Page 44 - ESCARPMENT MAGAZINE | Winter 2013
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Escarpment Magazine Winter 2013
After the Hamilton &NorthWestern had received its charter onMarch
2, 1872, the moneymen had to come up with the funds to build the
line and they were hindered in their efforts in 1873 by a financial de-
pression. The Ontario government came to the rescue and in 1874 it
supported a municipal bond campaign. Construction of the line was
commenced that year but had to be suspended due to the reluctance
of English investors to provide capital.
In Charles Cooper’s book, Hamilton’s Other Railway, he describes
the challenges facing the builders of the new branch. Although
construction was resumed in mid-1878, difficult terrain, in-
cluding sinkholes was encountered north of
Creemore. He cites several news sources of
the day, including the Hamilton Spectator of
13 December 1878 reporting that sev-
enty yards of track sank in the fields of a
farm belonging to a Mr. Armstrong. The
farm, located two or three miles south of
Duntroon was also the location where, ac-
cording to the Barrie Advance, of 22 May
1879 two hundred car loads of fill, to-
gether with ties and rails entirely disap-
peared into the murk. Perhaps some
enterprising person will dig up these relics
for the Simcoe County Museum.
The railway contract required that the first
train steam into Collingwood by the end
of 1878 and just one week after the
deadline, in January 1879, the first con-
struction train limped into the terminus. It
had challenged snow drifts that were as
high as 15 feet, according to the Hamilton
Spectator. How those drifts were cleared
is not reported but presumably, line con-
tractor J.D. MacDonald, who was the
most senior passenger on the train did not venture
into the biting cold armed with a snow shovel. Cooper
details a report in the Collingwood Bulletin that heaped
praise on MacDonald.
“…Mr. J.D. MacDonald, the contractor, who deserves much credit for
the manner in which he has carried the road to a successful completion
in the face of difficulties which would have completely discouraged a
less enterprising man.”
On 7 August 1879, the Northern Advance, with little fanfare an-
nounced that “the H&N.W.R. to Collingwood has been formally
opened.”
The Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railroad and Hamilton &NorthWest-
ern merged shortly after the construction of the second line even
thought the original charter of the Hamilton company declared that it
would always remain independent. The merger ended healthy com-
petition reasonable freight rates for local farmers ended. The lines
were categorized as branch lines and when the Canadian National
Railways absorbed them into their company, the sleepy rights-of-way
slid downhill until abandonment.
ESCARPMENT HISTORY
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Rails to Hen and Chickens Harbour...
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