The Ice Industry

The Ice Industry. . , In the railway steam era, spring-fed Lake Simcoe was thought to be the purest body of fresh water in Canada, and harvesting ice became a massive industry. Lake Simcoe Ice was exported, much by rail, directly to urban destinations far away from the lake, including the N-E United States. The rail system itself used ice as a coolant for passenger cars, and for refrigerator cars called reefers, which hauled perishable foods. Although Belle Ewart, Lefroy and Allandale had large retail ice businesses, all serviced by the railway, ice was harvested from various other locations on the lake beginning in late winter when the surface was roughly from 2' to 3' thick. The surface was scraped and the ice fields marked, in a grid pattern outlining the blocks. , Originally it was cut by hand, but the process became mechanized with saws driven by steam and later internal combustion engines. Large areas were cut into blocks, then the cut areas were pried away and taken to shore by teams of horses via channels cut in the ice. Powered conveyor belts carried the individual ice blocks to large storage sheds right at the lake's edge or directly into railway box or refrigerator cars. In the sheds, ice was covered in sawdust to reduce melting. From here it was delivered to both urban and rural distribution points to be used by business and households. Alternatively it was loaded onto horse drawn sleighs to be taken inland and stored for local use. The ice industry provided winter work for many local farm families. Some men worked on the ice, providing labour and teams of horses. Others harvested ice for themselves, neighbours and nearby businesses. Local ice was delivered all summer, especially to cottagers. The ability to make artificial ice shut down the industry by the mid-1950s. Excerpts from Ian Wilson's 2000 essay, Retail Ice Industry. , [other photo captions] , . By 1920, the CNR harvested between 40,000 to 50,000 tons of ice from Kempenfelt Bay to supply railway needs throughout Ontario. For direct shipment without prior storage, a 360' long platform allowed nine boxcars to be loaded simultaneously. , . The ice was cleared of snow before being marked and cut into blocks. Pictured here is a horse-drawn plow on Kempenfelt Bay. , Acknowledgements

. Generously supported by Jon and Bill Fell, in recognition of railroaders Brandy Fell, Harry Fell and Aub Hooper , men who worked on the Allandale Division during the steam era. , . Ian Wilson