Names and numbers
Bridge 42
1905 – ?
Dimensions
as reportedHistory
18 facts
| Date | Statement | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1882-03-04 | Ald. O'Leary, awarded the contract for constructing two bridges for the Canada Atlantic Railway, one over the Rideau River and another over the Canal, had commenced the work, which would be vigorously prosecuted until finished. The two bridges would cost $8,000 in all, the canal bridge to be one of the staunchest swing bridges in the district. | Ottawa Free Press 1882-03-04(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1882-04-14 | Ald. O'Leary reported fair progress with his contract for the bridges over the Rideau River and the Canal, having two stone piers completed on the Rideau and most of the stone drawn for the bridges. | Ottawa Free Press 1882-04-14(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1882-05-25 | Work on the railway bridge over the canal was progressing well; the piers were now almost completed, and preparations for the rest of the work, with material almost entirely on the ground, were going on rapidly. The contractors would easily complete the structure in accordance with their agreement. Merges the substance of two closely-spaced reports, 1882-05-23 and 1882-05-25. | Ottawa Citizen 1882-05-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1882-05-25(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1882-07-15 | Some fifteen cars loaded with iron work for the Atlantic Railway bridge across the canal had already arrived by the St. L. & O. R.; about three more cars were expected to complete the contract. | Ottawa Free Press 1882-07-15(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1882-07-20 | Mr. W. Palen completed the trestle approaches to the Canada Atlantic Railway's bridge over the canal. Separately, the work of taking the track of the Canada Atlantic Railway over that of the St. Lawrence & Ottawa Railway was completed under the superintendence of Mr. S.S. Churchill. Merges two items published the same day, 1882-07-20. | Ottawa Free Press 1882-07-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1882-08-04 | The swing bridge over the Canada Atlantic Railway was completed and the first train had passed over it. Passenger trains were to be passing over it within a few days. Filed under the 'Ottawa, Elgin Street' tag; no structure entity exists for this bridge specifically, so filed on the company. | Quebec Daily Telegraph 1882-08-04(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1882-10-30 | The authorities of the Canada Atlantic Railway stopped pedestrian passage across their bridge over the canal, posting a notice that it was dangerous for foot passengers, with the keeper ordered not to allow them to pass. | Ottawa Citizen 1882-10-30(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1891-08-12 | An engine, tender and one freight car of a Coteau-bound way train dropped into the canal through the open swing bridge near the Elgin street depot at 6:10 a.m. Fireman Page had started the engine without the engineer (Michael Gaffney, who was in the office receiving orders) after Brakeman Gordon signalled to go ahead; the tug Minnie Bell had whistled for passage, and Bridgemaster Wallace opened the draw. Page reversed the engine too late; it plunged in, followed by the tender, with the first car cut in two. Page was thrown clear and swam ashore unhurt. Engine No. 33, a recent 70-ton (later corrected to 51-ton) engine with 19x24 cylinders, worth about $10,000, was blamed entirely on Page's unauthorized starting and failure to see the open draw or hear warnings; Conductor Cote and Bridgemaster Wallace were cleared of blame, though Gaffney was suspended pending inquiry despite having had nothing to do with it. Estimated loss to the company: $1,800–$2,000, mostly the cost of raising the engine. | Ottawa Journal 1891-08-12(The fullest account, naming the crew as engineer M...),Ottawa Free Press 1891-08-13(Next-day scene: the station 'wears its wonted aspe...),Montreal Daily Witness 1891-08-14(Repeated in the Kemptville Advance of 1891-08-14, ...),Ottawa Free Press 1891-08-12(Gives the fireman's name as 'Fred Page' rather tha...),Ottawa Citizen 1891-08-13(Calls it 'the first serious accident that has happ...) | |
| 1891-09-08≥ | The submerged engine (No. 33) at the Elgin street depot was raised on Monday, using pontoons filled with water and pumped out to lift it gradually, under Superintendent Donaldson and Mr. Holtby/Holsby; it was placed on the track and run into the sheds. A diver, Mr. James Rolleau of the Waterworks department, had earlier examined it and found it comparatively uninjured. The tender had been raised separately some days before. Total time from the accident to recovery was about a month. | Ottawa Free Press 1891-08-14(Preliminary operations; corrects that Brakeman Gor...),Ottawa Journal 1891-09-09(Confirms completion via pontoons under Donaldson a...),Ottawa Citizen 1891-08-14(Says it will be raised by steam dredge. Transcribe...),Ottawa Citizen 1891-09-08(Raised Monday via pontoons under Donaldson and Hol...),Ottawa Citizen 1891-08-20(Engine turned over underwater; weight corrected to...),Ottawa Free Press 1891-09-09(Full recap of the pontoon method: filled with wate...),Ottawa Journal 1891-08-29(Expected to be got out the following Tuesday. Tran...),Ottawa Free Press 1891-08-15(Diver's inspection; tender raised via ropes/pulley...),Ottawa Citizen 1891-08-17(Says the diver was at work the previous Saturday. ...) | |
