Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada : The Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada was incorporated under Province of Canada Act, 16 Vic., Cap. 37 of 10 November 1852 to construct and operate a railway line from Montreal to Toronto. The intentions of the organizers of the company were to eventually construct or acquire a railway running from Portland, Maine, through Montreal, Toronto and Sarnia to Detroit and eventually to Chicago. The Portland/Montreal/Sarnia line was legally completed in 1853 when five other companies, the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway Company, the Quebec and Richmond Railway Company, the Toronto and Guelph Railway Company, the Grand Junction Railway Company, and the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada East amalgamated with and took the name of the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada (hereafter referred to as The Grand Trunk) and, in the same year, the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad Company was leased. The physical completion of the main line was not until 1859, though sections had been open from 1853. An essential link was the Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence, construction of which was commenced in 1854 and completed on 19 December 1859.
While the basic concept was sound, the enterprise speedily ran into financial difficulties. The financial obligations of some of the components that had been accepted by the amalgamated company were excessive. The contractors had little experience in working under Canadian conditions, while the traffic at that stage of Canadian economic development proved to have been overestimated. By 1861 the company was in serious financial trouble. The government of the Province of Canada had already extended assistance to the Grand Trunk and, under the Grand Trunk Arrangements Act (Province of Canada, 25 Vic., Cap. 56, July 1862), it acquiesced in the reorganization and refinancing of the company. This reorganization not only alleviated some of the Grand Trunk's more pressing financial difficulties but transferred control entirely to the board of directors in London, thus eliminating much of the political and financial pressures that had been applied during construction and early operation.
With this reorganization the Grand Trunk entered an era marked by efficient management with the emphasis on operational and technical improvement rather than expansion. Under Grand Trunk presidents Edward Watkin (1862-1869) and Richard Potter (1869-1876) the railway was converted from broad (5'6") gauge to standard gauge (4'8 ") and from iron to steel rails, coal replaced wood as fuel for locomotives, and accommodation and plant were improved and expanded by such construction as the Motive Power Shops erected at Stratford, Ontario, the Car Shops at Brantford, Ontario, and the Union Station built at Toronto. There was some expansion during this period, however. The Buffalo and Lake Huron Railway and the Montreal and Champlain Railroad were acquired, and a small amount of additional main line trackage was laid. The Chicago, Detroit and Canada Grand Trunk Junction Railroad was the first incursion into the United Stated outside of New England and was the precursor of the drive to Chicago.
The presidency of Sir Henry Tyler (1876-1895) was significant because of the great expansion of the Grand Trunk. The main elements of this expansion were the through line to Chicago and the acquisition of three large railway systems in Ontario, the Great Western Railway, the Northern Railway and the Midland Railway. Smaller lines were built or acquired in Ontario, Quebec and the United States. Much of this expansion (at least in Canada) was motivated by the fear that these lines or systems would fall into the hands of major competitors, particularly the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. During this period the Grand Trunk increased its control of the Central Vermont Railroad System and the St. Clair Tunnel was completed.
Economic conditions in North America prevented the Grand Trunk attaining prosperity and a new Board of Directors under the Presidency of Sir Charles Rivers Wilson assumed control in 1895. Emphasis was once again placed on operating efficiency and the company profits increased. The only major acquisition during this period was the Canada Atlantic Railway system in 1904. Rivers Wilson resigned in 1910 and the General Manager, Charles M. Hays, was given the title of President, while the former office of President became that of Chairman of the Board. The most important event of this period was the decision in 1903 to construct the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway with its associated enterprises and to agree to lease and operate the National Transcontinental Railway following its construction by the Government. This decision and its results was to dominate the affairs of the parent Grand Trunk company and eventually to doom it.
From 1916 the increasing demands of the Grand Truck Pacific and the larger costs of operation due to increased wage rates and prices forced the Grand Trunk to appeal to the Dominion Government for assistance. As the Canadian Northern Railway was also in difficulties the Government appointed a Royal Commission to investigate the Canadian railway situation (P.C. 1680, 14 June 1916 - Royal Commission to Enquire Into Railways and Transportation in Canada). The majority report (Drayton-Acworth Report) tabled on 2 May 1917 recommended that the Government acquire complete control of the troubled railways and operate them as one system. The financial difficulties of the Grand Trunk system continued and the Grand Trunk Pacific passed into Government receivership in March 1919 while negotiations towards the acquisition of the Grand Trunk Railway by the Government continued between January 1918 and March 1920.
An Agreement dated 8 March 1920 between the Grand Trunk and the Government provided among other things, for the acquisition by the Government of the entire capital stock and the guarantee by the Government of dividends and interest on outstanding perpetual Guaranteed Stock and perpetual Debenture Stock. The value of the capital stock was to be determined by a board of three arbitrators. A majority award of this board submitted on 7 September 1921 ruled that the capital stock was valueless. A government appointed Board of Directors took office on 18 May 1921 and operated the line as part of the Canadian National System. On 31 January 1923, the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada amalgamated with and took the name of Canadian National Railways. RG30 General Inventory
