This sub-series consists of several hundred plans (blueprints) dating from ca. 1875-1923, and created mostly by the Grand Trunk Railway Engineering Department. In some cases, the plans have been created by other railway companies in which the construction affects the Grand Trunk Railway in some way. The plans consist of drawings of sidings, of railway stations, of crossings for various locations in Southern Ontario and Quebec.
While the majority of the plans relate to the period 1910-1923, there are also a number of plans for the period 1875-1910, many created before the board of railway commissioners was established in 1903.
Blueprints created by the Grand Trunk engineering department were documented in their registry system. These blueprints were then submitted for approval by the Canadian Board of Railway Commissioners (BRC), a quasi-independent body set up in 1903 to regulate matters relating to the safe functioning of railroads. They helped determined freight and passenger rates, dealt with safety issues such as accidents and railway crossings, and also any new engineering and construction activities. The board members met on a regular basis to review applications. The BRC itself had a records department, which gave a 5 digit number to each order by the board. There was also a second 2 digit number with an RC in front that kept track in chronological order (each year) to each successful approved order.
The blueprints, in many cases, also have dates of creation stamped on them as well as classification numbers by the Grand Trunk engineering department. These dates and numbers can be matched (in some cases) in a book of registers.
After Grand Trunk was amalgamated with Canadian National Railway Company in 1923, engineering plans went to the Construction section of the Operations and Construction Department of CNR, and later to the Engineering Department.
The blueprints appear to have been collected by Grand Trunk Railway, and were later housed at Toronto's Union Station by Canadian National. These were sent at some point in the 1970s or 1980s to the CN archivist at Montreal headquarters; these were later transferred to the National Archives.
It should be noted that while there are textual records documenting hearings and decisions by the Board of Railway Commissioners in the Canadian Transport Commission fonds (Board of Railways Commissioners Sub-series), there are no actual plans available. The hearings and decisions records are a useful tool to help understand the background to the Grand Trunk blueprints.
