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Railway Issue Wellington County History RAILWAY ISSUE Volume 4 • 1991 The publication of this issue of WELLINGTON COUNTY HISTORY was assisted by generous donations from Andrew and Janet Johnson Elora J.R. Gibbons Ltd. Canadian Tire Associate Store Fergus McEnery Insurance Brokers Ltd. Erin Ostic Insurance Brokers Ltd. Fergus Royal Bank of Canada Fergus Branch H.C. Waind Insurance Broker Ltd. Elora Corporation of the County of Wellington WELLINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL RESEARCH SOCIETY Past President: James Gow President: Joyce Ward First Vice President: Terry Crowley Second Vice President: Peter Templin Secretary Treasurer: Gregory Oakes Directors Mrs. J. Irvine Black Mrs. Thelma Bramhill Mrs. Grace Bridge Mr. Ian Easterbrook Mrs. Ivadel Francis Mrs. T.J. Hutchinson Mrs. Nan Lustig Mrs. Mary MacNamara Mrs. Mary McLean Mrs. Max Noble Mrs. Harvey Pettit Mr. Stephen Thorning Editorial Committee: Ian Easterbrook, James Gow Bonnie Callen, Stephen Thorning, Gregory Oakes The editors welcome for publication articles relating to all aspects of the history of Wellington County. WELLINGTON COUNTY HISTORY Volume 4 1991 TO OUR READERS ........................................................................... 4 THE RAILWAY AGE IN WELLINGTON COUNTY .................................................................. 5 by Stephen Thorning BY STREETCAR TO TORONTO: COMMUTING FROM GUELPH THE ELECTRIC WAY ............ 37 by Donald Coulman REMEMBERING THOSE OLD-TIME C.P.R. BRANCH LINES .. 49 by Ralph Beaumont LEWIS COLQUHOUN: WELLINGTON COUNTY'S TRAIN ROBBER ......................... 56 by Gregory Oakes SPEED AND SERVICE: A LOOK AT RAILWAY SCHEDULES ....................................... 61 by Stephen Thorning REMINISCENCES OF THE RAILWAY IN WELLINGTON COUNTY ........................................................... 74 edited by Bonnie Callen WORKING ON THE RAILWAY .................................................. 85 by Harris Bell REVIEWS ...................................................................................... 88 Robert Stamp, Riding the Radials reviewed by Stephen Thorning Ruth Westover, Fair Days and Fair People: 130 Years of Fall Fairs, 1859-1989 Lyn Crow, The Agricultural Society in Pustinch, 1840-1990 reviewed by Bonnie Callen Jean Hutchinson,,4 History of West Garafraxa Township reviewed by Ian Easterbrook REPORTS FROM THE ARCHIVES .............................................. 92 Guelph Public Library by Susan R. Waterman University of Guelph by Gloria Troyer Wellington County Museum & Archives by Bonnie Callen Guelph General Hospital by Brenda Vegso OUR CONTRIBUTORS ............................... 96 Published by the Wellington County Historical Research Society, Box 5, Fergus Ont. N1M 2W7 The assistance of the County of Wellington is gratefully acknowledged. copyright 1991 Wellington County Historical Research Society All Rights Reserved. TO OUR READERS Our fourth issue is devoted exclusively to the theme of railways: their impact on and legacy to Wellington County. Although railway service in the county had been declining for many decades, a flurry of official abandonments in the late 1980s (followed by the lifting of most of the railway tracks in Wellington) marked the termination of the railway age. For almost a century, railways were the core of the transportation network in Wellington. The routing of a line could offer a bright future to one community, and spell doom to another that was bypassed. A railway connection was no guarantee of prosperity, but no community in Wellington advanced beyond hamlet size without one. In the lead article, Steve Thorning offers a general overview of the building of the railway system in the county, comparing strategies employed by the railways and the communities they served. A companion piece traces the development of rail service as reflected in passenger timetables. A former railway employee is among our contributors. Harris Bell recalls the changes he saw as a station agent in the last decades of branch line service in Wellington. From the 1950s onward the branch lines of Wellington attracted attention from train buffs from all over North America. Ralph Beaumont brings a railway fan's perspective to the final years of the Canadian Pacific branches in Wellington. For 17 years the Toronto Suburban Railway offered service every two hours between Toronto and Guelph. Don Coulman gives a photographic portrait of a system that many say failed because it was years ahead of its time. A couple of unspectacular train robberies occurred in Wellington County, but the most notorious ones were all in the west. Greg Oakes describes the career of an intriguing expatriate. Short reminiscences of the railway by several long-time residents round out our theme issue. We have