While there is active engineering and construction on several segments of the B2B, the big news this month is the mystery pyramid structures found on Dexter-Chelsea Road during trail construction.
The Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative thanked everyone who provided input on what these structures might be. Based on information from numerous people, including the Downer Family who purchased the land in the 1820’s from then President Andrew Jackson and still live along this trail segment, and the informative video link Nathan Dawson provided from Chelsea Grain, experts now believe these concrete structures were foundations for the water tower that was in this area.
The water was taken from 4 Mile Lake and stored in the water tower, which was used by steam engines. The unique part of this is that this segment of track had a belly loading on the fly “track pan,” which allowed steam engines to load water without having to stop.
This was much more efficient than stopping to pick up water and allowed the train to carry less water and more payload.
HWPI plan to reuse these concrete structures in some way and we are looking at an educational opportunity in this area too!
