The London and Lake Erie Railway and Transportation Company is a defunct Interurban railway that operated in Ontario, Canada from 1902 to 1918. Originally chartered as the South Western Traction Company, the line was renamed the London and Lake Erie Railway in 1909. Throughout its short life, the line was always referred to locally as "The Traction Line".
In 1902, a group of London, Ontario residents led by Thomas Purdom and Alfred E. Welch chartered an electric railway based in London. Unlike the municipally-owned London and Port Stanley Railway, the South Western Traction Company was chartered primarily as a passenger hauling line. Lines were planned to several other municipalities in the area, but ultimately, the line was a 28-mile meandering route between London and Port Stanley. The line began construction in 1903 southward from London to Lambeth. Construction stopped in 1904 when the company ran out of funds but resumed after additional capital was secured from the Canadian Electric Traction Company, a joint venture between Canadian and British investors. The generating equipment and rolling stock were supplied by Bruce Peebles & Co. Ltd. of Edinburgh, Scotland. The equipment on the South Western Traction Company used a Three phase AC electric overhead traction system designed by Ganz of Budapest, Hungary. The new traction line and was the only railroad in North America to use this system.
The powerhouse was built in Chelsea Green, a suburb of London, near its chief competitor the London & Port Stanley Railway (L&PS). [1]
The route of the line continued southward towards St. Thomas, passing through the villages of Scottsville, Tempo and Lynhurst. Tracks reached St. Thomas in July 1906. The Traction Line used the tracks of the St. Thomas Municipal Railway to navigate through the city streets. The line entered town on the west end and exited southward on the east end, crossing over the London and Port Stanley Railway via the street railway on Talbot Street in the process. Continuing southward, the line passed through the village of Union and entered Port Stanley via Colborne Street. The Traction Line station was on the east side of Port Stanley harbour, compared to the more extensive L&PS yards on the west side. The station was located directly off Colborne Street and still exists today. There was a spur line that ran behind the station down to the dock for loading fish and passengers. The line entered London via Baseline Road, and curved north towards downtown. A long trestle carried the line over the Thames River valley before terminating at the company's station on Horton Street.
There had been various issues with the Ganz A/C overhead system, and this prompted the line to switch to D/C operation in early 1907. The company ordered six D/C motor cars from the Ottawa Car Company in Ottawa, Ontario in March 1907. The line was dealt a major blow on August 10, 1907, when a fire caused by crossed wires destroyed the company's car barns in London. The company's six British built cars were in the barns at the time, and five were destroyed. Four of the new Ottawa cars were in St. Thomas, but hadn't had their motors or equipment installed. The losses for the railway were pegged at over $160,000. The following year, six additional cars were purchased from Preston Car and Coach in Preston, Ontario. The first train arrived in Port Stanley in October 1907. Plans for expansions to Delaware and Aylmer, Ontario were looked at in 1907 as well., [2] but for several reasons, these extensions were never built. The year 1908 brought about receivership and with it, a change in ownership.
In 2012, the South Western Traction Line was inducted to the North America Railway Hall of Fame. [3] The South Western Traction Line was recognized for its contribution to railroading as the only three-phase AC electric railroad in North America, and one of only a few in the world. The line was inducted in the "Community, Business, Government or Organization" class in the "Local" category (pertaining specifically to the area in and around St. Thomas, Ontario.)
In 1908, the South Western Traction Company was in receivership and was purchased at auction by J. MacDougall of London. A consortium of businessmen led by G.B Woods of Toronto purchased the line from Mr. MacDougall and formed the London and Lake Erie Railway and Navigation Company. The first manager of the company was Mr. S.W. Mower. The company prospered, with both freight and passenger revenues up. In 1911, the company was dealt another blow when Sunday service was suspended by the Province under the Lord's Day Act. The London and Lake Erie, operating as a provincial charter, was not exempt from the act. Sunday cars were viewed as strictly recreational, and as the line did not provide an essential link, was forced to discontinue Sunday service. This was not reinstated until 1913. S.W. Mower resigned as manager in 1912, and was replaced by William Nelson Warburton.
