Names and numbers
The Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway Company
date unknown
History
203 facts
| Date | Statement | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890-03-07≤ | The Chronicle says it is in a position to announce that the early construction of the Ottawa, Arnprior, Renfrew & Parry Sound Railway is now an assured fact. The Board of Directors have made arrangements for the location of the line, and a party of surveyors will commence work at once. | Almonte Gazette 1890-03-07(Churcher's masthead names the company 'Ottawa, Arn...) | |
| 1890-04-18 | The company to build the Ottawa, Renfrew & Parry Sound Railway has been organized and stock books opened. Two charters have been granted — one from Renfrew to Parry Sound, by the Dominion Government; the other from Renfrew to Ottawa, is a local charter granted by the Ontario government. The company organized is under the Dominion charter. | Almonte Gazette 1890-04-18(Churcher's masthead names the company 'Ottawa, Ren...) | |
| 1891-01-08 | Mr. Mountain and staff, who are now at work locating the line of the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway, have reached Eganville's farm, on the Madawaska, about twenty miles west of Bark Lake. Mr. Mountain reports a very favourable line, and says that from Renfrew to Eganville's Farm the line is one of the most favourable he has ever travelled over. | Mercury 1891-01-08(Renfrew Mercury per Churcher's header. Transcribed...) | |
| 1891-05-01 | Mr. G.A. Mountain, Chief Engineer of the C.A.R., returned to Ottawa on April 23rd from a drive over the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound railway, from Ottawa to the Bonnechere Valley, a distance of 100 miles; the road has been located to that point. Mr. Mountain went with a party of contractors proposing to tender for construction, who were highly pleased with the geographical features: grades and curves easy, similar to the C.A.R.'s, though some places would be expensive owing to heavy rock cuttings and timber clearings. The distance to Renfrew by the proposed route will be 50 miles, against 70 by the C.P.R.; the 100 miles located is halfway to North Pacific Junction. An application for amalgamation of the Ottawa, Arnprior & Renfrew and the Renfrew and Parry Sound railways, whose charters were granted at different times, was said to be coming before Parliament this session as a mere formality. | Mercury 1891-05-01(Renfrew Mercury per Churcher's header, itself quot...) | |
| 1891-06-12 | The act for amalgamating the Ottawa and Arnprior and Ottawa and Parry Sound Railroads received its second reading on June 1st. Mr. R. Turner showed a letter from Mr. John Ferguson, M.P. for the South Riding, stating that negotiations were in progress for a contract to build 200 miles of the road, commencing at Ottawa. | Mercury 1891-06-12(Renfrew Mercury per Churcher's header. Transcribed...) | |
| 1891-07-24 | The bill for the amalgamation of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Renfrew Railway and the Renfrew and Parry Sound Railway charters under the title of 'The Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway Company' has passed its third reading in the House of Commons, and is now before the Senate for confirmation. It was learned that as soon as the bill passed the Senate, construction work would begin at once. | Mercury 1891-07-24(Renfrew Mercury per Churcher's header, quoting the...) | |
| 1891-07-31 | Formed from amalgamation of Ottawa and Parry Sound Ry Co and Ottawa,Arnprior and Renfrew Ry Co. Deed of amalgamation 1896-07-15. Victoria 54-55, chapter 93. | Bell p158 | |
| 1891-08-21 | An act uniting the Ottawa and Parry Sound R.R. and the Ottawa, Arnprior & Renfrew R.R. has received the royal assent. The new road will be known as the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound R.R. | Almonte Gazette 1891-08-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1891-10-23 | Some people around Arnprior were beginning to wonder whether the proposed railway from Ottawa to Arnprior and Parry Sound wasn't all an election dodge. | Almonte Gazette 1891-10-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1891-11-20 | A trunk line is now being built from Ottawa to Parry Sound (210 miles total), of which forty miles are now under contract to Mr. Reid of Montreal, to be completed next year; the road will probably strike Ottawa near the Experimental Farm, traversing Nepean, March and Fitzroy townships to Arnprior, then the Bonnechere valley through McNab and Admaston to Eganville, then Nipissing and Parry Sound districts to the port of Parry Sound. Two charters make up the line: Ottawa to Arnprior, headed by McLaughlin Brothers, and Arnprior to Parry Sound, in the hands of Mr. John R. Booth. Western grain-elevator interests were said to favour the scheme and offered to build elevators at Parry Sound and other points; Hon. C.F. Fraser of Brockville was reportedly advocating a connecting line from Brockville to this trunk line. | Ottawa Journal 1891-11-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1892-03-11 | Mr. George A. Mountain, chief of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway surveying party, and his staff of twenty-four men returned to Ottawa, having left on November 20, 1891 and surveyed 120 miles of road while travelling over 500 miles of rough, unsettled country through the Nipissing district (largely on snowshoes, dragging supplies on sleds); the cost of the expedition was estimated at about $60 per day. Mr. Mountain stated his report would be very favorable and that he had no doubt construction would begin in the spring; his plans were to be presented to Mr. J.R. Booth the following week. The country's most valuable product was noted to be its forests of maple, birch and beech, and Mr. Mountain brought back ore specimens believing nickel and silver to be the district's principal minerals. | Mercury 1892-03-11(Renfrew Mercury, quoting the Ottawa Free Press. Tr...) | |
| 1892-04-08 | A deputation (Warden Kidd, Dr. Groves, James Wilson and D. McElroy) presented Mr. J.R. Booth with plans for an alternate survey of the line through Huntley and Fitzroy townships, claimed to be shorter and cheaper than the route the company had fixed on, along with subscription lists for right of way through Huntley ($5,000) and an estimate for Fitzroy ($7,000); Booth agreed to look into it and forward the plans to Mr. Mountain. Separately, it was reported that surveyors were selecting a route from Shawville to Renfrew, and that Booth intended to acquire the Pontiac and Pacific Junction Railway from Shawville and build a branch to Renfrew to meet the original O.A. & P.S. survey there, doing away with the proposed direct line between Ottawa and Arnprior; the P.P.J.'s directors were said to be anxious to sell. | Ottawa Journal 1892-04-04(Also quoted verbatim in the Almonte Gazette of 8 A...),Ottawa Free Press 1892-04-08(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1892-04-08(Renfrew Mercury; substantially the same deputation...) | |
| 1892-04-15 | Dr. Dowling, M.P.P., introduced a deputation consisting of J.R. Booth, ex-mayor McDougall and F. Fleck of Ottawa, along with several local men, to ask the government for aid in building the part of the O.A. & P.S. line running through colonization and unorganized districts, which had no rail service to fifteen townships. The matter was promised due consideration. Separately, Arnprior papers were trying to stir up public interest in having the line routed through Arnprior rather than reaching Renfrew by way of the Pontiac and Pacific Junction R.R. and a branch across the Ottawa River from Shawville, as was then proposed. | Mercury 1892-04-15(Renfrew Mercury. Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher ...) | |
| 1892-06-17 | The by-law granting a bonus of $30,000 to the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound R.R. received its third reading in the Arnprior council; the money was to be paid over once the council received a guarantee that the new road would remain wholly independent of the C.P.R., or any other railway under its control, for thirty years. The same day, Mr. Fleck, secretary of the company, went to Arnprior and handed over the bonds and agreements made with the company, the resulting debentures being placed with the Bank of Ottawa. | Almonte Gazette 1892-06-17(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Free Press 1892-06-17(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1892-07-19 | The first sod of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway was turned at 7 a.m. on July 19, 1892 at Mr. Wm. Rivington's farm about half a mile east of Carp village, before a large crowd. The ceremony was performed by G.N. Kidd, Warden of Carleton County, witnessed by chief engineer George A. Mountain and his engineering staff, contractors Fauquier Bros., and numerous local dignitaries and Ottawa guests. That evening the warden hosted a champagne supper for about thirty of those who had worked to have the line located through Huntley township, with toasts to the Queen, to company president John R. Booth (answered in his absence by Mr. Charles Mohr, Reeve of Fitzroy), and to the engineering staff. | Ottawa Free Press 1892-07-19("The work of the construction of the Ottawa and Pa...),Almonte Gazette 1892-07-22(Detailed account of ground-breaking and the evenin...),Almonte Gazette 1892-07-29(Fuller account of the same ceremony and supper, na...) | |
| 1892-07-29 | At a Renfrew public meeting called after rumours that the C.P.R. would build a rival line to Parry Sound, Mr. Jas. Craig said the O.A. & P.S. was now under construction, and that part of the right of way between Renfrew and Eganville had been purchased; he was authorized to say the O.A. & P.S. would be built to Renfrew without costing the town a cent. Mr. P. Devine added that Mr. Booth had assured some Renfrew gentlemen that the line would be completed to Renfrew by September 1893, or earlier. | Mercury 1892-07-29(Renfrew Mercury, reporting a public meeting of Ren...) | |
| 1892-08-31 | J.R. Booth decided to route the Parry Sound road through Pembroke. | Ottawa Journal 1892-08-31(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1892-09-16 | At a meeting of Eganville ratepayers held September 16, 1892 to consider a bonus for the rival C.P.R. Atlantic & North-Western line, Mr. James Reeves read a letter from Mr. J.R. Booth saying that he was determined on pushing on his road (the O.A. & P.S.) as rapidly as possible. Booth said that if the townships put out enough money to buy the right-of-way through them, some grading would be done and contracts let for timber and tie contracts for a 50 mile radius. | Mercury 1892-09-30(Renfrew Mercury, reporting the September 16 meetin...),Eganville Leader 1892-09-30(Fuller account of the same meeting and letter, inc...) | |
| 1892-10-07 | At the annual meeting of the Ottawa & Parry Sound Railway Company, the following were elected directors: Messrs. J.D. Booth, Claude McLachlin, Charles Mohr, Wm. Anderson, C.J. Booth, N. Mackintosh and J.F. Booth. Separately that week, at a meeting of the Ottawa Board of Trade, Mr. A.W. Fleck applied for a city bonus for the railway; Mr. Mountain (the road's engineer) and Mr. C.J. Smith (traffic manager of the Canada Atlantic Railway) spoke on the trade it would develop and the benefits to Ottawa, and Mountain said contracts had been let for the first portion of the road, to be completed by October 20. The Board resolved to ask City Council to submit a by-law for $125,000: $100,000 for stock in the railway and $25,000 toward a grand central railway depot. | Almonte Gazette 1892-10-07(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1892-10-07(Renfrew Mercury, on the Board of Trade meeting. Tr...) | |
| 1892-10-14≥ | By mid-October 1892 the Ottawa & Parry Sound Railway was progressing, with bright prospects for the future. The Board of Trade of Ottawa, at a meeting held a few nights before, had strongly recommended that the city grant the new road a bonus of $125,000, this being thought due it as opening up a direct route from the Great Lakes to the sea by way of Ottawa, and as part of the Canada Atlantic railway system, whose management had always been friendly and liberal. | Almonte Gazette 1892-10-14(Quoting the Renfrew Journal. Transcribed by Colin ...) | |
| 1892-10-31 | The O.A. & P.S.'s application for two crossings over the C.P.R. (an overhead crossing near the Experimental Farm and a level crossing in Nepean township, some six miles west of Ottawa) was argued at length before the Railway Committee of the Privy Council over several sessions in late October, 1892. The O.A. & P.S. (represented by A.J. Christie, Q.C., with Mr. Booth and chief engineer Mountain attending) argued a 40-foot span was sufficient for the overhead crossing and that a level crossing in Nepean was safe and far cheaper (about $3,680 versus roughly $34,000-$40,000 for an overhead bridge); the C.P.R. (represented by ex-Judge Clarke and vice-president T.G. Shaughnessy) argued for a 100-foot span and against the level crossing as dangerous, citing the grade and calling several of its engineers and a conductor as witnesses. Government engineer Mr. Schreiber's report slightly favoured the level crossing. The committee reserved its decision. Condensed from several columns of verbatim hearing transcript across three newspaper reports of the same multi-day hearing (Oct 28-31); only the substance of the dispute and each side's case is recorded here, not the argument blow-by-blow. | Ottawa Journal 1892-10-28(First day's hearing. Transcribed by Colin J. Churc...),Ottawa Citizen 1892-10-29(Second day's hearing. Transcribed by Colin J. Chur...),Ottawa Citizen 1892-10-31(Third day's hearing (Oct 29 morning/evening sessio...) | |
