Canadian Railways 2-Book Bundle. David R.P. Guay
of directors (Lieutenant-Colonel Grey and James Bald) left for the U.S. on October 4 to confer with W.H. Vanderbilt of the New York Central and other railway authorities. It was rumoured that the reason for the October trip was to take measures to protect the company from Grand Trunk attacks.
On April 2 a fire started in the early morning hours in the Great Western Clifton (Niagara Falls) depot. Starting in one of the wings, the fire soon overtaxed the local and Great Western fire brigades and razed the entire building. However, the heroic efforts of the firemen did save many buildings fronting on Bridge Street. On January 10, 1880, a new, large depot opened on the same site. Built of brick and stone in a semi-Gothic style, it was three hundred feet in length, comprising a central two-storey portion sixty feet in length and two single-storey wings, each being one hundred twenty feet in length. The building was thirty-five feet wide. Waiting rooms and the ticket office were located in the centre block. The east wing had a large dining room, lunch counter, wine room, and U.S. Customs office. The west wing had a telegraph battery room, agent’s office, baggage room, and Canadian Customs office.
In the summer of 1879 the Great Western was considering entering into a traffic arrangement with the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg Railroad (RWO).
An eye-popping advertisement for the Great Western and Michigan Central Railways’ “Only Route Via Niagara Falls and Suspension Bridge.” The bottom of the poster reads: “For Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, and all points west, take the Great Western and Michigan Central R Line. Palace, sleeping and drawing room cars between New York, Boston, and Chicago without change.”
Niagara Falls, Ontario Public Library collection.
This line stretched from the Suspension Bridge, along the southern shore of Lake Ontario, almost to Montreal. A connection with the New York, Ontario, and Western would open up the way to New York City. The two roads were examining the potential for a shared bridge at Lewiston, New York, on the lower Niagara River. Alas, it was not meant to be. The Vanderbilts would swallow up the RWO.
The town of Chatham and the Great Western Railway, the latter being represented by General Manager Broughton, celebrated the opening of the new Chatham depot on Friday September 27, 1879.
A very influential committee of shareholders of the Great Western was formed in December 1879 to arrange, with the Great Western board, a plan to end the unsatisfactory relations with the Grand Trunk. In 1880 the Great Western appealed its Windsor property tax assessment to the Court of Revision, saying that it was $32,000 too high. The appeal was rejected.
There had been fear for some time that Cornelius Vanderbilt, obtaining control of the Michigan Central, would cut off the Great Western from through-freight business between the west and east. In July 1878 his son W.H. Vanderbilt (representing the Canada Southern) and F. Broughton (representing the Great Western) and T. Scott as arbitrator came to an agreement on the division of Michigan Central business to the two roads. Broughton claimed that the Great Western was carrying 75 percent of the east-west business between Buffalo Suspension Bridge and Detroit, with the Canada Southern carrying only 25 percent. While not claiming that the same proportions should still apply, he felt that the Great Western was entitled to the largest share. Vanderbilt claimed that the relationship had changed, since the Michigan Central formerly had discriminated against the Canada Southern while they were now natural allies (both being under the control of the Vanderbilts). Mr. Scott announced the decision as follows: for through passenger traffic the Great Western/Canada Southern proportions would be 60/40 percent, and for through-freight traffic they would be 55/45 percent. The agreement was to last for six months and at the end either party could withdraw by giving three months’ notice (for practical purposes, it was a nine-month agreement).
On June 3, 1880, the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad and the Great Western signed a twenty-one-year traffic agreement with the following terms:
The Wabash would pay a $20,000 annual fee plus $5/loaded twelve-ton car or $1.80/empty car for ferrying across the Detroit River from Detroit, transit across southern Ontario and transit across the International Bridge at Buffalo.
Gross receipts of the traffic would be collected by the Great Western and, after expenses were deducted, the profits would be split 50/50 between the two railways.
If the Great Western wished the Wabash to ship its through cars to/from Ashburn (south Chicago), it would have to pay a $10,000 annual fee plus $2.50/loaded twelve-ton car or $0.90/empty car. In this case, the Wabash would collect the gross receipts to be followed by the same division of the profits after the deduction of expenses.
If the Great Western wished the Wabash to ship cars between Detroit and Toledo, Ohio, it would have to pay only the usual pro rata mileage divisions of rates and fares and no annual fee.
There is no mention in the document of binding the Wabash to send all through traffic via the Great Western. In fact, as it turned out, Wabash through traffic was almost equally split between the Great Western, Canada Southern, and Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. In addition, how could the Great Western make such a favourable (to the Wabash) arrangement and not expect that the same would have to be granted to its old ally, the Michigan Central, especially with the huge through traffic forwarded by the latter over the Great Western? By making this agreement with the Wabash, would the Great Western reduce its profits on all through traffic by 50 percent? In any case, this is how the relationship would stand, at least until the 1882 Grand Trunk takeover.
A dividend of 1.5 percent for the half year was declared at the April 22, 1880, shareholder meeting. Traffic had increased by 28 percent and rates had improved. Despite this, the leased lines were still being worked at a loss although the Detroit, Grand Haven, and Milwaukee line was working satisfactorily. Mr. Brackstone Baker, secretary of the company for twenty-six years, retired on January 1, 1880. In appreciation of his services, an annuity of £650 ($3,166) per year (50 percent of his annual salary) was voted for him. Mr. Walter Lindley became the new secretary.
Table 2-8 illustrates company financials for several years prior to amalgamation. The October 30, 1880, shareholder meeting was somewhat more cheerful. A surplus of £34,847 ($169,700) was shown and a dividend of 1 percent was declared. Earnings of the main line and branches showed an increase of £71,662 ($349,000) (19.5 percent) over the same period one year previously, while leased lines showed a deficit of £15,201 ($74,029). The Detroit, Grand Haven, and Milwaukee had better results and a 3 percent dividend was declared.
During 1880 the replacement of old wooden bridges by stone and/or iron structures was accelerated throughout the system. Wire fencing was also introduced on an experimental basis on a six-mile stretch and proved quite satisfactory. The Tillsonburg and Delhi viaducts were rebuilt with more permanent materials. The Tillsonburg viaduct was 1,287 feet long and 112 feet high, while corresponding figures for the Delhi viaduct were 1,087 feet and ninety feet. These were the two largest structures on the Great Western system.
In 1881 the Great Western appealed against the Court of Revision finding in terms of property tax levied for its Windsor properties. The mayor of Windsor voiced his doubts that railway personnel had honestly reported the extent of the railway’s property holdings. The mayor felt that this needed to be investigated before the trial began. Augustin McDonell was selected to conduct the survey of Great Western property.
By 1882 the juggernaut of the pro-amalgamation forces could not be stopped. In the final tally, the votes for amalgamation were a landslide, with 1,072 shareholders controlling 83,409 votes supporting amalgamation and eight shareholders controlling only 1,100 votes not supporting amalgamation. Amalgamation occurred at 2300 hours on August 11, 1882.
The first board of directors of the amalgamated company, split as one-third Great Western-affiliated and two-thirds Grand Trunk-affiliated, included:
Sir Henry W. Tyler, MP
Sir Charles L. Young
Baronet Lord Cland J. Hamilton, MP
Robert Young
Robert Gillespie
William