Browse "Railroad"

Algoma Central Railway was chartered in 1899 by Francis Hector Clergue as a "feeder line" to his industrial-resource empire at Sault Ste Marie.

The British Columbia Railway was incorporated as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway in 1912 to build a line from North Vancouver to Prince George, where it was to link up with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.

Canadian Government RailwaysCanadian Government Railways was the descriptive name of all federally owned railways in Canada from about the 1880s until 1918, when its operations were combined with the recently nationalized CANADIAN NORTHERN RAILWAY; in the following year the CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAYS were incorporated to operate both companies. The Canadian Government Railways, entrusted to the CN for operation in 1923, still exists as a component of the CN and has 4 principal constituents:...

The Canadian Pacific Railway company (CPR) was incorporated in 1881. Its original purpose was the construction of a transcontinental railway, a promise to British Columbia upon its entry into Confederation (see Railway History). The railway — completed in 1885 — connected Eastern Canada to British Columbia and played an important role in the development of the nation. Built in dangerous conditions by thousands of labourers, including 15,000 Chinese temporary workers, the railway facilitated communication and transportation across the country. Over its long history, the Canadian Pacific Railway diversified its operations. The company established hotels, shipping lines and airlines, and developed mining and telecommunications industries (see Shipping Industry; Air Transport Industry). In 2001, Canadian Pacific separated into five separate and independent companies, with Canadian Pacific Railway returning to its origins as a railway company. CP, as it is branded today, has over 22,500 km of track across Canada and the United States. It is a public company and it trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CP. In 2020, CP reported $7.71 billion in total revenues. This is the full-length entry about the Canadian Pacific Railway. For a plain-language summary, please see The Canadian Pacific Railway (Plain-Language Summary).

The Champlain and Saint Lawrence Railroad (incorporated 1832), Canada's first railway, ran between La Prairie on the St Lawrence River and St Johns [ St-Jean ] on the Richelieu.

One of the 2 earliest railway charters granted in Canada, the Cobourg Rail Road Co was incorporated in 1834 to build a railway from Cobourg northward to Peterborough across Rice Lake. The project was shelved until 1846, when it was revived as the Cobourg and Rice Lake Plank Road and Ferry Co. Samuel Gore built his plank road the 17 km to the lake, but it barely survived the first 2 winters.

In the 4 decades following World War II, Canada's 2 major railways became major conglomerates, among the largest companies in Canada. During the 1950s and 1960s a number of major resource railways were completed.

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a 4800 km system whose main line ran from Winnipeg via Melville and Edmonton to Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

In late 19th Century, the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada was the major railroad in the Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec), connecting Toronto to Montreal.

  The London and Gore Railroad Co, incorporated 6 May 1834, changed its name to the Great Western Rail Road Co in 1845 and to the Great Western Railway in 1853. Promoted by lawyer-politician Allan Napier MACNAB and more significantly by Hamilton merchants Isaac and Peter Buchanan, R.W.

Two of western Canada's earliest railway charters, granted in 1880, authorized construction, with government help, of railways parallelling old water transportation routes to Hudson Bay. The projects were amalgamated in 1883 and the first 64 km built northward into the Manitoba interlake region.

The Intercolonial Railway was a rail line that operated from 1872 to 1918, connecting Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Québec and Ontario. The line was Canada’s first national infrastructure project. Plans for its construction date to the 1830s, but the project only gained momentum during the Confederation conferences of 1864 in Charlottetown and Québec City, where construction of the Intercolonial Railway was negotiated for the Maritime colonies’ entry to British North American union. Construction began shortly after Canada became a country in 1867, with most lines completed by the mid-1870s.

 The first locomotive to be constructed in Canada was built by the James Good family (1853) of Toronto. Named Toronto, the locomotive had a set of 4 driving wheels and 4 small front wheels for better travel through curves.

The NTR's development was rooted in the power play between railway entrepreneurs and politicians of the early twentieth century.

Quebec, North Shore and Labrador Railway links the towns of Labrador City, Wabush and Schefferville to the port of Sept-Îles.