The Guelph and Goderich Railway was a railway in southern Ontario, Canada. It came about from a desire for a connection from Guelph to the harbour at Goderich on Lake Huron.
The Guelph and Goderich Railway was a railway in southern Ontario, Canada. It came about from a desire for a connection from Guelph to the harbour at Goderich on Lake Huron.
The city of Guelph owned the Guelph Junction Railway (GJR, incorporated in 1884 and owned by a consortium of merchants and the City of Guelph) to connect to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) mainline 15 miles south of town in Campbellville. This line was completed in 1888 and by May 1887 had been leased to the CPR. [1] The railway's charter was amended in 1886 to allow construction of a line to Goderich which was delayed for several years. Eventually, the city of Guelph applied pressure on the CPR to get the line built. [2]
The CPR had finished three surveys for the Goderich line by December 1903; the first via Linwood, Atwood, Brussels and Listowel; the second via Conestogo, Linwood, Atwood, Brussels; and the third via Seaforth and Clinton. Growing frustrated, the GJR announced in 1904 they would petition Parliament seeking a charter to incorporate the Goderich & Guelph Railway, between both namesake cities with branches to Listowel, St. Marys, Stratford and Clinton.
The CPR finally agreed to build the line to Goderich from Guelph and construction began in 1904. The line was laid with 80-pound-per-yard (40 kg/m) rail and reached Goderich in 1907. There was also a 16-mile (26 km) branch line from Linwood to Listowel. Envisioned branches to Stratford and St. Marys were never built. The principal stations were located in Guelph, Elmira, Linwood, Milverton, Monkton, Walton, Blyth and Goderich. [3] On October 6, 1904 the G&G was leased to the CPR for 999 years, with the City of Guelph obtaining a prohibition against diverting G&G traffic off the Guelph Junction Railway line. [4]
The 127-km line between Guelph and Goderich was abandoned by the CPR in 1988. The Province of Ontario purchased the land shortly thereafter with the intention of protecting an infrastructure corridor. The original plan was to build a water supply pipeline from Lake Huron to Guelph. As a result of amendments to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), before construction could begin, this usage was prohibited. The corridor was retained for future use and designated an interim use for non-motorized recreation. Various organizations such as the Maitland Trail Association and Kissing Bridge Trail Association have subsequently leased portions of the land from the province. Over the next 20 years, upkeep varied from total neglect to carefully maintained as narrated in Lynda Wilson's vivid descriptions while walking the full trail in 2015. [5]
Connecting portions have been opened as the G2G Rail Trail, a recreational trail for use by walkers, hikers and bikers. [6] G2G Rail Trail Inc. is a non-profit charitable organization.
In the summer of 2020 a team of students and local volunteers completed a total refurbishment from end to end which included brush clearing, grading and surfacing with stone dust.
In June of 2024 a tunnel was added under County Road 25 outside of Blyth to improve safety by eliminating a crossing between the trail and the road. [7] [8]
Wingham is a community located in the municipality of North Huron, Ontario, Canada, which is located in Huron County. Wingham became part of North Huron in 2001 when the Ontario government imposed amalgamation on the former township of East Wawanosh, the village of Blyth, and the town of Wingham.
Perth County is a county in the Canadian province of Ontario in Southwestern Ontario, 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Toronto. Its population centres are Listowel, Mitchell and Milverton. The City of Stratford and the Town of St. Marys are within the Perth census division, but are separate from Perth County. The 2016 population of Perth County was 38,066.
The Ontario and Quebec Railway (O&Q) was a railway located in southern and eastern Ontario, Canada. It was initially chartered in March 1881 by managers of the Canadian Pacific Railway to run between Toronto and Perth, where it would connect, via a short branch line, to the CPR-controlled Brockville and Ottawa Railway. Construction began in 1882, and the line was completed in August 1884.
The Goderich–Exeter Railway is a short line freight railway that operates around 70 miles (110 km) of track in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Created in 1992, it was the first short line railway in Canada to be purchased from a class I railway, in this case Canadian National Railway (CN). It took over operation of further CN trackage in 1998. As of 2004, the railway had 44 employees. Its headquarters are in Stratford, Ontario, and owned by short-line railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming.
