Railways of Chatham-Kent

1834 - London & Gore Railroad - Incorporated in 1834 with a mandate to build a rail line from the nead of navigation on the Thames river (Chatham) via London to Burlington Bay. This venture failed due to lack of funding.

1845 - Great Western Railroad - This company purchased the London & Gore mandate and built a line from Niagara to Windsor via London and Chatham.

1854 - G.W.R. - London - Chatham - Windsor line opened in 1854.

1884 - Grand Trunk Railroad - amalgamated with the G.W.R.G.T.R. System name.

1923 - Canadian National Railway - after WWI the Government of Canada saw a need for a national rail system and began to take control of smaller railroads.

1923 - The G.T.R. was absorbed into the C.N.R. system.

Canadian National Railway Company - The Canadian National Railway Company came into being on June 6, 1919 in order to consolidate a collection of scattered railways across the country that had fallen under Federal Government ownership, many of which had been bankrupted by the activities of the Great World War.

Grand Trunk Railway Company - The Grand Trunk Railway was amalgamated with the Canadian National Railway in 1923.

Great Western Railway Company - The Great Western Railway Company (GWR) had its origins in the London & Gore Railway which was created in 1843 and ultimately the GWR in 1853. The company was amalgamated with the Grand Trunk Railway in 1882.

Erie & Niagara Extension Railroad - incorporated with a mandate to build a rail line from Fort Erie to Sandwich via St. Thomas.

Canada Southern Railway - this was the revised name for the E.&N.E. railroad.

1873 - C.S.R. - Fort Erie to Amherstburg line opened.

1904 - leased to the Michigan Central Railroad

1929 - leased to the New York Central Railroad

1974 - leased to the Pennsylvania Central Railroad.

Canada Southern Freight Customers - Circa 1953/1954

Canada Southern Railway - The Canada Southern Railway was a part of the New York Central - operating between Detroit/Windsor and Buffalo/Fort Erie. It passed into Penn Central hands, then Conrail before being sold to Canadian National and Canadian Pacific in a joint ownership. Unfortunately, CN & CP have let the once proud Canada Southern line fall into an idle state.

Canadian Railway Links - The Canada Southern Railway ran from Fort Erie and Niagara Falls, Ontario, across the north shore of Lake Erie to Windsor, where it rejoined its parent, the New York Central. The CASO provided a valuable shortcut for through trains between New York and Chicago, shaving several hours off routings on the Water Level Route via Cleveland, Ohio. The CASO also operated branches to Courtright, Leamington, Amherstburg, and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

1873 - Erie & Huron Railroad - incorporated to build a rail line from Rondeau to Dresden via Chatham.

1883 - Rondeau to Dresden line opened.

1886 - Dresden to Sarnia line opened.

1890 - Lake Erie & Detroit River Railway - this line incproprated pre 1890 to build a rail line from Windsor to St. Thomas.

1891 - Windsor to Leamington line opened.

1894 - Leamington to St. Thomas line opened.

1901 - The Erie & Huron line merged with the Lake Erie & Detroit River Railway operating as the Erie & Huron Railway System.

1911 -Line leased to the Pere Marquette Railroad (1904)

1946 -Line leased to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (1955)

2005 -C.S.X. system today.

? also Ouvry Station
? also Wilkie

West Ontario Pacific Railway - Chartered to build a line from Windsor to London. This line completed by the C.P.R.

1872 - Canadian Pacific Railway acquired the rights to the W.O.P.R.R.

1890 - London to Detroit line opened.

? also Ringold - Ringold (Station): Moved to property on 6th Concession as a private residence.

Canadian Pacific Railway - The home page of Canadian Pacific Railway. The site is a very intense look at the CPR, from its beginning to its future. The page provides details of current operations and a great deal of historical information.

Canadian Pacific Railway Company - The Canadian Pacific Railway Company was created in 1881 as a private company.

The Ontario & Quebec Railway - the CPR incorporated in 1885 the West Ontario Pacific Railway (WOPR) to construct a line from the Detroit River east to a connection with the old CVR line between Woodstock and Ingersoll.

The Pere Marquette Railway - The Erie & Lake Huron Railway was incorporated in 1876 to construct a rail line linking the two lakes within the company's namesake, commencing at Shrewsberry (near Rondeau) and passing through the communities of Blenheim, Chatham, Dresden and Wallaceburg before terminating in Sarnia.

The Pere Marquette Railway - The Lake Erie, Essex & Detroit River Railway (LEE&DRR) was conceived by Hiram Walker, an industrialist who established a distillery amongst other ventures within the community of Walkerville (now part of present day Windsor) in 1858.

1903 - Chatham, Wallaceburg, & Lake Erie Railway - an electric railway from Wallaceburg to Erie Beach via Chatham.

1905 - The Walaceburg to Chatham line opened 17 Nov.

1908 - The Chatham to Erie Beach opened 13 July.

1909 - The spur line to Paincourt opened.

1913 - Controlling interest sold to the Canadian Northern Railway.

1918 - Canadian National RR absorbed the C.N.R.R.

1927 - Passenger service discontinued.

1930 - Freight service ended

1930 - Lines removed from Chatham (March) & Wallaceburg (Oct.)

Canadian National Railway - This is the web site of the Canadian National Railway.It contains background information, contact numbers and an interface to CN's car tracker database.

Chatham, Wallaceburg and Lake Erie Railway Company (20 November 1905 - 02 July 1927)

Chatham, Wallaceburg & Lake Erie Railway - aka Come Walking & Leave Early

The Chatham, Wallaceburg & Lake Erie Railway

1873 - Dawn Tramway - This was a steam engine line from Dresden to Oil Springs. It was completed and operated as a lumber line by 1884. The terminus was at the Molly Creek flats in Dresden. The tracks ran on the east side of Conc. 5 (#21 Highway) to Oil Springs. It was used exclusively to haul lumber from Lambton to the Sydenham river. Ceased operations in 1897.

Buxton Tramway - A tramway was built from Buxton to Lake Erie to facilitate hauling lumber to the shipping dock.

Bisnett's Tramway - This tramway crossed the Erieau marsh from the old Talbot Road to the Bisnett dock near Erie Beach.

1880 - Chatham & Charing Cross Railway - This was a charter to connect the G.W.Rr at Chatham to the C.S.Rr at Charing Cross. This charter was never used s the E&H Rr opened its north south line on 25 June 1883 and the first passenger train steamed in on 25 Sept. 1883.

1885 - Chatham Street Railway Limited - This was a horse powered system with four yellow cabs. The tracks were laid from the C.T.Rr on Queen street to Fourth Street then on King Street East to the E.&H. Rr depot on King east. The system was about three miles long and cost five cents one way. The tracks were removed about 1890 when Chatham began paving the streets.

1901 - Windsor Essex Lakeshore Electric Railway - An electric railway was proposed to connect Windsor to Chatham.
The line would go through Maidstone - Essex - Cottam - Kingsville - Leamington - Wheatley - Tilbury - Merlin - Chatham.
Preliminary construction never got beyond Leamington.

Rondeau Ridgetown & Wallaceburg Electric Railway - A proposed electric railway was to connect Rondeau Dock to Hills Dock.
Morpeth - Ridgetown - Thamesville - Florence - Dawn Mills - Dresden - Wallaceburg.
But the proposal failed in the planning stage due to lack of investors.

Chatham Street Railway Company - (late 1885? - 29 March 1890 and late June 1891 - 1895?)

Notes Towards a Street Railway History of Chatham, Ontario - There is probably no question more obscure within the history of Canada's street railways than the beginning, operation and abandonment of the horse car street railway in Chatham, Ontario.