The Train House

The title Train was the family name and had nothing to do with railways!

The house stands on Lot 3, west of Dixon Street. The next lot, Lot #4, is very marshy and has always been part of the property. It was created in the Kinmount Town survey of 1877 and purchased by Fred Train in 1877. The Train family had moved around a bit but came from Toronto. Fred Train’s profession was listed as “contractor”, and no doubt he built the brick structure himself. Two wings were added at the back as the Train family grew to 8 children. There were 5 boys, and 4 of them lived in Kinmount for a time. Amos Train was an university-trained engineer, who later worked for the Ministry of Works as a bridge engineer. George Train was the Kinmount postmaster 1894-1933.His first store was a small business at the east side of main street at the bridge (lot 1) and he operated a bookstore and stationery store in conjunction with the post office. He also had a small private library. You paid a 50 cent fee which entitled the reader to one book. The book could be exchanged at no charge for another book. The fee was later raised to $1. In 1917, the store was burned down to be replaced by a larger structure. Jack Train was a town butcher before moving into the undertaker business. His parlour was in the basement of the Salvation Army barracks beside the bridge.

The Train’s sold the big house in 1922 to Henry Coben. Over the next years, the Train house changed hands many times. Owners included Charles Cummings, Walter Williamson, Ernie Anderson, Bill Brown Sr, Norman Russell and David & Teresa Tait. The house has been updated several times.