BOLES, DEREK ALLAN

Died: Tuesday, February 23, 2021, Age 71

Derek Boles was instrumental in making the Toronto Railway Museum happen. From 2001 to 2021 he worked as a Director and Chief Historian of the Toronto Railway Historical Association. He worked intensely with the core development team and served as the second President of the TRHA. His greatest contribution was as chief historian where he contributed immensely to the building of our knowledge of Toronto and Canadian railway history which he and the TRHA have distributed through many different channels. His discipline and insistence on “getting the facts right” when publishing railway history ensured that the history was reliable and credible. He provided great leadership to a younger group of railway historians who have emerged in the past decade or two.

Here you will find a more formal broader biography:

Born and raised in Montreal, Derek attended Ryerson University (then Ryerson Polytechnical Institute) and enrolled in Photo Arts in 1967, then switched to Radio and Television Arts in 1968. Derek was a fraternity brother (Rho Alpha Kappa) and while at Ryerson was contributing editor of the Eye Opener.

After Ryerson, Derek studied at Trent and Queens Universities and in 1974 joined the York Region District School Board where he taught English and Film History for 30 years. He rose to become a department head.

Derek was an avid historian and railway buff. In 2001, he became chief historian for the Toronto Railway Historical Association and was also co-manager of the Toronto Railway Museum. In 2008, he chaired the Union Station Revitalization Public Advisory Group. He also conducted railway tours of Union Station and the museum to the delight of over 2,000 railway enthusiasts.

Derek’s love and knowledge of railways yielded numerous articles on the history of Canadian railways. In 2009, he wrote and published a book titled Toronto’s Railway Heritage. Over the years, Derek amassed a large collection of books and memorabilia on the history of railroads in North America. This collection has been gifted to the Toronto Railway Museum.

Derek was also a board member of Heritage Toronto and he initiated the placement of several plaques recognizing historic sites in Toronto. One such building that he was so excited about was in Yorkville at a famous restaurant club called the Riverboat where Gordon Lightfoot and other famous musicians showed up for the plaque unveiling.

Derek loved the outdoors and from 1972 to 1990 spent his summers as a camp counsellor and head of the tripping programs at two summer camps in the state of Maine – Kamp Kohut and Camp Waziyatah. He delighted many children who were raised in the city with the joy of nature on camping and canoeing trips in the great New England wilderness.

Derek was the eldest son of the late Albert Arnold Boles of St. Stephen, NB and Joyce Deirdre Boles (Riggs) of Montreal. He is survived by his brother David, of Portsmouth, NH and his nephew Michael Boles (Kennebunkport, ME) and niece Heather Boles and family (Vienna, VA).

We will all miss Derek’s incredible wit and dry sense of humour.

Support Derek’s Legacy

Derek has written numerous published articles on topics in Canadian railway history. The Toronto Railway Museum holds these articles as part of its collection and would like to digitize these pieces so they can be shared with railway and history enthusiasts around the world. If you would like to support this project, please visit our CanadaHelps page and consider making a donation. If you would like to donate using another method, please contact us at manager@trha.ca or 416-214-9229.