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Canadian Pacific Railway Trenton Division R.L.Kennedy
Doubleheaded 903 with engines 5111 and 2819 westbound
near Cherrywood October 11,1952. The Trenton Division of the Canadian Pacific Railway once consisted of the major portion of the original Ontario & Quebec mainline between Montreal and Toronto. The Havelock Section from Smiths Falls to Havelock (109.2 miles) and then the Toronto Section beyond to Toronto (100.8 miles to Toronto union station.) Note: It was 101.4 miles to Toronto Junction and a further 4.6 miles to Toronto Union via Parkdale. Following opening of the new Lake Ontario Shore line in 1914, as the CLO&W (see below) was known, the old Havelock Subdivision ran from Glen Tay (Mile .0) to Havelock (Mile 93.7), and then the Peterboro Subdivision to Agincourt (Mile 88.0). The new line became known as the Belleville Subdivision from Smiths Falls (Mile .0) to Glen Tay (Mile 15.4 and Trenton (Mile 102.7); from there it was the Oshawa Subdivision to Agincourt (Mile 96.3), Leaside (Mile 103.8) and Toronto (Mile 109.1). It also included a mainline from Dranoel, west of Peterboro on the old O&Q mainline, to Port Mc.Nicoll built by the Georgian Bay & Seaboard. A branchline from Lindsay to Bobcaygeon built as the Lindsay, Bobcaygeon & Pontypool and another from Havelock to Nephton. There was also the entire Kingston & Pembroke from Kingston to Renfrew. A grand total of 572.6 miles. Very little of these lines was built or owned by the CPR, most were acquired or were built under the charter of newly formed "paper" companies. These lines were later known as the Havelock, Peterboro, Belleville, Trenton, Port Mc.Nicoll, Bobcaygeon, Kingston and Nephton Subdivisions. The latter was the last built on the Ontario District, and one of the last anywhere on the CPR. It was also the only part of the Trenton Division built by the CPR, and one of the very few built on Eastern lines aside from the original mainline. All others were bought, or built by separately chartered railways. Note: Smiths Falls itself did not belong to the Ontario District. Roundhouse and 6925. The original mainline was built by the Ontario & Quebec (chartered in March 1881), from Perth, Ontario where it connected with the Canada Central, westward through Tweed, Havelock, Peterboro and Agincourt to (West) Toronto Junction, 199 miles. Built with 60-lb. rail on gravel ballast and a maximum grade of 1.1%, the last spike was driven on May 5, 1884 however, a troublesome sinkhole near Kaladar prevented the start of passenger service until August 11th. It had already been leased on January 4th. to the C.P.R. for 999 years! Perth was the location of the Brockville & Ottawa yard and shops, and a connection with a 12-mile branch from Smiths Falls which had opened February 17,1859. This branch was bought by the CPR and used as a link in the building of the line from Montreal to Toronto. It had been built to the Provincial broad gauge of 5' 6" and had to be regauged to standard gauge. The B&O was built from Brockville through Smiths Falls to Almonte and Sand Point where it connected with the Canada Central. In 1878 it was amalgamated with the Canada Central which was acquired by the CPR in 1881. Smiths Falls was not part of the Trenton Division, nor was the former B&O. About 122 miles of new line was built by the O&Q eastward from Smiths Falls to Mile End where it would connect with the Atlantic & Northwest to reach Montreal, a grand total of 339 miles, and opening it in August 1887. All of the mentioned railways had already become part of the C.P.R. Traffic grew quickly and the need for more track capacity was soon evident. An 1898 proposal called for the double tracking of the entire Montreal-Windsor mainline! Surveys between Bathurst, just west of Glen Tay and Tweed to straighten the line and reduce grades from 1.1% to .8% at 17 locations would cover half of the total 62 miles. After trying since 1886 to get a route from the east directly to downtown Toronto the Don Branch between Leaside Junction and Toronto was opened in September 1892 following an agreement in July 26,1892 with the GTR to use their station. (With an 1895 expansion it became a "Union" station.) Prior to that trains between Montreal and Toronto had to back between (West) Toronto Junction via Parkdale in both directions. The delay was due to difficulties in getting a right of way along the Esplanade, an already crowded area, and to the objection of the Toronto Belt Line Railway which felt there wasn’t room for another track in the narrow valley. The Don Branch which parallels the Don River is on a steep grade (1.75%) northbound requiring an assist engine from Parkdale (freight) or Union Station (for heavy passenger trains) to Leaside and often onward to Agincourt. Fast freight 910, known for many years as "Mae West" handled mostly LCL shed cars and other "rush" traffic from Parkdale to Montreal. 