CBS teen is all aboard when it comes to railway history

Darwin Anderson of Manuels, Conception Bay South says the crown jewel of his railway collection is this fully functional railway crossing sign. Anderson bought the parts piecemeal and wired the sign himself. Mark Squibb photo

By Mark Squibb

Darwin Anderson, 15, boasts a unique collection perhaps unlike any other in Conception Bay South.
Over the years, the railway aficionado has amassed an assemblage of railway signs, memorabilia, and artifacts.
“I’ve always loved trains,” said Anderson. “As a kid, I would always go into the railway museum in St. John’s. And one day when I was there, I got talking to one of the pensioners that used to work for the railway. And he told me about a man, George Jarvis, who lived in Topsail and had a double car garage full of model trains of the entire Newfoundland railway, from St. John’s all the way to Port aux Basques. It was incredible. And then for Christmas that same year, he (Jarvis) gave me a train set of one of his locomotives and a loop of track. That’s what really got me started with model trains. And it’s sort of evolved from model trains laid out on a table to the actual antiques and artifacts themselves.”
The crown jewel of his collection is a functioning crossing signal. Anderson wired the electrical work himself.
He first saw one at the Avondale Railway Museum.
“I never would have imagined I would ever have one myself,” said Anderson.
He bought the parts piecemeal, acquiring the crossbars first. He found a well priced bell for sale in Idaho, of all places, and, after wrangling an even better price, had the bell shipped to the province. All seemed for naught though when he couldn’t get the bell to ring when hooked up to an electric system, but he was able to swap his bell for the bell at the Avondale museum.
“And so now, I have the ‘X’ sign, and bell, both from Newfoundland,” said Anderson. “I would love to have everything be from Newfoundland, if possible. So then, I had to get lights. I tried everywhere I could, and talked with a lot of experts, and they said, ‘Buddy I don’t know if you’re going to set a set of lights here in the province for a reasonable price.’”
Unable to find a set locally, Anderson settled for a set of lights from Saskatchewan, happy enough to be able to buy lights in Canada.
Once the lights arrived, Anderson had the crossing signal – a rarity in the province – up and running within a week.
“To my knowledge, this is one of maybe two or three on display,” said Anderson. “The rest are either in bits or in the hands of collectors … My pop will sometimes have his friends over, and their eyes light up as soon as they see this. It brings back so many memories from their childhood… When I turn it on, they get even more excited.”
Anderson is looking to grow his collection.
“I’ve have had a lot of nice people and friends that I’ve made along the way reach out to me and say, “I have this, would you like to have it?’ or ‘Hey, I found this in my basement, and I know you love trains, we would like for you to have it.”
One such friend is Kenneth Pieroway, author of both Streetcars of St. John’s and Trains of Newfoundland.
“He’s been very kind to me, and very generous, and has given me a couple of signs,” said Anderson. “The most notable is the original sign from Stephenville Crossing for the station, so it’s a pretty rare one. It was given to him by the mayor of Stephenville. He was going to put it up in his cabin, but he never got around to it, and he said, ‘I’ll just give it to you. And the best part is that he even had an original picture, by him, of the sign with a locomotive in the background.”
Anderson has high praise for many other members of the railway community, among them Trevor Croft and J.P. Coady, who work together to preserve railway history for the next generation. His friend Cash Crewe of Glovertown is also an avid collector and railway aficionado.
Anderson said he would love to open his display in some official capacity some day, although he’s worried that if the artifacts were left in a public place, they would be vandalized.
“The end goal for me would be to have all this, either on this property or at a cabin somewhere, and I would love to have it open to the public and have people come in and see it,” said Anderson.
Meanwhile, his more immediate goal is to secure a railway trolley. The ultimate prize would be a railway car.
“It’s a big dream,” said Anderson. “But I never thought I would have a railway sign here. So, who knows how things will go?”
If anyone would like to reach Anderson with a question or donation, or just to chat about the railway, he can be reached at cnfan202@gmail.com.