| 1894-02-16 | A very singular railway accident occurred on the C.A.R. swing bridge last evening shortly after seven o'clock. A heavily loaded freight train of twenty-eight cars was leaving the yards for Rouse's Point. As usual the train was moving slowly over the swing bridge, in fact part of the train had crossed over and part was upon the bridge, when in some unaccountable way, the two rear cars and the van were derailed. Before the train could be brought to a standstill these cars had been dragged bumping over the timbers of the bridge. Reaching the further end of the bridge the coupling broke and the cars slid down a low embankment into a huge snow drift. When the cars were at first derailed, conductor Lemieux, fearing that they would tumble over the bridge, jumped from the top of the van to the ice of the canal below, a distance of about twenty-five feet, but fortunately was uninjured. One of the brakemen kept on the van until the far end of the bridge was reached where the cars went into the embankment. So severely shaken up were the cars that the trucks of two of them were detached. No one appears to know how the cars became derailed; the switch at the west end of the bridge was securely locked, and the only feasible theory for the accident is that a beam of one of the cars broke and, falling across the rail, derailed the cars. No one is blamed for the accident. | Ottawa Citizen 1894-02-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1894-02-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Free Press 1894-02-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Mercury 1894-02-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1894-03-01 | The damage which was done to the swing bridge across the canal at the Canada Atlantic railway by the run off two weeks ago has been repaired. The 'run off two weeks ago' is the derailment of 1894-02-16, already recorded on this structure. | Ottawa Free Press 1894-03-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1895-08-08 | A freight car ran off the siding running down to the canal east of the C.A.R. swing bridge this morning. The car ran against the bridge, broke a truck and almost canted into the canal. | Ottawa Journal 1895-08-08(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher, Ottawa Railway H...) | |
| 1907-06-06 | Plans are being prepared by the GTR for a new steel bridge across the Rideau Canal to replace the present structure leading from the yards at the foot of Elgin Street to Ottawa East. The new bridge will be placed a little to the south of the present one, so that traffic may not be interrupted while it is being constructed. It has not yet been decided whether it will be a lift or swing bridge. The bridge will be made wide and strong enough to accommodate two tracks, as it is the intention of the company to have their system in Ottawa double-tracked. Cost about $50,000. | Ottawa Journal 1907-06-06(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1907-08-23 | Locomotive on rampage. Engine No. 451, backing west through the Grand Trunk yards to be attached to the regular daily way freight train going east, on reaching the drawbridge over the canal at Ottawa East, became unmanageable and started to back towards the river instead of over the bridge. The engine ran off the rails and travelled nearly the full length of the bridge on the ties, finally hanging with its tender suspended over the waters of the canal. Engineer J. McKenna and fireman G. Johnston vainly attempted to check the engine; the brakes seemed out of order and only after applying both the air and emergency brakes was the engine brought to a standstill. Three engines were required to haul the runaway back to the rails; traffic was at a standstill over the Grand Trunk tracks for nearly two hours. The back truck of engine No. 451 was damaged, the tender smashed. Various craft on the canal, including the steamer Rideau King, were delayed until the engine was removed. | Ottawa Journal 1907-08-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1959-06-15≥ | By 15 June 1959 (the issue date), the paper reported: Lionel Morn, 44, of Isabella Street, "was found dead lying beside the CN railway tracks near Pretoria Bridge shortly before midnight Saturday", at the west end of the swing bridge at Pretoria, "believed struck by a train"; a watchman, Michael Furgoch of Glen Robertson, reported a young couple had told him of the man. Filed on the Rideau Canal Bridge on the assumption that the swing bridge at Pretoria is the canal bridge on this line (inference; the 1955 item also mentions the "bridge at Pretoria Avenue"). | Ottawa Citizen 1959-06-15(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1963-01-04≤ | From 4 January 1963 (the issue date), the paper announced: "The last train is scheduled to cross the Rideau Canal on Jan. 13, thereby easing the traffic situation on Main Street and Echo Drive." The move was "made possible by the new turning Y track in the Alta Vista area built by the CNR and CPR with money provided by three levels of government", part of railway relocation. Filed on Rideau Canal Bridge, the railway swing bridge over the canal on the Pembroke line (inference from the 1963-02-25 tender, which describes a swing bridge over the Rideau Canal on the Renfrew Subdivision). | Ottawa Citizen 1963-01-04(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1963-02-25≤ | From 25 February 1963 (the issue date), the paper announced: Tenders were invited, to close at 3.00 p.m. on March 7, 1963, "for the purchase and removal of a deck plate girder swing bridge over the Rideau Canal on the former Canadian National Railways Renfrew Subdivision", by the National Capital Commission. Filed on Rideau Canal Bridge, the railway swing bridge over the canal on the Pembroke line. | Ottawa Citizen 1963-02-25(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1968-11-23≥ | By 23 November 1968 (the issue date), the paper reported: In a clean-up of old railway bridge sites by the National Capital Commission, "the bridge on the Rideau Canal at the end of Dows Lake" had "already come down", as had a bridge on the Rideau River in the Mann Avenue area. Filed on Rideau Canal Bridge, the site's one railway bridge over the canal, as the swing bridge of 1963 (inference; the item does not name the railway). | Ottawa Citizen 1968-11-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) |