910 usually required two assist engines, one as far as Leaside due to the much steeper grade "up the Don", while the second continued on to Agincourt. It was the only freight train that used this route (although it sometimes operated in two sections) until the coming of the Piggyback trains. It is not officially a branch, but rather an extension of the main line first named the Oshawa Subdivision and re-named the Belleville Subdivision. It is referred to simply as the "Don". At one time it was controlled by an electric staff block system. The mainline was double tracked between Montreal and Smiths Falls between July 1908 and March 16,1910, with the intention of continuing on to Peterboro near where it would connect with the Georgian Bay & Seaboard, then continue west to Toronto. Double track was extended by November 1911 to Glen Tay, at which point a new line would divert. Rather than double track the entire line it was decided to build an entirely new mainline, one closer to Lake Ontario and thus lower grades and additional towns. Campbellford, Lake Ontario & Western was incorporated September 20,1904, but it wasn't until May 1,1912 that construction began at Trenton in both directions. The original plan in 1906 was to build the new line off the exisiting main line at Kemptville Junction (Bedell) to Brockville, Gananoque, Kingston and Belleville running south of the GTR. The CPR had long ago acquired the Brockville & Ottawa which ran between Brockville and Smiths Falls to Ottawa and later the Kingston & Pembroke which may have played a part in changing the route to run directly from Glen Tay to Belleville instead of the more roundabout route. More than 3,000 men, (and 23 steam shovels!), were at work in 1913 building the line, along with 12 wooden and 7 brick stations, 10 enclosed 40,000 gal. water tanks, and other structures including a 12 stall concrete roundhouse with 80' turntable at Trenton, which was to become a Division point requiring 23 acres of land. Mud Lake, a very shallow lake, 11 miles west of Glen Tay proved to be a challenge due to the blue clay and mush beneath it. It required 700' of curving bridge 145' above the water. It was also tough going through rock cuts, the heaviest between Christie Lake and Crow Lake and easier onward to Roblindale. Many bridges were required including three notable ones. A 1600 foot long, 70' high viaduct at Trenton, a 1700 foot, 50' high viaduct in Port Hope and a 1000 foot, 80' high one over Dixie Creek. The work was finished and the line opened to traffic after two years and two months work, on June 29,1914, at a cost of $12,868,354 or about $70,000 per mile. The CLO&W had already been leased on July 1,1913, to the CPR for what had become a traditional period of time for such "paper" railways, 999 years! At Agincourt it met up with the old line again after 181.7 miles, taking a mere 1.9 miles longer, but having a very easy grade of only 0.4% compared to 1.1% which meant double the tonnage could be hauled over its 85lb. rail. NOTE: a D-10 class engine (4-6-0) could handle 1150 tons eastbound beyond Agincourt on the old line and 2290 over the new line. Between Agincourt and Leaside, the controlling grade in the opposite direction, a grade reduction was carried out along with double tracking which was completed June 1, 1914. On this grade, just east of Leaside, were built two 120' foot high viaducts, each about 1000' long over the two branches of the Don River. These had to be strengthened 13 years later to accommodate heavier steam locomotives as did many other bridges. Leaside to Agincourt ("up Wexford") was a short assisting grade of only 7.3 miles and a crew would make more than one run in their day. Engines were based at Lambton and would leave there on east freight trains on their first run. They would wait at Leaside station for the next train. Or, drop down the Don to assist a heavy passenger train from Union Station. "Push Out" was the term used to decribe the dispatch when a new crew was not required. A short spur of 1.1 miles was built from the mainline into downtown Trenton to serve the freight shed and coal docks. A proposed spur into Point Anne was forgone in favour of a connection with the Thurlow Ry. instead, and a proposed branch from Shannonville to Kingston came to nothing. The CPR had already leased the Kingston & Pembroke in December 1912. Towns served by the new line included Belleville, Trenton, Brighton, Cobourg, Port Hope, Oshawa and Whitby. Among the communities that were served by the new CPR line few of any substantial size had been without rail service thanks to the Grand Trunk which had completed its "grand trunk line" (a term used to signify a major rail line) between Montreal and Toronto way back in 