The Michigan Central Railway Tunnel is a railroad tunnel under the Detroit River connecting Detroit, Michigan, in the United States with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. The U.S. entrance is south of Porter and Vermont streets near Rosa Parks Boulevard. The Canadian entrance is south of Wyandot Street West between Cameron and Wellington Avenues. It was built by the Detroit River Tunnel Company for the Canada Southern Railway, leased by the Michigan Central Railroad and owned by the New York Central Railroad. The tunnel opened in 1910 and is still in use today by the CPKC Railway.
Kitchener station is a railway station located in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, slightly to the northeast of downtown Kitchener, at 126 Weber Street West, near the corner of Victoria Street. It is a heritage building containing a waiting room and ticket counter built beside a set of tracks also used as a freight yard. A separate building to the east of the passenger area, originally built in 1925 as a freight building, now serves as the headquarters for the Goderich–Exeter Railway.
Ariss is an unincorporated rural community in Guelph/Eramosa Township, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada.
The Grand River Railway was an interurban electric railway in what is now the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.
Exeter is a community in the municipality of South Huron, in the southern portion of Huron County, Ontario, Canada, located approximately 40 kilometres north of London. The community proclaims itself the "Home of the White Squirrel", owing to the presence of the unusually-coloured mammals. Exeter's mascot, "Willis The White Wonder", can be seen at many community events throughout the year, including Canada Day celebrations, the Exeter Rodeo, and the Santa Claus Parade.
Blyth is a village in North Huron, Ontario, Canada.
The Huron Central Railway is a railway operating in northern Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Genesee & Wyoming Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming.
The Guelph Junction Railway is a shortline railway owned by the City of Guelph, Ontario, and serves the city's northwest industrial park.
The Ontario Southland Railway, Inc. is an independently held short line operator. The company was founded in 1992 to purchase 27 kilometres (17 mi) of track between Tillsonburg and Ingersoll, Ontario from the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). In 2009, a second line was added, as 51 kilometres (32 mi) of CPR track from Woodstock to St. Thomas, Ontario were integrated into the system. In 2015, Ontario Southland began leasing the ex-Canadian National Cayuga Subdivision between St. Thomas and Delhi, Ontario, which had been abandoned by its former shortline operator the St. Thomas and Eastern Railway in 2013.
The Algoma Eastern Railway was a railway in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Manitoulin and North Shore Railway (M&NS) with a charter dating back to 1888, the full mainline was opened to traffic in 1913, serving the area along the north shore of Lake Huron between Sudbury and Little Current on Manitoulin Island. It and its sister railway, the Algoma Central, were originally owned by the Lake Superior Corporation, a conglomerate centered on Sault Ste. Marie which was founded by the American industrialist Francis Clergue. Despite ambitious plans to expand across Lake Huron to the Bruce Peninsula using a railcar ferry, the company failed to develop further and was acquired by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1930. With freight traffic low during the Great Depression, Canadian Pacific soon abandoned much of the Algoma Eastern mainline in favor of its own Algoma Branch. Remaining sections of the Algoma Eastern line were turned into spurs, with the longest surviving section operated as a branch line known as the Little Current Subdivision.
The Hamilton and North-Western Railway (H&NW) is a former railway in Ontario, Canada. It ran north from Hamilton on the western end of Lake Ontario to Collingwood on Georgian Bay and Barrie on Lake Simcoe. Through the purchase of the Hamilton and Lake Erie Railway, the route continued south from Hamilton to Port Dover on Lake Erie.
The London, Huron and Bruce Railway (LH&BR) was a short line railway in Ontario, Canada. It started in London, Ontario, running northward for 70 miles (110 km) to the small town of Wingham. It originally planned to continue north to Southampton or Kincardine, but instead joined the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway (WG&BR) at Wingham. The route was primarily used for farm shipments, and was nicknamed the "Butter and Egg Special", while passengers complaining about the rough ride constructed the backronym "Let 'er Hit and Bounce".
The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway (WG&BR) was a railway in Ontario, Canada. It ran roughly northwest from Guelph to the port town of Southampton on Lake Huron, a distance of 101 miles (163 km). It also had a 66-mile (106 km) branch line splitting off at Palmerston and running roughly westward to Kincardine, another port town. A branch running south from Southampton was built during the construction of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in the 1970s.
The Waterloo Junction Railway (WJR) is a short line railway in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It runs northward from the former Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) North Main Line in downtown Kitchener, through Waterloo and St. Jacobs before terminating in Elmira. It is currently owned by the City of Waterloo and operated by CN as the Waterloo Spur. The Waterloo Central Railway runs tourist trains on the line, and the Ion rapid transit runs on the route for a short distance.
