Field Day to Montfort. 59 



which at 8.30 pulled out, each car being well filled with 

 people. 



The organizers of the excursion, in selecting Montfort 

 as the place for the field day, no doubt had in mind the 

 idea that a picturesque railway journey would be 

 appreciated, nor were they wrong in so judging. Montfort 

 is hidden far away amid the Laurentian Mountains, or 

 perhaps it would be better to say " was," as the Montfort 

 & Gatineau Colonization Eailway, has brought it within 

 a few hours' journey of this city. The village is some 

 thirteen miles from the junction of the above-mentioned 

 road with the C .P. E., and is situated on Lake St. 

 Francois-Xavier, a small body of water pent in by lofty 

 fir-clad hills. 



Although the railway had begun to rise soon after St. 

 Jerome had been left, it was on leaving Montfort Junction 

 that the real climbing commenced. The railway is 

 comparatively new. The grades are very steep, and it 

 was at first a matter of doubt to the officials of the line 

 whether such a heavy train could be taken up to Montfort 

 at all. However, with the aid of two locomotives, one 

 being of the old picturesque wood-burning type, the train 

 proceeded, and for the whole of the distance to Montfort 

 the car windows on each side presented a panorama of as 

 magnificent scenery as anyone could wish to see. There 

 were some of the party who, deeming it too tame to 

 admire the surroundings from the windows, preferred to 

 stand on the steps of the platforms, and really, in the 

 pure, fresh mountain air, it seemed preferable to do so to 

 staying in the cars. Up, up, went the train, ever upward, 

 winding round tortuous curves, passing over high embank- 

 ments, plunging into deep and narrow valleys, between 

 lofty hills, running through dense woods where the tree 

 branches almost touched the car-windows, till at length 

 the train stopped opposite the Montfort Industrial School, 

 about half a mile from the Montfort station, where the 