| 1893-01-02 | On behalf of the Ottawa and Parry Sound Railway, as well as for himself, Mr. J.R. Booth wrote to return sincere thanks for the "right royal support" accorded to the railway bylaw the previous day. | Ottawa Journal 1893-01-02(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1893-01-18 | The Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway Company's action to restrain the Atlantic and Northwestern Railway (under C.P.R. control) from building on a portion of its surveyed route came to trial before Mr. Justice Falconbridge. The O.A. & P.S. sought an injunction, arguing the A. & N.W.'s charter (Bay of Fundy to Lake Huron via French River) gave it no right to the disputed passes in Haggarty and Jones townships, Renfrew County, and that its own survey through those passes predated the A. & N.W.'s. Chief engineer Mountain gave lengthy technical evidence on the O.A. & P.S. survey, which had run continuously from Renfrew to Emsdale (with an 1890 exploration survey the first made through the county); engineer Holgate and C.P.R.'s Mr. Drinkwater also testified over the following days. The defence argued the matter belonged before the Railway Committee of the Privy Council rather than the courts. An attempt at an out-of-court settlement, suggested by the judge, had not succeeded as of January 20. | Ottawa Citizen 1893-01-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-01-19(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-01-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1893-02-18 | A rumour circulated that Mr. Van Horne had offered to buy the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway from Mr. Booth; interviewed on the matter, Booth said there was not a word of truth in it. | Ottawa Citizen 1893-02-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1893-03-03 | The O.A. & P.S.-versus-Atlantic & Northwestern court dispute, argued in Ottawa the previous week, came before Mr. Justice Falconbridge again in Toronto to let the defendants close their case; after cross-examination of engineer Wm. T. Jennings, the defendants applied for a delay citing the illness of W.A. Ramsay, the C.P.R.'s chief construction engineer, in Montreal. It was reported the O.A. & P.S. had already spent $700,000 and was willing to spend more if the defendants did not interfere; the case was adjourned, likely to be heard next in Perth in April. Separately, the Toronto Board of Trade was opposing further Dominion funding for Booth's railway, arguing the $868,400 already given had effectively subsidized a line built mainly in its promoter's personal interest, to the detriment of Toronto and other Georgian Bay shipping ports. | Almonte Gazette 1893-03-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1893-03-10(Renfrew Mercury, on the Toronto Board of Trade opp...) | |
| 1893-04-21 | Mr. Justice Falconbridge gave judgment for Mr. Booth in the "Haggarty pass" case, with the C.P.R. to pay all costs. The dispute was over a narrow (about sixty-foot-wide) defile through the Opeongo mountains in Renfrew County — the only feasible pass for many miles — which the O.A. & P.S. had surveyed and filed first, before the Atlantic and Northwestern (C.P.R.) surveyed and located its own line along the same route; the court found the two surveys interlocked too closely for both railways to pass through. Both companies were still racing toward the pass at the time of judgment: the C.P.R. already had trains running to Eganville, about thirty miles from the disputed ground, while the Parry Sound line had built as far as Arnprior and was starting construction from Arnprior to Renfrew, with clearing and grading from Renfrew to Eganville to begin shortly. | Ottawa Journal 1893-04-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-04-05(The final hearing on the same dispute (the narrow ...) | |
| 1893-04-28 | J.R. Booth, president and owner of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound railway, asked the Ontario government for a grant of $3,000 a mile to build the 105-mile section from Barry's Bay to Scotia (where the line would meet the Northern and Pacific Junction railway); the Empire judged the request unlikely to be granted. By this point 25 miles were built at the western end and 35 at the eastern end, both open for freight traffic, with about 60 more miles to be built west from Arnprior toward Barry's Bay that summer. The company intended to complete the line to Renfrew by mid-July and to Eganville by about September 1, then as far west as possible before winter. The surveyors' headquarters were at Douglas, where they would remain until the line was located as far as Eganville. | Mercury 1893-04-28(Renfrew Mercury, on Booth's request to the Ontario...),Ottawa Journal 1893-04-28(On the Douglas survey headquarters and constructio...),Mercury 1893-04-21(Renfrew Mercury, quoting the C.P. Herald's Arnprio...) | |
| 1893-05-03 | The engineers and construction gang of the Ottawa & Parry Sound railway company were removing the temporary wooden trestle on the portion of track crossing Preston street and putting in a permanent iron bridge. | Ottawa Free Press 1893-05-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1893-05-03≥ | By May 3, 1893, the contract for building the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway between Arnprior and Eganville had been awarded to Mr. Fauquier of Toronto. Fauquier said he would begin active operations the following week and push through with all speed; the section ran through comparatively level country and, except for six or seven miles, would be easy to construct. | Ottawa Citizen 1893-05-03(Contract awarded "yesterday". Transcribed by Colin...),Almonte Gazette 1893-05-12(Arnprior News. Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in...) | |
| 1893-05-08 | A steam shovel, built by the Marion Steam Shovel Co. of Marion, Ohio, was put in operation on the Ottawa & Parry Sound Railway at Carp, cutting a track through Mr. William Rivington's hill and loading sand and gravel onto a train of seven flat cars; described as "simply a dredge on wheels, carrying its own track and making its own road bed", it drew large crowds of townspeople to watch. | Almonte Gazette 1893-05-05(Carp News, the first morning of operation. Transcr...),Ottawa Journal 1893-05-08(Names the shovel's builder and the Barnhardt-owned...) | |
| 1893-05-12 | Renfrew's Reeve, Jas. Craig, wrote to C.P.R. president W.C. Van Horne on April 27 proposing a union station at Renfrew with the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Ry., saying the O.A. & P.S.'s chosen station site was central enough but a union would serve both roads. The C.P.R.'s vice-president, T.G. Shaughnessy, replied on May 8: "We know nothing about the railway to which you refer, and are not, therefore, prepared to discuss the question of terminal arrangements with them, for the present at least," adding that the C.P.R. had its own plans for improved station accommodation at Renfrew that season. Earlier, on May 5, Mr. Booth had told Renfrew's Mr. A.A. Wright he was willing to co-operate with the C.P.R. on a union station at Renfrew. | Mercury 1893-05-12(Renfrew Mercury, headed "A Humorous Document". Tra...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-05-05(Booth expects the road at Renfrew by Dominion Day ...) | |
| 1893-05-18≥ | By May 18, 1893, the O.A. & P.S. railway had begun running passenger trains over its line: the train for Arnprior left the C.A.R. depot at 7 a.m. and returned at 6 p.m., the trip taking a little less than three hours, with faster times promised once the road was fully ballasted. The Almonte Gazette's Arnprior News of May 19 says there were "no regular trains now on the O.A. & P.S.R., nor will there be until the road is ballasted"; the two reports conflict and are not reconciled here. | Ottawa Journal 1893-05-18(Trains began "on Monday" (May 15). Transcribed by ...) | |
| 1893-05-19 | The sub-contractors for building the O. & P.S. westward from Arnprior were named: Wm. Heald for the eight miles from Arnprior, and Messrs. Golden & Secarton for the eight miles from Renfrew. Grading was to be done to Renfrew by July 15 and the iron laid by August 15. Mr. Heald had a large gang of men and teams at work on his section by May 29. On June 30 Mr. Jas. Contway of Renfrew was reported awarded the contract to fence 16 miles of the line between Renfrew and Eganville. | Mercury 1893-05-19(Renfrew Mercury. Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher ...),Ottawa Journal 1893-05-29(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1893-06-30(Fence contract, Renfrew to Eganville. Transcribed ...) | |
| 1893-05-26 | There were renewed rumours that the C.P.R. had offered to sell its Atlantic & North-West branch from Renfrew to Eganville to Mr. J.R. Booth, for use as part of the Ottawa & Parry Sound railway; this was lent some colour by the further report that most of the men connected with the A. & N.W.'s engineers' office at Renfrew were about to leave, several having already gone. A rumour, not a completed transaction — the branch does not appear to have actually changed hands; recorded as reported. | Almonte Gazette 1893-05-26(Quoting the Renfrew Mercury. Transcribed by Colin ...) | |
| 1893-05-27 | At the rear of the C.A.R. office at the Chaudiere, a novel portable building was under construction to serve as a boarding house for the men working on the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway: its sides, ends and roof were made of eight sections that could be taken apart and reassembled with a few bolts, so it could be moved from place to place. | Ottawa Citizen 1893-05-27(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1893-06-05 | A dry stone wall was being built by the Parry Sound R.R. company at the embankment at the Preston street crossing: the high embankment had been filled with clay, which began to slide during the recent wet weather and made the road unsafe at that point, so the wall was to keep the clay in place. | Ottawa Free Press 1893-06-05(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1893-06-07 | Construction support for the Parry Sound line in Ottawa: on June 1 a number of Rochesterville men doing railway work at Carp reached it daily by special train; on June 3 over a dozen car loads of fine steel rails stood in the "C.P.R. Chaudiere yard" ready to go to the Parry Sound road; and on June 7 the big gravel plow used on the construction had to be brought down from Arnprior and placed in the Canada Atlantic workshops for repair. The June 3 item as transcribed says "C.P.R." Chaudiere yard, which may be an error for the C.A.R.'s; the statement follows the source. The May 1 item (Rochesterville men, special train) is dated 1893-05-01. | Ottawa Free Press 1893-05-01(Rochesterville workmen and their daily special tra...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-06-03(Steel rails for the Parry Sound road. Transcribed ...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-06-07(Gravel plow repaired at the Canada Atlantic worksh...) | |
| 1893-06-14 | The Ottawa and Parry Sound Railway company purchased a gravel pit from Thos. Willis of Fitzroy for $2,000 (reported May 12). On June 14 it was rumoured that Mr. J.R. Booth had also purchased the large gravel pit and plant belonging to Mr. Rivington at Carp village. The Carp purchase is a rumour as reported. | Almonte Gazette 1893-05-12(Fitzroy gravel pit purchase. Transcribed by Colin ...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-06-14(Rumoured Carp gravel pit purchase. Transcribed by ...) | |
| 1893-06-21 | Chief Engineer Mountain said the O.A. & P.S. would be completed to Eganville by September 1. (Mr. Booth had said on May 5 that he expected the road completed to Renfrew by Dominion Day and to Eganville by September, grading as far as possible before winter set in.) | Ottawa Journal 1893-06-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1893-06-23≥ | By June 23, 1893, the right of way for the O.A. & P.S. between Arnprior and Renfrew had been purchased from all the landowners except two. In Renfrew, surveyors were picketing the line on the north side of the creek through the village (the route mapped out in the Mercury two weeks earlier), right-of-way purchases through the village were in progress, and a house opposite Mr. A.A. Wright's residence had been rented as offices for the company's staff; the engineering staff expected to remain at Arnprior until August, working between there and Renfrew. On June 24 the company stationed an agent at Arnprior to look after its interests there. | Almonte Gazette 1893-06-23(Quoting the Renfrew Journal. Transcribed by Colin ...),Mercury 1893-05-12(Surveys and right-of-way purchase through Renfrew ...),Almonte Gazette 1893-05-19(Engineering staff expected at Arnprior until Augus...),Ottawa Journal 1893-06-24(Agent stationed at Arnprior. Transcribed by Colin ...) | |
| 1893-08-03 | Mr. G.A. Mountain, chief engineer, told the Ottawa Citizen and Journal that work was "up to contract time": grading between Arnprior and Renfrew was finished, with five girder steel bridges on stone piers (the principal ones across the Dochart and Lochel creeks) and one span of the Madawaska iron bridge complete and the other ready to go up; between Renfrew and Eganville about half the grading was done, and everything was expected finished to Eganville by mid-September. In the short time since work began, 300,000 yards of grading had been done, sixty-eight miles were covered by contracts completed or underway, and about eighty miles in all, including some west of Eganville, would be finished that season. On August 3 the contract for the first ten miles west of Eganville was awarded to Mr. Wm. Heald, with another ten-mile section likely to follow; regular trains were expected between Ottawa and Arnprior by September 1 and to Eganville a month later. Mr. Mountain added that there would be one station between Arnprior and Renfrew, at New Glasgow. | Ottawa Citizen 1893-08-03(Headed "All up to contract time"; repeated verbati...),Ottawa Journal 1893-08-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-08-04(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1893-07-24(Renfrew Mercury as quoted by the Journal: little m...) | |
