Back in 1999, this column described the events that led to the opening of the Guelph Junction Railway in 1888, after six years of planning and politics. A group of Guelph businessmen were behind the project.
They were long on talk, but short on financial contributions.
The Guelph Junction Railway had its origins in the 1882 merger of the Great Western and Grand Trunk Railways. That put Guelph in the category of a one-railway town. Most of the city’s businessmen feared that the Grand Trunk monopoly would mean stagnation for the Royal City.
Only weeks after the merger they began to lobby for a connection from Guelph to the Credit Valley’s Toronto-to-London line, which passed through Puslinch Township and had come into the Canadian Pacific fold. Eventually, they convinced city council to take the lead in the project.
Canadian Pacific agreed to operate the line for 40% of the gross receipts, if local people paid for construction. The railway boosters convinced city council to supply $175,000 of the capital. Private capital came from 10 businessmen, who purchased shares in the amount of $100 each.
One exception to the enthusiasm for a second railway was James Goldie, owner of the People’s Flour Mill. In the 1880s, his mill was the largest rail customer in Guelph. The mill received wheat from Ontario points and from western Canada, and shipped flour across eastern Canada, and especially to the Maritimes. Goldie was satisfied with the Grand Trunk’s service, and indifferent about the second line. Canadian Pacific, though, insisted that the Guelph Junction trackage extend to Goldie’s mill.
According to the bold predictions of the railway boosters, the revenue accruing to the city would more than pay the interest on the $175,000 borrowed by Guelph. In practice, though, the revenue did not come close to covering the payments. The Guelph Junction Railway became a drain on the city’s treasury.
What was most surprising was that the men who pushed for the Guelph Junction Railway did not use it exclusively, and some not at all. That is a puzzling situation, and there are no clear reasons why they did not patronize it more. Every dollar they spent on freight or passenger tickets brought 60 cents back to the city’s coffers.
By 1888, when the Guelph Junction line opened, the cut-throat competition of previous times had largely died out. Railway freight managers began working together, and their discussions resulted in the formation in 1896 of the Canadian Freight Association, which set rates between competing points for various classes of freight. In effect, that meant that competition would be based on service levels and other non-monetary considerations.
Effectively, that levelled the playing field for Canada’s railways, ensuring a predictable rate structure for both shippers and the railways, and an end to the ruinous rate wars that had broken out from time to time.
For whatever reason, the majority of Guelph’s shippers, including those who had promoted the Guelph Junction Railway, directed most of their business to the Grand Trunk. That group included Charles Raymond (Raymond Sewing Machines), William Bell (Bell Piano and Organ), and David McCrae (Armstrong, McCrae & Co. Woolens).
Figures do not exist for all the years in that era, but an example is a quarterly report for June, July, and August of 1900. In that period the Grand Trunk handled 1,316 carloads of freight in and out of Guelph; the Canadian Pacific total was only 387 carloads over the three months. That works out to less than three cars inbound and three outbound each business day.
Through the 1890s and into the early 1900s, the Guelph Junction Railway required a contribution of $8,000 or so annually from city coffers to meet the interest payments on the $175,000 borrowed by the city.
For a city of less than 20,000 population, that as an immense burden, equal to perhaps $500,000 in today’s money.
Why were Guelph’s businessmen so insistent on building a rail line that they did not use to any great extent?
Many were probably caught up in the idea that competitive rail service was a necessity for any city worth its salt. That notion was something of a mantra in the late 19th century. Some would have argued that the mere presence of the Guelph Junction Railway kept the Grand Trunk on its toes. Still, it remains something of a mystery why they would not patronize the city-owned line to a greater extent.
After all, they had to pay for it – either through freight rates or else through their property taxes.
The official policy of the city, not surprisingly, was to promote the Guelph Junction Railway as much as possible. For example, the city sent out flyers to farmers, urging them to ship their entries to the Guelph Winter Fair by Canadian Pacific, and to attend the fair themselves using the CPR.
In the years after 1900, Guelph made a big deal out of the fact that the city owned all its public utilities, including its railway, telling businessmen that service and consistent low rates were certain with civic ownership.
