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The Bartonville Route

Hamilton Transit History

The Bartonville Route

Start of service: 1907 (HRER), 1927 (HSR)
End of service: July 30, 1929
Route: Sherman & Main to King & Barton-Saltfleet township line (now Cochrane Rd) via Main and King. Later cut back along Main to Main & King.

The first mention of a streetcar route to Bartonville was in 1893, when the HSR approached the City of Hamilton and the Township of Barton of running a line along King St East from the then end of track at Sherman as far as Bartonville.

In 1907, the HRER laid down a single track along Main St from Sherman to King, and then along King to the Barton-Saltfleet township line (now Cochrane Rd) in the village of Bartonville, creating the Bartonville route. The rails were salvaged from the recently abandoned Vineland extension of the HG&B. The HRER operated this route using a streetcar that was leased from the HSR, but it is unknown if the route was operated as a radial line or as a streetcar line (i.e, if HSR tickets were accepted)

The Bartonville route was cut back to King & Main in 1913 with the opening of the Belt Line, the only change ever made to the route. The HSR took over the Bartonville route in 1927. On July 30, 1929, the Bartonville streetcar route was replaced with buses, the first major abandonment in the HSR streetcar network.

Sources

Hamilton Spectator
“A line to Bartonville - Inducements Held Out to the Street Railway Company” June 20, 1893, pg 5
“To Extend the Line - The Street Railway Company Wants to Go to Bartonville” June 26, 1893, pg 1

Mills, John M. Cataract Traction; The Railways of Hamilton. Toronto: Upper Canada Railway Society/Ontario Electric Railway Historical Association, 1971

Westland, S. I. "Steel City Traction" Upper Canada Railway Society Newsletter May 1971: pg 69-74