| 1893-08-03 | Mr. Mountain said there was very little doubt that the C.P.R. had abandoned any intention of building a line to Parry Sound: the last of the big staff the C.P.R. had employed for months was withdrawn from Renfrew that week, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent trying to forestall the O.A. & P.S. "has been as good as wasted", though he allowed there was no saying what use the C.P.R. might find for the work. A week earlier (July 27-28) it had been rumoured that the C.P.R. had abandoned its intention to build a parallel line through the district and withdrawn all its survey staff, leaving Booth free to proceed unmolested. The C.P.R.'s branch to Eganville (the Atlantic & North-Western) remained in operation; only its further westward rival survey was reported abandoned. | Ottawa Citizen 1893-07-27(The rumour, reported as said "last night". Transcr...),Almonte Gazette 1893-07-28(Reprinting the Ottawa Citizen rumour. Transcribed ...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-08-03(Mountain's statement. Transcribed by Colin J. Chur...) | |
| 1893-08-17 | Excursions on the new Ottawa–Galetta–Arnprior line: a Saturday excursion from Ottawa to Arnprior on July 22 was taken up by a number of Carp citizens; an advertised Civic Holiday excursion on Thursday, August 17 left the C.A.R. station at 7.30 a.m. (adults 75c, children 40c) for Galetta grove, where about 700 people picnicked and the O.A. & P.S. put on 13 cars, the train running slowly outbound to show the country, with the stations at Kinburn and Galetta nearly finished and the foundation in at March Corners; another report has 15 cars and about 600 people, with four car loads going on to Arnprior. A further excursion train the following Thursday (August 31) was to cross the new Madawaska bridge. The two reports of the August 17 excursion differ (13 vs 15 cars, 700 vs 600 people) and are not reconciled here. | Almonte Gazette 1893-07-28(Carp News, on the July 22 excursion. Transcribed b...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-08-15(Advertisement for the Civic Holiday excursion. Tra...),Ottawa Journal 1893-08-18(700 people, 13 cars. Transcribed by Colin J. Churc...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-08-22(15 cars, about 600 people. Transcribed by Colin J....),Ottawa Citizen 1893-08-26(Next Thursday's excursion to cross the new bridge....) | |
| 1893-08-18 | Mr. J.R. Booth and Chief Engineer Mountain visited Renfrew on Thursday, August 17, where Mr. A.A. Wright urged them to place the line alongside, and the station near, the C.P.R.'s to spare the town from being cut up by tracks. Booth said they had been over the ground and that following the C.P.R. would make the route longer and cost $30,000 more, so the creek route would be followed, with the creek bed "piled" instead of cutting through Rouselle's windmill and Mrs. Freer's residence; the Opeongo road would be crossed on James street, the track running through Mr. John Smith's vacant lot, the block with Mr. R. McEwen's new house and the south-west corner of the lacrosse grounds to cross the K. & P.R. at the Horton–Admaston town line. The station would be either on the Smith vacant lot facing Moffatt's factory or on the adjoining McEwen block; by August 22 the site was reported selected, one block south-west of Main street in the south end of town. | Mercury 1893-08-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-08-19(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-08-19(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Almonte Gazette 1893-08-25(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-08-22(The Renfrew station site selected the previous wee...) | |
| 1893-08-26 | Stations and station grounds along the Ottawa–Arnprior line were under construction in the summer of 1893: at Kinburn the company was building a 40x20 ft station (July 14), the contractor for all the stations between Ottawa and Arnprior being Mr. Tomlinson of Ottawa, and by August 3 the stations at Kinburn and Galetta were nearing completion, the Carp station (to be built east of the village on the site of Rivington's hill) was about to begin, and grounds were located at Kinburn for a freight shed and granary; by August 18 the stations at Kinburn and Galetta were about finished and the foundation was in at March Corners. At Arnprior the town council gave part of Tierney street for the station grounds (otherwise the station would have gone to Mansfield); Mr. Mountain said on August 3 the station would be on Tierney street in the centre of town, Mr. Morley Donaldson bought brick and stone for it in the week of August 7, and construction began by August 26 at the end of Tierney street, a short distance south of the C.P.R.'s station. The company was also paying good prices for right of way in Arnprior, with a representative buying properties (July 14, 21). | Mercury 1893-07-14(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-08-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-08-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-07-28(Arnprior council granting part of Tierney street. ...),Almonte Gazette 1893-08-11(Mr. Donaldson buying brick and stone. Transcribed ...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-08-09(Booth and party arranging ground for the station s...),Ottawa Journal 1893-08-26(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1893-07-14(Chronicle: good prices paid for right of way in Ar...) | |
| 1893-09-11 | An application was made to the Ontario Government to cut out of the Algonquin National Park the two townships (or part of them) through which the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway was to run, where large timber limits, formerly Perley & Pattee's, lay partly within the park, owned by Messrs. Fowler, Hill and Whitney; a deputation of J.R. Booth (president of the railway company), W. Caldwell, M.P.P., J. Loughrin, M.P.P., Messrs. Hill and Whitney, with counsel J. Whitney, Q.C., M.P.P., met the cabinet (Messrs. Mowat, Hardy, Gibson and Bronson present) on the Thursday afternoon, when the application was argued and the decision reserved. The Pembroke Observer added that Dr. Dowling, the local member, would also press the government to allow the American company that had bought Perley & Pattee's Madawaska limits to build sawmills at White Fish Lake, just within the park limits. | Ottawa Citizen 1893-09-11(Quoting the Toronto Empire. Transcribed by Colin J...) | |
| 1893-09-18 | Regular passenger service on the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway between Ottawa and Arnprior opened on Monday, September 18, 1893, with two trains daily each way: trains left Ottawa at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (reaching Arnprior at about 11.20 a.m. and 6.15 p.m.) and left Arnprior at 7 a.m. and 4.10 p.m., the distance of about 36 miles being covered in roughly an hour and a quarter; stations and distances from Ottawa were Carp 19 miles, Kinburn 27, Galetta 32 and Arnprior 37. The first time card, dated September 18, provided through parlour car service between Ottawa and Montreal and daily sleeping car service to New York and Boston, with all trains arriving and departing from the Canada Atlantic's Elgin Street depot, and the run connected with the C.A.R.'s through service to Montreal, Boston and New York. A first excursion from Arnprior to Ottawa ran on September 23 for the Fair, and the company applied for Ottawa's $50,000 grant. The Citizen of September 20 says service began "this morning" at Arnprior, while other reports say Monday, September 18; the Journal of September 21 gives slightly different arrival times. Not reconciled here. Government engineer Ridout inspected the line as far as Arnprior on September 11-12. | Ottawa Journal 1893-09-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-09-20(Also gives the $75,000 rolling stock summary and t...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-09-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Almonte Gazette 1893-09-22(Arnprior News, and the application for Ottawa's gr...),Ottawa Journal 1893-09-22(First time card of September 18, 1893. Transcribed...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-09-23(First excursion from Arnprior. Transcribed by Coli...) | |
| 1893-09-20 | The Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway, which began regular passenger and freight service between Ottawa and Arnprior on Monday, September 18, 1893, had rolling stock valued at $75,000. | Ottawa Journal 1893-09-20(Article headed "$75,000 in rolling stock". Transcr...) | |
| 1893-10-07 | The location of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway's station at Renfrew was definitely decided on Doyle street, alongside the lacrosse grounds, with the entrance on Elizabeth street; a special meeting of Renfrew council on Monday, October 2 agreed to close a portion of Doyle street at the company's petition, the site being recommended by Government Engineer Schreiber, and work on the foundation was to begin at once. By October 17 the building had a veranda all around it; work had begun on October 20 (the workmen first mistakenly starting on the rear of Mr. James Reid's lot); a large water tank and an aqueduct to the creek beyond the lacrosse grounds were being built beside it by November 16; the station was to be lighted by electricity, the track running through the fair grounds; and J.R. Booth paid Mr. O'Keefe $1,000 for property and $400 for damages for building the station. | Mercury 1893-10-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-10-07(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1893-10-17(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1893-10-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-11-16(Water tank and aqueduct, quoting the Renfrew Journ...),Mercury 1893-11-10(O'Keefe payment. Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher ...),Ottawa Journal 1893-09-02(Electric lighting of the station, quoting the Renf...) | |
| 1893-10-09 | Chief engineer Mountain told the Ottawa Citizen that the route of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway had been finally located west of Golden Lake far enough for all of the next season's construction work, and that the stations west of Renfrew as far as the work would be completed that fall were Douglas, Eganville and Golden Lake; the station at Renfrew and one at New Glasgow, between Arnprior and Renfrew, were to be commenced that day. | Ottawa Citizen 1893-10-09(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1893-10-20 | An electric dynamo was being placed on a special car at the Canada Atlantic railway workshops to furnish electric light to the workmen laying steel on the Parry Sound road above Arnprior, where the work was to be pushed forward night and day until Renfrew was reached; the electric plant was to be ready to start the following week at Willis' pit between Galetta and Arnprior, though on November 3 the dynamo car was still in the Stewarton yards and the electric lights had not yet been started. | Ottawa Free Press 1893-10-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-10-21(The electric plant to start at Willis' pit the nex...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-11-03(The dynamo car still in the Stewarton yards. Trans...) | |
| 1893-10-21 | Construction-train mishaps on the O.A. & P.S. in October 1893: on Saturday, October 14 a construction engine with four cars ran over the dump some miles above Arnprior, the rails covered with blue clay so the drivers would not catch, and went over on her side, smashing the cab, though nobody was hurt (the Watchman's account credits the spongy roadbed giving way under the heavy train, the engineer having stayed aboard to stop the machinery); the engine was brought down to the Elgin Street depot and repaired by October 21; the first locomotive to reach Renfrew slid into a ditch halfway between Arnprior and Renfrew about October 20; and sixteen cattle in two herds were killed by two freight trains at Armstrong's trestle a few days before October 20. | Ottawa Free Press 1893-10-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-10-21(The Arnprior Watchman's account. Transcribed by Co...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-10-21(Engine repaired at the shops. Transcribed by Colin...),Ottawa Journal 1893-10-23(First locomotive to Renfrew slid into a ditch. Tra...),Almonte Gazette 1893-10-27(Arnprior News, also reporting a work-train engine ...),Almonte Gazette 1893-10-20(Cattle killed at Armstrong's trestle. Transcribed ...) | |
| 1893-10-27 | Track laying on the O.A. & P.S. west of Arnprior progressed quickly through the autumn of 1893: rails began going down on the first ten-mile section on September 21, and by October 9 were laid three miles west of Arnprior with about 800 men on the road and grading expected complete to Golden Lake (84 miles from Ottawa) by November 15; by October 12 track was five miles beyond Arnprior, and an electric dynamo car was fitted at the C.A.R. shops to light night work as laying was pushed at about a mile and a half a day. The first locomotive reached Renfrew on Friday, October 20 (slipping into a ditch on the way), twenty men were reported to have laid 9,200 feet — a mile and three-quarters — of track in a day, and rails reached the agricultural show grounds on Thursday, October 26 (celebrated by a steady tooting of the whistle); a diamond crossing over the Kingston and Pembroke at Renfrew was then laid over four or five days. A passenger service to Renfrew was expected in two or three weeks, with Eganville the likely terminus for the winter. | Ottawa Journal 1893-09-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-10-09(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-10-12(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-10-20(Dynamo car at the C.A.R. workshops. Transcribed by...),Ottawa Journal 1893-10-23(First locomotive at Renfrew. Transcribed by Colin ...),Mercury 1893-10-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Kingston Daily British Whig 1893-10-24(The 9,200-foot day and the Kingston and Pembroke d...),Mercury 1893-10-27(Rails to the show grounds. Transcribed by Colin J....),Ottawa Citizen 1893-10-26(Mr. Ferguson, M.P., on the prospect of passenger t...) | |
