Canada Atlantic Railway
Encyclopedia
John Rudolphus Booth
John Rudolphus Booth was a Canadian lumber and railway baron. He controlled logging rights for large tracts of forest land in central Ontario, and built a railway to extract his logs; and from Ottawa through to Vermont to export lumber and grain to the United States and...
, was for a short period an important participant in the development of trans-Canada railway systems at the end of the 19th century. It existed from 1879 to 1914, and ran trains from 1890 to 1905 (when its operations were transferred to the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
) from Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
through to Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
and from Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
west to Depot Harbour
Depot Harbour, Ontario
Depot Harbour is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was once the western terminus of the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway and a busy port on Georgian Bay.J.R...
on Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
. For a short period it handled up to 40% of the grain traffic from the Canadian west through to the St. Lawrence River valley.
J. R. Booth
The Canada Atlantic Railway was the creation of John Rudolphus BoothJohn Rudolphus Booth
John Rudolphus Booth was a Canadian lumber and railway baron. He controlled logging rights for large tracts of forest land in central Ontario, and built a railway to extract his logs; and from Ottawa through to Vermont to export lumber and grain to the United States and...
, the Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
-based lumber baron who, in the latter half of the 19th century, amassed timber rights approaching 7,000 square miles (18,000 km2) in Central and Northern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Booth not only was North America's largest timber-rights holder, but also the owner of the world's largest lumber mill at Chaudière Falls
Chaudière Falls
The Chaudière Falls are a set of cascades and waterfall in the centre of the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area in Canada where the Ottawa River narrows between a rocky escarpment on both sides of the river. The location is just west of the Chaudière Bridge, northwest of the Canadian War Museum at...
on the Ottawa River
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
just upstream from the capital. But the mill could never run at full capacity because the output could not be carried out of the yards fast enough. By building the Canada Atlantic Booth not only would be able to transport harvested logs from Central Ontario to his Ottawa mills, but also ship cut lumber eastward to American and European markets.
East to Vermont
In 1871 and 1872 a group headed by Donald MacdonaldDonald Alexander Macdonald
Donald Alexander Macdonald, PC was a Canadian politician.Born in 1817 in St. Raphael's, Ontario, Donald Alexander Macdonald studied at St Raphael's College under the first Catholic Bishop of Ontario, Alexander Macdonell...
(the brother of Ontario's first premier, Sir John Sandfield Macdonald
John Sandfield Macdonald
John Sandfield Macdonald, QC was the first Premier of the province of Ontario, one of the four founding provinces created at the confederation of Canada in 1867...
) created two railway companies to build tracks from Ottawa to Coteau Junction (the Montreal and City of Ottawa Junction Railway Co.) to tie into the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
/Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
, and to link the first line down to the Central Vermont Railway
Central Vermont Railway
The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec....
in the United States (the Coteau and Province Line Railway and Bridge Co.). The promoters failed to lay any track (mainly because the cost of bridging the St. Lawrence River at Coteau Landing) and in 1897 Booth, with William G. Perley
William Goodhue Perley
William Goodhue Perley was a businessman and member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1887 to 1890.He was born in Enfield, New Hampshire in 1820. His emigrant ancestor was Allan Perley. During the 1840s, he established a lumber business based on timber from northern New York...
of Ottawa and J. Gregory Smith
J. Gregory Smith
John Gregory Smith , railroad tycoon, politician, war-time governor of VermontSmith was born in St. Albans, Vermont, son of John and Maria Smith. The elder Smith was a pioneer railroad builder in Vermont, and a leading lawyer and public man of his generation...
of St. Albans, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, purchased the two failing companies and amalgamated them into a new firm — the Canada Atlantic Railway. By linking with Ottawa (and the areas serviced by intersecting rail lines) Canadian goods — especially Canadian lumber — could be shipped direct into the lucrative northeastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
market either for regional consumption or for export to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
from year-round Atlantic coast ports.
Between July 1881 and September 1882 track was laid from Ottawa to Coteau Junction
Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec
Coteau-du-Lac is a small town in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality....
, Quebec, and trains began to run regularly. Approval for a bridge across the St. Lawrence River was delayed (partly because of lobbying by the competition, partly from fears of the effect a bridge would have on river traffic), but a railway car ferry was in operation by early 1885 and freight could roll through to Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
(partly on Grand Trunk Railway track).
Permission to bridge the St. Lawrence finally came in 1887. Work began in May 1888 and was completed in February 1890. The bridge consisted of three sections on 16 piers. By taking advantage of river islands (2125 ft/648 m of track), only 3906 ft (1190 m) of bridging was built. The northern section included a 355 ft (108 m) swing bridge elevated 25 ft (7.6 m) above the water.
