was built to convey water, large embankments were filled, and a bridge was erected over the Flamboro Road. July 1853 saw rails laid thirteen miles to the edge of the Grand River, at which point another excursion was run to Harrisburg followed by dinner at the Sawmill Hotel.
In July 1853 a branch line from the Great Western main line to a wharf on Lake Ontario (named Port Ontario) was under construction. This branch, less than one mile in length, was built to allow contractors to land locomotives, rolling stock, rails, and other materials close to the jobsite. This became the site of the Ontario depot, renamed Winona in 1867. Vessels with a draft of up to ten feet could dock at the wharf. July 25 saw the arrival of the steamer Traveller at 1030 hours. The locomotive Middlesex (#7) and its tender were off-loaded. Track was laid on the wharf, and the locomotive with tender was pulled up the gradient, using rope and tackle, in less than six hours. The steamer Ontario then arrived with a load of rails.
As construction proceeded west after crossing the Grand River, few problems were encountered in this straight stretch. By September 1853 a bridge had been built across Cedar Creek and Mill Street. It comprised five massive stone abutments, each reaching beyond the ordinary high-water mark, which were topped with five timber bents. It was originally planned to construct the entire bridge of stone. However, its massive size and the lack of stone in the area caused a change in plans.
Tuesday, November 1, 1853, was a day for celebration. The Great Western was opening the section between Hamilton and Niagara Falls (Ontario). A train with five cars waited at the Hamilton station. Local dignitaries boarded and the train proceeded east over the section from Hamilton to Ontario (Winona), which had been laid with a new compound rail developed locally. A stop was made at St. Catharines before proceeding over the Welland Canal and up the escarpment. Four miles from the falls, in a deep cut, the locomotive derailed and hit the embankment, becoming submerged in gravel and clay and breaking the centre driver pin. A few passengers detrained and began walking the remaining four miles. Once they arrived at the station, another train was quickly dispatched to bring in the remaining passengers. All marched down to the Clifton House, owned by the contractor Samuel Zimmerman, to partake in a sumptuous feast, with drink, speeches, and toasts. During celebrations a track crew was busy repairing the line for the return trip. In fact, a new track had been laid around the wrecked locomotive.
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The following are examples of shipping manifests for Great Western-contracted vessels during the construction phase of the main line (month/day/year):
From Cape Vincent, two locomotives (12/22/1852)
From Cape Vincent, two locomotives (Hamilton and Middlesex)(7/22/1853)
From Cape Vincent, two locomotives and tenders (12/9/1853)
From Cape Vincent, one locomotive and tender, three firepans, four pilots, eight castings, three smokestacks, 65 pairs of trucks (12/12/1853)
From Montreal, two locomotives and tenders, one hundred fifty tons of coal, sixty tons of axles, thirty-eight tons of pig iron, one hundred barrels of resin, ten tons of iron pipe (10/11/1854)
From Montreal (three ships): ship number one = two locomotives, one hundred twenty tons of pig iron; ship number two = two locomotives, one hundred ninety-four tons of pig iron, two hundred twenty-six kegs of blasting powder; ship number three = two locomotives, two boilers, three tenders, seventeen pairs of wheels and axles, twenty cases of machinery, eight chimneys, six rods, eight buffers, forty-two pairs of wheels and axles, sixty-five tons of pig iron (all on 6/19/1855)
An example of a manifest of a vessel contracted to transport materiel from Hamilton to drop-off points near the western construction zone is that of the schooner London on December 3, 1853: three hundred fifty tons of rails, fifty-nine kegs of spikes, and one ton of furniture to Chatham.
In late December 1853 three Great Western locomotives were on the dock at Cape Vincent, New York (southeastern end of Lake Ontario). Winter had arrived and most ships were in winter quarters. However, the locomotives were needed for the winter construction season. The steamer Magnet was contracted to cross the lake, secure the locomotives, and bring them to the wharf at Port Ontario. In January 1854 the railway chartered the steamer Princess Royal to transport locomotives from Rochester to Burlington Beach at the canal. Four locomotives were delivered this way, with the last one arriving in late March.
A bird’s-eye view of the Hamilton yard facilities of the Great Western, with the photograph being taken from atop a grain elevator. The depot is evident in the left side of the photograph. The presence of dual rails indicative of dual-gauge trackage should be noted. This allowed simultaneous use of broad-gauge (five-foot six-inch gauge) and standard-gauge (four-foot eight-and-a-half-inch gauge) motive power and rolling stock. It also allows one to roughly date this photograph to the period between late 1866 and June 1873.
Canada Science and Technology Museum.
The Great Western shops and yard in Hamilton were erected on reclaimed land in Burlington Bay, at its western end. Excavated material from railway construction was used for reclamation, pushing the new shore some seven hundred feet into the bay, creating forty new acres of land. All major buildings were built using solid stone. The locomotive shop was mammoth in size, being three-storeys tall and having twelve tracks exiting from a turntable and running one hundred fifty yards into twelve work bays. Each work bay could hold two locomotives. The ground floor had ponderous lathes to turn crankpins or driving wheels, as well as planing machines, drill presses, and cylinder-boring machines. The second floor had rows of lathes and woodworking machines. At the back was the
Great Western erecting shops, Hamilton, circa 1862. Note, from left to right, the A-frame for heavy lifting, three newly built or newly outshopped broad-gauge locomotives (4-4-0s or 2-6-0s), two sets of driving wheels, and a handsome, open-ended passenger car in this staged photo shoot with shop personnel.
Stratford-Perth Archives, Stratford, Ontario.
Great Western station, St. Thomas, circa 1890s. View of the north side, looking southeast. The station was located opposite the north end of Station Street. The photographer was likely located on top of a rail car.
Ian Cameron Collection, Elgin County Archives.
blacksmith shop with twenty-six smithy fires and a huge steam forging hammer. A stationary sixty-horsepower steam engine provided power for all machines in the locomotive and car departments via a complex system of pulleys and belts. To the west of the locomotive shop were the car shops housed in a wood frame building three hundred feet long by fifty feet wide.
Although construction of the Great Western did not require major physical barriers to be overcome, costs continued to climb, as did the concern/anxiety of shareholders and directors. At first their solution was dismissal of the chief engineer, whose estimates proved displeasing. When Charles Stuart was replaced by Roswell Benedict in 1851, the latter assured the directors that Stuart’s estimates were reasonably accurate. By September 1852 Benedict reported that costs would exceed Stuart’s
Plan of 1879 Hamilton, Ontario, Great Western Railway facilities: 1 = passenger station (stone); 2 = coal shed (wood); 3 = roundhouse (stone); 4 = locomotive shop (stone); 5 = two attached foundries (one brick, one stone); 6 = moulding shop/carpentry shop (latter stone); 7 = erecting shop/blacksmith and machine