| 1893-11-05 | Two stations for the O.A. & P.S. Ry. went through Arnprior on a flat car on Sunday, November 5, 1893, all ready to be put together. The source does not say which stations they were. | Almonte Gazette 1893-11-10(Arnprior News: "Sunday last (5/11)". Transcribed b...) | |
| 1893-11-10 | There was a rumour that the K. & P.R. and the O.A. & P.S.R. might amalgamate to the extent of the Kingston and Pembroke's trains running into the new O.A. & P.S. station at Renfrew; a switch had been put in at the diamond on the town line at Kings. Track laying continued through Renfrew, where by noon on Friday the gang was past the station and near the lacrosse grounds, and by Wednesday near the brick church in Admaston, with sidings put in in town and a switch at the K. & P.R. crossing. The amalgamation is reported as a rumour. | Ottawa Journal 1893-11-10(Quoting the Renfrew Mercury; also in the Ottawa Ci...),Mercury 1893-11-10(Track laying through Renfrew. Transcribed by Colin...) | |
| 1893-12-08 | Right-of-way dealings at Renfrew and Admaston in autumn 1893: on October 2 Mr. Booth agreed to pay the South Renfrew Agricultural Society $750 for the right of way through its fair grounds (leaving it the ground between the track and the creek), the railway making a cutting five feet deep through them; on October 10 the company settled with Mr. Jas. O'Connor and tore up part of the Main street bridge, and all rights through town were settled by then except with Mr. John Smith (tanner). Smith resisted the company's order to enter his premises before arbitration; arbitrators Cunningham, James Reeves and George Eady met on November 15, and Smith was awarded $3,700 (plus a crossing), $800 more than the railway offered — Smith wrote the Mercury on December 1 that he still thought he ought to have received more (he valued the damage at $12,000). In Admaston, Mr. Donald Campbell fenced the track when the company had not settled with him; railway men tore it down, and on legal advice they forced their way through and laid the rails. On Smith's property the grading, tie-laying, rail-laying, train running and ballasting were reported done in a single day. | Ottawa Citizen 1893-10-02(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-10-05(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1893-10-13(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-10-28(Smith staying the order; quoting the Renfrew Mercu...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-11-15(Arbitrators named. Transcribed by Colin J. Churche...),Almonte Gazette 1893-12-01(Award of $3,700. Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher ...),Mercury 1893-12-08(Letter from Mr. Smith to the editor. Transcribed b...),Mercury 1893-11-10(Admaston fence dispute; the one-day railroading on...) | |
| 1893-12-18 | The Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway opened regular passenger and freight service between Ottawa and Eganville, a distance of 74 miles, on Monday, December 18, 1893, with two passenger trains daily. The first train from Eganville (two passenger cars) arrived at Renfrew on time in bitter cold — about ten degrees below zero, with heavy snow cleared from the platform, so few people saw it, the only recorded Renfrew passenger being Mr. J.A. Ferguson of Arnprior — after a snow plough had gone up the line on Sunday; the Journal noted the train brought a number of prominent people from along the line, particularly from Eganville, Douglas and Renfrew. A private inspection of the line between Arnprior and Renfrew was to have been held on December 12, with government inspection of the road to Eganville to follow within a week. The passenger trains were well patronized and officials expected general freight to continue all winter; the first freight to Eganville was a carload of oil for the Samuel Rogers Oil Company, and the first shipments from Eganville to Ottawa were carloads of cattle, lambs and sheep collected by Mr. S. Howard for the butchers Slattery & Terrance. | Ottawa Journal 1893-12-12(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-12-18(Also an O.A. & P.S. timetable advertisement of the...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-12-19(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-12-19(First freight to and from Eganville. Transcribed b...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-12-18(First carload of cattle and lambs shipped from Ega...),Mercury 1893-12-22(Account of the first train, dated December 18. Tra...) | |
| 1893-12-22 | Construction contracts west of Renfrew in autumn 1893: the contract for the line through Renfrew village was sub-let to McCarthy Bros., who said in September their part of the track would reach Eganville by November; seven tenders were received in early September for the ten miles from Indian Point, Golden Lake to Killaloe; Mr. Heald had 280 men on the ten miles between Eganville and Golden Lake by November 3 and, having completed that contract, was awarded the next ten miles west of Golden Lake to Killaloe (Dec 22), with right of way to be cut out and work carried on all winter; the eight miles east of Eganville graded by Fauquier Bros. were completed and the men discharged by late October, and another ten-mile grading contract was let in mid-December; over twenty Italians from New York passed through Ottawa on September 25 bound for Eganville construction work, and by December 15 the cessation of work had sent many navvies into Ottawa. | Ottawa Journal 1893-09-18(Renfrew village contract sub-let to McCarthy Bros....),Ottawa Citizen 1893-09-19(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-09-08(Tenders for Indian Point to Killaloe. Transcribed ...),Ottawa Journal 1893-11-03(Heald's 280 men; quoting the Renfrew Mercury. Tran...),Ottawa Journal 1893-11-02(Fauquier Bros. finished east of Eganville; quoting...),Ottawa Journal 1893-09-26(Italians bound for Eganville. Transcribed by Colin...),Mercury 1893-12-22(Heald awarded ten miles west of Golden Lake. Trans...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-12-15(Navvies in Ottawa. Transcribed by Colin J. Churche...) | |
| 1893-12-28 | Beyond Renfrew, track laying on the O.A. & P.S. continued through the winter of 1893: the gravel trains were expected at Renfrew on November 3, some 200 flat cars and eight engines were then serving the ballast trains between Willis' pit near Galetta and the end of track, and rails reached the crossing of the Scotch Bush road at Caldwell's Corners on Saturday, November 18 and Eganville (reported December 1 as having been reached "on Friday"), with ballasting following. The track ran on to Golden Lake and, when track laying finished for the year on December 27, to Indian Point, nine or ten miles beyond Eganville, the end of the grading and the terminus for the winter, where a temporary roundhouse was being built; two engines were still laying ties and steel near Indian Pond as of December 21, and in December the ground frost slowed the work. | Ottawa Free Press 1893-11-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-11-21(Also reports that a station house at Douglas would...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-11-24(Caldwell's Corners, quoting the Eganville Enterpri...),Mercury 1893-12-01(Quoting the Enterprise: rails reached Eganville "o...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-12-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-12-28(Also in the Renfrew Mercury of January 5, 1894. Tr...) | |
| 1894 | Line opened Renfrew to Golden Lake, 28.25 miles | CNRHist | |
| 1894-02-09 | At a meeting of the railway committee of the Privy Council this morning... The next application was from the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound railway for the extension of time for completing the two bridges across the Canadian Pacific near Ottawa. One of these bridges is to cross the St. Lawrence and Ottawa road near Rochesterville and the other is in the township of Nepean, some six or seven miles from the city near Bell's Corners, to cross the C.P.R. Mr. Christie appeared for the railway and said that owing to the frost coming on before the bridges were built the work in both cases was stopped. He asked that the time for completion be extended to June next; the piers were completed but the material for the superstructure had only been purchased, not yet on the ground. The Canadian Pacific had no objection, and the application was granted. | Ottawa Journal 1894-02-09(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-02-23 | Fighting for the Pass. The appeal case of the C.P.R. against the judgment giving the Opeongo Pass to the Parry Sound railway is now being heard in Toronto before the Chancery divisional court. The courts gave the exclusive right of the pass to the Parry Sound railway company, and the C.P.R. are trying to upset the judgment. The pass in contest is a narrow gap between the mountains in the township of Algoma, county of Renfrew, and is only capable of giving a passage to one line of railway track. The word 'now' places the hearing as under way at the time of writing; the earlier favourable judgment being appealed is undated in this item. | Almonte Gazette 1894-02-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-03-01 | The work of preparing for next summer's operations on the construction of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway is going on around the Elgin street depot. Several of the engines which will be employed on the construction have already been rebuilt. No. 6 has lately come out of the shops after a complete overhauling. "No. 6" is not resolved to a specific roster entity here. | Ottawa Free Press 1894-03-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-03-15 | Arrangements for the coming season's work on the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway are being pushed ahead. The two steam shovels which did such effective work last year will begin to operate next week; one which has been at the Carp this winter will operate in the large gravel pit near that place, the other, now in the Elgin street yards, will probably be located at the newer pit in the neighborhood of Eganville. Until the snowfall disappears several of the trestle works will be filled up and the roadbed further strengthened. For about one week past men have been employed filling up a trestle work on this side of Eganville where the track crosses Moore's Creek. At least two hundred flatcars will go up the line as soon as the shovels commence work. MORE NEW ENGINES: it is said that the company has ordered three new locomotives from Philadelphia to be used on the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway, freight engines slightly smaller than the Canada Atlantic mogul No. 100, expected early in May. As soon as the yards are cleared of snow a number of the hands now employed in the mechanical shops in this city will start the erection of a large number of new flat cars to be used on the Parry Sound Railway; about one hundred cars are expected to be built this spring. INCREASING THE SHOPS: the present mechanical shops have been found rather small for the amount of repairs for both the C.A.R. and Parry Sound lines, and the company will erect a larger and more suitable structure in another part of the yards; the present mechanical shops will be used as painting shops. | Ottawa Free Press 1894-03-15(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-03-26 | Including the 35 miles of road the contract for which was given out Saturday to E.F. Fauquier, the O.A. & P.S. will construct 77 miles of road this summer. Besides the 35 miles contract given to Mr. Fauquier today, twenty miles have been given to Wm. Heald; twelve miles to J. O'Brien, through the Haggarty Pass, and ten miles to Poelan and Fitzpatrick at the furthest end of the proposed line extending towards the terminus of the old colonization railway. This will leave about seventy miles of the road left to be completed next year. | Ottawa Journal 1894-03-26(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-03-26 | The construction of a large number of new cars for the Parry Sound railway has started in the mechanical shops of the Elgin street depot. The work will likely be continued for a large part of the summer as many cars will be required to keep up with the increased trade over the line. One of the two steam shovels owned by the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway went up the line yesterday morning to commence work in the gravel pit at Eganville. Until the frost has disappeared from the ground the gravel will only be used to fill up spots that were not completed last year. Two gravel trains are expected to go up the line tomorrow. | Ottawa Free Press 1894-03-26(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-04-23 | Almost every day men are leaving by the morning train to secure employment on the construction of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway. This morning there was a large gang of Italians going up to work on one of the contracts above Golden Lake. So far there has been no steel laid this year, but it is expected that men will shortly commence on the department of the construction. The steam shovel is now working at Eganville and a large part of the ballast is taken to fill up the trestle work at Arnprior. | Ottawa Free Press 1894-04-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1894-04-27(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-05-01 | QUEEN'S PARK: A cash subsidy is granted of $3,000 per mile to OA & PS contractor Fauquier, to build thirty-five miles west of Barry's Bay, conditional on regulations for the protection from fire of timber. The Toronto Board of Trade opposed this grant on the ground that it was practically a private line and as such, not entitled to a subsidy. A government official had expressed concern about the railway's locomotives causing forest fire damage to the pine. Booth's officials reported that the line as surveyed followed the swamps and lowlands, and that very little pine is passed through, for where it is not swamp, and along the lake shores it is through hardwood; there is therefore no danger to be apprehended from fire. | Mercury 1894-05-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-06-27 | Mr. John Fowler (brother of the Governor of New York State) President of the Kingston and Pembroke Railway, Mr. Henry Sabert, a director of the road, Mr. R.W. Folger, general manager and other officials arrived yesterday on the company's private car after a trip over the O., A.