In Vermont the CAR connect with the Delaware and Hudson Railway
Delaware and Hudson Railway
The Delaware and Hudson Railway is a railroad that operates in the northeastern United States. Since 1991 it has been a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, although CPR has assumed all operations and the D&H does not maintain any locomotives or rolling stock.It was formerly an important...
, the Rutland Railroad
Rutland Railroad
The Rutland Railway was a small railroad in the northeastern United States, primarily in the state of Vermont but extending into the state of New York. The earliest ancestor of the Rutland, the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, was chartered in 1843 by the state of Vermont to build between Rutland...
, and the Central Vermont Railway
Central Vermont Railway
The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec....
. In 1897 a 3.1 mile (5.0 km) US connector section (the Province Line Railroad, later the Vermont and Province Line Railroad) made shipments into the United States even more efficient.
West to Depot Harbour
With the completion of the Ottawa/New England section, Booth began looking westward from Ottawa, not only to transport logs year-round to his Ottawa lumber mills, but also to take advantage of the increasing grain production on the prairies which was destined for Eastern North American and European markets. And by building through to an appropriate harbour on Georgian BayGeorgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
for the receiving of Great Lake steamers, Booth could avoid the large expense of building a land-line through the rough and uninhabited terrain north of Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
and Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
.
In 1888 Booth incorporated two railways (the Ottawa, Arnprior and Renfrew Railway Company, and the Ottawa and Parry Sound Railway Company) to build track from Ottawa to Lake Huron. Despite opposition from the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
and from Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
business interests, despite fires at his large Ottawa saw mill and the deaths of his partners, Booth pushed forward with his rail line.
Even though from September 1892 to May 1893 only the Ottawa to Arnprior
Arnprior, Ontario
Arnprior is a town in Renfrew County, in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located at the mouth of the Madawaska River, as it enters the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley...
section had been built (38 miles/61 km), by December 1896 the line was complete through Algonquin Park to Depot Harbour
Depot Harbour, Ontario
Depot Harbour is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was once the western terminus of the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway and a busy port on Georgian Bay.J.R...
on Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
, although another 16 months was needed to complete ancillary elements such as freight yards and port facilities. The first eastbound train, Depot Harbour to Ottawa, ran on 22 April 1898. In the process Booth had acquired (1892) the Parry Sound Colonization Railway which had started to build track westward from Scotia Junction towards Parry Sound
Parry Sound, Ontario
Parry Sound is a town in Central Ontario, Canada, located on Parry Sound on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay. Parry Sound is located south of Sudbury and north of Toronto. It is the seat of Parry Sound District, a popular cottage country region for Southern Ontario residents. It is also the...
.
Depot Harbour
The original plan for the Georgian BayGeorgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
terminus of the CAR was in the vicinity of Parry Sound
Parry Sound, Ontario
Parry Sound is a town in Central Ontario, Canada, located on Parry Sound on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay. Parry Sound is located south of Sudbury and north of Toronto. It is the seat of Parry Sound District, a popular cottage country region for Southern Ontario residents. It is also the...
. However speculation in the late 1880s and early 1890s drove up the price of the necessary terminus and port lands. In 1885, after he had visited the Parry Sound area, Booth chose instead to locate the terminus on undeveloped land on nearby Parry Island, occupied by Parry Island Indian Reservation (No. 16). Under pressure from the federal Department of Indian Affairs
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
The Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for policies relating to Aboriginal peoples...
, the local band that autumn surrendered the necessary 315.5 acres (128 ha) for the rail access, terminus, port facilities and residences. (A further 110 acres/44.5 ha were purchased in 1899.)
It should also be remembered, as regards the choice of the terminus, that Depot Harbour was one of the best natural harbours on the Great Lakes and its choice as terminus can stand on its own merits.
Out of the brush the CAR carved a town site and port — waterfront freight sheds, a 1,000,000 bushel (36,370 m3) grain elevator, wharves, water towers, pumping stations, offices, a bunk house, hotel, over 100 houses, a community centre, a school, and several churches. (The 1901 census recorded 576 inhabitants in the village, plus 231 on the reservation.)
A swing bridge over the channel between Parry Island and the mainland at Rose Point allowed commercial boats to continue to ply the waterway.
The Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
closed business in Depot Harbour on 30 May 1953. All the remaining inhabitants of the village moved out and the buildings were either demolished or left to disintegrate. However, the track from the main line remained, and from 1959 to 1979 iron ore from Northern Ontario was loaded at Depot Harbour into lake boats. The workers commuted from Parry Sound.
