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A ghost of Christmas past lies quietly forgotten south of Ottawa, a relic of the Victorian era buried beneath the snow. This year marks the anniversary of the first train to arrive in Ottawa, our very own Polar Express, which whistled into town 160 years ago on Christmas Day.
Ottawa’s very first train was brought in by the Bytown & Prescott Railway, and arrived with little fanfare on Dec. 25, 1854.
It was 160 years ago this Christmas Day that Ottawa’s first train rolled into town.
It was part of the ambitious vision of a group of investors and board members — including the founder of the Citizen, Robert Bell — to link the burgeoning lumber town of Bytown to the St. Lawrence River and the eager markets in the United States, bringing lumber south and returning with supplies and materials from ships on the St. Lawrence.
With both finances and a route secured, construction of this new railway began in 1852 on the shores of the St. Lawrence River in Prescott, making their way north through swamps, forests and fields over a total distance of 84 kilometres. The new railway passed through the towns that helped finance it — such as Spencerville, Kemptville and Osgoode. It wasn’t until 1854 that tracks were ready to accept a steam locomotive. In May 1854, the locomotive was brought across the river by boat from Ogdensburg, N.Y., and later began to carry its first passengers from Prescott to Kemptville.
Retracing the route of Ottawa’s first train.
Two more locomotives were acquired from Boston Locomotive Works and, according to an article that appeared in the Citizen on Nov. 11, 1854, the sound of a steam train whistle was soon heard in nearby Bytown.
Construction of Ottawa’s first railway snaked into town along what is now the Vanier Parkway, and crossed over the Rideau River behind Rideau Falls to its terminus on Sussex Drive. Delays in building a bridge over the Rideau kept the locomotives from reaching the station until 1855, and the arrival of Ottawa’s first train occurred with little celebration at 8:45 p.m. on Christmas Day 1854 near Montreal Road.
According to an eyewitness account in an 1895 edition of the Ottawa Journal: “The whistle of a locomotive was heard in the distance. It was pleasant to see a train of brightly lighted cars come slowly along the track. They stopped on the north side of Montreal road. A few passengers got off and were conveyed into town in cabs.”
What remains of the capital’s first train line is a ghost of the once ambitious and significant project.
The original locomotives were scrapped for newer technology, and the railway soon changed names to the Ottawa and Prescott Railway when Bytown became Ottawa in 1855.
The railway played a major role in our city’s history: It helped ship the stone used to build the Parliament buildings between 1859 and 1866. Day after day, the railway brought thousands of tons of quarried stone from Cleveland off ships at the Prescott docks.
The railway played a major role in our city’s history when it was used for shipping the stone used to build the Parliament buildings between 1859 and 1866.
Eventually the railway was taken over by Canadian Pacific Railway, which operated the line until 1966, when it was slowly dismantled.
Today the historic railway sits in ruins but we still can experience a small portion of it when we ride the O-Train from Greenboro station to Carleton University.
To the south of Ottawa, portions of the line still has old tracks in place, while other sections have been converted into recreational pathways such as the “Osgoode Pathway,” which is a section of the old railway purchased by the City of Ottawa in 2006 from Canadian Pacific. With the National Capital Commission shaping a new vision for Ottawa in the 1950s and 60s, much of the railway downtown was removed or demolished, including the historic rail bridge over the Rideau River near what is now the Lester B. Pearson Building.
I was able to trace the path of the railway using old maps and aerial images, visiting sections of it to see if anything remains. Where the railway began in Prescott some foundation ruins of the old train yards can be seen next to the original docks and piers on the shore of the St. Lawrence but they are neglected and slowly collapsing into the river.
Most of the tracks have been ripped up.
An uncelebrated patch of grass marks the inception point of the railway, and the former track bed heads into some trees where it passes underneath Highway 401 and north toward Ottawa. Most of the tracks and rail have been pulled up since its closure in 1966.
The Vanier Parkway now follows the route of old track, but it then veers west in New Edinburgh through a park where you can still see what’s left of the limestone bridge footings that once carried the steam locomotives across the Rideau River.
At the Via Rail station on Tremblay Road, there is beautifully crafted scale model of the original locomotive “Ottawa” in a glass display case, a glimpse of what residents of Ottawa would have seen when the Iron Horse first came to town.
At the Via Rail Station on Tremblay Road there is beautifully crafted scale model of the original locomotive Ottawa in a glass display case which brings to life what residents of Ottawa would have seen when the Iron Horse first came to town.
It brings to mind a quote from George Bailey in my favourite holiday film, It’s A Wonderful Life: “Do you know the three most exciting sounds in the world?… Sure, ‘Breakfast is served, Lunch is served, Dinner is served.'”
