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Diorama at Blairton Mine

a black and white photograph of diorama reproducing a rare photograph. in the foreground planks of lumber lean against one of four ore cars on rails. Beyond is a steam engine with a tender full of lumber and a flatbed. Scattered on and around these are a dozen workers posing for the picture.

Credit: Diorama & photograph, George Parker, 2015

Volunteer George Parker has built and operates a 1/20 scale model of the Cobourg & Peterborough Railway in its various incarnations. One of these was the line which brought iron ore from a mine at Blairton near Marmora, Ontario to the Trent River.

There are two rare photos of that railway taken between 1868 and 1881. George reproduced each as a diorama using his commercially made engine and hand-made ore cars.

The model railway runs at Cobourg’s Sifton-Cook Heritage Centre from mid-May to mid-October.