George Citizen, 26 Aug 1948 and the wives, such as Irene Abernethy (1907–86),{{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/3d6bffdf-a664-4a63-a7f5-57b4d15b9dc2 |title =Death Certificate (Irene Evelyn ABERNETHY)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} Mary Parranto, and Marie Wagner, participated in the women's functions at that location.Prince George Citizen: 13 Nov 1941, 3 Jun 1943, 29 Jun 1944 & 12 Aug 1948 Occasionally, the Penny women would visit Guilford.Prince George Citizen, 8 Oct 1951

Commuters often rode bicycles adapted for railway line travel,{{Cite web | url=http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/hanging-from-a-railway-bridge-with-one-hand-carrying-a-heavy-bicycle-in-the-other |title = Bicycle railroad attachment |website=www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com}} which were prone to jump the track on bends.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=12}} Authorized employees regularly used the sawmill's motorized speeder for shopping, collecting the mail or social visits to Penny. Usually braking in time, on three known occasions, it collided with oncoming trains. Frances Wilson, Penny school teacher 1943–45,Prince George Citizen: 19 Aug 1943 & 5 Jul 1945 ruptured her appendix on leaping from the speeder during one close encounter.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|pp=15–16}}

Philip (1904–90){{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/da7b1cc4-d4e7-493b-b60a-b61031ad3ed6 |title =Death Certificate (Philip Rudolph PARRANTO)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} & Mary (1908–65){{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/6c6c89ea-b5c8-460f-8cb6-8864c5ad48b3 |title =Death Certificate (Mary PARRANTO)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}}Prince George Citizen, 24 Dec 1965 Parranto were residents. Their children were Gordon (1927–74),{{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/645dd5aa-8887-48fb-a20e-91ae6092bf51 |title =Death Certificate (Gordon Vernie Joseph PARRANTO)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}} Theodore (Ted) (1928–92),{{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/2a3b147c-c407-4631-b376-d3b48c9bad9f |title =Death Certificate (Theodore Williams PARRANTO)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}}Prince George Citizen, 8 Jul 1992 Anna Mae (1933–83),{{Cite web | url=http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/d9b649ec-b24e-44c5-a92f-ad21a8d6b47d |title =Death Certificate (Anna Mae TURNER)|website=www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca}}Prince George Citizen, 17 Feb 1983 Fern Marie, and Jim (fostered). Steam engineer Philip relocated for work to Prince George in 1945,Prince George Citizen, 28 Dec 1990 but the family remained. The younger ones attended school in Penny.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|pp=14 & 22}} Gordon and Ted worked for the mill,{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=27}} but Ted came and went with work.Prince George Citizen: 17 Jul 1947 & 8 Jul 1992{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=66}} Borrowed without permission, and hurriedly abandoned on the main line near Penny, the speeder was ejected from the rails on colliding with a train. Gordon, the offender, was sentenced to three months imprisonment or a $100 fine.Prince George Citizen, 30 Sep 1948 The daughters relocated on marriage,Prince George Citizen: 19 Apr 1951, 24 Apr 1952, & 14 & 17 Sep 1953{{sfn|PRC|1995|p=191}} but Fern's first one was short lived.{{Cite web | url=https://newspaperarchive.com/hamilton-daily-news-journal-feb-20-1956-p-47 |title = Hamilton Daily News, 20 Feb 1956 |website=www.newspaperarchive.com}} The family had left the area before the mid-1950s.

Millwright Frank Wagner (1906–90),{{Cite web | url=http://geneofun.on.ca/names/photo/1535397 |title=Cemetery Project (Frank J. WAGNER)|website=www.geneofun.on.ca}} wife Marie (1912–2000),{{Cite web | url=http://geneofun.on.ca/names/photo/1535398 |title=Cemetery Project (Marie WAGNER)|website=www.geneofun.on.ca}} and her daughter Kaye, became the sole residents and caretakers.Prince George Citizen: 5 May 1955, 27 Oct 1955 & 22 Nov 1956{{sfn|PRC|1995|p=23}} Except when a cougar was on the prowl, Kaye walked alone to school in Penny.{{Cite web | url=https://search.nbca.unbc.ca/uploads/r/northern-bc-archives-special-collections-1/5/4/c/54cd3597ef6df6046b125d266b2bcf14063fbc6ecf186f8dfef4362057961a56/2017.06.2.44_May_Jean_OCR_.pdf#page=19 | last=May |first=Jean |title =Upper Fraser Historical Geography Project Transcript |year=2000 |pages=12–13 & epilogue |website=www.nbca.unbc.ca}} After graduating high school in Prince George, she left in 1953.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=25}} When the Wagners relocated in 1956, they created a ghost town.Prince George Citizen, 29 Nov 1956

In 1959, Frank Fortin (1927–2019) from Ferndale{{Cite web | url=https://www.columbiavalleypioneer.com/obituaries/frank-fortin |title =Obituary (Frank FORTIN)|website=www.columbiavalleypioneer.com}} bought the Mile 61.4Prince George Citizen, 29 Aug 1960 camp from the government. He burned the dilapidated buildings, and constructed a sawmill, garage, cookhouse, bunkhouse, and finally the family houses. Beginning production in December 1959, the output soon increased to 30,000-35,000 feet daily. After burning down in a March 1960 fire, the mill was rebuilt.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|pp=85, 91 &97}}

The mill's generating plant supplied electricity for the whole community until 10:00 p.m. each evening.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|pp=86 & 88}} Having electricity and running cold water in the two-bedroomed family houses was an uncommon luxury compared with many East Line communities.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|pp=86–87}} The camp comprised four families with children and about a dozen men.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|pp=84 & 87}} An ice skating rink in winter, and a large above ground pool, bikes and swings in summer, provided entertainment for the children,{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|pp=86 & 90}} while correspondence courses satisfied their schooling requirements.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|pp=87 & 89}}

With passenger trains arriving in the middle of the night, a lantern placed upon the track alerted the locomotive engineer to passengers huddled in the simple shelter at the flag stop.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=87}} After the weekend, several employees returned to work from Prince George, or intermediate stops, aboard the early morning way freight, {{sfn|Boudreau|2003|pp=88, 92 & 95}} and groceries ordered from the city arrived by the same means. {{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=88}} Families kept their ice cream in the cookhouse freezer.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=9}}

The Fortin Sawmill received a merit award for safety in 1965.Prince George Citizen, 20 May 1965 Purchased in 1968 by Alan MacDonald, the mill ran for only two months, before its resale to Wilf Leboe (1919–2010).Prince George Citizen, 2 Nov 2010 Never reopening, the property was sold as a hunting lodge, and the mill equipment shipped to Crescent Spur.{{sfn|Boudreau|2003|p=101}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite web | url=http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/fedora/repository |title =Prince George archival newspapers |website=www.pgpl.ca}}
• {{cite book |last=Boudreau |first=Clarence & Olga |title=Into the Mists of Time |year=2003 |publisher=Self-published |isbn=0973076917 }}
• {{cite book |last=PRC |title=A Penny for Your Thoughts... |year=1995 |publisher=The Penny Reunion Committee }}
• {{cite book |last=Olson |first=Raymond |title=Ghost Towns on the East Line |year=2014 |publisher=Self-published |isbn=9780986924316 }}

Category:Robson Valley

Category:Ghost towns in British Columbia

Category:Railway points in the Regional District of Fraser–Fort George

Category:Railway stations in Canada opened in 1914

Category:Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations

Category:Canadian National Railway stations in British Columbia