Paper short abstract:

The train trestle crossing Keltic Drive in Sydney River in Nova Scotia changed from a non-place associated with morning commutes to place expressing rivalries between local secondary schools. This paper examines the controversy surrounding the painting of the trestle, a local rite of passage.

Paper long abstract:

In the booming economy of the post-war years, Canada underwent an infrastructure upgrade, including the establishment of a national highway system. This coincided with the suburbanization of both large metropolitan centers and smaller cities. One such upgrade was a train trestle crossing Keltic Drive in the community of Sydney River, built to span the new road leading to the new bridge spanning the eponymous river, a road which lead to the new secondary school accommodating the growing suburban population. Within a decade, the major employers of the area—the steel plant and the coal mines—announced their imminent closures and the region entered a period of decline. Within that context, the trestle bridge, an anonymous and utilitarian piece of design under which students travelled every day, began to be painted, first employing little more than graffiti and subsequently performing elaborate, planned, and sanctioned designs. It marked not only institutional affiliation but individual passages, from send-offs to beloved administrators and teachers to spontaneous shrines marking the untimely death of youth in the community. The practice continued until the end of the last decade, when concerns over liability shut down any official approval, although it has continued sporadically ever since. This paper examines both the history of the controversy surrounding the painting of the trestle and the negotiation of the idea of 'tradition': within a region whose economy has largely switched to the touristic marketing of both natural landscape and traditional (musical) practices, how does the community reconcile a counter-hegemonic non-legal practice?