Despite all the talk, the general public seemed no more enthusiastic about the Guelph Junction Railway than the city’s businessmen. Passenger traffic remained at low levels through 1890s, perhaps because all passengers from Guelph had to change trains at Guelph Junction. That meant a longer trip and some inconvenience.
In February 1908, the Guelph Mercury commented that “The Guelph Junction Railway has quite a number of friends in Guelph. These are the friends who talk up for it, who wish it well, but seldom or never give it any material assistance. These people are ever eloquent in writing to the papers and placing the manifest duty of Guelph citizens before the public notice. How many of these eloquent ones travel to Toronto by the C.P.R.? Not very many of them.”
That commentator went on to note the change of trains necessary in using the Guelph Junction Railway, and the fact that the Grand Trunk had better service – six trains each way in the 1890s and early 1900s, compared to three each way via Canadian Pacific.
A major source of passenger revenue was traffic from the three stations established on the line, at Arkell, Corwhin, and Moffat. Those small stations generated little freight, but they allowed local people convenient access to Guelph’s stores, and for students to Guelph’s high school.
The financial situation for the Guelph Junction Railway changed in 1908, when Canadian Pacific opened its branch from Guelph to Goderich. That meant that a great deal of freight passed over the Guelph Junction Railway. Immediately, the city’s revenues exceeded the bond interest on the debentures, and the railway became a profitable investment, and remained so for most of the 20th century. Civic promoters afterward liked to boast of Guelph’s foresight in building the line, conveniently forgetting that it was a millstone around the city’s neck for its first 20 years.
Even with the service changes resulting from the Goderich extension, passenger traffic never became significant, although service improved greatly between 1908 and 1930, including a direct Guelph-to-Toronto morning train. From the 1930s, service between Guelph and Guelph Junction consisted of a self-propelled car making five or six round trips daily, connecting with main line trains. That dropped to two round trips by 1958. All passenger traffic ended on the line two years later.
Freight traffic remained significant through the 1960s, but then gradually dropped. Canadian Pacific had little further interest in the line when its 99-year lease expired in 1988. Guelph council negotiated an arrangement with the Ontario Southland Railway, a company operating several short line railways.
The new operator has been more aggressive than Canadian Pacific in attracting and retaining customers. A proposed new flour mill, at the north end of the Guelph Junction trackage, promises to supply much additional traffic to Guelph’s railway line.
Historical group excursion
On April 25, the Guelph Historical Railway Association is operating an excursion train as a fundraiser for the organization’s activities. In cooperation with the Guelph Junction Express and the Ontario Southland Railway, the present operator of the Guelph Junction Railway, the excursion will ride on virtually every foot of Guelph Junction track. Regular passenger service ended on the line almost a half century ago.
The train will pass notable sites such as the Speed River and its historic mills, the River Run and old Priory site, the west end industrial park where Guelph Junction Railway services local industry. Beyond Guelph, passengers will ride through the rolling hills of the Greenbelt, passing through the hamlets of Arkell, Corwhin, and Moffat, and turning at Campbellville.
The excursion will include a couple of photo stops, including one beautiful location showing the vestiges of the Niagara Escarpment.
At Guelph Junction, near Campbellville, passengers will tour the home of Ontario Southland Railway facilities, and where the Guelph Historical Railway Association’s railway museum will also be on display.
The GHRA is a registered non profit charity and the fundraising efforts will go towards its historical collection and railway museum. Artefacts include a 1941 CPR wooden caboose, and a CNR baggage car built in 1950.
This tour will operate one time only. Seating is limited. Boarding and information package pickup starts at 9am, with departure at 10am from the River Run Centre. The tour ends at 4:30pm. Free parking is available in downtown Guelph.
Tickets are $60 for adults and $45 for children. An optional box lunch is also available, and must be ordered with tickets. There will also be a cash bar on the train. Reservations and food can be ordered at http://www.ghra.ca using Credit Cards (Visa, Mastercard, or American Express or Paypal. Reservations can also be ordered in person at Ponds Foto Source locations in Guelph.