Collection search - Grand Trunk Railway Company collection [textual record]

Record information – Brief
1
Grand Trunk Railway Company collection [textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Collection

Date:

1854-1855.

Reference:

R6974-0-9-E, MG24-E16

Type of material:

Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

98797

Context of this record:

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Grand Trunk Railway Company collection
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Record information – Details
Date(s):

1854-1855.

Place of creation:

Ontario

Extent:

0.3 cm of textual records (5 p.) some photocopies.

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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Collection consists of a photocopy of a plan of the ground taken for railway depot in Prescott formerly owned by Dr. H.D. Jessup, 1855, and a transfer of land from John Bacquet dit Lamontagne to the Grand Trunk Railway Co., 23 March, 1854.

Provenance:

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Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada

Biography/Administrative history:

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Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada : The Grand Trunk Railway was formally incorporated in 1852, under the sponsorship of Sir Francis Hincks, to build a railway from Toronto to Montréal. In 1853 it amalgamated with 5 other railway companies. Work proceeded vigorously from town to town - at one time 14,000 men and 2000 horses were employed in Canada West alone. Despite financial difficulties, the GTR expanded steadily, often leasing existing railways as a means of expansion. It eliminated its main competitor and added another 1450 km of track with the takeover of the Great Western Railway in 1882. Additional links to the US rail system were established with the International Bridge across the Niagara River, and the tunnel beneath the St Clair River. At Confederation the GTR was the largest railway system in the world. By the late 1880s the GTR ran unbroken from Sarnia to Portland, Maine.

Cost of construction, absentee management (the head office was in London, England) and failure to generate anticipated levels of traffic left the company debt ridden and unable to upgrade its equipment. From the mid-1890s until WWI the GTR undertook a massive betterment program on its property. This included double-tracking of the main line from Montréal to Sarnia, reducing curves and grades to improve operating efficiency, and reconstruction of bridges, buildings andmyards.

To compete with the CPR's thrust into the West, the GTR set up a subsidiary, the Grand Trunk Pacific, to build a transcontinental line. Completed in 1914, the railway was a financial disaster and was largely responsible for the bankruptcy of the GTR in 1919. The federal government, which had already given the GTR some 8 million in subsidies and loans, took over the railway on 10 October 1919. It was placed under the management of the Canadian National Railways on 30 Jan 1923. Canadian Encylcopedia.

Finding aid:

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(No finding aid)

Additional information:

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General note:

The photocopy of the Prescott railway depot was received in 1950 from F.P. Smith of Kingston. The land transfer was received in 1972.
Subject heading:

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Railroads - Canada, 1854-1855 Dr. H.D. Jessup, 1855

Railroad lands - Canada, 1854-1855 Prescott (Ont.), 1855

Railroads - Canada - Stations, 1854 Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada, 1854

John Bacquet dit Lamontagne, 1854
Source:

Private

Former archival reference no.:

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MG24-E16
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Textual records

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Volume [MG24 E 16] 1

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