& P.S. Railway as far as constructed. They leave this morning by C.A.R. for Montreal. | Ottawa Citizen 1894-06-27(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-07-08 | Plenty of whiskey peddlers on the OA & PS, and doing a good business too. There are 1,100 men working on the project now. | Mercury 1894-07-08(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-07-18 | Mr. A.W. Fleck states that the report that Mr. Booth would build the Parry Sound Railway car shops on Sherwood street is incorrect. Mr. Booth has made no decision yet as to the place where they will be erected or the time of their erection. | Ottawa Journal 1894-07-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-08 | Rumours of diphtheria outbreaks in the area, and no wonder, says the local doctor: some very small houses are accommodating twelve to eighteen men. When one gets up, another tumbles into his warm bed. Some men have died of diphtheria. Churcher's own transcription gives no exact day for this item ('Exact day in August 1894 not recorded'); dated to the month only. | Eganville Leader 1894-08(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-10-01 | O.A. & P.S. timetable advertisement: train service open between Eganville, Golden Lake, Killaloe and Barry's Bay. A similar advertisement with altered train times is dated 1894-10-08 (also Ottawa Journal, not separately transcribed). | Ottawa Journal 1894-10-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-10-09 | A number of the C.A.R. officials and several Ottawa citizens of prominence took a run over the Parry Sound railway as far as Barry's Bay yesterday. His Worship Mayor Cox was among the number, and this morning spoke in great praise of the way in which the line has been built. He declares it to be as fine a piece of railroad as he has seen, nothing having been slighted in the least. At the far end of the line there is an inexhaustible supply of gravel of excellent quality which provides splendid ballasting material. He was delighted with the beauties of Golden Lake and speaks of it as the ideal of a sportsmen's hunting ground. | Ottawa Free Press 1894-10-09(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-10-16 | At the Chancery Divisional court yesterday, the second round of the long fought contest between the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway company and the Atlantic and Northwest Railway company, resulted in a victory for the latter with costs. The former will, however, shortly enter a further appeal to restore the now dissolved injunction, which, until now, has prevented the latter company from laying their line in a certain way in Carleton county. | Ottawa Free Press 1894-10-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-11-12 | To Inspect the O.,A. & P.S. railway. A special train left the CAR depot this morning having on board E J Chamberlin, general manager; and G A Mountain, chief engineer of the O.,A. & P.S. Ry; Mr. Lynch, government inspector; city engineer; C J Booth and C P. Cunningham for the purpose of inspecting the last twenty-five miles of the O A & PS Line west of Barry's Bay. The party return this evening. | Ottawa Journal 1894-11-12(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1894-11-19 | E.J. Chamberlain, general manager of the O.A. & P.S. Ry. returned last evening from a trip up the line. He states that the rails will be laid today to a distance of five miles from Long Lake and trains will be running to that point, which is 144 miles distant from Ottawa, some time next week. The construction will stop at this point for the winter although the rock work will be continued throughout the winter. | Ottawa Journal 1894-11-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1894-11-30 | A man named Mahoney, brakeman on the O. A. & P.S. Railway, lost one of his hands while coupling cars last week. | Almonte Gazette 1894-11-30(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1894-12-05 | Several thousand long boom logs have been taken out of the Ottawa river since the mills closed down, and at the present time these are being stacked along the entire length of Mr. J.R. Booth's long mill platform. It is said that the logs will be made into very heavy dimension timber during this present winter season, and will be used in the construction of the new workshops of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway on Concession street, and this fact forms additional evidence that the shops will be put up at the earliest possible date. The cutting will be done in a new circular sawmill built during the present summer at the Chaudiere Falls. | Ottawa Free Press 1894-12-05(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895 | Line opened Golden Lake to Whitney, 60 miles | CNRHist | |
| 1895-02-23 | Half a million dollars is to be expended on the construction of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound railway this coming summer. The work of construction is about to be resumed; contractors have already gone out to select camp sites. Contracts have been awarded for three more ten mile sections and a fourth is to be let out: E. Fauquier will construct the first ten miles west of the present terminus at Long Lake, O'Neil and Ferguson the next ten miles west of Fauquier's, and Poulin and Fitzpatrick the ten miles eastward from the terminus of the Parry Sound and Colonization Railway, forty or fifty miles east of Parry Sound. The contractors will begin bare rock cuttings immediately, and start pile driving where necessary on 1 March. About the beginning of May a force of fifteen hundred men will be put on the general construction work; the part of the line being built passes through very mountainous, the heaviest part of the line. About 40 miles will remain to be constructed in '96 if the four sections are finished this season, the gap being this side of Elmsdale. | Ottawa Journal 1895-02-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...),Almonte Gazette 1895-03-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-03-18 | Booth, Chamberlain and Mountain returned from looking for a site for the terminal at Parry Sound. The work on the eastern end is going on rapidly; over twelve hundred feet of pile driving has been done on the Mud Creek trestle on Long Lake, expected to be finished in about four days, after which rock cutting will begin. | Ottawa Journal 1895-03-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-03-22 | On Friday night two engines passed Eganville on the O.A. & P.S. Ry. loaded with dynamite for the construction west of Long Lake. Each engine drew two cars, each car containing ten tons of dynamite; to make the conveyance of the dangerous material as safe as possible, the trains were four hours apart, one passing at twelve o'clock midnight and one at three o'clock Saturday morning, both arriving at Whitney on Saturday morning. The train left Ottawa late at night and travelled slowly, so as to minimize unexpected stops. | Ottawa Journal 1895-03-28(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...),Mercury 1895-03-29(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-03-29 | The OA & P S Ry. Company ought to put on another passenger car on their train between Eganville and Whitney. There are at present only two passenger cars on this train, and in both going and returning they are very often uncomfortably crowded, so much so that sometimes passengers cannot get a seat and have to stand. | Mercury 1895-03-29(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-04-12 | The passenger traffic of the OA & PS is now almost as large as the CAR between Ottawa and Montreal. Both lines are doing a good business, but travel on the OA & PS is increasing every day, and becoming a rival to the older line. Residents from as far as fifty miles distant come to make their large purchases. | Ottawa Journal 1895-04-12(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...),Mercury 1895-04-12(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-04-30 | The new steam shovel for the Parry Sound Railway has now been sent up to work at "The Forks" and one hundred men have been given employment in addition to those already at work. | Ottawa Free Press 1895-04-30(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-05-08 | There is a rumor abroad today which appears to be well founded that negotiations are pending between the principals of the Parry Sound Railway, and the Ottawa East council for the erection of the workshops in that village. | Ottawa Free Press 1895-05-08(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-05-16 | The railway committee passed the bill this morning to extend the time for completion of the O.A. & P.S. Ry. by five years. [Separately reported:] Petition from South Renfrew over the closing of a station owing to some difficulty with local landowners. | Ottawa Journal 1895-05-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-05-17 | A daily train is now running between Eganville and Whitney. | Almonte Gazette 1895-05-17(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-06-14 | The Dominion Bridge company have had a writ issued against Mr. J. O'Brien of Renfrew, a contractor on the O.A. & P.S. Railway, for $1,375, the price of a turntable supplied the contractor on the construction work on the line. | Ottawa Journal 1895-06-14(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-06-22 | A daily train will likely be put on the O.A. & P.S. Railway west of Eganville next week. | Ottawa Journal 1895-06-22(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-06-24 | Perhaps the largest excursion that has ever been run over any railway line in eastern Ontario was that of the employees of the Canada Atlantic to Golden Lake on the O.A. & P.S. Ry. this morning. The excursion was from all points on the C.A.R. from Coteau to Ottawa and along the line of the O.A. & P.S. Ry. from all stations west of Ottawa. Three solid excursion trains of ten coaches each, thirty coaches in all, carried 1,500 excursionists from the city alone; another excursion train from down the C.A.R. carried five hundred more, and up to 700 more were expected from points along the O.A. & P.S. Ry., making in all an excursion of 2,700 people. The first excursion train left Ottawa at 7 a.m., the second at 7.30, the third at 8.05; the train from down the C.A.R. passed at 8 o'clock. The excursionists arrived at Golden Lake around 11 o'clock. Nearly all the employees of the railway were granted a holiday. Two carloads of boats were attached to the first excursion train at Renfrew for the use of the excursionists at their destination. | Ottawa Journal 1895-06-24(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-06-24 | The work on the construction of the O.A. & P.S. Ry. goes merrily along. Messrs. D.R. McDonald and McMartin are pushing the work on the first ten miles above Whitney; nearly all the rock cutting is done and grading is going on rapidly, the roadbed reflecting great credit on the contractors. The contract for the third ten miles has not been given out, as the government has not granted a bonus for construction further than three miles above White Fish Lake. Messrs. Breuder and McNaughton have two miles of the trestle work on the first ten miles above Whitney completed; at Mud creek the pile driving is completed, and at Breeder's Bay pile driving is going on so satisfactorily that in a few days both ends of the construction across the bay will be connected. Messrs. O'Neil and Ferguson, contractors for the second ten miles, have very little rock cutting left to do, to be completed in a few weeks; grading and levelling is going on rapidly, with large numbers of Italians on the right of way — six weeks ago a swampy forest, now a well constructed railroad bed. | Ottawa Journal 1895-06-24(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-07-02 | The Ottawa East council last evening passed a motion for the preparing of a by-law to exempt the O.A. & P.S. Ry. from taxation for ten years on the condition that the workshops are built adjoining the village. | Ottawa Journal 1895-07-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-07-08 | A grand excursion of the railway employees came to Golden Lake last Monday, where a crowd of several thousands assembled for a picnic. By the new time-table there are two daily trains from Ottawa to Barry's Bay, and from Barry's Bay to Whitney every day, and a passenger going up Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and returning Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; the train service is thus much improved. | Almonte Gazette 1895-07-12(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-07-11 | James and Alex. Avery, employed on the O.A. & P.S. railway, were injured by the premature explosion of a charge of dynamite while blasting on Thursday last; their faces and eyes were covered with sand and small stones. They will recover. | Almonte Gazette 1895-07-12(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-07-14 | Fired at Three Times. As Daniel Galligan, construction foreman for Mr. McDonald at the Parry Sound, was walking on the right of way between Maguire's camp and Camp No. 4 on Sunday of last week, a man walked out of the bush close to him and deliberately