Great Lakes shipping lines
In 1898 Booth created the Canada Atlantic Transit Company to operate steamships on the Great LakesGreat Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
from Depot Harbour
Depot Harbour, Ontario
Depot Harbour is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was once the western terminus of the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway and a busy port on Georgian Bay.J.R...
to Fort William (now Thunder Bay) and (in 1889) the Canada Atlantic Transit Company of the United States (1889) to operate between Depot Harbour and American ports such as Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
.
The companies were sold along with the railway in 1905 to the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
(later absorbed into the Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
). The American company was voluntarily dissolved in 1948, and the charter for the Canadian company was allowed to lapse in 1950.
During their early years the ships of the transit companies (and other vessels that they chartered) regularly carried goods between the upper Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
and Depot Harbour
Depot Harbour, Ontario
Depot Harbour is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was once the western terminus of the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway and a busy port on Georgian Bay.J.R...
, linking the railway in Eastern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
with other lines from the West terminating at Great Lake ports. Overall east-bound tonnage far exceeded west-bound tonnage (around 4:1), but Booth was able to make a profit on the ships during the few years that he owned them. After the sale to the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
, profits turned to losses and the Transit Companies declined in importance.
Statistics
- Grain and Lumber freight, 1899-1902:
Grain (bushels) Lumber (board feet)
1899 12,999,612 224,267,000
1900 15,053,238 374,906,000
1901 19,301,281 231,869,000
1902 19,038,924 311,885,460
- In the 1899 season Depot Harbour handled 38.4% of all grain shipped via Great Lakes rail ports, and 51.2% of all western grain exported from Montreal.
- Between 1899 and 1914, grain traffic averaged 13,084,483 bushels (475,866 m3) per year.
- Between 1987 and 1095, lumber traffic averaged 294,272,203 board feet (694,405 m3) per year.
- Between 1897 and 1914, passenger traffic averaged 419,139 people per year.
Sale
During the 1890s, the Canadian government was interested in the creation of a second Canadian transcontinental rail line (in competition with the Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
and with American transcontinental lines), and the Canada Atlantic could form an important link in such a new system.
Booth himself was concerned about building and maintaining tonnage on his new line, either by cooperation with other lines in the east and in the west, or by sale to or amalgamation with some existing line. Booth was contemplating such a sale as early as 1901. Whether it was because Booth (now 74) was tired, or because he realized that competition from other transcontinental lines would soon cause serious problems for the Canada Atlantic, he did everything possible in the early years of the 20th century to make every aspect of the railway profitable, and therefore attractive to potential buyers.
Prompted by the federal government, the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
began negotiating with Booth to acquire the Canada Atlantic as part of the Grand Trunk's efforts to expand into Western Canada. In August 1904 the Grand Trunk agreed to purchase the Canada Atlantic, the Great Lakes steamship lines, the tiny US line in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, and the Depot Harbour
Depot Harbour, Ontario
Depot Harbour is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was once the western terminus of the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway and a busy port on Georgian Bay.J.R...
and Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
facilities for Can$16,000,000. The Grand Trunk took over all operations of the CAR on 1 October 1905; actual purchase was ratified by Parliament only in 1914. While controlled by the Grand Trunk, the Canada Atlantic purchased the Pembroke Southern Railway (1906); and in 1907 the CAR and the Grand Trunk created the Ottawa Terminals Railway Co. which in 1912 opened the main train station in downtown Ottawa near Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...
. (This station operated until the 1960s when it was converted into the Government Conference Centre
Government Conference Centre
The Government Conference Centre is a government building in downtown Ottawa, Canada, located at 2 Rideau Street. It is situated at the intersection of Wellington Street and the Rideau Canal, just a short distance from the Parliament buildings and Confederation Square, and across the street from...
.)
However, despite further Grand Trunk investments in depot facilities, improved roadbeds and heavier track, the increased freight tonnage, passengers and income did not keep pace with the more rapidly increasing costs, so that net losses increased year by year. After the First World War, the bankrupt (or near-bankrupt) Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
was taken over and absorbed into the new government-owned Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
, which also took over ownership of the former Canada Atlantic properties.
Abandonment
The lines east of Ottawa have, for the most part, been retained within the Canadian National Railways (CNR) and the Via RailVIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
passenger systems. West of Ottawa, 263.79 miles (424.52 km) of track were built; of this 110.37 miles (177.62 km) have been abandoned.
Despite efforts by the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
to turn a profit on the CAR lines, it was fairly obvious early on that this was not going to happen. The separate CAR accounts during the transition period (1905–1914) made that clear. During the run-up period to 1923, while it was well understood that the government would force the amalgamation of a number of money-losing railways, and the rationalization of trackage, the GTR was itself involved in pruning unnecessary routes. It was particularly expensive to operate on the section over the height of land through Algonquin Park, where trains had to be divided and pulled with two locomotives. Trains from Depot Harbour could be routed south around the Haliburton Highlands to eastern Ontario at less expense.