Warburton had worked with several other interurban railways in Ontario including the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway and the Chatham, Wallaceburg and Lake Erie Railway. Streamlining of the stops between London and Port Stanley was done shortly after Warburton assumed his position. Business was so good, the company also ordered two motor cars and two trailer cars from the Niles Car Company. The company also experimented with generating more freight service during this period. Fish from the dock in Port Stanley was the main commodity hauled, but never panned out into the big revenue generator the company hoped for. The tight curves and steep grades of the London and Lake Erie Railway, while satisfactory for interurban cars, was not conducive to effective freight operations. An interchange was established in St. Thomas around 1913 with the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1915, the Niles cars were sold to the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway. Talks were held in Aylmer in 1915 as well, the company seriously looking at extending the line. The plan was to extend to Port Burwell via Aylmer, but that never came to pass. The London and Lake Erie's lack of a rail connection in London was a major factor in this decision.
In July, 1915, the London and Port Stanley Railway was electrified. That, combined with the ever-growing threat of the automobile, eventually spelled the end for the London and Lake Erie Railway.
Throughout the next few years, the London and Lake Erie struggled for survival. The outbreak of World War I did little to improve the line's fortunes. Traffic was up, but revenues were not. The beach area in Port Stanley was very developed as well, but the London and Lake Erie, being on the opposite side of the harbour, lost out on the majority of the tourist traffic. The London and Lake Erie retired its London generating station in 1915 in favour of purchasing power from Ontario Hydro. Management was increasingly cutting power to cut costs, often stranding cars out on the line, much to the chagrin of passengers. A record 726,799 passengers were carried in the 1916-1917 fiscal year, but it was too little, too late. The equipment was under increasing pressure, but revenue wasn't available to perform the necessary repairs. The winter of 1917 was exceptionally harsh. Wartime demands had reduced the amount of coal available, and service had to be drastically cut back due to no heat being available for the cars. Beginning in 1916, management began looking at options to sell the railway.
Both London and St. Thomas expressed interest in purchasing portions of the line, but neither were willing to pay the full $600,000 asking price. Sir Adam Beck, Ontario Hydro visionary and former mayor of London, suggested that the City counter with just over $300,000, but this was declined by management. London was only interested in the portion southward to Talbotville and intended to operate it as commuter railway extension of the London Street Railway. The actual physical appraisal of the line in 1918 was $360,000. A buyer could not be found however, and the decision was made to scrap the line.
On October 28, 1918, a statement was issued by manager Warburton that the London and Lake Erie Railway had ceased operations. [4] Service was first cut back from Port Stanley to St. Thomas, with the remaining service discontinued shortly thereafter. Over the next few years, the assets of the company were liquidated. Most of the company's rolling stock went to the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway, [5] with four cars going to the Oshawa Railway. [6]
The right of way inside the London city limits was sold to the municipality. Belgrave Avenue south of Tecumseh Street follows the old traction line grade. The bridge over the Thames River remained until it was moved to the west to carry Richmond Street over the river. The London station building was sold to the Salvation Army and was demolished in the early 1950s when it was replaced. The remaining station buildings were dismantled over the years, save for Port Stanley. The grade can also be seen in various places, mainly south of St. Thomas.
St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of 96.13 square kilometres (37.12 sq mi), 133,113 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontario, 51 kilometres (32 mi) south of Toronto across Lake Ontario, and is 19 kilometres (12 mi) inland from the international boundary with the United States along the Niagara River. It is the northern entrance of the Welland Canal. Residents of St. Catharines are known as St. Cathariners. St. Catharines carries the official nickname "The Garden City" due to its 1,000 acres (4 km2) of parks, gardens, and trails.
Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. In 2016, it had a population of 52,293.
The Niagara Peninsula is the portion of Golden Horseshoe, Southern Ontario, Canada, lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario, in the west. The population of the peninsula is roughly 1,000,000 people. The region directly across the Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York State is known as the Niagara Frontier.
The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the southern end of the Golden Horseshoe, the largest megalopolis in Canada.
King's Highway 58, commonly referred to as Highway 58, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route is divided into two segments with a combined length of 15.5 km (9.6 mi). The southern segment travels from Niagara Regional Road 3, formerly Highway 3, in Port Colborne, to the Highway 58A junction in the southern end of Welland, a distance of 7.2 km (4.5 mi). The northern segment begins at Highway 20 near Allanburg and travels north and west to a large junction with Highway 406 at the St. Catharines – Thorold boundary, a distance of 8.3 km (5.2 mi). An 18.1 km (11.2 mi) gap separates the two segments within Welland and Pelham. The entire route is located within the Regional Municipality of Niagara.
