On The Road!

Besides a few specific towns with multiple scenes (Toronto, Bolton and Stouffville), there were a number on one-off stops throughout southern Ontario. From a public school, to a country market, a roadside payphone and of course that infamous train-jacking, with the help of a handful of awesome readers, we were able to pinpoint almost every location. So let’s hit the road!

The School
Let’s first talk about the school Martin was kidnapped from – the scene where Steckert gets collared by the cops and grabs the first kid in sight, young Martin. You’d think it would be an easy location to find, but it stumped me. I even contacted both of the actors who played the cops in the scene (Philip Aiken and Michael Millar), but even they didn’t remember the name of the school or even the town it was located in. It was really frustrating…how hard could it be?! I even resorted to sending a clip of the film to The Toronto School Board. Wouldn’t you know it, the answer was sitting right there on IMDB!

I was so excited to finally learn the school location, after being stumped for over 15 years! Now that I knew the name–Blantyre Public School in Scarborough–it was time to do some research. I quickly felt defeated after learning the entire school was torn down and rebuilt in 1993 after irreparable termite damage. The only bricks remaining from the original building were used for this gate:

I was happy to find a new friend on Facebook named Helen, who actually went to Blantyre back in the day. She send me a couple pictures and even remembered the movie’s filming there!

 I was a kid back then. I lived right across from the school. My house was near there. I remember when they filmed the police car chase scene. They kept going up and down the road. I remember Richard Harris being filmed.my house was near there. I remember when they filmed the police car chase scene. They kept going up and down the road. I remember Richard Harris being filmed.

Here’s the school scene for your enjoyment:

 

 

 

Highway Robbery
Next, let’s go to the gas station that Steckert holds up. It’s a pretty comical scene actually. However this was such a small, old, out-of-the-way and nondescript little wooden market, I never expected I’d ever be able to I.D. it.

Never, during my entire Martin’s Day “location search” did I ever dream of figuring out where this little gas station was located, but lo and behold, my buddy Clayton (who I first introduced in the Bolton post) was able to I.D. the store and its location: The Kilworthy General Store in Kilworthy, Ontario. Here’s a few photos of the store I found online…

Special thanks to Clayton for helping me find the store! You can learn more about the store and the surrounding area HERE. And here’s that scene at the Kilworthy General Store:

 

 

 

The Phone Call
Clayton blew my mind again when he sent me the location to the roadside phone booth where young Martin called his parents. Another amazing score!

Here’s that phone call:

 

 

 

What the Hekkla?
There were so few real, physical “signs” in the movie that would hint to actual filming locations. I did manage to catch a half a second of a “Hekkla Road” street sign, leading up to the police’s “highway interception” scene. But was this an actual real street?

Google Maps in 2005 were still very rudimentary, and I remember not being able to locate any “Hekkla Road” while doing research for my trip to Ontario. It was by pure coincidence, and an amazing streak of good luck, that my girlfriend’s eagle-eye spotted the small street sign that read “Hekkla Road,” as we flew down the highway at 50 mph. How she spotted this tiny lane while we were cruising the back roads, I have no idea–we weren’t even looking for it, when she screamed out “HEKKLAAAAA!!!” I could believe we (she, actually) just happen to spot it. What were the chances?!

We ended up driving down Hekkla Road and it turned out to be one of the most scenic country roads we had ever experienced. We even saw a tiny cemetery from the 1800’s along the way. It was definitely a highlight! 

Here’s that scene off of Hekkla Road:

The Train
For many, the most memorable scene from Martin’s Day was the infamous “stick ’em up” train robbery. And when it comes to tracking down specific filming locations, I didn’t even begin to try and look for the the railroad crossing where Steck and Martin pulled off the train heist: An old country road at a train crossing? It doesn’t get more generic than that. So you’ll appreciate my excitement when this note arrived in my email box:

Not sure if you are still using this {email] address but parts of the film were shot north of Havelock, Ontario south of the Nephton mine on the CP Rail line. The Hijacking was filmed at Peterborough County Road #44’s crossing with the CPR Nepthon sub at mile marker 10. My grandfather worked on the railway at the time on this train and the line is still used daily for the mines. Kosh/Kashabog Lake and Stoney Lake are lakes nearby that you might look at for other sites as well as 3 or 4 lakes on the mines properties.

I found your site Google searching Martin’s Day. I was looking for online clips of the film. I’ll have to transfer my VHS copy to digital or break out the VCR. I haven’t watched it in a while but I remember the train was southbound from mine to Havelock when they hijack it, and I think it was some old MLW/ALCO Century units (locomotives). Things were busy around here for the filming but I haven’t found any other info other than the railway stuff for now.

Also I included a couple photos from this spring at the Cnty Rd 44 crossing and one taken just south of it likely by my grandfather or someone local during the filming.
 
John Blakely

How awesome is this picture!? What a treasure!