Victoria Railway

Victoria Railway

Locale	Ontario, Canada
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The Victoria Railway is a historic 55.52-mile (89.35 km) long^[1] Canadian railway that operated in Central Ontario. Construction under Chief Engineer James Ross began in 1874 from Lindsay, Ontario, with authority to build through Victoria County to Haliburton, Ontario, to which it opened on November 24, 1878.^[2][3][4] The line is best known as having been built by a large group of Icelandic immigrants, who found the Kinmount winters too rough, and so they all moved to Gimli, Manitoba. The line became part of the Midland Railway of Canada and then later part of the Canadian National Railways. The line was abandoned completely by the early 1990s.^[1]

Timeline

• 1871: Formation of the Fenelon Falls Railway Company^[5]
• 1872: Renamed as the Lindsay, Fenelon Falls and Ottawa River Railway Company^[6]
• 1873: Renamed as the Victoria Railway Company^[7]
• 1880: Acquisition by the Midland Railway of Canada
• 1882: Consolidation of the Victoria Railway Company, the Midland Railway of Canada, the Toronto and Nipissing Railway, the Whitby, Port Perry and Lindsay Railway, the Toronto and Ottawa Railway and the Grand Junction Railway.^[8]

Principal stations

• Lindsay, Ontario
• Cameron, Ontario
• Fenelon Falls, Ontario
• Fell(s), Ontario
• Burnt River, Ontario
• Watsons, Ontario
• Kinmount, Ontario
• Howland Junction, Ontario
• Gelert, Ontario
• Lochlin, Ontario
• Donald, Ontario
• Haliburton, Ontario

Closure

The line became part of Canadian National Railways in 1923 with its acquisition of the former Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. Mixed freight/passenger train service ran until September, 1960. CN applied for abandonment in 1978. The Canadian Transport Commission approved the line's abandonment in 1981, and most of the line being taken up in 1983; a final short section was abandoned by the early 1990s.^[1] The entire length of the line is now the Haliburton County Rail Trail and the Victoria County Rail Trail public recreational trails.^[9]

References

1. Smith, Jeffrey P (2011-07-27). "CNR Haliburton Subdivision". CNR in Ontario. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
2. Smith, Jeffrey P (2011-05-05). "Haliburton". CNR in Ontario. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
3. "Victoria Railway, The". Online Plaque Guide. Ontario Heritage Trust. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
4. "The Victoria Railway". Ontario's Historical Plaques. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
5. An Act to incorporate "The Fenelon Falls Railway Company", S.O. 1870-71, c. 43
6. An Act to amend An Act intituled, "An Act to incorporate The Fenelon Falls Railway Company", S.O. 1871-2, c. 60
7. An Act to amend the Act intituled "An Act to incorporate The Fenelon Falls Railway Company" and the Act intituled "An Act to amend An Act intituled, 'An Act to incorporate The Fenelon Falls Railway Company'", S.O. 1873, c. 97 , subsequently amended by An Act to amend the Acts relating to the Victoria Railway Company, S.O. 1874, c. 63
8. An Act to consolidate the Toronto and Nipissing Railway Company, the Whitby, Port Perry and Lindsay Railway Company, the Victoria Railway Company, the Toronto and Ottawa Railway Company, the Grand Junction Railway Company, and the Midland Railway Company of Canada, S.O. 1882, c. 67
9. "Haliburton County Rail Trail". Ontario Trails Council. Retrieved 2011-11-11.