- In 1923, a stretch of 5.58 miles (8.98 km) of track was abandoned between Two Rivers and Algonquin Park Station.
- To the east of Two Rivers, the stretch to Whitney (just outside of Algonquin Park was abandoned in 1946 (16.46 miles or 26.49 km of track).
- Near the west end of the line, a short (3.44 miles/5.54 km) section of duplicate track was abandoned in 1938. The CNR continued to use the parallel track of the former Canadian Northern Ontario Railway, later styled the Canadian Northern RailwayCanadian Northern RailwayThe Canadian Northern Railway is a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its demise in 1923, when it was merged into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.-Manitoba beginnings:CNoR had its start in...
to Sudbury. - The 41.19 mile (66.29 km) section from Falding on the CNR Sudbury line over to Scotia Junction on the CNR North Bay line (former Grand Trunk RailwayGrand Trunk RailwayThe Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
) was abandoned in 1955. - The section from KearneyKearney, OntarioKearney is a town and municipality in the Parry Sound District of Ontario, Canada. With a landmass of 529 square kilometres and a year round population of 798 in the Canada 2006 Census, Kearney claims to be the "Biggest Little Town in Ontario."-History:...
eastward through to the end of severed section at Algonquin Park Station was abandoned in 1959 (38.3 miles/61.64 km). - The section from Scotia Junction to Kearney was torn up in 1975 (5.4 miles/8.69 km).
Significant dates and legal history
- 1871: Montreal and City of Ottawa Junction Railway Company created
- 1872: Coteau and Province Line Railway and Bridge Company created
- 1879: J.R. Booth buys and merges the two lines, creating the Canada Atlantic Railway Company
- 1881 to 1882: Ottawa to Coteau section completed
- 1882: Province Line Railroad Company created in Vermont
- 1885: system south of the St. Lawrence River completed
- 1885: Parry Sound Colonization RailwayParry Sound Colonization RailwayThe Parry Sound Colonization Railway Company is a historic Canadian railway that operated in Ontario.-History:The PSCR was formed in 1884 by the citizens of Parry Sound with the intention of encouraging a railway line to be built to the community....
created - 1887: Coteau Bridge over the St. Lawrence River approved
- 1888 to 1890: Coteau Bridge built
- 1888: Ottawa, Arnprior and Renfrew Railway Company created
- 1888: Ottawa and Parry Sound Railway Company created
- 1891: Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound RailwayOttawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound RailwayThe Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway is a historic Canadian railway that operated in central and eastern Ontario from 1897 until 1959.It was a common carrier railway, although it was primarily used to transport timber from logging operations as well as haul cargo from western Canada via the...
Company created (amalgamation of Ottawa, Arnprior and Refrew Railway Co. and Ottawa and Parry Sound Railway Co.) - 1891: Parry Sound Colonization RailwayParry Sound Colonization RailwayThe Parry Sound Colonization Railway Company is a historic Canadian railway that operated in Ontario.-History:The PSCR was formed in 1884 by the citizens of Parry Sound with the intention of encouraging a railway line to be built to the community....
acquired. - 1893 to 1896: rail laid from Ottawa to Georgian Bay
- 1895: Parry Island/Depot Harbour land acquired
- 1896: Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound RailwayOttawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound RailwayThe Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway is a historic Canadian railway that operated in central and eastern Ontario from 1897 until 1959.It was a common carrier railway, although it was primarily used to transport timber from logging operations as well as haul cargo from western Canada via the...
Company (amalgamation of existing railway and Parry Sound Colonization Railway Co.) - 1897: Vermont and Province Line Railroad created in Vermont
- 1897: Vermont and Province Line Railroad section built
- 1898: through train service established, Depot Harbour to Ottawa
- 1898: Canada Atlantic Transit Company created
- 1899: Canada Atlantic Transit Company of the United States created
- 1899: Canada Atlantic Railway amalgamates with Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound RailwayOttawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound RailwayThe Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway is a historic Canadian railway that operated in central and eastern Ontario from 1897 until 1959.It was a common carrier railway, although it was primarily used to transport timber from logging operations as well as haul cargo from western Canada via the...
Co. - 1905: control of CAR, the Vermont railroad and the two steamship companies assumed by the Grand Trunk RailwayGrand Trunk RailwayThe Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
(1 October) - 1914: sale of CAR to Grand Trunk Railway ratified by Parliament; Canada Atlantic Railway Company ceases to exist
- 1923: bankrupt Grand Trunk Railway absorbed by Canadian National RailwayCanadian National RailwayThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
- 1923: Last through trains between Depot Harbour and Ottawa
- 1923-1959: abandonment of main track sections
- 1953: closing of Depot Harbour Village