Important Railway Events Between 1832 1871

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  • First Canadian Railroad Charter

    Incorporation of the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad to build from Dorchester, now St-Jean, to a point on the St. Lawrence River at or near Laprairie. This is the first Canadian railroad charter.

  • First Canadian System

    1853 - The Great Western Railway opens its main line between Windsor and Niagara Falls. The Great Western went on to build, lease or buy other railways throughout Southern Ontario, and it can be claimed to be the first Canadian system. the first sections were opened as follows: 1853, November 10 - Hamilton to the Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls.
    1853, December 31 - Hamilton to London.
    1854, January 27 - London to Windsor.
    1854, August 21 - Galt branch.

  • Grand Trunk Railway

    1853, July 15 - Grand Trunk Railway is formed by the amalgamation of the following companies: Grand Trunk Railway of Canada
    Grand Junction Railway
    Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada East
    Quebec and Richmond Railway
    St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway
    Toronto and Guelph Railway

  • First Railway to Ottawa

    1854, December 25 - Opening of the Bytown and Prescott Railway between Prescott and Bytown (now Ottawa), 54 miles. First rail service to what is now Canada's Capital.

  • First Sleeping Car

    the first sleeping car is built at the Brantford shops of the Buffalo and Lake Huron Railway in preparation for the tour of the Prince of Wales the following year. George Pullman saw this car and in 1859 obtained a US patent for a sleeping car. The first Pullman sleeping car was produced in 1863.

  • First Railway Tunnel

    1860, December 31 - The Brockville and Ottawa Railway opens a tunnel l/3 of a mile under the town of Brockville. This was the first railway tunnel in Canada.

  • First Railroad in Western Canada

    1863 - the first railway is opened in Western Canada. The New Vancouver Coal Mining Company opens a line to move ballast and coal in the Nanaimo area of Vancouver Island

  • First Train to run between Toronto and Aurora

    1853, May 16 - The first train in Ontario runs between Toronto and Aurora on the Ontario Simcoe and Huron Railroad Union Company. The name was changed to Northern Railway of Canada on August 16, 1858 and it became part of the Northern and Northwestern Railway on June 6, 1879, now part of Canadian National

  • First Public Railway

    1836, July 21 - Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad opened. This was Canada's first public railroad.

  • Worst RailWay Disaster

    1864, June 29 - A railway accident on the Grand Trunk Railway at Beloeil, Quebec, takes ninety-nine lives when a special passenger train carrying German immigrants went through an open drawbridge. This was Canada's worst railway disaster.

  • First Dinning car

    1867 - the first dining car is introduced on the Great Western Railway.

  • First Narrow Gauge Rialway

    1871, July 12 - North America's first public narrow gauge railway, the Toronto and Nipissing, is opened for traffic between Toronto and Uxbridge. The 3'6" gauge line was converted to standard by 1884.