had two aims in producing this theme issue: to stimulate the memories of those who remember a time when the railway was still a significant mode of transportation; and to stimulate our readers to consider the ways that railways influenced the development of individual communities, and the roles they played in the day-to-day lives and activities of businesses and ordinary people. THE RAILWAY AGE IN WELLINGTON COUNTY by Stephen Thorning The nineteenth century is remembered as an age of industry, energy, expansion. Railways capture the spirit of the Victorian age best: the expanding rail network validated the general trust in progress and technology. This was as true in Wellington County as anywhere. Through the 1830s and 1840s Wellington resounded with rumours of a railway through the heart of the county, this at a time when there was not a mile of track in Upper Canada. The Toronto and Goderich Railroad, bandied about in 1847 and 1848, was typical of these ephemeral lines. The termini mattered little to the pioneers of the Wellington District; what was important was to be on the main line. In essence, these early plans were an appeal to the imagination and to the prevailing faith in the future. Even their strongest proponents realized that they were practical impossibilities, given the circumstances of Upper Canada at the time. Railway construction in Upper Canada presented both technical and financial problems not encountered by builders in Great Britain. Firstly, there were the obvious problems of climate and distance, and their impact on the building and the operation of railway lines in Canada. The sparseness of the population and the underdeveloped state of the economy made Canadian railways doubtful propositions in the minds of British investors. Vast sums had already been expended in the 1830s and 1840s on the construction of canals which, while important to their users, had proved of dubious benefit to their financiers. From a practical aspect, the actual operation of a long railway line was impossible without the telegraph. This new technology diffused swiftly through North America between 1845 and 1865. Not only did the telegraph network serve as a model for the railway network that was soon to follow, but it also became a vital operating tool in the scheduling of trains and the management of railway employees and equipment. Overall, the complexity of the railways as businesses and their colossal demands for capital retarded large-scale construction until the WELLINGTON COUNTY HISTORY 5 early 1850s, when long-term prospects for Canada had improved markedly. Equally important was the Guarantee Act of 1849, which permitted the Province of Canada to guarantee the bonds of new railway companies. As with the canals, the support of the British government was secured by stressing the military value of a railway network in Canada against a potential American invasion. Both of the first two major Canadian railways came to play a large role in the development of Wellington County.1 The Great Western Railway was the culmination of proposals originating in the 1830s. Its main line, from Niagara Falls through Hamilton to London and Windsor, was constructed to capitalize on bridge traffic; that is, freight received from one railway and handed over to another. The directors of the company viewed the growing network of Michigan railway lines as feeders supplying traffic from the American mid-west, which could be turned over to other American lines at the Niagara frontier. Completed between 1853 and 1855, the Great Western quickly proved itself to be a successful undertaking. In addition to the bridge traffic, local business to and from stations along the line provided a considerable amount of revenue. In this respect the Great Western merely reinforced existing trade networks based upon gravel roads and Hamilton wholesale merchants. Wellington County benefitted directly from this aspect of the Great Western, particularly from the branch line the company built from Harrisburg Junction (19 miles west of Hamilton) to Gait. The branch line provided rapid and dependable access for Wellington County merchants to their Hamilton suppliers. For a time the managers of the Great Western were enthusiastic about branch lines, and proposed to extend the Gait branch through Berlin (Kitchener) to Saugeen (Southampton).2 The enthusiasm of the company dampened when it became evident that branch lines were less profitable than the main line, and that local traffic demanded more handling and labour than through traffic. The Great Western had barely begun operation when the competition arrived. The Grand Trunk project had originally been conceived as a line from Toronto to Montreal, but the scheme was soon seized upon by high-profile promoters and politicians. At
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