Chippawa is a community located within the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario.
The Toronto and York Radial Railway was a transit operator providing services to the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was a subsidiary of the Toronto Railway Company. The company was created by merging four Toronto-area railway operations. The company was part of the empire of railway entrepreneurs Sir William Mackenzie and Donald Mann which included the Canadian Northern Railway and the parent Toronto Railway Company.
The Ottawa Car Company was a builder of streetcars for the Canadian market and was founded in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1891 as an outgrowth of the carriage building operations of William W. Wylie. Its plant was located at Kent and Slater Streets, a short distance from Parliament Hill. The company was a subsidiary of Ottawa Electric Railway, in turn controlled by Ahearn & Soper.
The Grand River Railway was an interurban electric railway in what is now the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, in Southwestern Ontario.
Transit Windsor provides public transportation in the city of Windsor, Ontario, Canada as well as La Salle, Ontario, EssexOntario, Kingsville Ontario, and Leamington to more than 6 million passengers each year, covering an area of 310 km2 (120 sq mi) and a population of 218,000. They operate a cross border service between the downtown areas of Windsor and Detroit, Michigan via the Tunnel Bus, and service to events at Detroit's Comerica Park, Little Caesars Arena, TCF Center, and Ford Field. The Windsor International Transit Terminal neighbours with the Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre.
The Niagara Gorge Railroad was an interurban railway which ran at the bottom of the Niagara Gorge from Niagara Falls, New York to Lewiston, New York.
A street running train or an On-street running train is a train which runs on a track which is routed directly on public streets, without any grade separation. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other uses, such as pedestrians, automobile traffic, and cyclists, and for this reason they are often referred to as running in mixed traffic. For safety, street running trains travel at reduced speed relative to their counterparts on dedicated rights-of-way.
The Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway was an interurban radial electric railway in the Niagara Peninsula of Southern Ontario, Canada. It operated from 1899 to 1959. It was based in St. Catharines and had lines to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Port Dalhousie, Niagara Falls, Thorold, Welland and Port Colborne.
The Hamilton, Grimsby and Beamsville Electric Railway (HG&B) was an interurban railway that operated between Hamilton and Vineland in the Niagara Peninsula. It was incorporated in 1894.
The International Railway Company (IRC) was a transportation company formed in a 1902 merger between several Buffalo-area interurban and street railways. The city railways that merged were the West Side Street Railway, the Crosstown Street Railway and the Buffalo Traction Company. The suburban railroads that merged included the Buffalo & Niagara Electric Street Railway, and its subsidiary the Buffalo, Lockport & Olcott Beach Railway; the Buffalo, Depew & Lancaster Railway; and the Niagara Falls Park & River Railway. Later the IRC acquired the Niagara Gorge Railroad (NGRR) as a subsidiary, which was sold in 1924 to the Niagara Falls Power Company. The NGRR also leased the Lewiston & Youngstown Frontier Railroad.
The London and Port Stanley Railway is a historic Canadian railway located in southwestern Ontario. It linked the city of London with Port Stanley on the northern shore of Lake Erie, a distance of approximately 25 miles (40 km).
The Niagara, Welland and Lake Erie Railway operated a streetcar service in Welland, Ontario from 1912 until 1930.
The Lake Erie and Northern Railway was an interurban electric railway which operated in the Grand River Valley in Ontario, Canada. The railway owned and operated a north–south mainline which ran from Galt in the north to Port Dover on the shore of Lake Erie in the south. Along the way, it ran through rural areas of Waterloo County, Brant County, and Norfolk County, as well as the city of Brantford, where it had an interchange with the Brantford and Hamilton Electric Railway. Construction on the mainline began in 1913. The railway began operations in 1916 as a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), which had purchased the line before construction had finished. In 1931, it was consolidated with the Grand River Railway under a single CPR subsidiary, the Canadian Pacific Electric Lines (CPEL), which managed both interurban railways, though they continued to exist as legally separate entities. Passenger service was discontinued in 1955 but electric freight operations continued until 1961, when the LE&N's electric locomotives were replaced by diesel CPR locomotives and the line was de-electrified. In the same year, service on the mainline from Simcoe to Port Dover was discontinued, but the remainder continued to operate as a branchline which as early as 1975 was known as the CP Simcoe Subdivision. The remainder of the line was officially abandoned in the early 1990s, ending almost seventy-five years of operation.
