The Quebec Bridge collapse probably had little effect on the Canadian
Northern, since its tracks ended at Quebec City (apart from a few
isolated branches in Nova Scotia). The bridge was, however, more
important for the National Transcontinental, since it linked the
Winnipeg-Cochrane-Quebec section with the eastern section through
Edmunston to Moncton. It also finally allowed the GTR direct access
to Quebec City, and CPR could connect the Quebec Central to their
north shore line through through Three Rivers.
And in the long-ago era when the railways were enthusiastic about
hauling commuters themselves, Toronto was a comparatively small place.
Montreal was the business centre of Canada with a much larger
population. North Toronto Station was a long way from the existing
small business district, and no executive would want to isolate
himself by being first to move "out of the city". Yonge Street had
street cars, not a subway. The GTR attempt with the old belt line did
not last long.
Latterly CP, like CN, did run a commuter train into Toronto, but in
both cases they were mostly remnants of intercity routes. The
Dayliner from Havelock and Peterborough was scheduled so commuters
could use it.
--- In cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "dave hill" <techill@...> wrote:
Quebec
now there is a real big what if Canadian Northern had not had the
Bridge collaspse and survived the bussiness slowdown of World WarOne .They
proably would have electified around Toronto and establishedcommuter trains
. like why was CPR in the commuter bussiness in Montreal but it did notstation
happen in Toronto till GO Transit Just think the north Toronto
could have become the hub of Toronto would have made a lot moresense the
city would have been more four sided with the main bussiness districtwent
developing in the St Clair ave to Bloor St Area . When it opened you
north of the city to the North Toronto station oh well 20/20hindsight is
just wonderfull DAVID HILL
----- Original Message -----
From: "Derek Boles" <derekboles@...>
To: <cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 11:24 AM
Subject: [cpsig] Re: Electrification (was Re: CPR D-10 from sunset)
3.2. Electrification (was Re: CPR D-10 from sunset)
Posted by: "John Sutherland" sutherail@... sutherail
Date: Mon Feb 9, 2009 4:41 pm ((PST))
CP never got close to "planning" on electrifying around Toronto. In
that era the option was looked at, but for various reasons it was
quickly dropped.
There was some consideration given to electrifying the Toronto
Terminals Railway (jointly owned by CP and CN) around World War I
when the new Union Station was being built. But it never got beyond
the initial discussion stage, undoubtedly for the reasons you
indicate. I'm not aware that CP ever had any specific plans on their
own, at least in Toronto, beyond their involvement in the TTR.
The Canadian Northern Railway, on the other hand, did have more
specific plans on electrifying since they planned on building a line
from Niagara to Toronto that would have entered the city in a long
tunnel to North Toronto Station, which it planned on jointly using
with CP. That was when the CNoR was building its electrified line
through the Mount Royal Tunnel in Montreal. The CNoR had lots of
grandiose schemes that it couldn't afford, which was one of the
reasons it was taken over by CN.
Derek Boles
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