fired three shots: the first split the handle of the axe he was carrying, the second pierced a hole through the leg of his trousers, and the third missed him. | Almonte Gazette 1895-07-19(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-07-15 | Heroics for Lawbreakers. Mr. Josh Conolly, license inspector, has an exciting time up along the line of the O.A. & P.S. Ry. watching and punishing violators of the License Act; he had three cases at Whitney to be heard that week. His plan is to take the magistrate and constable up the string of lakes by land and water until they locate a whiskey camp, then seize the lawbreakers and hold court on the nearest smooth rock. At Whitney he noticed a barrel marked 'vinegar' at the station and resolved to get a search warrant, but the barrel disappeared overnight; he was told the 'vinegar' was highwines. | Ottawa Journal 1895-07-15(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-07-23≤ | The Hubbell Primary Battery Company have already begun manufacturing their batteries. The company expect by the 15th of August to have a passenger coach on the C.A.R. and C.P.R. lighted by their battery, and if this test proves successful several other coaches will be similarly lighted on the same lines. | Ottawa Journal 1895-07-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-07-27 | DYNAMITE ACCIDENT: An accident took place on Saturday afternoon at Camp No. 4 on the OA & PS construction, about seven miles west of Whitney, by which one man was killed and two others were very seriously injured. The men were engaged in blasting rock and some of the drilled holes were being charged when the men left for dinner; on their return they commenced drilling at one hole in which some dynamite had been placed of which they were not aware. The explosion, from the first blow of the hammer, killed one man, a young Swede; shattered the leg of another and blew out the eyes of a third, both also otherwise injured. The wounded were taken down by train on Monday to the Ottawa Hospital, and the man killed was buried in the English Church cemetery at Eganville. This camp is rather unfortunate, as two drowning accidents recently took place at it. The two hospitalized men were named Matt. Sohr and Matt. Mattson, both about 25; the name of the Swede who was killed was not known at the hospital. Matthew Soher (Sohr) later died of his injuries in the Protestant hospital. | Ottawa Journal 1895-07-30(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...),Eganville Enterprise 1895-08-02(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...),Almonte Gazette 1895-08-09(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-08-01 | Messrs. J.R. Booth, E.J. Chamberlain and G.A. Mountain, chief engineer, returned yesterday from a tour of general inspection over the line of the O.A. & P.S. railway. They left on Monday and went over the road to a distance of about twenty miles beyond Whitney station on Long Lake. | Ottawa Citizen 1895-08-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-08-01 | A young man named Eugene Debault, who came from St. John, Que., and was engaged on Messrs. McDonald & Martin's work at camp No. 4 on the O.A. & P.S. Ry., while in bathing was drowned in four feet of water. Debault was anticipating a pleasant time on his return home this week when death stepped in and claimed him. The body was shipped to St. John for interment. Three weeks ago Mazzo Antoine was drowned in almost the same spot. | Almonte Gazette 1895-08-02(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-08-06 | At a meeting of the Council of the village of Ottawa East, a by-law was passed by which the O.A. & P.S. railway, in consideration of the advantages accruing to the village from the construction of that road, was granted an exemption from taxes for a period of ten years, extendable another ten years if deemed necessary. A resolution was also passed providing for the construction of a macadamized road by the Parry Sound Railway Company in lieu of one appropriated for the company's use, the new road to be built to the council's approval. | Ottawa Citizen 1895-08-07(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-08-22 | Provincial Detective Grier is in jail at Parry Sound, for having shot at and dangerously wounded a man who was peddling whiskey to the navvies on the construction of the OA & PS road. The peddler ran away to escape arrest, and was fired at three times, the third shot striking him in the shoulder. | Mercury 1895-08-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-10-25 | A moose bull attacked two members of the Parry Sound Rail Road a week or so ago. One man was successful in reaching the branches of a tree, but the other was less fortunate and was thrown by the bull some twenty feet; the moose made a second charge, but the bruised and sore man managed to make it to a tree. The next day, they secured a rifle, started in pursuit, and found the moose not far from the previous day's attack; as soon as the moose saw them it charged, but was brought down by the first shot. | Huntsville Forester 1895-11-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-10-25 | A private train of engine and five coaches went up last week to the Madawaska Forks, on the Ottawa and Parry Sound Railway, with Mr. Baldwin, a wealthy car builder of Philadelphia, Pa., and a party of American tourists. The party are enjoying themselves hunting and fishing in the neighborhood. | Almonte Gazette 1895-11-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-11-01 | J. R. Booth is employing 3,389 men as follows: on the OA & PS railway 325; OA & PS construction 575; lumber yards and mills 1,159 men. None of these work for less than $1.25 a day. 1,330 men work in the woods at the same rate. | Mercury 1895-11-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-11-01 | O.,A. & P.S. Notes. Snow has been lying almost all week. As the deer hunting season opens today, the country is flooded with hunters; it is estimated that several hundred have come up the O.A. & P.S. A party of hunters at MacAulay Lake (from Almonte) began the sport too early and were brought before the local magistrate and fined $10. American hunters carried off deer before the season opened, but escaped the deputy game wardens. The work in the shanties is booming all along the line; there will be over 1,000 men on the upper part of the Madawaska. The St. Anthony Lumber Company has over 300 men employed at the sawmill. 'Nipissing City' has been founded a short way east of Whitney, somewhat resembling the western city. | Almonte Gazette 1895-11-08(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-11-10≥ | Pushing Work on the O.A & P.S. railway. Mr. G. E. Mountain, C.E. of the Ottawa & Parry Sound Railway, went up the line yesterday on a tour of inspection from Ottawa to the terminus at Arnprior. The grading from Ottawa to Arnprior is almost completed, with the exception of a few little gaps here and there where culverts, of cedar, will be put in. The timber for the trestle crossing in the township of Nepean is all ready and work will go on at once. It is expected that in ten days or two weeks the work of laying the iron will begin. The company have opened a ballast pit about halfway between Ottawa and Arnprior and ballasting will be done both ways at the same time. The trestle work across the track of the old St. Lawrence and Ottawa Railway is being pushed vigorously along. | Ottawa Journal 1895-11-11(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-11-25≥ | WHERE DEER ABOUND. The Toronto Globe said: 'Provincial Engineer McCallum, who left Wednesday to inspect a ten mile section of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railroad, has returned home. The portion of the road which he inspected lies in the townships of Nightingale in Haliburton, and Canisby and Airy, in the Nipissing district, three quarters of a mile running through the Algonquin Park. He found it to be in good condition. Nine miles of construction work beyond the point where he was is being pushed forward, and will be completed and ready for inspection shortly. He reports that there is about three inches of snow there, and that the region is full of deer.' | Ottawa Journal 1895-11-29(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-12-09 | A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS. Seven Men Injured While Working Around C.A.R. Trains. Paul Goolah, brakesman of the C.A.R., had the two first fingers of his left hand jammed so badly while coupling cars yesterday morning that they had to be amputated; he was the seventh C.A.R. man injured within the past four or five weeks. The list: D. Wilson, lost two fingers; R. Cole, four ribs broken; A. Maloney, lost parts of two fingers; W. Young, hand jammed; Andrew Easton, fatal injuries; Paul Goolah, two fingers badly jammed. In the majority of the cases, if not all, the accidents were the result of carelessness. | Ottawa Citizen 1895-12-10(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-12-14 | Parry Sound railway trains are running over the bridge constructed over the electric railway tracks at Hintonburg by the Electric Railway Company. The work, which is most substantial, was carried out under the supervision of Mr. F.A. Hibbard. | Ottawa Citizen 1895-12-14(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1896 | Line opened Whitney to Cache Lake, 20 miles | CNRHist | |
| 1896-03-03≥ | The first shipment of plumbago from the mines at Calabogie, came into the city by the Parry Sound line yesterday, there being four car loads. It will be prepared for market in a factory to be arranged in the old Pierce mill on Victoria Island, which will be in operation within two months. (As reported by 3 March 1896; the source dates the event only relatively.) | Ottawa Free Press 1896-03-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-03-20 | Contractor J. J. Jollife has been awarded the contract for filling and scraping for 1896. The item, datelined Douglas 17 March, does not say which section of the line the contract covers. | Mercury 1896-03-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-03-27 | The Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound R.R. will carry free all patients from this district going to or from the consumption sanitorium in Muskoka. | Eastern Ontario Review 1896-03-27(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-06-19 | On the O.A. & P.S. Ry. there are two sets of mail clerks. One set runs from Ottawa to Eganville and the other has charge of the distribution of the mail from Eganville westwards to the terminus of the line. The item goes on to a story of a boy found in a mail bag at Barry's Bay; the story is not recorded. | Ottawa Journal 1896-06-19(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Eastern Ontario Review 1896-07-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-07-16 | Colporteurs will be sent up to the construction of the O.A. & P.S. Ry. by the Ottawa Bible Society. Announcement only. | Ottawa Journal 1896-07-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-08-04 | A large number of men were dismissed on the Parry Sound railway yesterday, as nearly all the masonry work is now completed. Mr. Thompson is engaging a gang of bricklayers to go up next week. Yesterday is read relative to the issue date; 'Mr. Thompson' is probably the contractor named Tomlinson/Thomilson elsewhere but the item does not say so. | Ottawa Free Press 1896-08-04(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-08-11≥ | The camp of the engineering staff of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway, at Burit Lake, at upper end of the road, was destroyed by fire a few days ago. The men went out to their work as usual in the morning, and returning found their camp in ashes. All their clothing, as well as a considerable amount of money they had laid by, was burned. (As reported by 11 August 1896; the source dates the event only relatively.) | Montreal Gazette 1896-08-11(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-08-14 | The road is open for traffic from Ottawa to a point about forty miles east of the northern extension of the Grand Trunk Railway at Emsdale, and it is open from Emsdale to Parry Sound. The last link of forty miles between the two is under construction, and the whole line will be ready for the opening of navigation in 1897. Reprinted from the Toronto Star; describes the OA&PS as 'an extension westward of the Canada Atlantic'. | Almonte Gazette 1896-08-14(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-09-28 | It was a swell special that pulled out of the Central station Saturday morning at 8 o'clock, having on board about 100 Senators, members of Parliament, prominent citizens and press men, invited by Mr. J. R. Booth to make a trip of observation over the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway. The train was composed of six cars, in the van being the sumptuous private car 'Opeongo,' a praiseworthy product of the Canada Atlantic shops ... The end of the run of Saturday was at Potter Lake, in the very heart, almost, of Algonquin Park, and 80 miles only from Parry Sound harbor. The Ottawa Journal of 1896-10-02 gives the date of the trip as September 27. The Almonte Gazette says the trip was to 'Potter's Lake', 180 miles from Ottawa. | Ottawa Citizen 1896-09-28(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1896-09-28(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Almonte Gazette 1896-10-02(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1896-10-02(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-09-28 | General Manager Chamberlain, speaking in acknowledgement, said there was a great work yet to accomplish, ere the enterprise would be complete. There were docks to be built at Parry Sound, grain elevators to be constructed and steamship lines to be provided. | Ottawa Citizen 1896-09-28(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-10-05 | OA&PS formed by amalgamation of Ottawa & Parry Sound Railway Co. and Ottawa, Arnprior & Renfrew Ry Co. Effected by deed of amalgamation dated 1891-05-18, and ratified by shareholders. | Bell p158 | |