1856. What had been sought was competition. In 1891 Brighton businessmen revived efforts of a previous Ontario incorporation in 1882 of the Brighton, Warkworth & Norwood. For the second time, nothing happened. In 1901, another Ontario incorporation was for the Norwood & Apsley, which included powers to construct elevators and wharves, also to operate vessels on Stoney and other lakes reached, along with the right to lease or sell to the CPR. In 1901, a CPR surveyor carried out of a survey of the 25 mile line, however nothing was built. There was also the Canadian Northern and its line from Toronto to Ottawa, which opened in December 1913. Clearly, there wasn't really a need for 4 lines so close to each other. The first to go was the CNoR, which was mostly abandoned shortly after being taken over by the Canadian National Railways following the bankruptcy of the Mackenzie & Mann empire. One of the points served by all three railways, Belleville, featured a short stretch of common right of way for about 3 miles with the Canadian Northern, which completed its Toronto-Ottawa mainline in December 1913. They even shared the same bridge piers over the Moira River! A short joint section allowed the CNoR access to a shared station as well. There was also a small non-common carrier railway near here, the Thurlow Ry. Canadian Pacific in Southern Ontario by W.H.N.Rossiter
Power Distribution 1956 Districts, Divisions, Sections and Subdivisions. The Ontario Division once consisted of Sections of the mainline and Branches thereof. In the fall of 1916 the whole CPR was reorganzied with Divisions and Districts exchanging names, after which the Ontario District consisted of three Divisions and both the main and branch lines were called Subdivisions. The Oshawa Subdivision was combined with the Belleville Subdivision, and the Peterboro Subdivision. was combined with the Havelock Subdivision, by the time the October 1964 employee timetable was issued. The Trenton and Bruce Divisions were eliminated October 26, 1969. At that time the Smiths Falls Division acquired the Kingston Sub, the Belleville Sub. as far west as M.172.8 (just east of Oshawa), and the Havelock Sub. as far west as M.62.5, not far from Toronto Yard. The Toronto Division then consisted of the Mac Tier Sub, Port Mc.Nicoll Sub, and the Toronto Terminals. The Bruce Branches (Orangeville area) were transferred from the Bruce Division to the London Division effective July 1, 1959. Crews The home terminal for District 1 train crews was Toronto, and the away-from-terminal was Trenton or Havelock. Smiths Falls crews worked to Trenton or Havelock, as well as to Chalk River. Montreal crews worked to Smith Falls. Passenger tail-end crews worked Toronto-Smiths Falls. Yard crews were based at Trenton and Havelock and in later years Peterboro and Oshawa. Peterboro was closed July 20th, after the Road Switcher job there was abolished July 18, 1982. A big change took place effective November 1, 1970 when a Run Through Pool was created for crews to operate between Toronto and Smiths Falls, eliminating Trenton as a division point. The work was shared by both Toronto and Smiths Falls crews, continuing todate. Train operations and crews. new General Ad 1982 new Changes over the years. Amongst the improvements made over the years were such things as a two-stall wooden engine house at Peterboro in 1927, where there had been none. While the turntable was located close to the station and near the swing bridge over the Otonabee River, the engine house had to be located between the freight shed and a feed mill on a spur track leading to the Quaker Oats plant. A 60,000 gal. steel water tank at Crow Lake and in 1930 an 80,000 gallon one at Trenton. A small 50-ton capacity coal chute on the mainline at Tweed in 1930 for the re-coaling of passenger engines running through between Toronto and Montreal, this being about the half-way point. (There was a similar one on the new line at Tichborne.) In 1930 replacement of 85 lb. rail with 100 lb. was completed between Montreal and Windsor. Colour light target signals were installed between Bedell, Glen Tay, Trenton and Agincourt in 1929 and in 1930 to the Don. The most significant improvements were the strengthening of bridges to take heavier power. G3 class 2300's (4-6-2 passenger engines) and P2 class 5300's (2-8-2 freight engines) required this work. In 1924 the Crow River bridges were replaced and in 1927 the two big bridges over the Don River's two branches at Leaside were strengthened. One of the few new stations on the Trenton Division was the one at Havelock with its Division point facilities. The biggest change to come to the Trenton Division was the same one that came to every division on the CPR; diesels! They changed the way the railway operated. Longer, heavier and faster trains with no stops for water.
