Who knew that railway stations were used for racing pigeons. Having photographed a 35-mm negative at the Queen's University Archives, I'd long wondered...why were these birds on the platform at Kingston's Outer Station? (two views of the negative top and bottom - Queen's University Archives, George E.O. Lilley Fonds, V142.1-39) The photo was taken on September 7, 1963.
Another Whig clipping from August 28, 1961 describes a similar release (two photos below). Pigeons from various pigeon-racing clubs in London, Kitchener, Guelph and Toronto were released, under the auspices of the Canadian Homing Pigeon Union and the Kingston Homing Pigeon Club. Expected to be released the day before, weather conditions meant a one-day delay. Cloudy and rainy weather could make the birds disoriented and therefore unable to return 'home'. Special clocks were used by club members to record the time a particular pigeon arrived, based on leg-band information. Race distances were measured in the hundreds of miles, with pigeons released in groups of 10 or 15, often numbering in the hundreds. Birds on the platform west of the station:
Alfred Hitchcock would be pleased! Looking east to the station and mostly empty yard with Montreal Street houses in the background (above). Such deliveries by rail and releases at stations also took place in the U.S. and in Britain.
Here is a form letter sent to advise the station agent in a town where racing was to be held. The text suggests that the birds would be shipped to the station by train, and if necessary, returned the same way. Indeed, it was the station agent and staff who were responsible for releasing the pigeons to begin the race!
Look how the Whig cropped the railway-interest out of the original photo, illustrating how much better it is to use original negatives as source material, rather than the cropped, newsprint-y image that appears in the 'paper!
