Another area of interest for future consideration as a published work is a history of the Port Hope Lindsay and Beaverton Railway and its successors.
In the mid nineteenth century the community of Port Hope, five miles west of Cobourg, was equally as interested as Cobourg in building a railway from its harbour to the northern hinterland. At the time Port Hope entrepreneurs and politicians were equally as adept at the bar of the Upper Canada legislature as were Cobourg promoters. Port Hope interests organized the Port Hope & Peterborough Railway charter in 1846 but the proponents could not muster sufficient capital to commence construction of a railway between the two communities.
Several years later, in response to Cobourg’s acquisition of a railway charter, most of the same Port Hope men reorganized their company as the Port Hope & Lindsay Railway and received a charter for same in May, 1853. The new destination was a response to the fact that the municipality of Peterborough was uninterested in providing any financial consideration to the Port Hopeians. The community of Lindsay was not so reluctant and hence the line north of Port Hope would veer to the northwest. Despite the urgency of commencing construction to compete with the rival road to the east, nothing occurred.
At last, on September 4, 1856, the first sod of the Port Hope line was turned. Once again the company had been reorganized and was by this date known as the Port Hope, Lindsay & Beaverton Railway. No major topography impediments hampered the construction and the line opened for business to Lindsay in December 1857. As the line was nearing completion the directors of the PHL&BRy agreed to allow Messrs. Fowler & Tate to construct a branch line from Millbrook to Peterborough at their expense. This line, known as the Port Hope & Peterborough Railway, was completed in late spring the following year and in May 1858 Peterborough had two lines of rail into its community.
Like the Cobourg & Peterborough Railway, the PHL&BRy was never a financially sound enterprise, suffering from underfunding and directorial manipulation. In the early 1860s, Fowler and Tate, along with several other former directors of the C&PRy, gained control of the PHL&BRy. The Company struggled to remain active for the rest of the decade. On the last day of the decade the PHL&BRy was once again reorganized and emerged as the Midland Railway of Canada.
In 1871 Adoph Hugel assumed an active interest in the Midland Railway and under his stern, at times harsh, financial constraints, the road expanded in stages to Orillia (December 1872), Waubaushene (May, 1876), and Midland (September, 1877). About this time George Cox of Peterborough, perhaps recognizing the merits of a rail link from Georgian Bay through to Lake Ontario, became an active director of the Midland. Cox may well have been a surreptitious agent of the Grand Trunk Railway as within two years of his being elected President of the Midland Railway he amalgamated the Grand Junction Railway (Belleville to Peterborough), the Whitby and Port Perry Railway, the Toronto & Nipissing Railway and the Victoria Railway (Lindsay to Haliburton) into the former company.
The newly enlarged Midland Railway of Canada shortly thereafter entered into various operational arrangements with the Grand Trunk Railway. By 1884 the GTR was effectively controlling the Midland Railway and a lease arrangement was contracted in the same year. The Grand Trunk formally absorbed the Midland Railway of Canada in 1893. Much of the original line continued to operate under Canadian National Railways ownership and the line between Port Hope and Peterborough witnessed its last passenger service in 1951. This section, and many of the other sections, continued to operate, if sporadically, into the 1970s when large scale abandonment occurred. Today little of the former PHL&BRy, and indeed of the Midland Railway constituents, exists.
If you have any information or images concerning the Port Hope Lindsay & Beaverton Railway and its subsequent incarnations and are willing to share such, please contact Ted by e-mail at [email protected] or by post directed to Steampower Publishing, 181 Armour Court, Cobourg, Ontario, K9A 4S6, Canada.
In the mid nineteenth century the community of Port Hope, five miles west of Cobourg, was equally as interested as Cobourg in building a railway from its harbour to the northern hinterland. At the time Port Hope entrepreneurs and politicians were equally as adept at the bar of the Upper Canada legislature as were Cobourg promoters. Port Hope interests organized the Port Hope & Peterborough Railway charter in 1846 but the proponents could not muster sufficient capital to commence construction of a railway between the two communities.
Several years later, in response to Cobourg’s acquisition of a railway charter, most of the same Port Hope men reorganized their company as the Port Hope & Lindsay Railway and received a charter for same in May, 1853. The new destination was a response to the fact that the municipality of Peterborough was uninterested in providing any financial consideration to the Port Hopeians. The community of Lindsay was not so reluctant and hence the line north of Port Hope would veer to the northwest. Despite the urgency of commencing construction to compete with the rival road to the east, nothing occurred.
At last, on September 4, 1856, the first sod of the Port Hope line was turned. Once again the company had been reorganized and was by this date known as the Port Hope, Lindsay & Beaverton Railway. No major topography impediments hampered the construction and the line opened for business to Lindsay in December 1857. As the line was nearing completion the directors of the PHL&BRy agreed to allow Messrs. Fowler & Tate to construct a branch line from Millbrook to Peterborough at their expense. This line, known as the Port Hope & Peterborough Railway, was completed in late spring the following year and in May 1858 Peterborough had two lines of rail into its community.
Like the Cobourg & Peterborough Railway, the PHL&BRy was never a financially sound enterprise, suffering from underfunding and directorial manipulation. In the early 1860s, Fowler and Tate, along with several other former directors of the C&PRy, gained control of the PHL&BRy. The Company struggled to remain active for the rest of the decade. On the last day of the decade the PHL&BRy was once again reorganized and emerged as the Midland Railway of Canada.
In 1871 Adoph Hugel assumed an active interest in the Midland Railway and under his stern, at times harsh, financial constraints, the road expanded in stages to Orillia (December 1872), Waubaushene (May, 1876), and Midland (September, 1877). About this time George Cox of Peterborough, perhaps recognizing the merits of a rail link from Georgian Bay through to Lake Ontario, became an active director of the Midland. Cox may well have been a surreptitious agent of the Grand Trunk Railway as within two years of his being elected President of the Midland Railway he amalgamated the Grand Junction Railway (Belleville to Peterborough), the Whitby and Port Perry Railway, the Toronto & Nipissing Railway and the Victoria Railway (Lindsay to Haliburton) into the former company.
The newly enlarged Midland Railway of Canada shortly thereafter entered into various operational arrangements with the Grand Trunk Railway. By 1884 the GTR was effectively controlling the Midland Railway and a lease arrangement was contracted in the same year. The Grand Trunk formally absorbed the Midland Railway of Canada in 1893. Much of the original line continued to operate under Canadian National Railways ownership and the line between Port Hope and Peterborough witnessed its last passenger service in 1951. This section, and many of the other sections, continued to operate, if sporadically, into the 1970s when large scale abandonment occurred. Today little of the former PHL&BRy, and indeed of the Midland Railway constituents, exists.
If you have any information or images concerning the Port Hope Lindsay & Beaverton Railway and its subsequent incarnations and are willing to share such, please contact Ted by e-mail at [email protected] or by post directed to Steampower Publishing, 181 Armour Court, Cobourg, Ontario, K9A 4S6, Canada.