| 1896-10-09 | The first through freight train passed through Arnprior today. It had thirty-five cars from Parry Sound to Ottawa. The line needs much ballasting. | Huntsville Forester 1896-10-09(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-10-16 | Passenger and freight service will commence about November 15, as only ten miles of track remain to be laid. This will be finished by month's end, after which the government will inspect, and then the line opened. The actual distance from Ottawa to Parry Sound will be two hundred and fifty-two miles. It is hoped that there will be an 8 hour service. Passengers leaving Ottawa at 8 a.m. will reach the lake port by 4 p.m. The divisional point will be Madawaska. The Eganville Leader quotes the Renfrew Mercury; anticipatory. | Eganville Leader 1896-10-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-10-20≥ | The Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway and the Parry Sound Colonization Railway are now amalgamated under the name of the former line. The amalgamation was reached at a joint meeting of the board of directors of both lines in Ottawa yesterday. (As reported by 20 October 1896; the source dates the event only relatively.) Printed 1896-10-21; the meeting was 'yesterday' relative to that issue, so the date is bounded rather than exact. | Ottawa Journal 1896-10-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-10-31 | By Monday evening the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway will be completed from Ottawa to the waters of the Georgian Bay. The last spike will be driven Monday, completing this gigantic work. ... Since that time, 260 miles of railway have been laid as the result of four and a half season's work. Announcement of an expected completion. The Ottawa Journal of 1896-11-02 records Chief Engineer Mountain's correction that the bridge across the Sound and nearly four miles of track to deep water remained to be built. | Ottawa Journal 1896-10-31(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Brockville Recorder 1896-11-06(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-10-31 | Regular passenger trains will begin running between Madawaska and Ottawa Monday morning. The morning train leaving Ottawa at 8 a.m. will reach Madawaska at 12:40 p.m. A mixed train will connect with the passenger train at Madawaska and carry passengers to Canoe Lake, 44 miles further on. Announcement; see also the Ottawa Journal of 1896-11-02 on the first train. | Ottawa Journal 1896-10-31(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-10-31 | The official and final inspection of the line will be held on Wednesday next. Mr. Robt. McCallum, inspector for the Ontario government, will go over the line to Scotia, where it connects with the Northern, now controlled by the Grand Trunk. Mr. McCallum will be accompanied by Mr. A. W. Fleck, secretary-treasurer; Mr. Geo. A. Mountain, chief engineer, and Engineers Bruce and Cranston. The inspection party will leave Ottawa late on Tuesday evening on a special train. The Ottawa Journal of 1896-11-03 says the party leaves that evening and the inspection is expected to take at least three days. | Ottawa Journal 1896-10-31(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1896-11-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-11-07 | The inspection party which left last Tuesday evening by special train to inspect the O.A. & P.S. Ry. through to Scotia where the line crossed the Grand Trunk has arrived back in the city. (Churcher's summary adds: 'McCallum, Ontario Government inspector was well pleased'.) The Ottawa Citizen of 1896-11-09 lists Booth, Fleck, Mountain, W. Hutchinson MP, G.B. Pattee and Inspector McCallum as having 'arrived home from their through trip' and says traffic will likely begin in about a week. The 'well pleased' clause is in Churcher's summary of the item, not necessarily the paper's words. | Ottawa Journal 1896-11-07(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1896-11-09(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-11-11 | The county bonused this line of railway to the extent of $75,000 on the understanding that the line would be built so as to serve the best interests of the residents of the county. It is claimed however that the company in constructing the line showed no due regard to the wishes of the people and built the line over another route to that proposed when the bonus was voted. A meeting of leading residents of Renfrew County was to be held at Arnprior 'to-day' to consider a protest to the government. | Ottawa Journal 1896-11-11(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-11-18 | About seventy-five invitations have been issued by the engineers and contractors on the O.A. & P.S. Railway for their dinner tomorrow evening in the Grand Union. Announcement only. | Ottawa Citizen 1896-11-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-11-20 | A freight train of thirty-five cars passed through here on the OA & PS Ry. on Wednesday, among the cars being three loaded for Parry Sound, being the first through freight from Ottawa for that place. It is predicted that when the line is ballasted throughout and the wharves built on Georgian Bay, the amount of through traffic from east to west will be enormous. Datelined Arnprior; the item's title is transcribed as 'Arnprior Semi-Weekly New'. | Arnprior Semi-Weekly News 1896-11-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-11-25 | The opening of a through passenger service on the O.A. & P.S. Ry. from Ottawa to Parry Sound is likely to take place on Monday December 14. The ballasting of the line was completed last evening. For the winter there will only be a mixed service from Madawaska to Parry Sound. Churcher's transcription ends with 'More.'; the Dec 14 date was later superseded (see the 1896-12-15 and 1896-12-21 items). | Ottawa Journal 1896-11-25(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-12-05 | Premier Laurier, at the invitation of Mr. J.R. Booth, is today making a tour of inspection of the O.A. & P.S. Ry. A special train left the Central Depot at 8.23 last evening having on board the premier, Sir Henri Joly, W.C. Edwards M.P., J.R. Booth, A.W. Fleck secretary-treasurer, and E.J. Chamberlain, general manager. The train was pulled by locomotive no. 16 and was made up of Mr. Booth's private car, 'Booth', and the government car 'Openongo' [sic]. The party was to remain overnight at Madawaska 'at the company's handsome hotel' and reach Parry Sound about four o'clock the next day; those parts are anticipatory. | Ottawa Journal 1896-12-05(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-12-15 | On Sunday next at 12 o'clock noon the new time table for the entire length of the Ottawa and Parry Sound Railway will be put in operation and the road opened to Parry Sound. ... The first through trains run out on Monday. The road is not by any means entirely finished but the government will sanction if they have not made their official inspection prior to the 20th. The Ottawa Citizen of 1896-12-16 says regular passenger trains to Parry Sound 'will commence running on the O.A. & P.S. railway on Monday'. The Journal names 'the Ottawa and Parry Sound Railway'; filed on the O.A.&P.S. as the same line, following earlier practice on this crawl. | Ottawa Journal 1896-12-15(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1896-12-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-12-21 | At precisely 8 o'clock this morning the first regular through passenger train on the Ottawa Arnprior and Parry Sound Railroad pulled out of the Central station. At the lever of engine No. 14, the fastest in the service of the C.A.R. stood Engineer H. Brown while at his side was fireman J. Little. The train, in charge of Conductor J.H. Roberts, brakeman D. Biggars, baggageman, H. Nicholson, mail clerks, H.G. Ketchum and Dunbar York, was composed of a baggage and mail car, a smoker and a first class passenger car. ... There was no through passengers for Parry Sound, other than the road officials. The Renfrew Mercury says it passed through Renfrew 'at the regular hour on Monday morning last'. | Ottawa Journal 1896-12-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1896-12-22(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1896-12-25(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-12-22≥ | At 8.30 o'clock last night the first through train from Parry Sound to Ottawa came into the C.A.R. station. The train was in charge of Conductor Roberts and Engineer Brown was the driver. Quite a number of passengers arrived in the city on the train. (As reported by 22 December 1896; the source dates the event only relatively.) The Journal of 1896-12-21 gave a scheduled arrival at Parry Sound of 8 p.m.; the Mercury of 1896-12-25 gives the schedule as leaving Parry Sound 7 a.m., reaching Ottawa 6:30 p.m. | Ottawa Free Press 1896-12-22(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1896-12-25 | The train which leaves Ottawa at 8 a.m. reaches the Sound at 8 p.m. The train which leaves Parry Sound at 7 a.m. reaches Ottawa at 6:30 p.m., and Montreal at 10:15 p.m. Schedule reported after the opening of through service; filed as a dated report of the arrangement. | Mercury 1896-12-25(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897 | Line opened Cache Lake to Scotia, 49.25 miles | CNRHist | |
| 1897-01-01 | The first through passenger from Parry Sound to Ottawa was W. Taylor, who arrived here on Thursday evening in company with his wife and daughter. Mr. Taylor is delighted with the trip over the road, and has bright hopes of the northern town in which he has spent twenty-four years of his life in business. The Ottawa Journal spells the name 'Wm. Taylor'; the Renfrew Mercury reprints the Journal. | Ottawa Journal 1897-01-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1897-01-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897-02-03 | Col. Smith, president of the Vermont Central RY., and Mr. E.J. Chamberlain went over the Parry Sound road Monday. Mr. Smith has his own train and an especial feature of interest is the electric headlight, the only one in use on the continent. The electricity is generated by a small motor in the engine. The light is a great success and far superior to the ordinary locomotive light for brilliancy and the distance the light is thrown. | Ottawa Free Press 1897-02-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897-05-28≥ | W.S. Dagette, a brakeman on the O. A. & P.S. railway, had his right arm broken by a barrel of sugar falling on it. (As reported by 28 May 1897; the source dates the event only relatively.) No place named; filed on the company. | Almonte Gazette 1897-05-28(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897-07-09 | The inaugural excursion over the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound road to Parry Sound was fairly well patronized. About forty left on the trip. | Ottawa Citizen 1897-07-09(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897-07-16 | The O.A. & P.S. R.R. Co. could not give the N.L.A.S. cars for their excursion to Ottawa on the 24th because on account of that day being given to employees of the road for their annual picnic at Clark's Island. | Almonte Gazette 1897-07-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1898 | Line opened Rose Point to Depot Harbor | CNRHist | |
| 1898-01-14 | George P. Sills issued writ for death of Arthur Sills. $5000. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1898-01-21 | Excursion fares for races at Lansdowne: Douglas $1.55, Renfrew $1.30. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1898-04-07 | Mr. James O'Donnell, of the Deep Cut, was examined at the court house this morning in the case of the O.A. & P.S. Railway, who want to expropriate the land upon which he is living. | Ottawa Journal 1898-04-07(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1898-05-12 | A freight train on the O.A. & P.S. broke into three sections and the rear one collided with another freight following. The runaway cars were ditched and the train went on, little the worse. The other loose section for the train from which broke away down a grade and bumped into the rear end of it at the station. No one was injured and little damage was done. Place not named in the transcription. | Almonte Gazette 1898-05-12(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1898-05-13 | Pembroke Observer reports 2 freight trains collided near Edgington. First train was rear-ended by second eastbound after stalling on hill. Fireman Frank Walker (26) of Parry Sound killed; John McQuaig of Ottawa broke leg; engineer Crogham remained in cab, unscathed. | Fleming Pembroke Observer, 1898-05-13 | |
| 1898-05-14 | The traffic on the O.A. & P.S. railway lines has so increased of late that the company has had to place night operators at points where day operators were formerly stationed. Night operators have been placed at Eganville, Barry's Bay and Galetta. Mr. E.J. Goodler has been placed as night operator at Eganville. One sentence covers three places; filed once, on the company. | Ottawa Free Press 1898-05-14(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1898-05-27 | Reported 100 loaded cars eastbound and 50 loaded cars westbound per day. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1898-05-27 | 13 cattle, valued at $275, killed near Eganville. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1898-05-27 | Reported 100 loaded cars eastbound and 50 loaded cars westbound per day. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1898-06-03 | No train may pass a station until the preceding train has passed the next station. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1898-06-10 | 3 horses from Barry's Bay killed. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1898-06-10 | Train went through trestle between Brule and Rainy Lake. Engineer Bearly broke leg. Fireman Albert, Conductor M. Gourlay shaken. Four cars and engine damaged. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1898-07-01 | Sectionmen of CA & OAPS went on strike demanding $.25 increase on $1 per day | Fleming Renfrew Mercury, 1898-07-08 | |