The first GMD order (C-100) was for ten model FP7A units, CPR 4028-4037. The first unit is shown near Leaside testing with Dynamometer Car 62 westbound on train 903, September 1950. 4028 and 4029 were delivered to the CPR on September 14,1950. W.H.N.Rossiter
Diesels brought further changes as longer and heavier freight rains were operated, usually without an assist engine up the short helper grade between Leaside and Agincourt, (a.k.a. "up Wexford"). G3 class 4-6-2's and H1 class 4-6-4's on freight could handle no more than 3190 tons eastward from Agincourt. A pair of road diesels was rated at 5800 tons! Oshawa South Spur built in 1954 to serve the new General Motors automobile plant. Rebuilt in 2006 NEW Oshawa siding extension. The existing 5300 foot siding running
west from Park Road to the wye connecting to the spur was extended 7000
feet west across Thornton Road South level crossing to about 1000 feet
west of Thickson Road South in Whitby, which is grade separated. The biggest change to Trenton Division freight trains
came in 1957 when dedicated piggyback trains
began C.T.C. The heavy traffic of the single track Belleville and Oshawa Subs. eventually required something to aid the movement of trains. Double tracking is very expensive to build and maintain and is only justified by a very heavy volume of trains. A big improvement can be had at less expense by the use of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC), a system of remote control of signals and switches that replaces written train orders. It reduced the need for operators around the clock to write out and hand up these orders. It also eliminated the time-consuming need to stop and align switches to enter and leave sidings. Because the dispatcher (located in Toronto Union Station) could see by coloured indicator lights exactly where trains were, it was easier and quicker to make meets between opposing trains without having to wait for trains to be reported at a station. January 28, 1958 CTC began to take over control at Glen Tay as passenger train number 35 from Ottawa made its way toward Toronto. Throughout 1958 work would continue installing the CTC system made by General Railway Signal, and replacing 16 sidings of 60-80 car lengths with 8 of 150 cars between Glen Tay and Trenton, distance of 87.1 miles. A similar siding program later took place on the Oshawa Sub. By the April 27, 1958 employee time table CTC had reached Wilkinson Mile 52.2. The October 1958 timetable __ ***missing __ By April 26, 1959 it was at Trenton Mile 102.5 By October 25, 1959 to Port Hope at Mile 38.7 Oshawa Subdivision, and October 30, 1960 Darlington Mile 66.7. It was extended through to Agincourt by the April 30, 1961 employee timetable. It was the biggest installation of CTC with only small segments at 10 locations across the system, mainly in terminals. It would go to cover many thousands of miles of track across Canada. Note: An early type of CTC controlled by the operators at the Don, Leaside and Agincourt stations existed for many years prior. There was also an Electric Staff Block System in place on the steep grade from Leaside down the Don which had been eliminated years earlier. Removal of facilities. The roundhouses at Trenton, Havelock, Port Mc.Nicoll and the small enginehouse at Peterboro were closed and demolished near the end of the steam era. The enginehouse at Peterboro was rebuilt in July 1958 and leased out as a warehouse. The turntable remained at Havelock until replaced by a short wye track in 1980. Smiths Falls roundhouse, which was not actually part of the Trenton Division, was taken down in stages with the last portion finally being demolished in June 1993, although the turntable remained serviceable for some while afterwards before being retired. Abandonments The original O&Q mainline was abandoned July 21, 1971 for
62.5 miles between Glen Tay and Tweed, however, the track was not removed
until 1974. The right-of-way was sold to Bell Canada to maintain their
adjacent telephone line. Later, another company laid a fibre optics cable
