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  • Home
    • Paul Rollinson, the train book seller
  • My Books
    • Hamilton's Other Railway
    • Rails to the Lakes
    • Narrow Gauge for Us
    • CP to the East - International of Maine
  • Ontario Railway History
    • Railway Gauges in Ontario
    • Grey and Bruce Counties
    • Haldimand and Norfolk Counties
    • Dufferin County
    • Perth and Huron Counties
    • Peterborough County
    • Simcoe County
    • Victoria and Haliburton Counties
    • Wellington County
    • Buffalo & Lake Huron Railway
    • Georgian Bay & Seaboard Railway
    • Hamilton & North Western/Lake Erie Railways
    • Lake Simcoe Junction Railway
    • Lindsay, Bobcaygeon & Pontypool Railway
    • Northern Railway of Canada Group
    • Portage Flyer
    • Schomberg & Aurora Railway
    • Toronto & Nipissing Railway
    • Cardwell Junction
    • Omemee Junction Ontario ("The Old Road")
    • Victoria Junction, Lindsay, Ont.
  • Ontario Railway Stations - Gallery
    • Image Credit Abbreviations
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E F
    • G
    • H
    • I J K
    • L
    • M
    • N
    • O
    • P Q R
    • S
    • T U V
    • W X Y Z
  • Ontario Show and Event Calendar 2023-24
  • Ontario Railway Station Museums
  • Ontario Railway Murals
  • Railway History - Canada
    • Quick Railway Histories and Related Information
    • Carl Riff's Railway History Diaries
    • Rod Clarke's TG&B and T&N Diaries
    • Timetables
    • Glossary of Common Railway Terms
    • "Canadian Rail" (CRHA) - Links to Issues
    • "Branchline" (BRS) - Index to past Issues
    • Upper Canada Railway Society (UCRS) and its publications
    • GTR Locomotives - R&LHS Bulletin #147
    • GTR Buildings & Bridges Inventory 1907
    • GTR Buildings & Bridges Inventory 1903
    • CNR - Stations - Designating Numbers (1924/1927)
    • CPR - Stations - Designating Numbers 1924
    • Railway Stations and distances - by Jim Fergusson
    • CNR - Synoptic History to 1960
    • Intercolonial Railway - report - Sandford Fleming, C.E.
    • Post Cards - a primary research source - by Ralph Beaumont
    • Searching for Antecedents on the Railways
    • Research and Writing a Book
  • What's New In Publications
  • Railway Modelling
    • My 3-Rail Hornby-Dublo layout - and tips and thoughts
    • Prototype Modelling in Ontario
    • Our Friends at the Shows - a Photo Gallery
    • Disposing of model railway and other train stuff
    • The Great British Train Show
    • Aberfoyle Jct. Model Railway
    • The Credible Model
    • Superdetailing Ideas
    • Basic Model Railway Insights
    • More About N Scale
    • My Eagle Lake & Northern Model Railway in N Scale
  • Toy Train and Model Railway Tracks
    • Gallery of Track Images
    • Track Identification
    • Scale, Gauge, and Track Geometry Information
    • Mystery Department
    • Chronology, Toy Train and Model Railway Events
    • Model Railway History
    • Manufacturer Histories
    • Bibliography and Reference
  • Opinion Piece
  • Links
  • Postage Stamps - Railways and Traction
    • Common Terms and Abbreviations
    • North America
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    • Caribbean Islands
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Grey and Bruce Counties

Note: Please also see Dufferin and Wellington Counties.

Background

The 1850s saw the rapid development of the agricultural belt formerly referred to as "the "Queen's Bush", and the creation of Grey and Bruce Counties. In terms of the railway grid at that time, this vast area was bounded to the east by the 1853 Ontario, Simcoe & Huron Union Railroad (OSHU RR); to the south by the 1856 Grand Trunk Railway's line through Guelph and Berlin (now Kitchener); and to the west by the 1859 Buffalo, Brantford & Goderich Railway through Stratford to Goderich in Huron County.

The result was pressure from the newly-formed Grey and Bruce Counties for the railway service that was going to be necessary for the furtherance of their prosperity. From Orangeville to the south in what was later to become Dufferin County, and between there and the established ports at Kincardine and Owen Sound there was a vast grid of Concessions with emerging hamlets and villages dotted about the landscape that were relying for the movement of goods and people on such primitive roads that had been established. Agitation for a better option came to a head, and in 1864 the Northern Railway of Canada, successor to the OSHU RR, was approached for a branchline from Angus to Grey County's market town and livestock exchange centre of Durham.

The Northern however had suffered real growing pains from its inception as the OSHU from 1853 to 1859, and its saviour and managing director Frederic Cumberland was leery of branch lines that had the potential to sap his railway's financial revitalization. So when Cumberland, still well ensconced in his containment policy, refused on the ground that there would be insufficient traffic, he was roundly abused in the press and in the legislature. 

There the matter rested, except that this altercation underscored not only the need for railway competition, but also drew attention to the developing opportunities for connections to Lake Huron. Relief was at hand for the northwest with the incorporation of the Toronto, Grey & Bruce Railway in 1868 and its completion to Owen Sound in 1873. With the threat of real competition at hand, the Northern relented and made an effort with its North Grey Railway, but it was "too little - too late". Grey and Bruce's clamour for inclusion in the prosperity of the emerging railway world was answered almost simultaneously and in rapid succession by the Toronto, Grey & Bruce, the Wellington, Grey & Bruce, the Port Dover & Lake Huron, Stratford & Lake Huron, and the Georgian Bay & Wellington Railways. 

"Terminal" stations

The original North Grey Railway station at Meaford (Sand Hill).

The original North Grey Railway station at Meaford (Sand Hill).

Owen Sound original TG&B station and port. Grey Roots Archives

Owen Sound original TG&B station and port. Grey Roots Archives

Owen Sound GTR station and yards (National Gallery of Canada 2001)

Owen Sound GTR station and yards (National Gallery of Canada 2001)

Development
The original and eventual route of the Toronto, Grey & Bruce Ry. Page 4 of "The Toronto Grey and Bruce Railway 1863 -
 1884", by Thomas F. McIlwraith.

The original and eventual route of the Toronto, Grey & Bruce Ry. Page 4 of "The Toronto Grey and Bruce Railway 1863 - 1884", by Thomas F. McIlwraith.

The eventual CNR lines in Grey and Bruce. Page 11, "Two Divisions to Bluewater". Courtesy Peter Bowers.

The eventual CNR lines in Grey and Bruce. Page 11, "Two Divisions to Bluewater". Courtesy Peter Bowers.

The CPR in Grey and Bruce Counties. Page 126, "Steam Trains to the Bruce". Courtesy Ralph Beaumont.

The CPR in Grey and Bruce Counties. Page 126, "Steam Trains to the Bruce". Courtesy Ralph Beaumont.

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