Northern Railway of Canada

The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a predecessor to the modern Canadian National Railway (CNR). Several sections of the line are still used by CNR and GO Transit.

First known as the Toronto, Simcoe and Huron Railway, and then the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway, the aim was to provide a portage route from the upper Great Lakes at Collingwood to Toronto. The plan for the railway was largely executed by Frederick Chase Capreol who was fired as manager of the company the day before the ground broke.[1] Financial difficulties and a government bailout led to a reorganization of the company as the Northern Railway of Canada in 1859. The line saw three major expansions; North Grey Railway extended the original mainline to Meaford, the North Simcoe Railway ran to the port town of Penetanguishene, and the Muskoka Branch ran northeast to Gravenhurst. This last expansion would be the starting point for the Northern and Pacific Junction Railway, connecting to the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline outside of North Bay. In 1887, the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) gained a controlling interest, and the takeover was formalized in January 1888.

The line primarily served the port towns on Georgian Bay, where it faced increasing competition over the years. A combination of factors, including the Great Depression and the opening of a wider Welland Canal led to decreased use of the ports, and a fall in traffic. The closure of Collingwood Shipbuilding in 1986 led to the abandonment of the sections in Collingwood and to the west. The line is intact from Barrie all the way to Union Station, with the section between Toronto and Barrie used by GO Transit as the Barrie line. The Muskoka Junction has been combined with the Ontario Northland Railway to form CNR's mainline in the area north of Orillia. Section west of Collingwood now form the Georgian Trail. The Meaford station was dismantled after 1960[2] and two stations along this section of the line remain:

Several sections of the line have been turned over to rail trail use. The section of the mainline from the western side of Collingwood to Meaford is now the high-quality 34 km Georgian Trail, which is being expanded towards Owen Sound as the Tom Thomson Trail. Sections from Collingwood to Stayner have a trail running beside them. The North Simcoe Railway now forms the 22.5 km Tiny Beaches Trail with sections south of this also in use.

• Craigleith Station - restored and now a museum
• Thornbury Station - now a retail store on Highway 26

History

Locomotives

The first locomotive of the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Union Railroad was named Lady Elgin and built in Portland, Maine. It was named for Mary Lambton, second wife of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, the 42nd Governor General of Canada (1847–1854); she had also lifted a ceremonial silver spade for the sod-turning ceremony of the construction of the railway at Front Street and Simcoe Street on 15 October 1851. Because of the high customs duties and shipping costs for the locomotive, executives of the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Union Railroad decided that subsequent locomotives would be built in Ontario. The James Good foundry Toronto Locomotive Works, located at the corner of Queen and Yonge Street, would manufacture nine locomotives for the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron railway at an average cost of $5000. The first of these was named Toronto, built in its namesake city and the first locomotive built in Canada or in any colony of the British Empire. Commissioned in February 1853, its construction was completed by 16 April. Over five days, it was rolled along temporary wooden rails on Queen Street and York Street, and on 26 April it was lifted onto the new OSH railway tracks on Front Street. Torontonians would monitor the locomotive's progress from the foundry to the Front Street tracks, and the event was the subject of a later artistic rendering. Its first duty was three weeks later, transporting passengers and freight between the city of Toronto and the community of Machell's Corner, now known as Aurora. This first duty is commemorated by a plaque installed in 1953 at Union Station in Toronto. The Toronto and other locomotives were scrapped after Canadian railways converted from the 5'6" track gauge to the 4'81/2" American standard gauge starting in the 1870s.

Finances

The railway earned revenues from passenger, freight, postal, and sundry other sources. The total earnings for 1 January to 7 July 1860 were $166,108.64, and for 1 January to 6 July 1861 were $210,177.46.

Recognition of the Ontario, Simcoe & Huron Railway

In 2010, the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway was inducted to the North America Railway Hall of Fame. The OS&HR was recognized for its contribution to railroading as a "Community, Business, Government or Organization" in the "National" category (pertaining specifically to the area in and around St. Thomas, Ontario.)

See also

• History of rail transport in Canada

Further reading

External links

• Ontario Plaques - Northern Railway Company of Canada