along the right-of-way. Note: The second main track was removed between Glen Tay and Smith's Falls in April 1982. The mainline between Tweed and Havelock was abandoned December 21, 1987; however trackage between Mile 90.8 and Havelock (Mile 93.7) was redesignated as a spur. An industry ( 3M ) making coloured ceramic roofing granules was located there from 1960. Although this industry closed in 2002 as 3M withdrew back to the US, a new ethanol plant is currently (2006) proposed for the site. Years earlier, Tweed saw a slight increase when the CPR took over from CNR as it abandoned the former Bay of Quinte line between Yarker and Tweed effective May 31, 1941. Tweed Milling took over a small amount of track which also served Tweed Steel Works, and the CPR served both and possibly another siding to a lumber dealer. There was little other traffic remaining on the old B of Q by this time and the portion north from Tweed to Bannockburn had already been abandoned six years earlier. Many of the stations remain to this day compared to the policy of later years whereby stations were usually destroyed, often after years of neglect. In an attempt to get out of branchlines, yet retain some of the business the railways turned to two methods. The most popular was intermodal which was sold to a sometimes reluctant customer in the name of better service. Greatly decreased frequency of freight trains had preceeded this marketing sales pitch, so it was "better" than nothing! The other method involved co-operation between the two railways (CN & CP) and was usually less common as witnessed by the many attempts to co-ordinate service and abandonments to Owen Sound and Goderich. In the end the result was often no rail service at all. This happened in Lindsay, where the CPR pulled out first, leaving the remaining few customers to CN, who shortly thereafter pulled out themselves! The town of Lindsay fought a loosing battle to retain rail for its industries in those days before shortlines became common. In some cases, in later years, towns stepped up to the plate and took action to acquire the line themselves, Lindsay was not one of those, nor was Orillia or Owen Sound, all of which went from two railway competition to rubber tires! Peterboro and Lindsay Peterboro saw a similar pull back by CN as it abandoned its branchline that ran via Lindsay. In an "exchange" arrangement involving the Lindsay and Peterboro branchlines, CP took over the few remaining CN customers and a small amount of trackage effective July 12, 1989. This included the former Campbellford Spur (Subdivision) which had crossed the CPR just west of the station, between mileage 60.40 and 63.25; off of which at 60.55 ran the Peterboro Industrial Park Spur. Map. Cabooseless trains End Of Train (EOT) telemetry replaced cabooses with a Sense and Brake Unit (SBU) and forever changed freight trains. No more little red caboose or any other colour either. No more rear end crew to maintain a lookout or just wave to bystanders.
Caboose 434711 brings up the rear of 515 leaving Smiths Falls for Toronto, January 13, 1990, the last train with a van. The next day Montreal-Toronto through freight trains ran cabooseless. Bill Sanderson Kawartha Lakes Railway The Kawartha Lakes Railway was created on October 1, 1996 by the CPR as an internal shortline, a late 20th century method of local management and employee involvement utilizing an easing of restrictive union rules. It is still owned 100% by the CPR. There are no locomotives or other equipment owned or lettered for the KL. Diesels are "leased" from the CPR as required with maintenance included. Traffic is stagnant and its future is still undetermined. It is comprised of the Havelock Subdivision from Agincourt to the end of line at Mile 90.8, just past Havelock, and the entire Nephton Subdivision. There is also a small amount of former CNR track in Peterboro serving local industry including GE Canada. Lindsay, Bobcaygeon & Pontypool Sucker Lake
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