Canadian Railways 2-Book Bundle. David R.P. Guay
one hundred twenty tons of pig iron; ship number two = two locomotives, one hundred ninety-four tons of pig iron, two hundred twenty-six kegs of blasting powder; ship number three = two locomotives, two boilers, three tenders, seventeen pairs of wheels and axles, twenty cases of machinery, eight chimneys, six rods, eight buffers, forty-two pairs of wheels and axles, sixty-five tons of pig iron (all on 6/19/1855)
An example of a manifest of a vessel contracted to transport materiel from Hamilton to drop-off points near the western construction zone is that of the schooner London on December 3, 1853: three hundred fifty tons of rails, fifty-nine kegs of spikes, and one ton of furniture to Chatham.
In late December 1853 three Great Western locomotives were on the dock at Cape Vincent, New York (southeastern end of Lake Ontario). Winter had arrived and most ships were in winter quarters. However, the locomotives were needed for the winter construction season. The steamer Magnet was contracted to cross the lake, secure the locomotives, and bring them to the wharf at Port Ontario. In January 1854 the railway chartered the steamer Princess Royal to transport locomotives from Rochester to Burlington Beach at the canal. Four locomotives were delivered this way, with the last one arriving in late March.
A bird’s-eye view of the Hamilton yard facilities of the Great Western, with the photograph being taken from atop a grain elevator. The depot is evident in the left side of the photograph. The presence of dual rails indicative of dual-gauge trackage should be noted. This allowed simultaneous use of broad-gauge (five-foot six-inch gauge) and standard-gauge (four-foot eight-and-a-half-inch gauge) motive power and rolling stock. It also allows one to roughly date this photograph to the period between late 1866 and June 1873.
Canada Science and Technology Museum.
The Great Western shops and yard in Hamilton were erected on reclaimed land in Burlington Bay, at its western end. Excavated material from railway construction was used for reclamation, pushing the new shore some seven hundred feet into the bay, creating forty new acres of land. All major buildings were built using solid stone. The locomotive shop was mammoth in size, being three-storeys tall and having twelve tracks exiting from a turntable and running one hundred fifty yards into twelve work bays. Each work bay could hold two locomotives. The ground floor had ponderous lathes to turn crankpins or driving wheels, as well as planing machines, drill presses, and cylinder-boring machines. The second floor had rows of lathes and woodworking machines. At the back was the
Great Western erecting shops, Hamilton, circa 1862. Note, from left to right, the A-frame for heavy lifting, three newly built or newly outshopped broad-gauge locomotives (4-4-0s or 2-6-0s), two sets of driving wheels, and a handsome, open-ended passenger car in this staged photo shoot with shop personnel.
Stratford-Perth Archives, Stratford, Ontario.
Great Western station, St. Thomas, circa 1890s. View of the north side, looking southeast. The station was located opposite the north end of Station Street. The photographer was likely located on top of a rail car.
Ian Cameron Collection, Elgin County Archives.
blacksmith shop with twenty-six smithy fires and a huge steam forging hammer. A stationary sixty-horsepower steam engine provided power for all machines in the locomotive and car departments via a complex system of pulleys and belts. To the west of the locomotive shop were the car shops housed in a wood frame building three hundred feet long by fifty feet wide.
Although construction of the Great Western did not require major physical barriers to be overcome, costs continued to climb, as did the concern/anxiety of shareholders and directors. At first their solution was dismissal of the chief engineer, whose estimates proved displeasing. When Charles Stuart was replaced by Roswell Benedict in 1851, the latter assured the directors that Stuart’s estimates were reasonably accurate. By September 1852 Benedict reported that costs would exceed Stuart’s
Plan of 1879 Hamilton, Ontario, Great Western Railway facilities: 1 = passenger station (stone); 2 = coal shed (wood); 3 = roundhouse (stone); 4 = locomotive shop (stone); 5 = two attached foundries (one brick, one stone); 6 = moulding shop/carpentry shop (latter stone); 7 = erecting shop/blacksmith and machine shop (both stone); 8 = car shops (wood); 9 = freight shed (stone); 10 = grain elevator (wood); 11 = baggage/freight/express building; 12 = coal sheds (not GWR-owned). Identities of other buildings cannot be verified.
From The 1879 New Topographical Atlas of the Province of Ontario (Burland Desbarats Lithography Co., Montreal, PQ).
estimates by as much as £286,000 ($1.393 million U.S.). Benedict was shown the door. The next chief engineer, J.T. Clark, had an estimate £336,000 ($1.636 million U.S.) higher than that of Benedict and £621,000 ($3.024 million U.S.) higher than that of Stuart. Of course, this was not an issue unique to the Great Western. Most early railways found that original estimates fell far short of the actual costs. In any case, George L. Reid had become chief engineer by 1854. Apparently, the shareholders and directors came to the conclusion that frequent dismissals of chief engineers would not solve their financial problems, since Reid maintained his position until at least 1870.
Great Western Railway Hamilton Works, circa 1862.
Stratford-Perth Archive, Stratford, Ontario.
In actual fact the unexpected costs of construction, although partly the result of unrealistic estimates or unjustified charges by contractors for “unforeseen conditions,” were largely the result of increasing costs of land, labour, and materials; exceptionally cold winters; and unforeseen physical barriers. The section immediately west of Hamilton presented a number of engineering problems: bridging of a marsh, a wide cutting, a stream diversion, deepening of the Desjardins Canal, construction of a bridge over the canal, another long bridge over a ravine, heavy embankments and formidable stretches of retaining wall. The decision to build across the marsh through which the Desjardins Canal passed proved exceptionally costly. Although an easier route from Dundas to Hamilton existed,
all of this trouble was brought about by a desire … to please two Canadian Directors, Sir Allan MacNab and Dr. Hamilton. MacNab wanted the line near or through Dundurn, which he then owned, and Dr. Hamilton owned the Fisher property at Dundas. He thought that by running the line along the mountain side he could open up building stone quarries.
In spite of such self-imposed engineering problems, the Great Western was truly fortunate that its route through southwestern Ontario presented few major physical barriers. There remained, however, the problems of crossing the rivers at both ends of the main line. The Detroit River was the lesser of the two problems. Although consideration was given to both a tunnel and a bridge, engineering and economic factors caused both to be abandoned in favour of a ferry service between Windsor and Detroit, as detailed in chapter 5. Unfortunately, until railway cars could be ferried across the river year round, break-bulk shipping by ferries and sleighs resulted in delay, damage, and dissatisfaction. Ultimately, the issue would cause the Great Western to come dangerously close to losing the support of the American roads on which it was so dependent.
An engraving of a Great Western passenger train proceeding from the U.S. to the Canadian side of the Niagara River gorge over Roebling’s historic Suspension Bridge. The American and Canadian (Horseshoe) falls can be seen in the background.
Canada Science and Technology Museum.
The Niagara barrier was more effectively overcome but not without an engineering feat that received worldwide acclaim. A suspension bridge was required by the circumstances at the building site. However, suspension bridges at that time had an alarming safety