| 1898-07-08 | Sectionmen strike over. 10 cent per day increase won. | Fleming Pembroke Observer, 1898-07-08 | |
| 1898-08-16 | Mr. H.N. Topley has just returned from a trip over the O.A. & P.S. railway. More. Churcher's abbreviated entry ends 'More.'; nothing further is transcribed. Filed on the O.A.&P.S. at the maintainer's direction. | Ottawa Free Press 1898-08-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1898-09-20 | Six hundred people came to the city over the line of the OA&PS Railway. Exhibition-day arrivals at the Central Depot. | Ottawa Journal 1898-09-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1898-11-04 | During the season of navigation now closed the Ottawa and Parry Sound railway has carried twelve million bushels of grain and one hundred thousand tons of flour, glucose, pork, etc., from Parry Sound via Ottawa and its eastern connections. The item says 'Ottawa and Parry Sound'; filed on the O.A.&P.S. as elsewhere in this crawl. | Huntsville Forester 1898-11-04(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1898-11-11 | Trestle near Cache Lake shifted, delaying mail train. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1898-11-18 | McCauley Lake branch nearing completion. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1898-12-16 | Special train of OAPS was derailed due to broken engine wheel. | Fleming Pembroke Observer, 1898-12-16 | |
| 1898-12-19 | During the past summer the same railway had 85 engines in commission, most of them large moguls, and from twelve to twenty trains passed eastward over the road every day. More remarkable still, the west-bound freight business from New York to Chicago over the Parry Sound route went as high as $25,000 a month. | Huntsville Forester 1898-12-19(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1899-01-20 | OAPS received subsidy of $327,232. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1899-03-22 | The O.A. & P.S. Railway company issues a writ in the High court of Justice against the St. Anthony Lumber company, claiming an injunction to restrain the defendants from carrying on their works or operating on Rock Creek or from raising the water thereon by driving timber, thus endangering the bridge and line of railway constructed by the O.A. & P.S. Co. Rock Creek is not a site location; the bridge it threatens has no entity, so filed on the company. | Ottawa Citizen 1899-03-22(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1899-03-24 | OAPS issues writ to restrain St.Anthony Lumber company from damaging the line. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1899-03-31 | Mail contract for year ended 1898-06-30 gave OA&PS $6999.92. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1899-03-31 | Trestle two miles east of Canoe Lake collapsed. Trestles are being filled night and day. Passenger trains are slowing for all trestles; in some cases, passengers are on foot. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1899-04-21 | Derailment at Brule Lake caused by washout. Fireman W.McLean of Lanark killed. Brakeman J.McDonald of Canoe Lake and engineer J.Campbell of Chicago injured. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1899-04-28 | OAPS to run 14 trains per day through Pembroke (?). Summer traffic to be 48 trains per day. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1899-04-28 | Spur to Parry Sound under discussion. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1899-04-28 | Discussion regarding freight boats year round. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1899-06-09 | Mountain says much land-clearing under way, resulting in fencing. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1899-06-16 | Bill introduced by Mr.Belcourt to amalgamate CA and OA&PS. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1899-06-23 | OAPS starting weekly reefer shipments from Renfrew to Montreal. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | |
| 1899-08-11 | Amalgamated with Canada Atlantic Railway Company, by deed of amalgamation, dated 1899-06-06.. | Bell p158 | |
| 1899-08-28 | Yesterday a trial was made on a train over the O.A. & P.S. railway of the new Westinghouse quick action brake, for use on passenger trains. The test was made on a special train which at times attained a speed of 65 miles per hour, while at no time was it less than 57 miles. In every instance where the brake was applied it worked satisfactorily. ... At present it is not in operation in Canada, but on the New York Central and other leading railways of the United States the brake is giving great satisfaction. | Ottawa Citizen 1899-08-28(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1899-09-02 | OA&PS rapidly losing its identity owing to the act of parliament authorizing that the Booth system shall be known as the CAR. All cars turned out in the shops are being lettered CAR whereas previously some of them bore OA&PS. | Ottawa Journal 1899-09-02(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894: Line opened Renfrew to Golden Lake, 28.25 miles | CNRHist | ||
| 1891-07-31: Formed from amalgamation of Ottawa and Parry Sound Ry Co and Ottawa,Arnprior and Renfrew Ry Co. Deed of amalgamation 1896-07-15. Victoria 54-55, chapter 93. | Bell p158 | ||
| 1895: Line opened Golden Lake to Whitney, 60 miles | CNRHist | ||
| 1896: Line opened Whitney to Cache Lake, 20 miles | CNRHist | ||
| 1896-10-05: OA&PS formed by amalgamation of Ottawa & Parry Sound Railway Co. and Ottawa, Arnprior & Renfrew Ry Co. Effected by deed of amalgamation dated 1891-05-18, and ratified by shareholders. | Bell p158 | ||
| 1897: Line opened Cache Lake to Scotia, 49.25 miles | CNRHist | ||
| 1898: Line opened Rose Point to Depot Harbor | CNRHist | ||
| 1898-01-14: George P. Sills issued writ for death of Arthur Sills. $5000. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1898-07-08: Sectionmen strike over. 10 cent per day increase won. | Fleming Pembroke Observer, 1898-07-08 | ||
| 1898-07-01: Sectionmen of CA & OAPS went on strike demanding $.25 increase on $1 per day | Fleming Renfrew Mercury, 1898-07-08 | ||
| 1898-11-18: McCauley Lake branch nearing completion. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1898-01-21: Excursion fares for races at Lansdowne: Douglas $1.55, Renfrew $1.30. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1899-01-20: OAPS received subsidy of $327,232. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1899-04-28: Spur to Parry Sound under discussion. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1899-04-28: Discussion regarding freight boats year round. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1899-03-24: OAPS issues writ to restrain St.Anthony Lumber company from damaging the line. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1899-03-31: Mail contract for year ended 1898-06-30 gave OA&PS $6999.92. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1899-06-09: Mountain says much land-clearing under way, resulting in fencing. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1899-06-16: Bill introduced by Mr.Belcourt to amalgamate CA and OA&PS. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1899-08-11: Amalgamated with Canada Atlantic Railway Company, by deed of amalgamation, dated 1899-06-06.. | Bell p158 |
Practices
9 facts
| Date | Statement | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1892-08-26≥ | Through the late summer and fall of 1892, construction of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound railway from its Carp headquarters progressed rapidly: about 300 men and 100 teams were at work by late July, rising to some 400-500 men and 60-150 teams through August and September (including groups of Italian labourers from Montreal), with the contractors, Fauquier Bros., building about three-quarters of a mile of grading a day working both east toward Ottawa and west toward Arnprior. J.R. Booth built the first three miles outside Ottawa himself to test construction costs, and it was expected the forty miles between Ottawa and Arnprior might eventually be operated by electricity, given the water power available at both ends of the line. | Ottawa Journal 1892-07-21("There are now over 300 men working on the line." ...),Almonte Gazette 1892-08-12(Twelve miles under construction, six or seven mile...),Mercury 1892-08-26(Renfrew Mercury: 300 men, 100 teams at Carp, ten m...),Ottawa Free Press 1892-09-07(Work had reached within eight miles of Arnprior; g...) | |
| 1893-06-06 | Through the wet spring of 1893, grading and ballasting of the Ottawa–Arnprior line proceeded slowly: by May 6 no passenger trains were running and construction trains found the sodden roadbed hard to work, although 120 carloads of grain had already left Kinburn station that spring; about 500 men were ballasting by May 12, and by June 6 between 80 and 100 loaded cars a day left the Ottawa station for Arnprior and other points, with one passenger train a day (carrying freight each time). About 80 to 100 men were ballasting at Galetta on June 13, and the section was expected to be ready for the formal opening of passenger traffic on July 15. | Ottawa Journal 1893-05-06(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Almonte Gazette 1893-05-12(About 500 men ballasting between Arnprior and Otta...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-06-06(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1893-06-13(Galetta ballasting gangs. Transcribed by Colin J. ...) | |
| 1893-08-31 | Ballasting of the Ottawa–Arnprior line advanced through the summer of 1893: by July 28 it was complete from Arnprior to within two miles of Carp, with three hundred carloads a day coming from Willis' gravel pit near Arnprior, while a train hauled earth from Rivington's pit at Carp to fill the big trestle over the C.P.R. near Bell's Corners; by August 18 it was complete from Arnprior to Doyle's cut, five miles east of Carp, and Mr. Mountain said on August 22 that ballasting on the eastern division would be completed that Saturday. On August 31 two construction trains were drawing gravel from Rivington's pit to the trestle over the C.P.R., loaded by a large steam shovel handling eighty to one hundred platform cars a day, and three gravel trains drew from Willis' pit near Galetta to complete ballasting to Arnprior. | Mercury 1893-07-28(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-07-28(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1893-08-18(Also reports ten carloads of steel a day arriving ...),Ottawa Journal 1893-08-22(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-08-31(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1893-11-21 | Ballasting and gravel operations on the O.A. & P.S. in autumn 1893: the Carp pit's material proved inferior (a mixture of clay and gravel, unfit for ballast) and was used to fill the big trestle over the C.P.R. east of Corkstown and some hauled to the C.A.R. yard at Ottawa for a long siding east of Bank Street; the steam shovel at Carp was to work until New Year but was stopped on about November 8 with its men discharged after work on the Sunday; the Galetta (Willis') pit was worked night and day by one shovel, with a telegraph office and, from mid-November, electric light; about fifty flat cars were prepared for ballasting between Round Lake and Golden Lake, with canvas shelters for the brakemen fastened to the cars and about five thousand sections of snow fence to be built that winter; and by November 21 some two hundred flat cars and eight engines were working the gravel trains, with a large gang continuing re-ballasting for the next spring's opening. | Ottawa Journal 1893-09-15(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-10-19(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1893-11-10(Carp shovel and the fifty flat cars. Transcribed b...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-11-14(Carp shovel stopped. Transcribed by Colin J. Churc...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-11-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1893-11-25(Galetta pit, quoting the Arnprior Chronicle. Trans...),Ottawa Free Press 1893-11-27(Canvas shelters and snow fences prepared at the El...) | |
| 1895-06-27 | Careful of dynamite. There has not been an accident on the construction of the O.A. & P.S. Ry. this summer; only two serious accidents have taken place on the road, out of over two thousand men employed all summer where blasting and rock cutting is continual. As much as a thousand tons of dynamite have already been used on the line this summer, most of it sent up last winter and drawn from the end of the iron to points on the survey. Magazines for storing the dynamite were built on islands in the neighbouring lakes, from half a mile to a mile removed from where the men are working; when dynamite is required, men are sent by boat to the magazine and bring over two or three boxes at a time. In conveying dynamite over the line, special through trains are used, never more than three or four carloads of the explosive allowed to be taken over the line at once. | Ottawa Journal 1895-06-27(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1895-10-01 | Engineers of the OA & PS would be pleased if the owners of cows would keep them off the track, as the Company fines the engineers a day's pay for each cow they kill. | Ottawa Journal 1895-10-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1898-06-03: No train may pass a station until the preceding train has passed the next station. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1899-04-28: OAPS to run 14 trains per day through Pembroke (?). Summer traffic to be 48 trains per day. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury | ||
| 1899-06-23: OAPS starting weekly reefer shipments from Renfrew to Montreal. | Fleming Renfrew Mercury |