A little-known but interesting example of Northern Ontario's history is the school on rails. By the 1920s, mining and forestry settlements were scattered along the
network of railway lines of Northern Ontario. A few towns had grown large
enough to pay for their own schools, but the outposts could not afford such
"luxury." In 1922, a North Bay school superintendent pushed for an experiment to
bring schools to these remote settlements by converting passenger rail cars into
classrooms. These cars contained desks, blackboards and books and a small
apartment for the teacher. After being on display at the Canadian National
Exhibition (a major fall fair) in Toronto, the first two cars left for northeastern
Ontario in 1926. For four days at a time, the cars rested at railway sidetracks in
the tiny communities. Children hiked or came by horse and sled several
kilometres for their education, and at night the school car became a place of
learning and social activity for adults. The experiment was so successful that
seven cars were in operation by 1938. However, during the 1950s extensive
highway construction turned many trackside towns into deserted settlements. In
1967, one of the last school cars was shuttled into a Toronto rail yard. But that was
not to be its final stop. The people of Clinton, Ontario, purchased the well-worn
car to honour their fellow citizen Fred Sloman. Sloman, the car's last teacher,
taught on railway cars from 1926 until his retirement in 1965. Today the restored
car tells its story of Northern Ontario life, as a museum in Clinton.*
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