Canadian Railways 2-Book Bundle. David R.P. Guay

The characteristics of these affiliations were quite varied. In some cases, the railway promoters and the Great Western worked together from before the incorporation; in others the Great Western entered the “partnership” later, principally as a rescuer of a failing road. In one case, the only affiliation involved the granting of running rights. Sometimes time-limited leases were used, other leases were in perpetuity, and some railways were purchased outright. Summaries of the histories of the affiliated lines up to the time of amalgamation with the Grand Trunk follow in alphabetical order. Unfortunately for the Great Western, these lines were financial liabilities, as attested to in Table 3-1. The positive result for the Detroit, Grand Haven, and Milwaukee was an unusual event.

      Brantford, Norfolk, and Port Burwell Railway

      The Norfolk Railway Company was incorporated under provincial statutes on January 23, 1869, to build from Simcoe, Port Dover, or Port Ryerse to Caledonia, Brantford, or Paris. Provisional directors were Daniel Mathews, Thomas W. Walsh, William M. Wilson, Isaac Austin, Thomas W. Clark, and H.J. Sutton. Capital of the company was set at $200,000. Construction of the railway had to commence within two years and be completed within five years of the assent date (Provincial Statutes of Ontario, 32 Victoria, chapter 58, assent date January 23, 1869)

      With no progress being made on the railway, an extension in deadlines was requested and approved on

      Map of the Entire Great Western System, 1880.

       R.R. Brown, Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, 1934.

      February 15, 1871. From that date, the deadlines to initiate and complete construction were one and three years, respectively (Provincial Statutes of Ontario, 34 Victoria, chapter 52).

      In 1872 the charter of the railway was amended to allow the construction of a branch line to Port Rowan. In addition, the railway would be able to enter into leasing arrangements with other railways. As expected, another request was made for deadline extensions, these extensions to initiate and complete construction being two and five years, respectively, from the assent date (Provincial Statutes of Ontario, 35 Victoria, chapter 52, assent date March 2, 1872).

      In a letter dated February 8, 1872, President Mathews made a formal request to the province for a grant of $2,000 per mile of the planned forty-mile line. The other sources of capital for the project were detailed, including a rather dismal $10,000 in private stock paid up, $160,000 in municipal bonuses, and $400,000 from the Great Western. In addition, it was mentioned that the Great Western would complete and run the railway after being paid a bonus of $6,000 per mile. In fact, the municipal bonuses totalled more than $160,000 (Town of Brantford, $70,000; Township of Burford, $30,000; Township of North Norwich, $30,000; Town of Tillsonburg, $8,000; Township of Houghton, $10,000; Township of Bayham, $30,000; and Village of Vienna, $4,000 [total=$182,000]).

      An application for amendment of the charter was made in 1873 to allow the line to be routed through to a different port on Lake Erie (Port Burwell instead of Port Ryerse) and to extend north from Brantford to the line of the Credit Valley Railway or any other railway northeast of Brantford. This amendment, assent date on March 28, 1873, also extended the time for the initiation of the railway by one year from the assent date (Province of Ontario Statutes, 36 Victoria, chapter 92).

      The year 1874 saw the name of the railway changed to the Brantford, Norfolk, and Port Burwell Railway. The legislation also allowed the issue of bonds, not to exceed $12,000 per mile of line, and allowed the railway to enter into leasing arrangements with other railways. As usual, it extended the initiation and completion dates of the railway to two and five years, respectively, from the assent date (Provincial Statutes of Ontario, 37 Victoria, chapter 53, assent date March 24, 1874). On March 16 the railway secured a provincial grant of $2,000 per mile of completed line. In 1876 the portion of the line from Brantford to Tillsonburg at a junction with the Great Western Air Line extension was finally open to traffic. The remainder of the road was never built. As provided for, the Great Western Railway began operations over the forty-seven-and-a-quarter-mile line. In 1878 the Great Western leased the line in perpetuity.

      The Brantford, Norfolk, and Port Burwell was put into “first-class shape” by the Great Western in 1880, with new iron bridges being installed between Brantford and Harrisburg. The line had also been entirely equipped with steel rails by this time.

      Detroit and Milwaukee Railway

      The Detroit and Milwaukee Railway Company was composed of two predecessor lines, the Oakland and Ottawa Rail Road Company (incorporated in Michigan on April 3, 1838) and the Detroit and Pontiac Rail Road Company (incorporated in Michigan on March 7, 1834). These two lines were consolidated on April 21, 1855. The first through train (Grand Haven to Detroit) ran on September 1, 1858, while the first Grand Rapids to Detroit through train ran July 12, 1858. The Detroit and Milwaukee Railway Company, in turn, was sold at foreclosure on October 4, 1860, and acquired by the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad Company on October 22, 1860. This latter line, in turn, went into receivership on April 15, 1875 (C.C. Trowbridge, receiver), and was sold at foreclosure on September 4, 1878. It subsequently was reorganized on November 9, 1878, as the Detroit, Grand Haven, and Milwaukee Railway Company.

      The main line of the railway stretched from Detroit to Grand Haven, Michigan, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Construction can be summarized as follows:

      Schematic of the city of Grand Haven, illustrating the locations of the Detroit and Milwaukee, Grand Trunk, and Goodrich Transportation facilities on the Grand River. The Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, and Muskegon Railway was an electric interurban line that operated from 1902 until 1928.

       G.W. Hilton, Lake Michigan Passenger Steamers, Redwood, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002.

       Constructed by Detroit and Pontiac: Detroit to Royal Oak (1838), Royal Oak to Birmingham (1841), and Birmingham to Pontiac (1844).

       Constructed partly by the Oakland and Ottawa and completed by the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway: Pontiac to Fentonville (1855).

       Constructed by the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway: Pontiac to Fentonville (1855), Fentonville to Grand Haven (west side of river) (1856–58), and Ferrysburg to Grand Haven (east side of river) (1870).

      Detroit and Milwaukee Detroit freight yard, circa 1857.

       Burton Collection, Detroit Public Library.

      Total mileage of the line was 189.73 miles.

      The preceding, rather dry, listing of facts hides a lineage of corruption and collusion in the financing and construction of this line, in which the Great Western was to play a pivotal role.

      View from above of the Detroit and Milwaukee Detroit passenger depot on Atwater Street, circa 1860. A broad-gauge locomotive is proceeding toward the covered train shed.

       Burton Collection, Detroit Public Library.

      From November 1852 to June 1855 the Canadian government made loans totalling £770,000 ($3.75 million U.S.) to the Great Western. During these years the Great Western was represented by Sir Allan MacNab, who was also the leader of the government for many years. In 1852 he moved a resolution in the Railway Committee, as set forth by the company, which aimed to give the Great Western a monopoly in the Ontario peninsula. However, the bill failed to pass; the obvious reason being the increasingly dominant position of influence of the Grand Trunk Railway at all levels of government.

      Detroit and Milwaukee/Great Western Detroit freight depot in 1860.

       Burton Collection, Detroit Public Library.

      In 1863 Finance Minister John