Page 43 - ESCARPMENT MAGAZINE | Winter 2013

From a hastily erected podium, a lean, distinguished gentleman expounded the benefits of a steel road upon
which would ride a self-propelled vehicle powered by steam. The locomotive, as the man called it, would likely
obtain speeds beyond 15 miles per hour. Gasps of disbelief were audible and even one stout fellow objected
by crying out: “Do you think that we are a room full of bloody idiots?” Raucous laughter erupted and the gen-
tleman spoke louder, compelling the crowd to hear his words. A sober-looking middle-aged man rose slowly
and spoke deliberately, “Listen, you fools. This gentleman is trying to lead us out of the filthy streets of Muddy
York into the future. Heed his words.”
Unfortunately, almost two decades would pass until a charter to build a line from Toronto terminating at some
southerly point on Lake Huron was granted to The Toronto, Sarnia and Lake Huron Railway, later named the
Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railroad and less than affectionately known as The Oats, Straw and Hay Railway.
The date was August 29, 1849, and the company, financed with more than $150,000 was required to survey
the line within three years and have the railway completed in a decade. The company was originally chartered
to run a line “from Toronto to some point on the southerly shore of Lake Huron, touching at the town of Barrie
on the way.”
That loosely inhabited point on Lake Huron would eventually be named Collingwood after loosing the first
undistinguished moniker, Hen and Chickens Harbour, so- named not because of a profundity of loose poultry
but because a larger harbour island, (the hen) was surrounded by her smaller chicks.
Construction was halted during William Lyon MacKenzie’s ill-fated rebellion in 1837 and despite the greed
and corruption of local politicians that had almost bankrupted the venture for their own personal gain; the rail-
way finally reached the area of Barrie on October 11 th, 1853.
Then, amid little fanfare, the first train arrived in Collingwood on the first day of 1855.
The line was initially hailed as a saviour by local farmers and a prize essay for the Board of Agriculture of Upper
Canada was submitted by a person whose name is lost to antiquity. The writer lamented the “horrid bad roads”
that had made getting products to market a daunting task. Instead, heaps of praise for the new railway was
among the essayists words.
By 1857, the railway was in sad shape. Marshalling yards and freight houses had not yet been properly con-
structed. The rolling stock was in pathetic condition and at times only one-third of the locomotives were in
service. Even when they were able to get up a head of steam, the puny locomotives could only haul seven cars,
each one smaller than English goods wagons. Competitive freight rates had been cut and the company creditors
were knocking on the executive suite doors, threatening to seize the line’s equipment.
In 1859, Frederick Cumberland, who resigned his position as general-manager with the company after the line
was completed was drafted into service one again as managing director. Cumberland’s first task was to “re-
erect all facilities from Toronto to Collingwood to the standard of (competitor) the Grand Trunk.” New rails
were laid, as were ties and ballast. Cuttings and embankments were widened and stone culverts were con-
structed. The patient, driving hand of Sandford Fleming, Chief Engineer was on the throttle replacing wooden
trestles with ones made of iron while Cumberland savagely cut costs by reorganizing the stores department
that had seen far too many company assets fly out of its doors on “the midnight express.” The size of the staff
was also cut and the railway became a template for efficiency.
Any follower of the Canadian Football League is certainly familiar with the intense rivalry between Toronto and
Hamilton teams over the years. Such was also the situation in the mid 1800s between the two cities when
Hamilton city fathers turned their ambitions to the construction of a railway that would compete with the line
built out of Toronto to Georgian Bay. *
43 Winter 2013 Escarpment Magazine
Construction
was halted
during William
Lyon MacKenzie’s
ill-fated rebellion
in 1837 and
despite the greed
and corruption
of local politi-
cians that had
almost bank-
rupted the
venture for their
own personal
gain; the railway
finally reached
the area of Barrie
on October 11 th,
1853.