“No. Anchor chains, plane motors and train whistles.”
TheTimeWinders@gmail.com
Twitter.com/TimeWinders
查看原文...
Ottawa’s very first train was brought in by the Bytown & Prescott Railway, and arrived with little fanfare on Dec. 25, 1854.
It was 160 years ago this Christmas Day that Ottawa’s first train rolled into town.
It was part of the ambitious vision of a group of investors and board members — including the founder of the Citizen, Robert Bell — to link the burgeoning lumber town of Bytown to the St. Lawrence River and the eager markets in the United States, bringing lumber south and returning with supplies and materials from ships on the St. Lawrence.
With both finances and a route secured, construction of this new railway began in 1852 on the shores of the St. Lawrence River in Prescott, making their way north through swamps, forests and fields over a total distance of 84 kilometres. The new railway passed through the towns that helped finance it — such as Spencerville, Kemptville and Osgoode. It wasn’t until 1854 that tracks were ready to accept a steam locomotive. In May 1854, the locomotive was brought across the river by boat from Ogdensburg, N.Y., and later began to carry its first passengers from Prescott to Kemptville.
Retracing the route of Ottawa’s first train.
Two more locomotives were acquired from Boston Locomotive Works and, according to an article that appeared in the Citizen on Nov. 11, 1854, the sound of a steam train whistle was soon heard in nearby Bytown.
Construction of Ottawa’s first railway snaked into town along what is now the Vanier Parkway, and crossed over the Rideau River behind Rideau Falls to its terminus on Sussex Drive. Delays in building a bridge over the Rideau kept the locomotives from reaching the station until 1855, and the arrival of Ottawa’s first train occurred with little celebration at 8:45 p.m. on Christmas Day 1854 near Montreal Road.
According to an eyewitness account in an 1895 edition of the Ottawa Journal: “The whistle of a locomotive was heard in the distance. It was pleasant to see a train of brightly lighted cars come slowly along the track. They stopped on the north side of Montreal road. A few passengers got off and were conveyed into town in cabs.”
What remains of the capital’s first train line is a ghost of the once ambitious and significant project.
The original locomotives were scrapped for newer technology, and the railway soon changed names to the Ottawa and Prescott Railway when Bytown became Ottawa in 1855.
The railway played a major role in our city’s history: It helped ship the stone used to build the Parliament buildings between 1859 and 1866. Day after day, the railway brought thousands of tons of quarried stone from Cleveland off ships at the Prescott docks.
The railway played a major role in our city’s history when it was used for shipping the stone used to build the Parliament buildings between 1859 and 1866.
Eventually the railway was taken over by Canadian Pacific Railway, which operated the line until 1966, when it was slowly dismantled.
Today the historic railway sits in ruins but we still can experience a small portion of it when we ride the O-Train from Greenboro station to Carleton University.
To the south of Ottawa, portions of the line still has old tracks in place, while other sections have been converted into recreational pathways such as the “Osgoode Pathway,” which is a section of the old railway purchased by the City of Ottawa in 2006 from Canadian Pacific. With the National Capital Commission shaping a new vision for Ottawa in the 1950s and 60s, much of the railway downtown was removed or demolished, including the historic rail bridge over the Rideau River near what is now the Lester B. Pearson Building.
I was able to trace the path of the railway using old maps and aerial images, visiting sections of it to see if anything remains. Where the railway began in Prescott some foundation ruins of the old train yards can be seen next to the original docks and piers on the shore of the St. Lawrence but they are neglected and slowly collapsing into the river.
Most of the tracks have been ripped up.
An uncelebrated patch of grass marks the inception point of the railway, and the former track bed heads into some trees where it passes underneath Highway 401 and north toward Ottawa. Most of the tracks and rail have been pulled up since its closure in 1966.
The Vanier Parkway now follows the route of old track, but it then veers west in New Edinburgh through a park where you can still see what’s left of the limestone bridge footings that once carried the steam locomotives across the Rideau River.
At the Via Rail station on Tremblay Road, there is beautifully crafted scale model of the original locomotive “Ottawa” in a glass display case, a glimpse of what residents of Ottawa would have seen when the Iron Horse first came to town.
At the Via Rail Station on Tremblay Road there is beautifully crafted scale model of the original locomotive Ottawa in a glass display case which brings to life what residents of Ottawa would have seen when the Iron Horse first came to town.
It brings to mind a quote from George Bailey in my favourite holiday film, It’s A Wonderful Life: “Do you know the three most exciting sounds in the world?… Sure, ‘Breakfast is served, Lunch is served, Dinner is served.'”
“No. Anchor chains, plane motors and train whistles.”
TheTimeWinders@gmail.com
Twitter.com/TimeWinders
查看原文...
