Railway history unearthed

Construction workers have unearthed remnants of the old railway line that ran through Hamilton.

They came across two pieces of timber as well as a six-inch metal spike at the junction of Par-la-Ville Road and Church Street while conducting trenching work on the road.

The spike would have been used to attach the track to the timber when the old railway line was laid. Experts say that the recently-discovered remnants may have remained untouched since the late 1940s when the line was ripped up and the carriages were sent to Guyana.

The National Museum has asked the Corporation of Hamilton to hand over any of the artifacts that remain intact so that they can be preserved.

Edward Benevides, Chief Operating Officer and Secretary to the City of Hamilton, told the Bermuda Sun engineers had discovered all sorts of objects from anchors to valves under the city’s streets over the years.

He added: “During the trenching project that is currently taking place on Par-la-Ville Road, workers found pieces of the railway track that ran along the street.

“The find was not unusual, as we know most of the track was removed and the area paved over, once the decision was made that trains would no longer run in Bermuda. Due to the nature of the trenching we weren’t able to salvage any of the track but we do have a spike, which held the track to the timber railway ties.

“Hamilton has been the capital of Bermuda since 1815 and I’m sure there is a lot of history buried beneath our streets.

“In the recent past we found a valve. We have no idea where it came from, how it was used or why it was in the location we found it.

“A large anchor was found in No. 5 car park area and it is still in our possession. Past digging has unearthed old pipe networks that we didn’t know were there.

“These discoveries have often led to delays with trenching as we often have to work around the piping.”