Systems and Connections

Figure 13 Crew poses with Grand Trunk Railway steam locomotive no. 209 Trevithick. Montreal, Quebec. ca 1859. Photographer: William Notman. (CN003849)

      Between 1850 and 1876 railway technology made its first significant impact on Canadian society. In the 1850s alone, over 3 500 km of railway line were built in British North America as "railway fever" gripped Canadians. Major projects such as the Grand Trunk Railway (Fig. 13) and the Great Western Railway (Fig. 14) effectively established major railway systems that linked communities within Canada to each other and to the United States. When completed in 1859 with the opening of the remarkable Victoria Bridge (Fig. 15) at Montreal, Quebec, the Grand Trunk Railway was over 1 528 km in length. Running from Sarnia, Ontario, to Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, and from Montreal to Portland, Maine, it was the longest railway system in the world. Many smaller railways, some with grandiose names like New Brunswick's European & North American Railway, joined these larger systems. They initially sought to service local markets yet also had greater aspirations. The railway had become a symbol of development and growth.