Post by Steve on Jun 18, 2007 19:36:36 GMT -5
Lambton County has a long and rich railway heritage. The county's geographical position on the United States border meant that it had two of Canada's first major rail lines built through it; the Great Western Railway and the Grand Trunk Railway. At its zenith, Lambton could boast of having four different railways within its borders*, with over 160 miles of track!
The Great Western Railway was the first railway to arrive in Lambton in 1858. The Grand Trunk Railway reached Point Edward, where it had its western terminus, a year later in 1859. In 1872, the Canada Southern Railway's St. Clair branch arrived in Lambton and in 1886 the Erie & Huron Railroad completed its line from Dresden to Sarnia, along the St. Clair River.
In addition to these four railways, there was also the Sarnia Street Railway, started in 1875, that eventually consisted of 4 routes and about 8 miles of track and the Dawn Tramway, a steel railed line built about 1884 and used to haul timber out of Dawn Township.
Lambton was also home to the world's first international submarine railway tunnel, the St. Clair Tunnel, opened in 1891 between Sarnia and Port Huron, Michigan under the St. Clair River.
Today, only one major railway mainline remains in Lambton. The original GWR route is now the CN mainline between Chicago and London, using the new Paul M. Tellier Tunnel adjacent to the no longer used St. Clair Tunnel. This is one of the busiest railway routes in Canada and will likely be around for decades to come. In addition, CN actually built a new line in 1965; an industrial spur running for about 16 miles south from Sarnia to the CIL plant in Sombra Township.
The only other railway left in the county is the old Erie & Huron Railroad line down the St. Clair River, after having passed through several ownerships, it is now operated by CSX Corp. It's a lightly used industrial line now and its future is very much in question.
This leaves Lambton with just over 70 miles of railway today, not including sidings and yards.
All the other Lambton railways are just memories now; pulled up and all but forgotten. But, traces of their original routes can still be found. We'll take field trips to see what's left and their histories will be researched and preserved here...
* Five railways, if you count the 3.7 miles of stationless Canadian Pacific mainline cutting diagonally across the extreme southeast corner of the county in Euphemia Twp.
The Great Western Railway was the first railway to arrive in Lambton in 1858. The Grand Trunk Railway reached Point Edward, where it had its western terminus, a year later in 1859. In 1872, the Canada Southern Railway's St. Clair branch arrived in Lambton and in 1886 the Erie & Huron Railroad completed its line from Dresden to Sarnia, along the St. Clair River.
In addition to these four railways, there was also the Sarnia Street Railway, started in 1875, that eventually consisted of 4 routes and about 8 miles of track and the Dawn Tramway, a steel railed line built about 1884 and used to haul timber out of Dawn Township.
Lambton was also home to the world's first international submarine railway tunnel, the St. Clair Tunnel, opened in 1891 between Sarnia and Port Huron, Michigan under the St. Clair River.
Today, only one major railway mainline remains in Lambton. The original GWR route is now the CN mainline between Chicago and London, using the new Paul M. Tellier Tunnel adjacent to the no longer used St. Clair Tunnel. This is one of the busiest railway routes in Canada and will likely be around for decades to come. In addition, CN actually built a new line in 1965; an industrial spur running for about 16 miles south from Sarnia to the CIL plant in Sombra Township.
The only other railway left in the county is the old Erie & Huron Railroad line down the St. Clair River, after having passed through several ownerships, it is now operated by CSX Corp. It's a lightly used industrial line now and its future is very much in question.
This leaves Lambton with just over 70 miles of railway today, not including sidings and yards.
All the other Lambton railways are just memories now; pulled up and all but forgotten. But, traces of their original routes can still be found. We'll take field trips to see what's left and their histories will be researched and preserved here...
* Five railways, if you count the 3.7 miles of stationless Canadian Pacific mainline cutting diagonally across the extreme southeast corner of the county in Euphemia Twp.
